Aerin’s Reviews > Ruins > Status Update
Aerin
is on page 115 of 389
100 pages in, and at least 90 of those pages should have been cut. The prose is repetitive and ugly, but the bigger problems are structural. I cannot STAND attempts to build tension based solely on: characters being stupid, the author being coy about revealing things the characters already know, and/or contrived plot delays that would never happen in real life. I am having PTSD flashbacks to reading Connie Willis.
— May 11, 2026 12:09PM
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Aerin’s Previous Updates
Aerin
is on page 365 of 389
The world would be a better place if more authors took an honest look at the premise they’ve cooked up for their next novel, and instead of stretching and padding and overwriting the thing in order to fill 400 pages, simply asked themselves: “would this work better as a short story?”
— May 12, 2026 01:22PM
Aerin
is on page 219 of 389
So many aspects of this book are ADJACENT to being good. It wouldn’t be such an aggravating reading experience if it wasn’t almost, ALMOST there. Maybe in the second half? It’ll get its shit together…?
— May 11, 2026 10:11PM
Aerin
is on page 59 of 389
Nothing makes me grumpier than an author who doesn’t trust her own readers. I picked up what you were putting down the first time, you do not need to keep restating it for me in increasingly simplistic terms.
— May 10, 2026 09:26PM
