Lori > Recent Status Updates

Not surprised the main character just identified herself as a Virgo. As a Sagittarius, I find her exhausting.

The one thing I cannot abide by is an MC who is genuinely stupid. I'm going to keep reading and give her a chance... bit so far the MC's idiocy and the poor quality of writing in this novel is making it a drudgery to read.

I'm going to give it till page 50.

This reads like an action movie script someone tried to shoehorn into a novel format.

I hate the characters- they are clichéd and not too bright.

This is supposed to be a ghost story, so I shall read on in hopes the ghosts are triumphant.

3 of the 4 featured characters we've met so far are absolute MORONS.

Just read a passage where a corpse had an arm held aloft, and this was attributed to rigor mortis. This book has times indicated in each chapter, and this person had been dead approximately 1.5 hours. From my understanding, rigor mortis by that time would be just starting in the muscles outside the face.

This is an enjoyable book, but lack of attention to detail and a clumsy writing style keep distracting me.

Pg 55 typo... "I give it a wide birth," the characters tells us. Very different meaning than "I give it a wide berth," which was the obvious meaning.

What I've learned so far: it's likely I've never been recruited to a cult for one of the three following reasons:

1. I'm cheap AF. I will not buy in or pay for anything.

2. I'm suspicious AF.

3. I'm stubborn AF. I do not allow others to tell me what is best for me.

Very interesting read- it's impossible to not apply it to yourself.

Ok I was wrong about the killer! Love that. Still suspicious because Sager has been a disappointment before. Here's hoping not this time...

I figured out who the killer is. Now every line is painfully obvious.

I'm giving it a little longer, but this isn't my style. I get tired of constant darkness and characters I find shallow, stupid, and/or trashy. Would love to see depth develop and according to reviews, it will.

Excellent writing though it's very astringent. Reading it feels like pouring rubbing alcohol on a cat scratch, if you get my drift.

Possible spoiler but also trigger warning




I'm barely into this book and it already has highlighted the SA of a very young child. I would not have picked up this book if I'd known that was an event that would get so much emphasis. It is a trigger for me.

I'm going to give it a other 25-50 pages to see if Ms. Stringfellow can move the story on. If not, this will be a DNF.

Ms. Waters mentioned that some consider her an elitist based in the ideas she has presented so far in the book... and she is. I greatly admire the work she has done, her knowledge, and a lot of her observations. But there is also (so far) a very solid disconnect between her views and the reality most people live.

Reading this is making me a little sad... I've always like Elvira, and admired the woman who created her. But reading these memoirs, I'm seeing that most of her opportunities came along because she was hot... that's it. Not that interesting.

Then the particularly nasty and fatphobic passage about Divine really made me lose the last bit of respect I had for her. 😔 It was gross to read that. Disappointing.

I am not a romantic. I dislike non-fiction. I especially do not like romanticized non-fiction.

I am doing this for you, my book club cohorts. 😒

There is a very good chance that the complete lack of quotation marks for dialogue is going to drive me insane.

This is a very slow starter. It has taken 47 pages to cover what should've been done in 10. I hope it picks up soon.

I hate the main character so much that I'm quite excited about the scary stalker that is queued up to get her.

If that was the goal of the story... well done so far.

I haven't enjoyed a sci-fi novel this much in years! Unexpected delight.... and so damn smart.

We are at a point in the story where the protagonists are tying themselves in knots and concocting ever more complicated plans to deal with the bad guy... I'm over here like "kill the bastard and time travel out of there." I don't appreciate when "intelligent" characters can't see simple solutions.

I've not been impressed so far but I just read something that solidified that feeling.

Here's the line: "Feeling sentimental, she allowed herself a pour from the bottle of chilled Oregon pinot noir in the refrigerator."

So... pinot noir should be served *slightly* chilled at 55-60F. Your typical fridge temps are far below that. It is one of those tiny details that makes an unimpressive read downright disappointing.

Still way too many basketball references.

I am completely rooting for all the guys to be dead. Not sure if that was the goal, but I am on the elk woman's side. Just wish she would stop killing dogs.

Story isn't as creepy as I'd hoped. It's difficult to write a literary horror story with any real success.

I'm not a sports person, so all the descriptions of basketball play are nonsensical... I hope the specifics of those passages have nothing of import to them. Beyond that, it has taken me some time to match my brain to the cadence and tone of the writing. There is quality here, but sometimes I feel like I'm reading something written in another language. I'm interested to see where this goes.

I am a Sonoma County native, and the portions of the book set here, told with the breathless adoration of a wine-obsessed tourist, make me roll my eyes so hard I'm worried they may get stuck.