Danna > Recent Status Updates

This is trying to do so much, and it's unconvincing. The dialog is zigzagging between sounding too modern for a Shakespearean time and being heavy handed. The young love trope reads very much YA and I can't appreciate it. Joan disguising as a young man to further her education is commendable, but in the overall atmosphere and world building feels unconvincing.

Christ, why is half a chapter about Xander and Joan arguing about whether kissing each other would ruin their friendship? Why is this so juvenile? Is this a YA novel?

So far, Sager does a great job setting up the atmosphere - The Bartholomew, the Heart of a Dreamer, Larsen's parents death before she turned 20 and her truly dire circumstances, getting poor quickly and spiralling downwards from there.

The dialogue is shallow and unbelievable.

This feels like a retelling of a Gothic Victorian novel.

"Schnitzel of Austrian bikers"

"A soufflé of French cyclists" 😂 I love his collective nouns!

The section where Ellen confronts the idea of not becoming a mother by the time she's thirty eight and battling with regret. Their sisters' discourse over this sensitice issue is so heartwarming to read because it's not coming from a place of conforming to social norms and pushing Ellen to Liv's ideas of healthy adulthood: Ellen openly shared her wish to enjoy life before being tied down, and Liv gently assures her-

This feels like training to bevome a family therapist, it should be taught in psych classes!

I enjoy this so much! Pulls you into the road trip as if you're in the passenger seat listening to him get excited about the altitude, local legends, history, while getting a real feel of accompanying the author on his journey through the Alps, including his meals at the hotels and his interactions with locals and tourists.