Kadi P > Recent Status Updates

Thoughts after reading chapter 1:
- I think I’ve just seen the word “besides” written 4 times in the space of 2 pages😂
- The art is cute!
- The stepsister isn’t horrible. I don’t know if that makes it less or more interesting. We’ll see…
- Ooh, ok, mystery ending! I completely forgot there was a mystery aspect to this. It stands up pretty well as just a drama to be honest.

- I can’t put my finger on why they all care about her. Is it because she’s like their substitute little sister? Or does Eric only care about her because Evelyn does?
- What is Eric’s hold over Jesse? I don’t get why he wouldn’t just walk away from all of this.
- Jesse is so infuriating. He completely misunderstands her and then gaslights her into confusion. All the while he thinks he’s in the right!

- I can’t feel bad for her parents. They literally ignored her when she was around and now it’s “woe is me, she’s gone”. The gall of her mother wondering why her daughter didn’t tell her stuff when she was around yet it was SEVEN months after her disappearance before she finally decided to be interested in it.
- I feel like shaking this girl by the shoulders she’s been Stockholm’d so badly. Wake up!!

- Brad this and Brad that. Come on, girl. Brad seems awful. He’s just using her for her connections and because he likes controlling her. She was always kidnapped but she didn’t realise it.
- I can’t figure out the Jesse and Eric dynamic. What is the truth behind this whole situation?
- As kidnappers go, these ones aren’t the worst to be fair. But she’s still being held against her will, so there’s that.

- I know what you’re thinking: “Don’t do it, Kadi, don’t read another book about a kidnapping.” What is this, the fifth, the sixth? But they’re just so interesting! The fight or flight feelings. The way the kidnapping is a great excuse for a character analysis for both the protagonist and the kidnapper. The mix of different genres like thriller, drama, mystery, and sometimes a touch of romance.

- Reading this for Middle Grade Madness' TBR Challenge 2026 task 7: a book that belongs to the dystopian genre.
- I know I'm supposed to feel bad for Matt, but he was acting like a stuck up rich kid at the start, so this seems like just desserts!

- I’ve enjoyed this book, but I really need it to be over now so I can tick it off my list and move on! It’s actually putting me off reading the second book.
- What more could possibly happen now? Any other author would rush to wrap up the story but we’ve still got 6 more chapters left…

- Rob is really irritating me. I’m sorry, do you want us to feel sorry for you stealing? All I hear are excuses. “I was so mad, I didn’t know what I was doing” “I didn’t steal it for me” “They don’t care about or need this stuff anyway” “Everyone thinks I’m a thief already anyway”. Seriously? And he doesn’t feel guilty, he’s just scared to be caught. Don’t do it in the first place!

- This book is like everyone’s lives suck and we should all feel sorry for each other. Equally sorry. There’s no one to root for. Everyone is good and bad—and miserable to boot. I know it’s realistic and nuanced but it’s also tiring. And confusing. I need someone to root for, the protagonist who is inherently right and good. Not all these morally grey people with their never-ending problems.

- I was having fun at the Rob pity party until this Drew kid came to rain on the parade.
- Drew really cheesed me off. He said he hates how everyone makes things about race when it comes to him and doesn’t give him any grace because he’s black. So then he makes things about race and doesn’t give Rob grace because he’s white. Where’s the logic? You just look bitter and like you need an excuse to be a hater.

- I love that the first meeting between Rob and Maegan they just argue and then sit in silence but Rob said he had a good time😂 I know it’s sad but it’s also lowkey funny.
- I definitely like Owen but I have a feeling it’s going to go wrong between him and Rob somehow.
- I really don’t have any sympathy for Samantha. Girl you did it to yourself. Yes there was a guy too but you did it🤦🏻‍♀️

- I don’t know why they kept saying the male love interest looked so much better with short black hair. Now he looks like every other love interest in a shoujo manga. The long dyed hair suited him more. It made him look more sophisticated and thereby older. So it’s probably better he looks younger with the black haircut because then he just looks like a really tall teenager instead of twenty three!

- What is wrong with all these people?? They just keep going like nothing is different. Like this kid didn’t have the most traumatic experience anyone could possibly have. They’re all just as horrible as they were at the start except now it’s more noticeable because as the protagonist Sayers isn’t horrible anymore, he’s just pathetic now.
- I hope it works out with Ethan and Blair.

- 200 pages in one night. Yeah, I’ve still got it💁🏻‍♀️
- This is so messed up. This guy is mentally ill. Even though Sayers was a spoilt brat he didn’t deserve this craziness.
- This book really makes you appreciate what you have. Like even if you’re lonely, at least you’re not being held captive and so bored you’re happy to see your captor just to see another living being. So messed up!

- This is so messed up. This is so so messed up. Nothing has happened yet but I can sense something is coming. These psychos are going to beat up this poor innocent kid or do something horrible to him or hurt someone else by accident.
- Sayers is a bully. Associating with bullies makes you a bully too. And just because we can hear his inner thoughts doesn’t make me sympathise or excuse him. Disgusting behaviour.

- “And your kind would stay and die for a photograph?”
“No—we stay and we die for the truth . Because that’s the only thing worth dying for.” Wow, ok Jimmy Olsen!
- The art is really good, but the story is same old, same old to be honest.

- So, is this an Elseworlds story? Or just an origin story for (I don’t really know when this came out so I’m guessing continuity) New 52 Supes? What is this connected to because Jonathan is dead already, are we just supposed to know what happened or are they getting to explaining that?
- “Thanks to the internet, every yahoo with a keyboard thinks that just because he can type, he can write.” Accurate!

- I can’t believe after all this time they finally reunite and she does NOTHING. Extremely anticlimactic. I know I was strongly wishing for them to find each other but I’d honestly rather they hadn’t if all they were going to do was exactly what they would’ve done if they’d never found each other again.
- This story has taken such a disappointing and boring turn. I’d rather go back to the start.

- I cannot believe I’m reading another book that has me wondering whether the protagonist will find the person they’re looking for. I can’t see how she’ll find him but I will be unbelievably sad if she doesn’t.
- The training montage is very long. When will it end?😩 I just want to know what’s at the top of the cliff. Is it the community on the other side? Or is it just wild animals?

- Forgot about aliens kidnapping the girl, this book sounds like it was written by aliens who have never interacted with human teenagers. There’s something so odd about the writing. It completely takes you out of the story. It’s like the author is being held hostage and must feign enthusiasm or else it’s over for them.
- I swear this better not be aliens or a monster kidnapping because that will ruin it for me.

- The writing is a bit clunky but I could probably get behind this. It has a nostalgic feel to it which works in its favour.

- On the one hand I’m completely disgusted by the way the Americans are treating the Japanese community, especially the Japanese Americans amongst them. On the other hand, I’m surprised they still allow letters to be sent from the internment camp. I suppose things could always be worse.
- I thought we would encounter this problem sooner or later. How can Alex send letters when he doesn’t know where Charlie is?

- Reading this whilst I can hear the planes overhead in the city of Dubai due to the American-Iran war is quite apt.
- “Decades of thoughts and hopes and feelings turned to ashes, forever disappeared.” Truly tragic, the history we have lost due to censorship during wartime.
- I love the letters. I could read a whole book of just the letters. The rest is still very well-written and compelling anyway.

- Ok so we’re dancing and we’re eating. Can we get to the hunt please?
- I’m so geared up for this hunt. It’s like a year in the making for me to get to this part of the book. I hope it’s epic and I can’t wait!

- I just can’t believe this book is not over yet. I feel like it’s finished but it’s still going! I can see that there’s more to explore but save that for the sequel surely😩

- “Whoever he was, I wanted to find out.” Same, girl, same.
- I’m sorry but it’s so frikking cute and sweet and young romance but he’s an old soul and she’s so enamoured by him. I want to eat it all up it’s so CUTE.
- I love that the writing is simplistic but the characters still have so many layers.
- Love the protagonist’s sarcasm. It’s exactly my kind of wit haha!

- Ugh we’re not going on a long traipsing journey again, are we?
- Grimalkin is the only one making this book slightly bearable. Ash was interesting but he dipped in and out for literally 2 seconds.
- The protagonist is useless. She just stood there waiting to die instead of getting out of the way.
- The Seelie Court was boring. Hopefully the Unseelie Court is more interesting when we eventually get there.

- So my guess is Robbie is fae and knows Meghan is the King’s daughter. 2 dead giveaways: he found the place in the woods which was never found again and he calls Meghan Princess constantly. Maybe he means it literally and not sarcastically.
- I think it takes me time to warm up to protagonists because I’m not a huge fan of Meghan right now. She’s very whiny and pick me, yikes!

- I’m going to put this back on my TBR because I’m not feeling it and I don’t know why I started it

Do you see me prattle on about the August MG Reading Challenge every year and still wonder what it’s about?
Well, this year it may be bigger (and hopefully better) than ever before!
Vote for your thoughts on a longer Challenge this year, but please only if you plan on participating in the Challenge:
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