Chira > Recent Status Updates

switching to ebook only made it super clear that the cover is AI, which feels....uhhhh......weird for a book about slavery and overlooking/devaluing the humanity of those people.

it's also very poorly written and potentially un-edited (I skipped to the back to see if an editor was acknowledged and couldn't find anyone aside from the agent)

not me having to IMMEDIATELY switch to reading with my eyes because the audiobook is UNTENABLE. I was hoping having the author narrate would be good, but who allowed this "pausing after every third word" nonsense? Even cranking the speed up to try to mitigate the pauses didn't work, it still sounds stilted and awkward AF

I don't think I'm going to like this, but I'm already bristling at the "scientist" character

YOU WOULDN'T PAY TUITION FOR A PHD
YOU WOULDN'T BE THE ONLY STUDENT UNDER A PI
WHAT DO YOU MEAN "USEFUL FOR ABUSE VICTIMS"
HOW DO YOU HAVE A LAB IN AN APARTMENT

I'M SO TIRED

also the multiple instances of pitying mexicans in california because they've had their land stolen from them is W I L D. like tell me you don't understand other groups' struggles without actually telling me you don't understand anything

arabella is insufferable but also you cannot possibly tell me a black man in the 60s in detroit is going to just out himself and his partner and they have an apartment with lots of photos of them together? while he's going around telling people they have an open relationship?

also why is everyone dying. why is that the only impetus for thinking about your life

I don't like this but now I have to figure out /why/ I don't like this so I can articulate it at book club

is it the manic narration of the audiobook narrator? is it the way both women are exceedingly thirsty in a way that feels like it's meant to be comedic relief against any potential political insight?

I AM GOING TO FINISH THIS SO HELP ME GOD (I probably do need help)

no matter how much I want to just stop and fling it against a wall (impossible bc it's audio)

"the extraction of the sperm - still hasn't stopped being funny, has it? - is a delicate process"

IT WASN'T FUNNY THE FIRST TIME YOU TOLD ME IT WAS FUNNY IT'S NOT THE FIFTIETH

If we get one more "haha, sperm, see, it's funny, you should laugh" joke I'm going to riot

"just dnf" you say. no. I'm in this this far, we're approaching hate read levels

The fact that this starts out with Melville 1) including every single quote about whales he can find 2) CALLS HIMSELF OUT for including every single quote about whales he can find 3) introduces us to the term Sub-Sub, a group for whom he would die, cannot be understated I'M SORRY THIS IS SO FUNNY

I'm not having fun with this, but I am very much having fun with the re-read of moby dick it has inspired

I feel like I'm constantly math lady meme because the ages and years seem to conflict every time something gets brought up, like I am literally pausing and counting on my fingers in my car

YOU CANT GET FOUR MICHELIN STARS ITS IMPOSSIBLE THERE AREN'T THAT MANY 3 STAR RESTAURANTS EVERYONE STOP

this is probably the wrong thing to think in regards to the protagonist in a cooking competition but god I hope she doesn't win

I'm usually not that sensitive to second-hand embarrassment in books, but either this is just teeming with it or it's a flavor that gets under my skin because I can hardly listen to this for more than 45 minutes a day

Hmmm. I didn't know that I had a pet peeve about perpetuating misconceptions based on tiktok videos in books, but appears that I do. YOU DON'T NEED TO SHAVE YOUR TEETH DOWN FOR VENEERS. VENEERS AREN'T CROWNS AREN'T ACTUAL TEETH

"I'm nothing if not a problem solver" said by a woman who hasn't had her own money for a month after her purse got stolen

T. Kingfisher's trademark grounded normal protagonist, except this time by way of Maomao Apothecary Diaries

"part of the british empire up until the 1500s" <-- talking about a tiny country between France and Belgium

blinks, opens mouth, closes mouth

this is after there's been a project on its "role in wwii" as if its placement wouldn't have meant it was absolutely DEVASTATED by wwi so said role would've been "not much because it's recovering from being trenches"

calling anything in SF a "rowhouse" makes me rear back in rejection, but especially "hundred year old rowhouse with views across the bay" nope does not exist

oh so this is just "teaching at boarding school except some of the classes are magic" The Book

begging people to not call everything that takes place in a school and aimed at adult readers "dark academia" this is NOT.

I'M SO TIRED how does no one know who pulled the trigger of this gun when he was right there and he spoke and was close enough she could smell his breath and it's definitely a witch they all knew. that was a useless two chapters worth of obfuscation

anyway I have an audio arc of this, time to regret choices I guess

oops I got an arc that is an actual sequel-sequel and not a "sequel in a second book in a romance series" sequel so I guess it's back to the first book

This is as a treat for me, I have another book publishing first but SCREW IT I WANNA READ THIS

holy shit this narrator is acting his HEART out

but also I'm reminded why I'm very careful about reading books by cis men - cringing at every single description of a female character

did I request the audiobook so I could know the pronunciations? yes. is the audiobook great? also yes. have I been shouting BABY BOY BABY when maia shows up? yes.

This is the most nitpicky thing but if this girl is 29 in (presumably) 2023, then it was 2008 when she was 14 and "the computer first entered her home" and 1) that's wild 2) why is it beige 3) why is it dial up in 2008

The blanket over the tower to block the modem sounds is so real but also extremely 2003 and earlier

love how you can always tell when something set in silicon valley has no actual authorial experience in silicon valley

thank FUCK I'm done with the "woe is me loneliness is my destiny, it's genetic" whiny boy section (despite the fact that he has plenty of friends???), Mei's section is already waaaaaaay better