colleen the convivial curmudgeon > Recent Status Updates

"She didn't have a good reason for most of what she did. Mostly, she went by what seemed right in the moment, and justified it to herself later, and in this way she was no different than anyone else she knew."

"They rarely interacted at work and even less often outside of work. There were a lot of reasons for this, none of them interesting. Not everybody gets to be friends with everybody."

The romance is groaningly bad. I mean, I usually like the trope... but it's just so awful in this.

Have I mentioned that I probably would've DNFd this by now if I didn't feel a bit more obligated to push through since it's a group book?

Though there's the voice in my head saying, "Why bother? You know you're not going to continue the series..."

Never say never, I guess... Things could change. I guess...

There wasn't much intelligencing going on in the beginning, which always annoys me in these books... but the ending is turning out to be fun.

Moving along at a fair clip, and I'm pretty fully engaged. I'm sort of glad this is the last in the series, but I think I'll miss it, too.

Can't say I particularly care about anyone in this story...

I sort of adore Winter.

I haven't found this one quite as good/addicting as the others, but now, at 69% in, we're finally getting to the good stuff.

Things are finally coming together...

Things are starting to get moving, I hope...

So, Cinder's pretty dense... but I'm really enjoying the story overall.

So I'm pretty sure I just guessed the "twist".

The intrigue is interesting enough, if a bit spartan, but Peggy really is quite terrible as a spy...

"I often don't know where my Luggage is, that's what being a tourist is all about."

"He felt that the darkness was full of unimaginable horrors - and the trouble with unimaginable horrors was that they were only too easy to imagine... "

I felt like I had missed a chapter, but I think stuff just happened off-page.

I think I'm liking this better than the first time I read it, but it's still not gonna be one of my faves.

"An aeroplane. Heavier-than-air fixed-wing contraption? Been around since two brothers in America persuaded a propeller and some canvas to go airborne?"

"Religion has proved the refuge of so many scoundrels, one begins by doubting, and waits to be proven wrong."

My eyes are leaking. First Bowie and now Rickman? I can't handle this week...

My reading time has been hampered, but I'm enjoying this and hoping to finish it tonight!

In which we are regaled with Horst's second resurrection and recovery.

Based on my lack of interest thus far, and from what I've read of reviews, thinking I'm calling this one quits.

Waiting for things to get interesting...

King tells a good yarn, but he certainly takes his time getting there.

Just as I was despairing last night, things started picking up. Feel bad for poor Abdo, and it was nice to see some Kiggs again. Seraphina's a bit dim at times, but I guess we can forgive her... she's had a rough time of it.

A bit slow going, but I'm curious to see how they end up dealing with Jan.

"This is called 'having mixed feelings,' and it is a condition we all find ourselves in sooner or later. There is no known cure except to eat a small amount of bittersweet chocolate. The chocolate does nothing to unmix one's feelings, but it does serve as a tasty reminder that bittersweet is a perfectly good flavor and can be enjoyed on its own merits."

This book isn't quite what I expected. For one, I somehow thought it was YA, though I may have been thinking of another book.

It's darker than I expected, and from reviews I've read some things hinted at come to pass, and in more graphic depiction than necessary.

Some reviews have also lead me to think the payoff isn't worth slogging through the slow pacing.

Putting this aside for now. Final fate TBD.