Amanda > Recent Status Updates

Omg, this is like Ru Paul's Drag Race! They're in the Werkroom, and they've got their first sewing challenge!

Another kelpie! Also, red caps seem to be popping up all over the place.

OK, I'm about halfway in, and the most obvious solution (the 1st solution I thought of) to their problem hasn't even been considered. If changing into a werewolf is caused by cold weather, WHY are they living in Minnesota? WHY aren't they moving to a warmer climate? My only answer: For the plot.

I cannot escape from kelpies. This is maybe the 5th fantasy book I've read recently that prominently features kelpies.

This book is so silly, and at first, I was like, "Why am I entertained by learning about all the loot items they pick up and the dungeon rules?" Then I realized it's because I LIKE to watch other people play video games. This is basically the same thing, but with a lot of cutscenes.

Roman Federov is like the supernatural Russian mafia equivalent of Fredo Corleone.

This book is giving cozy Needful Things.

Figured I'd give this another try since I really liked her Crescent City. So far, it's better than Throne of Glass, which I kinda hated.

Arthie is a female Kaz Brekker. All the way from heist ingenuity to fashion sense. I'm so here for it.

Ok, ok, so there are dire wolves and a character named Stark. A little on the nose, no?

So far, this is really disappointing. I'm hopeful that it's one of those annoying bridge books that's really meant to set the stage for the next book. If book 3 is like this, I don't think I'll make it through all 5 of them even if I do own the whole set.

I'm a bit stuck on this one. I realized I've avoided reading it lately because I'm annoyed with Vhalla. All this boy stuff is the problem. I don't like Alarick, and I just want to shake lovesick Vhalla and tell her, "This dude ain't worth it. Please get back to the training scenes." I'm also starting to suspect this whole book is going to be the march to war vs the war itself.

Wow, the Apple series did such a good job with the show that there's not much new or different yet. Makes reading it feel weirdly repetitive. I'd probably do better to read the books that the series hasn't gotten to yet.

Not feeling this one as much as its predecessor. There a few major plot points that have yet to unfold, though, so I still have hope.

This is a frustrating read thus far. It's annoying and poor communication causing 89% of the interpersonal problems among the cast of characters. Some miscommunication is fine, but this is excessive. It's disappointingly lazy writing.

You know what I particularly enjoy about the Crowns of Nyaxia series? What absolute bastards the gods are.

I'm over two-thirds in, and still hard deliberating: To dnf or not to dnf. That is the question. Whether tis nobler in the mind to suffer the slings and arrows of outrageous plotlines, or to take arms against a sea of bad books and by opposing dnf them.

When they meet, dude casually shoves her off a building, and she gets realllly hurt. He doesn't even feel bad. He just tells her to suck it up. And now he's going to be her teacher?? And eventually we're going to like him?? Oh boy.

Every time I think Val can't get any worse, she proves me wrong. She's a terrible sister, and I kind of hate her.

Oh my god with the history lessons. I'm getting so annoyed with their intrusion into the narrative, but maybe it's a good sign that I'm so absorbed in the main storyline that I can't even with the world-building?

The main dude is suuuuuch a dick.

Ack! I was listening to this on Spotify and ran out of audiobook listening hours for the month. Now I've got to wait a million years for the hours to renew, and, dammit, I was at an exciting fight-to-the-death scene.

OK. If I end up liking this series enough to read its subsequent installments, I'm going to need to read the digital or physical book itself because these fake accents are KILLING me. I keep repeating the words after her that sound the most ridiculous, so obviously it's distracting me. Too bad I bought it on sale, and Audible is a dick and won't allow the return of books on sale.

I just don't understand why you'd hire two American narrators to read a book where everyone is apparently British. It's a fantasy series where there's no US or UK, so it would've been easy to just...not do bad fake accents for the entire book. To quote the Drag Race queen, Tatianna, "Choices."

OK, I gotta say it. What the hell kind of a name is Murgha for a protagonist? I looked up the name to see if there might be an interesting meaning behind it, but it turns out that murgha is a word for a Hindi/Urdu form of corporal punishment/torture that literally means "chicken". Somehow this knowledge makes the heroine being named Murgha both better and worse.

Ugh, why is Zarrah always doing the stupidest, most harebrained things?

This doesn't feel like a YA book, which I'm glad of. The main characters are straight-up vicious to each other. Our heroine is morally a very dark gray so far.

Sigh, it's not spooky anymore. It must've just been that one scene with our heroine creeping around in the crumbling Sicilian catacombs with some malevolent, murderous thing lurking in the dark.

Wow, this is actually kind of spooky. I got creeped out while listening to it at night. That hasn't happened in forever. I literally read The Shining for a second time because I legit feel like it's a cozy winter read. So, well played, Maniscalco. Well played.