I Vainio > Recent Status Updates

Dnf. Ahdistava, en kykene.

Dnf. Just felt like I was crawling inside a silicon valley technocrat’s brain and it was too real, too scary.

Dnf. Just couldn’t deal with it right now. Kind of tired of my great scrappy protagonists turning rich politicians…

It’s so often like this: first they tell me the mc has been doing something very difficult for years and is ”the best in the game”. Then when it’s time to show them in action, they are so incredibly bad at it that I simply can’t believe they haven’t died of their own failure before the book even began.

Ääähhh. Almost too bad to suffer. The characters are nothing and the writing is lazy. Even though the author keeps reminding us what the stakes are for the main character, they still somehow manage to not create any sense of urgency or pressure. And the relationship between the best friends is glossed over so thoroughly that I have to wonder why they even bothered to mention they are friends.

Ääähhh. Almost too bad to suffer. The characters are nothing and the writing is lazy. Even though the author keeps reminding us what the stakes are for the main character, they still somehow manage to not create any sense of urgency or pressure. And the relationship between the best friends is glossed over so thoroughly that I have to wonder why they even bothered to mention they are friends.

The author has an annoying habit of writing poetic sounding lines that don’t actually make sense in the context of the story, e.g.:
“It was the first time I heard him laugh. I was beginning to wonder if he knew how.” But she’d known him for less than a day and only in the context of an assault situation and official kindom business. Why would he have laughed around her?

Couldn’t. Too grim. Need nicer escapism.

It’s just so bleak…

It’s the funniest thing, this book is actually promoting some honestly good things but it’s dressed up in ultra masculine blustering. David is both saying that men should be jacked up hard beasts, but that part of being hard is also dealing with insecurities and childhood traumas in an emotionally balanced way. Sooooo…. Yup.

Rachel is a very empty character. Big things happen to her and she has the mildest, tiniest reactions. I keep imagining her with a mild smile and empty eyes, just an automaton going from one experience to the next.

It’s been okay-ish so far but right here at around 49% there’s a sudden and intense bout of fatphobia that’s really quite unbearable.

Oh my god find another plot. How are the Hazelwood books all the same book? Why is the romantic interest always the same guy? I swear if there were any better books I’d read them but the scene is filled with minimum effort shit and this at least isn’t harmful shit.

Well this is new

Do you want to read about stupid people being stupid and getting really angry? That’s what this is.

Blaah.

“He’d secured a private room at a nearby restaurant.” Military people can only secure assets, not make table reservations.

I’m torn. It’s so so good, but also I’m really confused most of the time. I hate being confused. There’s too many names for too many characters and I can’t keep them all straight.

”They feel… truthy, but they could be just more bullshit.” Yes 🙌

”You mean the Greek gods are here? Like… in America?”
”Well certainly. The gods move with the heart of the West [the Western civilization].”

Funny. Freedom fries and mass shootings anyone?

I wish the pov character didn’t change so often, so unexpectedly and without any fanfare. Otherwise this story is really good 👍

I quit. I can’t with Parisa’s inner monologue. In fact I can’t with any of their inner monologues. No sympathetic characters. Dnf’d at 11 %.

This book reads like Yound Adult but with adult characters. The way these twenty something characters think about themselves and the people in their lives is just so teen-ish. Is it just this book or Americans in general?

Let us hope Libby is so self-absorbed only to have a great and humbling character arc.

Really solid writing so far.

The opening chapter was quite good though it held far too many in-universe-only words and concepts. The second chapter introduced new issues like unnecessary repetition and pointless inner monologues.

Meh.

Okay I’m quitting now. There are too many idiotic literary sins being committed in this one chapter it’s making me want to throw the whole book into the deepest pits of hell.

This book is utter nonsense. The authors seem to suddenly have forgotten their own plot in their desperate attempt to create a crisis between the two main characters. I would stop reading this book right now if only I had anything else lined up.