Aglaea > Recent Status Updates

Very good.

I'm 33 % in and ugh... In what world is "little Persephone" supposed to be hot? Which grown ass Hades would put "little" in front of her name? And the lip licking she does is getting more cringe each time the words pop up on my screen. As for the world building, I find it underwhelming. It reads like a bad soap opera. Not sure whether to continue or DNF. Had high hopes.

I really want to know how the story unfolds, but this is such a difficult read. It is in no way an inspiring book to pick up, and I feel weird about not understanding why. Read, stop, read, and stop once more. Not a great experience.

This is a challenging read for me and I seem to make very slow progress. The scifi world building is mythical and also rich in material that to me as a white person feels like I might miss underlying meanings of. The writing is well done and storytelling coherent enough despite jumps in locations and people. I am not used to reading novels like this one, but am very happy to engage with it.

I am going to do the unthinkable and DNF a Lisa Kleypas. The plot makes me deeply uncomfortable due to slut shaming, a streak of abuse, a dislikeable hero, and a weird dynamic starting to develop between hero and heroine. I guessed correctly regarding our heroine, so it feels redundant to keep reading. Some other reviews confirm my concerns. Authors, please don't slut shame or make crossing boundaries okay to do.

Tried again a few weeks ago, but got stuck. Our heroine is about to do the immature, unthinkable and I just cannot. So I am stuck once more.

Oh. My. God.
Got stuck a few pages in, picked this up again yesterday after the long break, and I am officially lost for words for a change.
There is contemporary romance and then there is this. 5/5 so far.
Who would have thought Wall Street is so steamy? *googlyeyes*

Hmm. So much drama.

Um. I seem to be reading a version with more than what most other reviewers are commenting on. I've read five short stories as well as Curran's POV. The five were supposed to be all of this Small Magics anthology. In Curran's POV however I've already read stuff that may be spoiler alerts for later novels because this POV is in itself a collection of several scenes. Then there's Jim's POV etc. I'm not reading more.

A Questionable Client ***
How Kate met Saiman.

The Retribution Clause***
Someone connected to a well-known character is elsewhere in the US.

Magic Tests ****
Julie, Kate’s ward.

Of Swine and Roses **
Characters with no connection to Atlanta.

Grace Of Small Magics ***
Characters with no connection to Atlanta.

Curran's Point Of View
Just about to start.

Argh, the whole 600+ pages is about Chaol and Nesryn only. They should have been a parallel story in the fifth novel. Nothing about the beginning feels exciting.

Not sure if Feyre has a depression or not, but she sure sounds whiny. Tamlin seems like a control freak in an uncharming way. Unmotivated to keep reading as it’s been on ice for over a month now.

Some waffling going on, got stuck some days ago.

So excited to read this! Had to wait forever before I got it from the library.

Mary, Mary, Mary... Just started this on my lunch break after picking it up from the library and, pffff deep sigh. You have a way with wrangling words into stuff that goes straight in. It is genuinely painful to read how Wren thinks <spoiler>her only asset is her money. Life can be so shitty and heartbreaking, but knowing this is a romance novel I will soldier on this evening. Your storytelling improves constantly.</spoiler>

Sections with paragraphs and no numbers have flow, the rest doesn't feel like a novel. Alice is a whiny prude, who doesn't work on fixing good things, but voluntarily engages in thoughts that have huge potential to lead astray. I've been there and you need a clean break, no contact, yet she keeps engaging. The explanations and excuses don't interest me, because she knows very well what's at stake.

I have a strong suspicion I know the plot from beginning to end. Oh my god the cutesy and the scattered thoughts and I need eye bleach, this is so boring. I really don't want to be inside this mind because I'm having Bridget Jones flashbacks without the godawful stupidity of hers. And I hate BJ. Simply cannot stand the woman. For the love of god, just focus. On something, anything! *screams into pillow* DNF? Ugh.

Pre read-a-thon: pages 0-65 (31%).
23.8.16: pages 66-100, 34 p read.
24.8.16: pages 101-118, 18 p read.

Pre read-a-thon: pages 0-65 (31%).
23.8.16: pages 66-100, 34 p read.
24.8.16: pages 101-118, 18 p reas.

Pre read-a-thon: pages 0-65 (31%).
23.8.16: pages 66-100, 34 p read.

Fascinating! There's increasing longevity, people face combination-health issues when aging rather than one at a time. Geriatric specialists are decreasing in numbers (plastic surgeons are increasing), we shut our eyes from reality. There's a wonderful model of assisted living which now gets mixed up with nursing homes (hospital-like) as investors care only about money. People want home, not hospital. Won't add up.

In the interest of cleaning up my feed on your behalf, since the home page settings are unbelievably restricted in this horrendous 'improvement', I've adjusted what I push out to you. I had all boxes ticked in the account settings > update feed, but they have been culled to four now, mostly book-related content. I've looked at the feed settings themselves on Home and there are three rather useless options only.

Oh sigh. Nooo :( This looks godawful. They clearly never heard of negative space *eyeroll* And conveniently, comments are turned off on the blog post announcing this "upgrade".

Hey Martin, your book doesn't suck :)

Reading this for Around the Year in 52 Books group read. What a fantastic story! Gaiman has a way with words that is exceptional.

Part 1 was really slow for me to get through, but when counting percentages it really didn't make up a large portion at all, merely seven or so chapters. Instead I got stuck for months, and only picked this up again yesterday when finding it without a hold list. Oh man, I just should have stuck with it, because it is like a new gear has started and also the author sounds more energetic. Clever content!

Who is the story supposed to be about? I'm not even sure whether it is Rule or Horry the Horrible. Rule is kind of ridiculously hot though, but I question what he was thinking when marrying Horatia. In the meantime, we keep jumping between characters and oh how confusing everything is still. The childishness of her isn't appealing either. Are we there yet?... *whines miserably*

14 minutes in (why doesn't GR measure minutes for audiobooks?) and this is completely captivating! I need an audiobook when whashing dishes etc. or it'll never get done. The narrator is okay to listen to as well.