Status Updates From Blessed and Cursed Alike

I feel like things keep getting really interesting and then they just mellow out again at the start of the next chapter where time skips ahead a little which is annoying. Some things are coming together but I'm hoping for a strong ending that I'm worried may not come so I should try to pay less attention to the lack of plot and just enjoy the ride with the atmosphere and some of the more interesting characters.

It seems like a more cohesive plot might be coming together but things are still pretty slow and mysterious in spite of some pretty brutal moments of action. I feel like there's a lot that needs to happen between now and the end of the book in order for it to end in a satisfying way.

Through the first part of the book and on to the second. I hope that this second section accelerates in terms of plot. There are shades of a grander story starting to take shape, but up until now, it has mostly been character work. I find the characters interesting, but I'm not invested enough in any of them other than Dis for this to really click for me. I'm still enjoying it as a slow burn, leisurely read.

So far, I would say that this is more like magical realism than true fantasy although the world it is set in is definitely not exactly like our own. It's been very atmospheric and mysterious which I like, but I am at a point where I think I want things to start coming together into a cohesive plot especially since I'm not that invested in many of the characters other than Dis. The rubbery cover also bothers me.

An intriguing opening chapter.

"you're thinking of stage magic, illusions, like sleight of hand." he leaned back, pulling something out of his hip pocket. "if the action appears impossible, and it isn't pure misdirection, it would qualify as a miracle, a verifiable, tangible alteration of consensual reality. most magic is more a matter of personal revelation." it's growing on me.

"there are two kinds of riders..." "those who have been down and those going down." I think a visual person might enjoy what I've read so far much more? which isn't to say that it is bad, it just reads as very--sight oriented.