Reema > Recent Status Updates

Oh wow. Now this is a first person narrative I can get behind. An imperfect character but likable and not annoying. His voice is written really well and feels very clear from the start. The love for his wife is BEAUTIFUL and so tender, I literally have tears in my eyes. A pleasant surprise. The pacing is impeccable. It wasn’t hard to follow the world and we’re thrown right into the middle of it. Fast easy read.

Almost 300 pages in and still nothing has actually happened. We’re essentially just rehashing all the side plots from last book. Some of the prose is quite pretty, but it often feels overly indulgent and over dramatic. I still don’t understand the currency system, and still find it frustrating that all of his drama is around needing money spending money needing spending again and again and again.

Not a fan of 1st POV. Dramatic effect in a person’s thoughts just makes everything feel so over the top. I like that MC is a dancer, and uses it to charm others. There is a disability aspect to it, but not much depth to it, or rather, very quickly overcome (physically anyway).
Also looks like fantasy, and kind of is in the sense of a different world but no “fantastical” elements thus far.

“If one were to [ask these young men] why they sparred with such violence, they would struggle for an answer….but the truth of the matter was they fought because Jun was grieving and Keema was terrified and Jun was exhilarated and Keema was joyful and Jun was exhausted and Keema was repulsed.”

Such a fascinating concept and very confusing. But pays off as you get used to the style, and the “voiceover” interruptions and the constant back and forth between “your” memories and the story told on stage. By this point in the book the plot really picks up and gets more interesting as does the Jun and Kareem’s journey.

“The false alarm was the result of the explosive amplifying effects of a hyper-information society when fed sensitivity news.”

It’s hard to describe my journey through these books. Like how I feel both hope and optimism yet also dread and despair. How I can go from feeling minute and insignificant to a macroscopic feeling of wonder and boundlessness. It’s weird to say that reading these books quieted a lot of my inner turmoil about general world and life. It’s certainly not a heartwarming read, and yet…it feels like a salve.

A slower start because “chapters” are longer (160 pages!) and still so much to take in and think about. Such as how do humans react when the entire world and existence of earth faces an interstellar threat that’s hundreds of years away?! And how does a threat beyond your lifetime or (of everyone you know) affect your life and state of mind now? How do your decisions change? Fascinating to explore.