Ashley > Recent Status Updates

I am beyond unimpressed with Seigi and his attitude toward Octavia's feelings right now. If this book ends up going the way it seems like it could, I won't be continuing the series. 'Revolting,' he says? Treating someone suicidal with the attitude of some kind of evangelist is what's revolting.

This book has taken everything I liked about the first one and destroyed it. It hinges on the trope of "I refuse to communicate with the people who matter, but I also refuse to take responsibility for the consequences." Grey's actions - driven by fear - are supported, and Rhen's actions - also driven by fear - are considered monstrous, despite the fact that Grey hands secrets over to an enemy without hesitation.

I'm going to push through, but Claire is really starting to get on my nerves as a character.

It's been a long time since I read this and I'm remembering why I disliked it so much in the first place. It has such a patriarchal and misogynist attitude. Not that those elements haven't shown up in the previous novels; it's just slapping the reader in the face in this one.

Certainly interesting, but the incredible amount of unexamined biases the author seems to hold make it difficult not to feel like his vision of "utopia" is nothing more than a white, straight, financially secure man's dream - basically everyone else's dystopian nightmare. I know he tries to talk about both sides, but it's pretty clear which one he lands on.

My stomach dropped right to my toes reading about Morgan's encounter with her former professor's uncle and his comments. Especially since, to some degree, I have said some similarly ignorant, privileged things in my life. I wish I'd had someone to correct me then, but I'm not sure I would have understood.

Currently having a hard time with the main character. She's so stuck in her bigotry she's blind to everything else - by choice not ignorance. I wonder if that is the point Ibañez is trying to make. We shall see. She's also not that bright as far as strategy goes. She thinks only one step ahead and then is surprised when she keeps creating more problems. It's exasperating.

I gave it my best shot but I was so bored with this. DNF'd at page 120. Instead of a thriller it's a petty highschool drama. Maybe it would get better, but I can't force myself to get through any more of it.

I'm having trouble with this book. Some of the stories are certainly interesting, but it has multiple problems. So many names & dates are dropped it becomes a bit overwhelming - most aren't even full stories, just a date & location with a few words about what happened. It also suffers from a lot of misspelled words (e.g. Alberta), bad grammar, missing words, and misused words ("plummet" does not mean "pummel").

This book feels like it was written by a man who has no understanding of how a woman might value herself other than in relation to a man's approval.

Not sure how much more of this I will read. An initially interesting story becomes a ludicrous demonstration of what greedy, entitled and rich men will destroy to get what they want. The only modern "explorer" of Oak Island I've read about so far that I don't find in many ways despicable is Fred Nolan. Although Sullivan does a good job being even-keeled regarding each participant I just can't stand most of these men.