Annie > Recent Status Updates

Notes: a lot of weird little anachronisms/ I like how the characters are all flawed and kind of awful/ wow please give me at least one character that I -like-

I know this is satirical but it’s so on the nose that it’s barely enjoyable.

This currently reads like a self-indulgent clap back at Kuang's own critics (is this rpf for the self? fix-it fic of the self-insert variety?).

it’s not getting better. is it me? am i not Literary enough?

i'm trying so hard.

what. the. fuck.

"[...] a life for people who dig their grave in the same place they take a shit."

"People should worship bears and want to be bears; they shouldn't suck them up with straws."

I can't even enjoy Im and Erra finger wagging at each other because HUGH AND ELARA ARE STILL THERE. WHY. Taking up words on the page. Being present. A reminder of sloppy writing. AUGH.

I cannot believe I lost 20 pages to Hugh and Elara. They can take their sloppy retcon and boring ass dynamic and exit-left my brain.

Reading this so I can say "Ayn Rand fucking sucks" with utmost confidence every time I bump into an AR sycophant.

Nasir needs to just STOP WHINING. If he boohahas one more time in between killing innocent people, istg.

It's been hard to pick this back up as we've reached the point in the novel where a current orange skinned, tiny-hand, megalomaniac has entered the fray.

Enjoying this a lot more! The pacing feels better and the characters more solid now that Bardugo’s had a whole book to sort of have everyone settle. I’m even warming up to Nina (still ambivalent about Matthias).

Listening to the audiobook (on one hand, hearing Michelle narrate elevates the entire experience, on the other hand, it's taking me literally four or five times longer to finish the book).

Better than Shadow and Bone, but still frustratingly doesn’t live up to its potential. I’m in the thick of the heist now and I can feel my attention wandering...

Heists are meant for movies.

The romance is once again not Bardugo’s strong suit.

Matthias and Nina’s relationship/history reminds me of all the things I disliked about Shadow and Bone. Bardugo has gotten better t layering her characters but I’m surprised by how sophomoric some of the writing still sounds? Really enjoying the heist but this isn’t a Maggie Stiefvater glo-up yet.

Warming up...

I bought this duology almost a year ago, and I’ve been struggling to get into it ever since. I was hooked instantly when I read Shadow and Bone but was ultimately super underwhelmed, so hopefully it’ll be the opposite case here!

I'm sad.

I don't think I'll survive waiting another year for the last book.

I've missed reading Atwood! There's something comforting about slipping back into her prose.

Why does she keep referring to herself and Ethan as "boy and girl"?? You're nearly 30 and he's 300+, I think calling him a "boy" is a tad bit creepy. Sometimes this reads like it was written by a preteen in 2001.