Barely Competent > Recent Status Updates

Is this book good?
Not by any stretch of the imagination
Do I really want to finish it to see how bad and nonsensical it gets?
Yes
Does reading it fill me with rage and question why I enjoy reading?
Definitely!
Wish me luck

The way this book talks about weight is very uncomfortable

50 pages. An insufferable main character and quite a few uncomfortable remarks. It's not looking good

I really wish the chapters were shorter

Why are we having a third act breakup fight with 25 pages left in the book!?

Holy eating disorder and warped body image batman!

I really think we should reconsider doing accents in audiobooks. Doing an Indian accent when you're not Indian is quite uncomfy in this day and age

Not sure how I feel about this twist. All the signs were there but this is the second book about Syria that has this plot twist and it's just a bit... Emotional? Over the top? Something like that

I don't know how I feel about a real condition, albinism, being used. From what I understand albinism comes with certain physical difficulties like being sensitive to sunlight and impaired vision. The main character not seeming to struggle at all with the latter issue and have the former "cured" by her powers doesn't seem like representation to me but I'm curious what people with albinism think about it.

This kid is 12!? It does explain some things but that is young

I am very confused so much has happened and I don't have much to go on but it's very interesting

I thought we'd left behind the girls who can't figure out why all the men in her life are antagonistic to each other

The writing style seems somewhat halting. I'm not sure what to think of it

A second heart's desire and it's another man!!?

First time mark??? This just keeps getting worse

Bloody hell I thought Jack was bad. How they'd spoken about twice before she was "in love" with him and how he in the few times they met he'd made sexually suggestive comments and harassed her. And then comes the eugenicist who she's never had a conversation with who declares his love and they have sex. What is this book!?

Healing the earth through eugenics. That's a great message for the next generation /s

Why not have some unchallenged blatant misogyny and tales about sexual harassment in a book for children.

Characters (and people) don't have to always be happy and fun but Saba in the last book and Lugh in this one are just unpleasant to be around even as a reader. It makes it actually difficult to want to continue with this book.

Well that's got to be racist

Found a book mark in this book so I started it all those years ago. I have zero recollection of that at all.

And I thought Saba was the character I hated most for being mean and insufferable then here comes Lugh

This poor kid! Constant being abused by her sister for being born and then telling het sister she doesn't have to be nicer because she's used to it. Why are we supposed to like Saba when she's so mean over nothing?

Meeting a guy who is blander than white bread but a magic stone tells you he's your heart's desire and risking your life to save him is one thing but having him be a borderline sex pest as alluring banter is going too far. Lock this man up and let Saba be gay

With the way women are described this should have been Sapphic

Your heart's desire is a man? That's embarrassing

What is up with this girl? Trusting everything she's told and yet antagonising everyone too

I find this book a bit confusing in wether it's supposed to read as American or British. I initially assumed it was American but then there's a few British-isms but it also spells colour without a u. I don't know what to make of it. If I'm not mistaken the author is British so might be pulling on that experience but trying to appeal to the American market?

I started out so compelled by this book and now I'm wondering what the point of it all is. There's a solemnity that seems to be dragging me down and I'm not sure that's what I want from a book (at this point) but I don't want to put it down for some reason.

I was not expecting child on child sexual assault to be a part of this narrative or for it to be so casually discussed as if it were a fad like fidget spinners and pogs