Toby > Recent Status Updates

Reading slump is kicking my ass it’s time to pull out the big guns

I got crazy busy and this book got too stressful (good writing but my tummy hurt) so I took a break 😭 but now we’re so back!!

Isabel saying earlier in the book how much hearing Curzon call her Country meant to her vs now him calling her Country to emotionally level her I’m sick… IM SICK

Ruth now being the age Isabel was in Book 1 almost leveled me…

Getting hit by a truck would hurt less… how are we only 30 pages in?!?

I’m so glad I reread Chains and Forge before this — I hadn’t realized how much I had forgotten?! I’m also excited because this is the only one in the trilogy I hadn’t read! (I’m also terrified of what’s going to happen)

“Want me to hit him again?” after nearly killing a man… violent Isabel Gardner is so funny too adore her 🫂🫂

Being shot would hurt less… I adore Isabel and Curzon so much

John Burns down, Bellingham to go

Finding Isabel wasn’t enough. They need to kill Bellingham!

“Candlelight caught the rage in her eyes. Reflected off the scar on her cheek. ‘Twas Isabel.”

Things had gone from bad to worse, Curzon was at his lowest point, and we finally discover what happened to Isabel as she returned. Phenomenal writing.

Finding Isabel is no longer enough… we need to kill John Burns!

Actually startled by how little I remember of this book. I feel like I’m reading it for the first time (it’s very good I’m just surprised)

ISABEL FLASHBACKS?!? WHY DID I NOT REMEMBER THESE OMG

Forge is a far more action packed counterpart to Chains, especially being in Curzon’s POV and while on an objective level I think it’s really cool artistically and adds a lot… I miss Isabel :(

Very excited for this reread!!! I loved the book in the first read through, hopefully it holds up (going to miss Isabel for the first part tho 😭)

“I wished that there would have been space for Her Majesty, Queen Charlotte of Great Britain, to sign it too. She and me shared a birthday now, for I was reborn as Isabel Gardner and that paper proved it.”

God, that passage gets me so emotional.

Getting close to the end. Very glad I reread it — I liked it the first time, but this has so far been considerably better than I remembered it (or maybe I’m 10 years older and grasping the story and everything more).

This book is so beautifully written and so tragic at the same time. Isabel… adore you more than anything

“Inbetwixt one thought and the next, I fell asleep. For that, I shall never forgive myself.”

Genuinely the most devastating portion of the book/series from what I remember. Knowing what’s coming my stomach dropped. I live Isabel so much. I really hope that reading the rest of the series gives some decent resolution to this twist/tragedy

This is definitely the most unnerving book in the trilogy holy shit.

I had to take a break for ages and I’m so glad I’m finally getting back to it. I also was worried I wouldn’t remember where I was at, but apparently I was at the really big cliffhanger I’ve been thinking abt since I last picked it up, so yippee!

One of the few moments of levity in this novel is when Mrs. Lockton just faints. She deserves far worse, but it’s very welcome regardless.

I did not remember how devastating this book was from the outset.

Excited and terrified to be rereading this series. I never read book 3 (it wasn’t out when I read the first two, and by the time it released I needed a refresher and never got around to rereading). I remember the language being dense but the characters being excellent. Hopefully it holds up.

Searchlights… tents… velvet ropes… has the author ever been to a small town film festival?!? Even some of the moderately sized ones don’t come close to that

Julie cancelling on Tristan the day before his film festival because going to an after party was “more of a commitment than she signed up for”when he covered for her at work for OVER A WEEK without notice… Julie they could never make me like you

Oh I was wrong about the twist thank God

Oliver and Yuki really carrying this novel 😭 love them 🫂

Wearing your dead boyfriends favorite shirt to talk to his best friend only a week after the death like I’m sorry but I cannot condone this 😭