Engrossed Reader’s Reviews > We Burned So Bright > Status Update
Engrossed Reader
is 99% done
It's 1am and I've stayed up to finish a book that is all kinds of sad: obvious, unexpected, precise and devastating.
It was worth it.
Even though I will fall asleep soon and themes will continue to swirl around in my subconscious and likely create disturbing dreams.
It was worth it.
It's relationships and people that matter, more so when the world is coming to an end.
And that's really everything.
— Aug 30, 2026 05:15PM
It was worth it.
Even though I will fall asleep soon and themes will continue to swirl around in my subconscious and likely create disturbing dreams.
It was worth it.
It's relationships and people that matter, more so when the world is coming to an end.
And that's really everything.
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Engrossed’s Previous Updates
Engrossed Reader
is 59% done
"Mars is gone. The moon is next, and then it's so long, thanks for all the fish."
When the end is nigh, when time is running out, what do you do? What really matters when death is at touching distance?
— Aug 30, 2026 04:05PM
When the end is nigh, when time is running out, what do you do? What really matters when death is at touching distance?
Engrossed Reader
is 15% done
Ok, it's too early to be reading, I should be asleep but I've finally managed to organise my reads for Sept and that's an achievement. Yay, me!
Rambling aside, what I want to say is that I think this book will destroy me in all the right ways. End of the world, secrets, tension, and characters who are perfect in their imperfection.
The discomfort and latent dread invoked when the MMCs met the family was palpable
— Aug 29, 2026 10:19PM
Rambling aside, what I want to say is that I think this book will destroy me in all the right ways. End of the world, secrets, tension, and characters who are perfect in their imperfection.
The discomfort and latent dread invoked when the MMCs met the family was palpable
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Hey Gaby, yep it was for me: obvious and unexpected. We have the big bad happening, people are counting down to the end of days. The world as they know it is on a countdown and there's nothing anyone can do about it. They can't change it, influence it or negotiate, it is inevitable.That's the overt sadness that hits hard right from the beginning and you imagine, what would I do with the last 30 days of my life?
But this is about Rodney and Don, almost on a last minute quest, a mission and the journey itself is unexpected because of the heightened situation, rule of law is at threat.
So we know what will happen, the variable is people: of course there's no predicting how they will react under this life changing event.The dread, fear, hope and joy they evoked was... insert superlatives here.
I've had this in my TBR for a while and the only reason I read it now instead of putting it off any longer is that I ordered it from the library. It popped into my account after months of being on the waitlist. I had a choice to either let the loan lapse and wait another three months or so, or use this long weekend (in the UK) to take a deep breath and start.
When the time is right you'll know. Your emotions will be all over the place, yet the reward will be that it was worth it because the sadness is tempered by love.
I hope like me, you will be glad that you read We Burned So Bright.
I know I will read this book but I need to have my emotions under control before I risk it.