Ananya > Recent Status Updates

My thoughts while reading this: Wow, Earth (at least the idea of it) is so much better from space. I think the trees and water and gravity are something you would really, really miss. Fuck space travel. But also, wow, and kudos to those who do it. I could never. (On another note, I'm noticing a lot of LISTS in the narration, as mentioned by other GR reviews, and yes, it's kinda jarring.)

So I get it. all the history of the English Raj and Tawaif culture before independence has great significance in honing Hindustani classical music. i mean, who would have thought? when you always consider classical music to be the domain of pandits and ustads, a lot of crucial facts are missing. Hiramandi shown by SLB is only the tip of the iceberg from where this book stands

I thought this was fiction but i'm met with historical facts on every page? in an epistolary novel? So already there's not much character development and on top of that you're giving a huge load of history (which might be interesting if not for the textbook way it's being told). idk! here's a person ready to know a bit more about Hindustani classical music but the text keeps coming in the way. whats the focus?

Maybe it's because of the translation but I'm not able to connect to any of the characters and it doesn't help that it's in an epistolary format. too early to say much...

The story I like (and I often watch stuff like this on TV but don't read enough of), it's the names that make this book so damn tough to get through! I often vocalise a lot of sentences in my head and names like Yun Dorupon make everything come to a screeching halt. It's not you, it's me.

for a murder mystery (or so it claims), the narrative is all over the place! but I'd like to get to the point now....which is nowhere in sight

why introduce romance (or anything of the like) so early into the story? And I'm not talking about the flashbacks - those are ok. I think I appreciate Silvia Moreno-Garcia more now if only for the fast pace and still keeping you interested in the story.

insightful! The Swedish culture of being out in nature since childhood is something we should all follow, especially now when most kids are glued to screens. I'd say I spent a great deal outdoors as a child and played for hours and had to be summoned back home by my mother. and now we have to push kids to even go out to the park!

I have decided I don't like this teacher/student romance trope

I'm halfway through but I can't quite figure out if I like it too much! it's not Horowitz's best but I'm eager to see how he will justify putting himself in the story. you can always expect weird narrative quirks from this guy. in some ways, you can see Hawthorne feel much the same way as the readers about Horowitz, maybe.

finally they all meet.

shelving this under 'right up my alley' even though I've loved and renounced dark academia in my early 20s. BUT you can't not love the combination of greek tragedy in contemporary world, murder mystery, amateur sleuth, dark pasts, really good looking villains, beautiful campus, etc.

you know what, I'll hold on to it a bit longer. maybe for Eileen (even though her arc triggered me the most).

These plot-less novels do get boring after a while. You've introduced everyone and now we know everything about them even if we don't want to. idk how I will reach the halfway point.

I always thought I wouldn't like it, but it's growing on me

I don't want to actively hate Katy but she's making it very hard to do otherwise!! plus I know certain people, who think like her, exist (I can draw some similarities with my ---)

the most fantastical part for me would be the friends taking the MC to France. I mean the time and effort (and money). wow. we haven't even reached the romance part yet.

seems like an easy breezy read until they drop a small bomb somewhere. the writing is flawless btw, and I should make notes about it but I get too engrossed in the story.

a bit long-winded at this point, but the story has to end neatly without any loose ends. this makes you feel like writing is hard. which it, unbearably, is.

the Neelay Mehta chapter got me into a really weird reading slump but we're done with that thankfully. what was the point anyway? I wish I had just skipped to the much nicer Plant Patty chapter which reminded me of Annihilation's protagonist.

I'm hooked alright!

wow, didn't expect this to become sadder.