Jaime Leigh > Recent Status Updates

People it is literally 45%/10 and a half hours into this book and Lin is *just now* getting some character development and meeting the other lead. What the heck?!

This is like if you took Six of Crows and slowed down to .30 speed, took out all the tension, chucked in a ton of pointless political scenes and backstory, and only developed one character of all the POVs.

The fact that Lin is connected to the stone isn't subtle but her story has nooooothing happening. At least the other POV has things happening. But Lins section,.like this whole book, could have been cut down significantly to a couple of chapters that weren't 8hrs long. The details are rich but are making this reading experience like swimming through honey.

I'm not sure why but the action scenes have no sense of urgency. Action and paril is definitely happening but this scene in the alleyway doesn't feel like it has real stakes. It's also about to do that thing that everyone hates in duel POVs where a character is left in peril to see a much less interesting character.
Also it's been almost 8hrs and the two leads haven't even met yet, which seems pivotal to the plot.

I LOVE this

I am enjoying the story so far. I like the characters and the vibe. It's very much giving Six of Crows. But it is moving. So. Slowly. I feel like the intro section could have been much shorter and accomplished the same thing. It was over an hour on the audiobook! And worldbuilding is lovely, but I'm sure a lot of it is going to get lost as I try to focus on what the main plot is.

This has been on my TBR for a while but it's darker than I would like and I'm not vibing. So another DNF.

Ima need this to get where it's going faster than it is

How far into this will I get? Nobody knows

That would be DNF book 2 for this year everyone!
Maybe it's the audiobook making the writing sound more annoying or maybe I just don't like England's writing in general, since I didn't vibe with the Disasters either. But this is not for me.

I feel like the whole "an earthquake opened up magic pipes which spawned a contamination plague" plus "edgy magic that's also steampunky" is just noooot working 🤦‍♀️

I already kinda hate this magic system

You would think that with the name "Murderbot" there would be more action but it's been 95% buildup and I'm kinda getting tired.

Dr. Mensa is secretly a badass and I'm here for it

"My humans" ❤️

I already realllly like this. Also nice to hear Free's narration again after listening to F. T. Lukens Spellbound last year. But I started it before bed and now I want to keep listening rather than actually sleeping. 🙃

Another backlist disappointment. I can already tell I'm not going to rate this well, so I'm stopping while I'm ahead. Already hate the writing and it feels so cookie cutter and off-putting with the choices being made.

Whyyyyyy are we talking about gentiles and panties so much?!

Im not even a Shadowhunters fan but this feel like a very slightly changed version of the City Of Bones beginning, complete with versions of Jace, Izzy, Alec, Clary and even Simon. But like, the TV show version

Another Backlist Book Goal. This one has been on my list for a very very long time. One of the oldest on my list. We'll see how it fairs but I'm excited to find the audiobook on Everand.

Updates:
Scouts friends are the absolute worst.
Love the casual representation
Love that every character has DnD stats
Really love the trombone player character.
Art style is great!

TW:Death of a parent (before the book)

Getting back to this thanks to an audiobook free trial. I'm excited 😊

Turns out reading about how to fix your currentnburn out, followed by all the other things you have no control over that could also be burning you out, makes you more burned out.

TW: Gun wound, hostile hostage situation, near revenge suicide by gun, details of blood from wound.