boudour > Recent Status Updates

The ghost hunting scenes are spooky and I like that aspect of the world building but yikes, the fat shaming. George is fat and unpretty, we're told at length, and so having to share a bathroom and towels with him, or of him sitting on a couch in his pants is supposed to elicit "eww, gross" lols from the reader...
Also, for all that Lucy's the pov character, it feels like Lockwood's actually the star of the show.

Whyyy did I wait so long to read this after book 2. Now I'm torn between rereading the first two as a refresher or powering through. Damn.

Things are going to shit and I feel like I may have emerged from my romance novels cocoon too soon

Having to wait so long to have the two MCs interact with only a glimpse or two of the LI before that was starting to become tedious! I hope things start to pick up and that Kit succeeds in her plans. Jack should absolutely suffer a bit before though.

Nooooo, of all people to have hold the idiot ball :( Jupiter *said* he'd look into it! Why wouldn't he?!
Granted there always needs to be a measure of ~incompetence etc... from the adults in middle grade books to allow for the kids to go on adventures but that was too much. There's also not enough of him as a *character* vs as a mentor figure. You're doing Jupiter North dirty, book, me no likey.

I hate it when the plot hinges on people who should be sharing information (tentative allies, friends...) not communicating. Even when it's reasonably justified in-universe and isn't a lazy writing shortcut it just hurts my heart, sometimes also in good ways, but mostly in "WHY WON'T YOU ALL GET ALONG ALREADY AND BE FRIENDS! DD:" ways.

Still in the Jane Austen dimension, I find myself incapable, after years of reading interminable fantasy series chock-full of dozens of characters with made up names, to remember who is who aside from Fanny, Edmund, Miss Crawford and Mrs Norris. Nor do I care a whit about those secondary characters and the tedium of their lives and yet here I am, still reading. Quite puzzling.

In the Jane Austen dimension I find that I am taking the side of the sanctimonious and self righteous Edmund and Franny against the "terrible" Crawford miss and I am unabashedly rooting for Fanny to ba(n)g her first cousin, the same one who knew her as a girl and certainly acted the older brother part to her - whatever, I just want Fanny to be happy. (Though the Darker and Edgier fucked up version sure writes itself)

I'm halfway through and we're still muddling along, barely knowing what the problem is and who's behind it. The worldbuilding is great but Maskelle and Rian's relationship, which I found so refreshing at first, now feels too deep and steeped in trust and devotion to feel earned. When/how did that happen? I also don't feel that Maskelle is all that remorseful for her past wrong doings, just sorry for herself.

Idk, the prose (and storytelling, ngl) are pretty bad sometimes and bland when not. The glimpse into what it was like to grow up in that time period in that area etc... are interesting but idk that I care much about the two protagonists and their friendship. TBD.

Interesting worldbuilding, really like how the magic work. As for the rest, not sure what I expected going in but it wasn't quite that. Should finish this, got <1 hour left

I put it down at some point and forgot about it, not sure why. Should pick it up again.

What an interesting start and setup! I'm not yet particularly attached to any of the characters (except for Gineos, hope to see more of her!) but I see now why so many people love Scalzi's books.

I can't bring myself to care about Matthew but I'm still interested enough in the worldbuilding and the plot to read further. How much further is the question.

For some reason I can't get quite as attached to Makepeace as to Hardinge's other heroines. I'm also not very fond of the plot overall, and of how it separated Makepeace from important people, both times. I also went in expecting a different story based on the first chapter or so. Dropped it without realizing, might pick it up again.

Debating whether to continue reading. The fact that the heroine is the embodiment of a goddess and can kill with a touch is interesting but the rest is shaping up to be your usual YA fare, complete with nasty, cruel queen.

I didn't expect to sympathize with the characters, having seen the movie, yet their flaws and idiosyncrasies make them easy enough to relate to. Book is fucking with my mind even though I know the plot, nice.