#ReadAllTheBooks > Recent Status Updates

Wow, Tate is an asshole. Lauren has to adapt and change and put up with his attitude but he doesn't?

I will openly admit that I cheated and looked for spoilers about 20% into the book. I had a few theories about what was going on and I have to say that I predicted some of the twist. Just not all of it. Knowing the twist has actually made things a bit more fun, as I was better able to pick out the various hints that were thrown into the book here and there. I'll elaborate in the comments.

I forgot that the whole reason Alison has her money is because of a sexual harassment lawsuit. Funny how the book doesn't call call Maxie's harassment of Tony also sexual harassment. Sorry, I know I'm harping on this but it leaves such a gross taste in my mouth. It's sexual harassment if you don't count unwanted kisses assault.

And Maxie proves again why she's a garbage person by shaving a child's eyebrows for a costume. In sure that will be great when the kids tease her tomorrow

Listening to it sped up now. Also, I like teenagers trick or treating. Better that than going out and drinking at a party.

Paul: Lighten up on Maxie even though she forced herself on your friend because she's having a hard time being dead. Now how's about solving this case?

I'm not letting that go. Screw Maxie. Her being dead and horny isn't an excuse.

Maxie is now suspected of bashing a wall repair in. Same wall she destroyed earlier in the book. Pair that with the fact she's angry Tony didn't welcome her sexual assault (forcing a kiss on him), I can see why she's being blamed.

And the kiss is just shoved to the side. Of course it was. Maxie is showing up in future books so they can't have the guy feel violated, thus making it more difficult to justify having her around. I don't know if I will continue this series.

So. Maxie sexually assaulted Tony by way of a forced kiss (that he couldn't see). It's interesting that her interest on him is somewhat portrayed as comedic. If the gender were swapped it likely wouldn't have been. It's not ok if it's a guy forcing a kiss on a woman and it's not ok vice versa. Maxie is really awful.

Amanda Ronconi is probably the main reason I'm still listening. Mystery is ok, but Paul is just an asshole to the point it detracts from the story. I keep hoping maybe the other ghost will hand his butt to him at some point, having come to like the heroine, but so far she's just a spiteful character who is mean to everyone but the daughter. It's like her only character trait is "mean person with eclectic taste".

Paul is really getting on my nerves. He doesn't seem to GAF if our heroine ruins the risk of being seen as crazy or getting arrested, as long as he gets what he wants right away. I mean, she gets sort of arrested and finds a body and his response is to chew her out for not bringing home the files. Her receiving death threats isn't even a reason he's so gung ho, it's a way to manipulate her.

This book is absolutely unsettling. It's not terrifying... yet, but it's building to that end. So far the author is setting this up so we know how much our protagonist has to lose - and why he's going to be a sitting goose for this evil.

I do kind of like where this is going for the most part, but I'm also a bit apprehensive. I don't really want the Engineers to be a visible part of the Aliens universe. I like them being an enigmatic, menacing ghost in the machine. I'm aware that the writers are given details of what should be in the book and general gists of where the universe is going, but still...

They're now in the Engineers' underground facility. Some interesting notions, but as a whole a lot of this just feels like a shorter story stretched very thin. This feels like it could have easily been a novella or short story as opposed to a full length novel, and delivered more of a punch. I don't necessarily fault the author for this since she likely had a ton of limitations put on her about what could be added.

OK. Halfway in, stuff is finally picking up. Xenos (of a sort) are rampaging. This reminds me of something others have complained about: the black goo. They say it doesn't act like this and I have to say... yes and no. Explanations (and slight spoilers) in comments.

So far this is OK. I know there are some out there upset with the representation in the book. I don't really see it, but I will say that there is far more representation here than you'd normally see in a book in this series. I really only have two gripes. One is that this is moving pretty slowly and the other is the audiobook narrator. I'll elaborate more in comments.

I'm still loving the book as a whole, but seriously. The "romance" angle in this could and should have been left out entirely. It's also a bit frustrating that just about every female character in the book is written as more of an adversary than anything else, like their main purpose is to be as difficult as possible. Someone said that Brandy and Zach act more like high school or middle schoolers flirting. Accurate.

OK. Love the narrator and I can't wait for David to get eaten by a school of Nessies. Also, why is Brandy so foolish? I don't blame her for being angry with Zachary, but c'mon... David is a jerk. He literally exploited his way into her panties and she isn't cutting his cojones off?

Supposedly at some point this was to be made into a movie. I can see where it'd do well- this has some really descriptive scenes that'd look great on the big screen.

I'm pretty impressed so far. The author reads the book himself and while he's not at the rank of Scott Sigler when it comes to authors reading their own work, he reads at a good pace and has a nice reading voice.

What even is this book? That first story was so bizarre that I'm hooked. Elvis and Nixon doing acid together?

Hmm... a bit more of a happy dappy ending than I was hoping for, but still a decent enough read.

Ah. That does make a tiny bit of sense. Still pretty screwed up.

Further in the book, more explanation. Halliday is still a twisted sick fuck.

Halliday you sick fuck.

Ah. Now we discover the difference between AI Halliday and IRL Halliday, at least memory-wise. Sorta.

Looks like the fanfiction story revelation is canon? If so, well done.

Ah, the Big Red Button. Wonder if it actually ever worked or will work?

Yup. Another of my suspicions was correct.

I never thought I'd be reading about a large battle with various Prince NPCs. I also didn't realize that Prince had gone Jehovah's Witness and adopted their mindset towards gay marriage towards the end of his life. That's really sad!