Stevie > Recent Status Updates

"yes, she'd seen him vicious and bloodthirsty. But she'd also seen him generous and benevolent." BTCH WHERE???? Dude has been raging and constantly on the verge of a killing spree almost every time he's been on page!!! Bro is NOT generous, and hardly seems to spare a second thought for the well-being of his subjects. Where is the benevolence???? I'm going to lose my dmn marbles

Grossed out and uncomfortable w how often ppl are referred to as "male" and "female". I get that that's A Thing tm with fae romantasy these days, but it just makes me think of incels and t*rfs. and tbh the reinforcement of gender roles while seemingly trying to be empowering (w a "strong" FMC) is just. Can we not? The smut is seriously carrying this book, but w how frequent the scenes are it's starting to get old.

I'm struggling with this one. The characters are flatter than I'd like, and I have pretty much no interest in the FMC. I don't care about her as an individual, she's not really compelling to me, the only reason I'm rooting for her at all is bc her circumstances are abysmal. Like, I'm rooting for her to not be forced to marry some old perv who murders his wives, but I don't care that it's specifically happening to her

I had forgotten about this author's approach to sentence structure. the short sentences and fragments make for an unusual reading experience, but I'm getting used to it again. it's not terrible or anything, just a bit distracting at times. enjoying the start of the book otherwise lol

there was a small section where I was starting to get tired of the misunderstanding behind the mutual pining, because it kept getting mentioned/rehashed and causing the same problem repeatedly, but just as I was getting properly annoyed by it, we moved on to the next stage and there was a new misunderstanding lol. pretty much everything else has been great so far tho!

on paper, it sounds like the premise/start of this would seem forced and convoluted (and that happens a LOT in fantasy, romance, and romantasy), but it hasn't felt that way while reading. The characters feel realistic and interesting, and I like their dynamic so far. It's also fun to read on a line-level, and had a really good hook (imo). seems promising lol

Yo wtf. I knew *something* was up, bc there was a marriage happening but still like 100 pages left in the book, and surely the falling action and conclusion wouldn't take that long. But I wasn't expecting THAT. Wtf. I need Jane to catch a break bro

it's been over 10 years since I read these books, and I either didn't realize or didn't remember how much SC packs into every page. It doesn't feel like any word is wasted. Even stuff that would normally feel like filler or extraneous details (food and clothing descrips, for ex) feels purposeful; it gives insight into who Katniss is. like, she describes the food bc she starved, not bc SC wanted to write about a meal.

The characterization is a little flat at this point; it feels like there's more tell than show. I think this is in part due to the PoV switching. the different PoVs do seem necessary to the plot, but it also means that you need to fit 4 main characters' characterization in the same amount of space you'd usually use for 1. So, I'm enjoying the plot, but the characters feel a bit like cardboard cutouts.

it's hard to comment on this book as I'm reading it. I don't feel as eager/compelled to read it as I have for other recent books, but it's not like it's a complete slog, either. it's gotten interesting, but I'm not exactly *enjoying* it. sometimes the themes/messages feel a bit too in-your-face/overt? not clumsily done but not elegantly done either. It's what's on the tin tho so I'm not surprised or disappointed.

I don't think this book really fits into my usual interest zone, but people really seem to like it, so I'm giving it a shot. So far it's alright. nothing to rave about, but not boring or badly written either. there's definitely the tension of knowing that *something* is going to happen, and waiting for it to come around, which is nice. hoping it comes around sooner rather than later tho lol

not ashamed to admit that I was pretty lost for the last chunk of this book. to be fair, there are a lot of things that are missing because Nona has no memory of it, and/or they're things that happened off-screen. I've gotten spoiled by the other books answering so many questions by the end, and not bringing up so many new ones so close to the end. can only hope they'll be answered in the next book.

this book has mostly been a nice break. lower tension/less action than the others, more like a slice of life, but still with that undercurrent of mystery. it's less grim, not because the situation is more positive than the other books, but because Nona is naive and lighthearted and doesn't really notice or give much thought to the grim aspects (most of the time).

I'm liking the mix of second person and third person narration. I usually only see second person used in short stories, but it feels like the best choice artistically? switching from one PoV to the other helps set the tone and tells you about Harrowhark's mental state. so far, 3rd person is used only in flashbacks, so it makes Harrow's memories feel like they happened to someone else, like that's how she views them.

Hilarious to me that I started off not liking Gideon, and now at the end I love her lmao. The end of this book was pretty badass. Also fun, engrossing, and heart wrenching.

Okay, once we got to the mystery part everything started to grow on me. Realizing that I have also disliked someone to a degree where I was annoying and petty (and I'm also probably similarly insufferable at times) also helped me sympathize with Gideon a bit more. The first bit is rough but I'm kind of loving it now lol. Obsessed with Harrow for sure

can't tell if I dislike gideon, or if I just don't like the style the narration is written in. it feels like gideon/the narration is trying too hard to be quirky/snarky/edgy, and it kind of falls flat for me. it also feels like a lot of things are being repeated/rehashed for no real reason? it's kind of "student trying to pad their essay to reach the word count" vibes. it makes the pace feel needlessly slow.

I can see why people say this book is optimistic and healing. the philosophy is unsubtle and straightforwardly presented, but it avoids the "turn to the camera and tell the audience the moral of the story" thing pretty smoothly. it still feels like a conversation; it's like you're reading a transcription of two philosophers discussing theory. it doesn't feel like you're being smacked over the head with "the lesson"

the plot itself technically started earlier in the book, but it's really starting to ramp up now. it feels a bit late to be doing that, but I'll let it slide because there was a lot of foundation-building that needed to be done first. I'd rather have things take a bit longer to get going than have them be rushed and nonsensical bc of it. having a good time so far.