Toastkat > Recent Status Updates

mmmm the third-act breakup is gonna hurt so good, i can tell

okay, i dig the little spirits that live in the phones

aaand there's the third-act breakup, right on schedule

compared to "Bride", this one is a struggle. i find neither of the main characters likable or interesting, and their personalities grating to the point that i'm not at all invested in the plot. it feels more like i'm reading it to get it over with, which means that this is destined for 2*, or even 1*, if things don't change anytime soon.

oof there it is

bracing for the inevitable third-act breakup

okay, main objective clear and there's still 3/4ths of a book left... what in the skyrim hell is going to happen next?

oh, he's actively fucking with her mind? literally erasing her memories, replacing them with new ones, and stripping her of her free will? yeah, naw, peace out my dudes

i'm thinking about dnf'ing. either i'm in a really bad place mentally for this book, or it's just not good. i can't decide. it's really not all that interesting? the relationship beween kallia and jack is toxic at best and not the stuff i want to keep reading. the characters aren't compelling, the "mystery" not intriguing enough. and i'm just left feeling tired of it all after each chapter.

i see kate mulgrew in a white suit claimed another victim

this is a tough read, not just because of the religious trauma, but also because there are men here At Their Worst(tm). i want to believe in "not all men", but the characters here have me almost converted to "yes all men are sex-brained pigs".

this book is losing it's grip on me really fast. seriously, cheesecake on a stick? my suspension of disbelief can only go so far, and this is pushing it.

i'm having mixed feelings here. there's nothing particularly *wrong* with the book so far, the author keeps making wording choices that i as a fanfic writer often try to avoid (specifically using the same word twice in a sentence - ie "longing so long ago" and "pinned under a glass under scrutiny"). it makes my brain stutter, stumble. and when did charlotte get so many siblings? i always thought she was an only child

still a lot of gaslighting going on, but luckily there's some girlboss happening in the form of lope Getting Shit Done™️. getting a little hard to read with ofelia refusing to grow as a character and beginning to resemble an ostrich with her head in the sand.

okay, we've had gaslight and gatekeep. now it's time to girlboss.

sailor moon reference. 5*

this would be better if it allowed itself to be more problematic. i'll try to remember to expand on this in my official review.

you know what makes a love corner more interesting, don't you?
polyamory
why don't more authors embrace this? instead of the tired "gotta choose one" trope

don't talk to me right now, i'm so angy

you know what solves every love triangle?
polyamory
just sayin'

*fuuuuck there's still so much left*

i'm only going to keep going and finishing it to say i finished it. this book is just not hitting it for me. the premise and execution is actually kinda boring. there's no real plot here, only a dark slice-of-life filled with cultural misunderstandings. which some people are into, but reia as a character isn't very interesting to me, and nothing is really worth staying for.

"iris" by the goo goo dolls is a featured chapter song, 5* best book ever, everyone needs to read this now

so a fun little thing this book does is that there's a song that goes with every chapter, i'm assuming to be listened to as you read (if that is the intention, dear author, I apologize that i'm at work and can't listen to music openly). but anywho, i finally got to a chapter where I recognized the song and actually said "yaaay!" out loud.

things aren't boding well for this book's future. i'm bored and keep thinking about other books i could be reading. something interesting needs to happen soon because i might honestly dnf this.

i'm not sure how i feel about this sudden turn of events. like literally sudden. there's like twenty or thirty pages to go and it suddenly feels like an entirely different story. like all the drama, all the angst, all the anguish meant nothing. it feels really cheap, as much as i wanted a happy ending. i dunno, there's still a little bit left, but the book has lost me.

it's been a long time since a book made me squeal and kick my feet and grin like an idiot, but here we are. i know the age gap is a squick for some, and a little problematic, but this is fiction and the wolves are so very gay

i'm only finishing this because i'm so close. honestly i lost interest a long time ago, and the upping of the stakes just feels juvenile. like an "invincible shield" during a playground imaginary battle. this book is a slog to get through.

inchresting... trying to send your crush away, out of danger are we? can't imagine why... just when i was thinking there weren't enough players for the plot, a theory develops...

"I can always count on him..." yeah, i'm seeing death flags. if the love interest survives the book, i'll be shocked.