Eric > Recent Status Updates

The main character is entirely dislikeable so far. He whines about everything and his family is pretty bad. This seems like a pattern in books I've been reading: the MC frequently starts out pretty mentally unhealthy.

I stopped several times because I felt uncomfortable reading about betrayal and the minds of the villains.

Another trauma stop: triggered by Marcus getting drunk on coffee. Is the trigger: people losing control, people acting foolish (my current best guess), or people using drugs/being drugged.

Now it's back to the MC. Two instances of "dumb": 1. He still hasn't accepted his alien nature and death. "Home is on earth with his friends." 2. He's getting beaten by goblin hybrids because of their capabilities. But he doesn't eat the dead and produce his own units with those capabilities.

Pronounces Marquis as "mar-kwiss". Dagobert as DAG-o-beart

My discriminatory upbringing raises its head again.

Once they got to the non-human part it became much better. The character is a bit dumb, but OK. However, they've now shifted to a human POV character for several chapters, and the human has an annoying, incompetent friend named Felix. And she's a bit of a mess, too. And there's a mustache twirling villain money lender. This part is significantly worse.

Chapter 87 on Royal Road. I had to trauma-stop for several days. But finishing the chapter was worth it. It will be interesting to see where they go with this now.

I've had to trauma-stop three times so far and the book is in its third scene. I wonder if I'll be able to finish.

The Deltans are orcs

Really enjoying this so far.

The book is now irritating. Part of that is the narrator. But part is the wooden dialog, toxic relationships, and posturing. The book would be much better dramatized because the author is always adding "he exclaimed" or "she shouted miserably" after every line, chopping the book up unnecessarily. And don't get me started on the immature view of sex and relationships. This might be a teen writer.

I don't like the main character or his companion yet. However, this book is explaining to me the assumptions that underlie other "cultivation" novels. It's so good to finally have the background that other authors assume.

The colonization and abuse feelings are pretty harsh. I get pretty tense reading this.

They are at the brothel. This entire scene has been hard for me to read. And nothing much is happening yet. This book looks to be a very slow burn.

I still hate the protagonist. I'm hoping he'll get better but I'll quit the book at 33% if I still hate it. I'm disappointed, since the author knows how to write. He's just writing the wrong story for me.

It's a strong homage to Sherlock Holmes. The titular angel is reads as modeled on autism. Very pleasant book.

He's a technically skilled writer, but his protagonist and his world grate on me. I'm having trouble listening to more than a few minutes at a time. It's less space opera and more "whiny teen rebels in foolish ways."

Three cries now. Page 100 - choosing Shizuka's childhood violin was the third.

I already feel this is going to be a 5-star book. I've cried twice. Not what I expected from "The Long Way to a Small Angry Planet" meets "Good Omens." There's no snark here. Just people dealing with a messed up world. It uses aliens as an excuse to tell about the trials of Vietnamese refugees in a bigoted new world.

Ryka is such a better writer than the author of the owner series. I was expecting more comedy, but it's actually dealing with some pretty difficult subjects in a nuanced and kind way. While still having someone who's out to collect souls for the devil.

I'd been holding out hope that Hannah would betray the increasingly unstable sociopath main character at the end and take his place for the rest of the series. But finding that his sister was transferred to Mars crushed all hope. He will survive and take the Argus station to Mars to join with his sister.

The protagonist is almost a sociopath - he kills bureaucrats with no remorse. They are merely responding to the same awful system he's in.

The detailed examples in the chapters on "codependency and differentiation" (5) and "dealing with differences" made me aware of levels of complexity that are way beyond my personal experience. I feel like I'm learning a lot.

I was worried by the reviews, but the main character seems interesting so far and to live in an interesting world.

The combat is interesting, as is the war. This "staff of blue" is not a name that rings well for me. That it is only 34% of the way in tells me that they will have a long time until they find it, if it even is the tool they need. (Which I doubt.) The mystery of the aliens (the two species they are fighting and "The Vanished") is a significant part of my desire to keep reading.

Now we're past the "I feel horrible all the time" section of the book. (It included an attachment rundown. I feel like I have a predominantly avoidant attachment style.) The book is starting into practical things we can do to improve.

So far the "motivation" section feels like a slog through shame and/or sadness because I have no friends and haven't for years (though I've tried) and I'm reading about all the ways this is bad.