Ashkiryn > Recent Status Updates

I am now very confident that I know what Bristol is. No, I have no idea how it'd work biologically if she and Maire aren't the same kind of fae, but I don't think it's ever been stated outright what Maire is? So I guess she's one too?? But more importantly, I'm now VERY worried about whether that initial sketch is supposed to be foreshadowing?!?! Don't do my girl Julia like this, pls don't be a traitor :(

I am SO suspicious of Willow & what her deal is, but I feel like I don't know enough about the lore to make any confident guesses; best I've got is that she might be a god?? But again, idk if the math checks out. In general, this book is like a clown car, with a seemingly never-ending amount of secrets stuffed inside. I wonder if I should make a running tally? Also glad to see that Kierus isn't down & out just yet.

In my experience, usually when character(s) deceive the MC, the reader is equally as blindsided; w/ this book, the reader is let in on the various levels of deception going on between the entire cast, but you're still held at arm's length & drip-fed the actual details of the secrets. The effect builds suspense akin to knowing there's a bomb under the table, & you're just waiting for it to blow up in everyone's faces

Regular ticks are horrifying enough. MAGICAL ticks that can get stuck inside your body and grow to be big enough to cover your back?!?! THANKS FOR THE NIGHTMARES, absolutely love that for me! :)))

The pacing so far is kinda funky to me, & there's more telling rather than showing than I'd prefer, but overall the reading experience is still going well. Currently feels like we're spinning our wheels a bit, and I wish there was a better sense of progression in Bristol's training/character growth, but at least the book hasn't yet made me want to throw it at a wall XD most interested in the Kierus POV chapters atm

After 2 DNFs in a row, fingers crossed that I fare better with this one. So far, it's not as immediately immersive as TLB, but it's still intriguing enough for me want the answers to all the mysteries being presented, & it hasn't yet made me want to tear my hair out like TSAD, so I'd say the book's had a pretty promising start.

this writing may drive me crazy; if it was just the prose being weirdly phrased, that'd be one thing. I could even deal w/ the occasional incomprehensible bits. But the inconsistencies & the missing pieces of crucial connective tissue are killing me. She drops her dagger, then it's suddenly in her hand again, w/ no mention of how it got there. It was nighttime, but now it's twilight w/ nothing described in between

gotta admit, I'm on the struggle bus w/ this book already. the writing style is coming off as what I call try-hard purple prose, when it feels like the author is trying to force it to be more lyrical than it actually is, & you stop being able to understand what it's even trying to convey to you. also not a fan of the "instant irresistible attraction w/ the LI that makes me emotionally cheat on my current SO" trope :/

17/17 stories read. I give "Nobody Cares Who We Kiss At the End of the World" 4/5 stars (I liked it, but the lack of communication between the main characters was very frustrating to me, & much of the angst and drama felt avoidable and unnecessary; also wish we were given more answers about the community they found, what happened to cause all those disappearances, etc).

16/17 stories read. I give "Fractal Eyes" 3/5 stars (this one was just a bit too out there and vague for me to really get into, which is a shame bc there were some potentially interesting concepts; it was like reading an acid trip, and it just felt all over the place, with no understandable progression through the story).

15/17 stories read. I give "H O M E" 3/5 stars (this was kinda bland for me, it felt like the story kept skipping over all the interesting aspects of being stuck in a time loop, their escape attempts & developing relationship all happened offscreen, & then the time loop just ended abruptly, w/o feeling like the characters ever actually did anything, so the resolution feels unearned; world-building was also lacking).

14/17 stories read. I give "Concerto" 4/5 stars (it's interesting, but the dad really triggered me by embodying far too many of my own dad's worst traits, & the existential threats in the story are also all too resonant; the mention of Iran particularly jumpscared me, even tho this book was published before the current crisis. I suppose the takeaway is meant to be that love prevailed, but I'm just left depressed).

13/17 stories read. I give "Beauty Sleep" 5/5 stars (listen this story is made for me: lesbian retelling of specifically Disney's Sleeping Beauty? Lesbian Maleficent fighting the system that took her lover from her? Philippa extending compassion to her, w/ all 3 lesbians teaming up to right the wrongs of tyrannical men? Getting consent for the true love's kiss? Adding "make it black" to the dress color debate? LOVE).

12/17 stories read. I give "Crash Landing" 4/5 stars (the writing is very engaging, and overall it's a solid story, but I'm really not a fan of the ambiguity in the ending; being in the wheelhouse of "it was all maybe just a dream" is something that rarely works for me).

11/17 stories read. I give "Nick and Bodhi" 3/5 stars (this just barely got 3 stars; I feel very meh about this one, it's like too much is being thrown at you all at once, yet at the same time like nothing at all was achieved, but it's got some interesting ideas, & isn't bad enough for a 2 star to feel warranted, so a 3 star it is).

really loving this so far! I'm glad that we're getting to experience the nitty gritty of Viv's struggles in actually starting the business, rather than just time-skipping ahead to when she's already successful. it's not often that I get to feel like I'm truly living in a fantasy world alongside the characters as they go about their daily lives, so I'm enjoying this change of pace.

10/17 stories read. I give "Present: Tense" 4/5 stars (an interesting take on the idea of the Rapture happening & taking all the straight ppl away & leaving all the queer ppl behind, & how amidst the grief of losing some ppl, there's an almost bigger sense of relief in being freed from having to deal w/ bigotry; there's not enough time to fully flesh things out, but there's decent depth & it doesn't feel too rushed).

9/17 stories read. I give "The Undeniable Price of Everything" 3/5 stars (objectively nothing wrong w/ it, & decently intriguing, but I hate being left w/ absolutely no answers to anything that happened in this story, so this is a VERY begrudgingly given rating).

8/17 stories read. I give "The Department of Homegoing Affairs" 4.5/5 stars (very well done, I love that it felt like a complete story, w/ a satisfying level of world-building, resolution for the FMC, nice social justice elements, & I really appreciate the focus on family, w/ a great supportive gf in an established relationship; also really loved the self-confidence, "she knew she was beautiful & she should say it").

7/17 stories read. I give "Reshadow" 4/5 stars (trippy, but in a good way; the MC was pretty unlikable to me, but since it was intentionally done and he got called out for it, the story still worked and didn't get too unbearable for me).

6/17 stories read. I give "Translating for the Machine" 3.5/5 stars (I'm always down for stories about reclaiming agency, but I wish it had a bit more depth, and that there'd been more clarity on why the Machine glitched now of all times; the concept of the Council was super cool tho, and not something I've ever seen done before).

5/17 stories read. I give "Like Sunshine, Like Concrete" 4/5 stars (just a really solid story that I liked, and was filled with tropes and messages that I also liked; I wish the author had built a stronger relationship between Will and Frank, but the story had enough going for it in its critique of the military/capitalism to still make it a worthwhile read).

4/17 stories read. I give "Renaissance" 2.5/5 stars (really did not like the ending of this one---the social commentary through most of this was good, but with that ending, I'm struggling to understand what the takeaway was supposed to be; I would've rather had the story go the bittersweet route, instead of a cynical one).