Cat Stickler > Recent Status Updates

Just finished Part 1, and wow...I'm surprised it's taken me this long to read this series. It's hard to put down, so at least it's a short book!

I don't know other people's experiences with OCD, but holy hell, it's still so accurate to my own experiences.

I want so badly to share tidbits, and it's hard not to put spoilers in these. I'm flying through this, though, and I'm shocked it's THIS BOOK that's dragging me out of a slight reading slump.

Just finished part 1. EXCUSE ME?! I want to immediately go back and start reading from the beginning (but I know I won't find answers). Also, as someone who lives with debilitating OCD, this is a freakishly accurate depiction of what I experience with intrusive thoughts, obsessions, compulsions, avoidance, spirals, etc. I'm actually surprised of how accurate-to-my-experience it is and wonder if the author also has it

Part II done. What the fuck did I just read?

So far, easily one of THE BEST books I've read this year, possibly ever.

Oops, I forgot to update this after finishing part 3 in Joseph's perspective. I haven't been taking as detailed notes as I usually like to do, but I love the way Monstrilio and his connection with each character has developed and changed.

I just finished part 2 (in Lena's perspective), and yet again I'm struggling to describe this without completely spoiling the section. It was a slower read for me, though no less enjoyable, just different. While part 1 (Mago's perspective) was more plot, Lena's perspective really leaned into character-driven horror. It was slower paced, but it needed it.

I just finished part 1 (Magos's POV) and wow. I don't even know what to say that wouldn't be an instant spoiler, much less how to even process what I just read.

MY HEART. What is this story? 😭

I just read the first "chapter," and someone came up to me at the coworking space and asked if I was okay because I looked horrified.

What the hell did I just read? I need more. Desperately. There will be NO sleep had today.

This book is so fast-paced I forget I'm even reading.

Just finished reading "Reunion" (final short story in my edition), and I'm wrecked. Easily my favorite of the entire collection. I'm about to re-read it to luxuriate in the pain again 😭

It's a cute fairytale (though also sad), but I didn't find anything that would particularly linger in my mind once the story is finished. I'm not sure if I'll even remember reading it a couple day from now.

Just finished "Home Sweet Home" and have more questions than answers. I enjoy a good haunted house story, though this was a little more disjointed than I had expected.

I just finished "Scars," and maybe it's because I'm under a tight deadline with lots of pressure from a publisher and I had to read this over several days, but I just didn't connect with this story as I did the others. It wasn't bad per se, but it didn't leave me with anything.

Just finished "Goodbye, My Love," and let's just say it's incredibly relevant. I didn't anticipate that twist either.

Holy shit, "The Snare." I did NOT anticipate that ending.

Just finished "The Frozen Finger," and this is definitely my favorite of the collection so far!

I finished reading "The Embodiment" and "Cursed Bunny."

"The Embodiment" was SO WEIRD, and I didn't at all predict the ending, though it gripped me almost immediately. "Cursed Bunny" took me a little longer to get into, but when I did, I couldn't stop reading. (I also didn't predict that ending either!)

I'm only allowed to read one short story per chapter I write in a book, so back to writing, I GUESS. 😂

Short story 1: The Head

What the hell did I just read? 🤣 I've been awake and working the last 17 or so hours, so I feel like I just read a fever-dream.

On a completely unrelated note, I'm glad I went to the bathroom before this.

fgknzdl.kfgnz.lfgmnl.zmf. What is this book? What am I reading??

Even if I can see what's about to happen before it happens and there's this looming sense of perma-dread, I still gasp when the horrific thing happens.

When I say I audibly gasped and shouted "oh my god" in a public space, I'm not exaggerating. I knew the book was about a school shooting (from the description), but somehow I still wasn't prepared.

I didn't finish before I had to return the book, so I'll check it out again later!

I'm obsessed with this format, and there are so many layers to this that I'm reading slower than I need to be. The poem feels like it’s exploring how we never really “see” reality directly. We just see reflections, memories, and interpretations layered on top of it, and not even memory is stable because it keeps reshaping itself.

I literally laughed out loud (in public) at this:

"Let me state that without my notes Shade's text simply has no human reality at all since the human reality of such a poem as his (...) has to depend entirely on the reality of its author and his surroundings, attachments and so forth, a reality that only my notes can provide. ...for better or worse, it is the commentator who has the last word."

"But let me not pursue the tabulation of nonsense" is one of the most wildly chaotic things for Kinbote to say.

I saw this book was due back to the library yesterday, so I only have one day. Let's see if I can get through it while not completely ignoring work.

Also, I only have 3 colors of tabs I'm working with to annotate, and one is designated as "unreliable"/"distorted." I'm getting nervous I'll run out of that color before finishing the book lol.