Kelsey > Recent Status Updates

Main thought so far: this reads like my junior high/high school diary. Which is heartbreaking and does make it a little difficult to take seriously. It's also a bit all over the place topically and chronologically. I went in short of expecting this so it's fine. But it's worse than I imagined. It's also very clear that no ghost writing took place here. And editing was done with a very light hand.

Well other than the fact that the intro chapter made me dislike the author is going fine. William Goldman doesn't strike me as my kind of person but I'm happy to read the book since A) he just abridged a story S. Morgenstern wrote and B) I obviously am in love with said story because of the movie. It can only go up from here.

Breaking. My. Heart. Simon! I can say no more without spoilers but man chapter 26 had my heart in my throat.

Chapter 11. Just... :: Chef's kiss:: in general this book is just fantastic. The banter. The insight. The subtleties of the human experience.

Mildly irked by the change in tense for each of the three characters we're following. Always distracts me. Especially when it's switching back and forth so frequently.

It frustrates me to no end the amount of avoidable 'accidents' and misadventures this family puts itself through with almost zero consequence. Maybe that means I'm a terrible person, but it's eating me up on the inside. They can justify their behavior and choices over and over again because they keep surviving it.

This book is making me irrationally angry. It may make me a terrible person but it is infuriating to read about people who are so reckless and intentionally careless about their own lives and the lives of their children and anyone around them. To see them behave this way and somehow "miraculously" keep coming away with their lives. I can get help but think of the inverse and rage at the universe (and this family)

Just read the Spark Notes for Fifty Shades of Grey, The Help, Django Unchained, and 12 Years a Slave...

Struggling with this. So many essays feel like mini book reviews? Stopping the names of 10 different books, briefly describing the plot and then saying whether she agrees with it or not/generally how she felt about it. I've not read most of those books referenced. Maybe if i had it would feel less disjointed? Even the essays without all the book references feel... Halfbaked? Like I'm not sure what her stance is.

This book was going along nicely then I reached "How We All Lose" and A) it referenced the prices we've made for women... Roe v. Wade... And that was painful to read. B) this essay felt like a bunch of small book blurbs? I guess "Garish, Glorious Spectacles" was kind of like that too. Anyway it's sort of odd to me and nothing in there really felt particularly fleshed out. Sort of just regurgitation.

Enjoying this so far but definitely dark with a side of humor.
TW for self harm.

Loving the writing style. Brevity of each sentence. Everything feels very... Now. Futuristic but just barely.

It's tugging my heartstrings just life i figured it would. It the most tortured easy. Which is my favorite. Some Wuthering Heights vibes. Chapter Thirty from August's POV ... Just cut my heart out of my chest why don't you?

Woof and it just kept hitting. Pretty graphic. I appreciate the underlying sentiment but this was not an enjoyable experience for me.

And things took a dark turn in a very casually managed way... In these last 50 pages we've had: infidelity leading to pregnancy, suicide, infanticide, grave robbing, and animal abuse to the point of death.

I'm... Concerned

Initial thought: the grammar in this book is terrible so just get used to it. Also it's so far a very sweet book. Certainly religious overtones, but not too heavy handed.

Page 11 "Somebody told me once that a cow won't bite. That somebody is as wrong as Sin on Sunday."

Page 46 Major Robert Rogers doesn't seem like somebody our protagonist should look up to.

Except for the seeing ghosts thing, I pretty much am Florence. Enjoying this immensely so far. Also wins an award for getting me to cry less than a third of the way through the book. A rare feat.

Ashlee... She snuck up on me. Which I think was the author's intent. Not sure which or if there's a fairy tale behind her story because The Bachelor is the only thing I can think of. Also reminded me a lot of UnReal (tv show) which may have been an inspiration. Either way it didn't go the way I expected, to the story's immense credit.

Bernice was first up and a twist on the Bluebeard fable. Smart modern take.
Ruby is Red Riding Hood, of course. I'm currently just struggling with how disgusting the descriptions of her and her coat are. Like really really gross.

Getting the hang of it a bit more now but still struggling to stay focused amidst the language.
More translations:
Von=smell
Noch=night

To be fair, Burgess has admitted that the faux slang language he created for the book (Nadsat) is something to be rightfully feared. And it's making it really tough for me. Decided to read no more than a few chapters at a time. After more than that I start to glaze over. Here are some 'translations' I've figured out so far:
Viddy = See
Slooshy = Hear
Rot = Mouth
Horrorshow = adjective meaning really awesome?

Page 7 "...a familiar sense of grief. Only the sertraline stopped her crying."
Page 53 "Hobbes had viewed imagination and memory as pretty much the same thing, and since discovering that she had never entirely trusted her memories."

Oh my. This book is everything I dreamed and more. I might have to buy my own copy as I think I'll want this on hand as "comfort food" for the rest of my days.