Emma > Recent Status Updates

Part 1 complete. I'm really enjoying this book. It's even more interesting to ready about traffic flow from the perspective of a country so seemingly different than my own... and yet... not so different after all. Well written. Well researched. The themes came together in the end of Part 1 and I'm excited to see the conclusions from Part 2.

Page 52 "monkeys, our closed relatives". Page 62, using AI. Page 63-64, if we can understand bat communication better, we can understand human development better. Page 64, a general human superiority complex, discussing how the author has no hope for animals having complex languages like humans do. Honestly, I'm over this book. The narcissism, stupidity, and human superiority complex is unbearable.

Written from a New York City transportation department perspective. I'm excited to see both the political side of things in a city like none other, and examples from all over the world.

Written from the perspective of a civil engineer who though better traffic flow meant safer streets... and I guess he realized it only makes the streets safer for the people in vehicles and not for pedestrians.

Written from a Netherlands perspective about how making traffic move faster and more efficiently doesn't necessarily make for a good street.

There is a very obvious underlying theme of male privilege, narcissistic, and general human supremacy throughout this book. I'm not sure if it's that the author is out-of-touch with reality or if it's just that the author is all of those forementioned things. Regardless of the reason, I wish it was more about bats and less about the humans who "discovered" them. I do still enjoy learning more about bats, though.

A great interpretation of how circumstance and trauma can fundamentally alter one's worldview.

If you go in thinking this is a murder mystery, I think you'll hate it. The set up is at least 100 pages before the murder even happens. Plus, it's very clearly SF which most "whodunit" fans dislike in my experience. I am loving it so far. It switches from one person to another which some people may find confusing but the AI collective consciousness is the narrator and keeps the book cohesive throughout.

While Water Moon had 2-dimensional characters, a chaotic story line with little explanation, and a plot that seemed to be a half-assed attempt at a Studio Ghibli movie... The Elsewhere Express, so far, has fully thought out characters, a story line that is desciptive enough to understand the settings, and a plot that is well organized and easy to follow. It feels like the author has learned a lot since Water Moon.

I feel equally as frustrated as the protagonist. We know nothing. They're just going along with everything and we get no depth to the characters or story. I feel like the protagonist has a very low IQ and it's extremely annoying. Ask some damn questions!!!

Mainly stream-of-consciousness and very little plot. The protagonist speaks in the first person and is reflecting on every detail of his life. It's boring. I'm bored.

Really good mystery! I thought it was going one way but it went another way. The poor protagonist still feels like she doesn't belong and isn't good at anything. I hope she has that main character arch eventually and becomes the hero.... though it's not looking that way atm...

Right to the action. Flashbacks are relevant. Author really thinking through the implications of DAR and inserting those ideas organically.

Protagonist seems obsessed with death. The mouse. The moth. The miscarriages. She is also unbelievably annoying. Complains about her husband not sending letters from the trenches but then immediately says how she understands, then ccomplains still, rinse and repeat. It's like the author is inserting their own thoughts and trying to justify everything within the book rather than writing a beleivable character.

Overly descriptive of settings and feelings. Protagonist seems to be starting shit and against this whole process for not obvious reason. She came for help but doesn't seem to want it. Stubborn. Why is she even there?

Protagonist seems to not want a baby, showing signs of depression, but does want the baby to please her husband who she thinks desperately wants one. She also showed that her husband is her "good influence" and she must "try harder" to hold her tongue without him around.

Written as stream-of-consciousness or a poem rather than short stories. An acquired taste. Not for me. There's no depth and therefore no way to connect to the characters or really know what's even going on in the stories other than surface level descriptions.

Well written. Straight to the action. Great, unique characters. History and world-building elements organically interspersed within the story and dialogue.

A coming-of-age story of Skipper, a young woman, extremely introverted but also driven to help her family wherever and whenever possible. She may not be equipped to have a fancy job but she does her best to help in the ways she can. She sets out on an adventure with her sister to find their oldest sister who has disappeared.

Whimsy. Character-driven. Modern characters. Similar to Hammajang and Becky Chambers' stories.

All at once, a commentary on the how the American prison system is intertwined with capitalism - using prisoners as slave workers through loopholes; a commentary on forced labour so prisoners seem compliant; a commentary on the female experience (forced to be complacent and docile); a commentary on human beings as commodity in every modern situation. Modern capitalism in a nutshell.