ariel *ੈ✩‧₊˚ > Recent Status Updates

I think one of my least favorite scenes in any romantasy book is the “training” scene. It’s never interesting, and it’s always wordy. Yawn

Lmao I totally forgot this was a Kingley book and was like “this is soooo good so far, but why does the writing feel familiar?” Lmao @ e 🙃

Will I read more than I did last year? (Only 85 books!!) Only time will tell lmao

I need some quick contemporary romances to really sink my teeth into!!!

“I still need to finish the book with the skull and roses on the cover. It’s been really popular on BookTok and I know it’s very much up my alley, but I just haven’t had time to read.” Lmfaaoooo omg I hate when authors reference BookTok in their books 😭😭😭

I already have a feeling this book will end without any explanation lol oh well

This book is so strange but I can’t stop reading it

Gaiist vs Survivalists (Jenks)

Chapter 34 ……🧎‍♀️

Serena is better than me bc if I were her, I’d be CRYIN 😭 everyone is so mean to her

Shoutout to my library 🫡

“She tries to say she has the mind of a lesbian but the libido of a straight woman. I have no idea what it means to be quite frank. The only thing I can assume is that she likes looking at women's bodies, but when it comes to the act of sex, she wants a man. However, I will not be asking her to confirm or deny it. It’s her private business anyway.” LMAO WHAT…… I’m hate reading atp

It’s no wonder why this novel stood the test of time. Really enjoyable!

It should be illegal for authors to write cringey teen dialogue. “Chillax” and “off the chain” are HORRENDOUS 😭😭

Does this girl have no self preservation lol? Doesn’t ask any questions or talk about anything? Lmao

🤷‍♀️ let’s see what all the hubbub is about ig

AJ….girl, pls get an editor.

This book is soooo long already, but I wish we were given more information about Helena's past, the Institute, more memories of Hel and Luc's friendship (and Hel's relationships with Luc/Lila/Soren/Seb in general). SenLinYu glosses over a lot of it and it feel really unsatisfying tbh

oh my god this book is soooo long jesus lol

I realize it looks like I'm complaining a lot (I'm really enjoying this book, I promise!!) but I wish this book had a character list. There are just so many characters, and it would be nice to know who is who. I don't even care about figuring out who they were in the fanfic; I just want to remember their names/who they're related to, lol. So many fantasy books have character lists, idk why this one didn't.

This might a SLIGHT SPOILER but: One of the biggest drawbacks of SenLinYu reworking this is that there are a lot of backstory things falling in the cracks. There's still 30% left to go but the biggest plus Manacled had was that it was formed from existing IP. There is a lot of worldbuilding, but it's heavy-handed and lacks the charm/realism that HP world has, for better or worse (fuck JKR lol)

screamingcryingthrowingup

SenLinYu is not great at writing action, or emotions of the characters. It's hard to visualize what's going on, or to even know how Helena is feeling or what she's thinking. Prob one of the biggest weaknesses of the book

“Calculating, Cunning, Devoted, Determined, Ruthless, Unfailing, Unhesitating, and Unyielding.”

Oh this is incredible. Idc what the nay-sayers say lol this story is still just a masterfully crafted.

Adding this book to my "horror" shelf. This book is no joke--very intense, very gory, very violent. I like horror, but body horror is hard to read. I am absolutely loving this book, and it's checking off every thing that I like about dark fantasy (romance? just not yet lol). This is a very slow burn, but I'm thoroughly enjoying it.

I haven't read Manacled in years (2021? 2022?) but man, this is really freaking good. I really, really like the liberties Sen took making this story their own.

Shout out to my library 😎 (I was first in line 🏃‍♀️💨)