Nerida > Recent Status Updates

“The measure of a person is not how much they have lived. It is not how easily they jump at a noise or how quick they are to show emotion. It’s in how they make use of what life has shown them.” — Wax, p248

Mr Collins is incredibly logical… but also so VERY up himself. Imagine flaunting your own humility while not having the humility to recognise that not every woman would be overjoyed to marry you. Bruh.

Wickham’s assessment of Darcy’s character is fascinating — obviously he has an agenda in blackening Darcy’s character, but he’s also in a good position to know and describe him. Pride can also be an incredible motivator for philanthropy and social graces… but I really think Darcy actually reads as incredibly socially awkward.
Thoughts?

Interesting to note, as a modern reader, that we don’t start from the POV of either main character — but with Mr and Mrs Bennet. It’s almost like a prologue, but no POV shift until chapter 4 or so.

Also Darcy’s treatment of Lizzy at the assembly is so much more brutal than I remember. He actually MAKES EYE CONTACT in hearing range, then insults her?! Bruh.
And Mr Hurst “merely looked the gentleman.”

This is such a visceral depiction of her blindness — counting steps, feeling space, overwhelming noise, and bruises. Wow.

No don’t go destroying my emotions in the prologue 🥺

The way she writes!! This is the style of book I dream of writing one day.

Well that was a dissatisfying finish! I suppose I’ll have to go read the next book for them to get their happy ending.
*sigh*

Ohhh I see, it was actually Shadow in the throne room that day. Figures.

Good to know I was right about Shadow/Lilac. Lila is a bit of an obvious cover name though…

That breakfast conversation 😍

One bed trope 👍🏻

OK the cave scene is cute. Pretty good training montage, although they’re each equally arrogant and annoying…

I was convinced Shadow was the princess, but in hiding… but Princess Lilac appears in this chapter. I still reckon there’s something funky going on — after all, we never found out what Cordyn’s plan was!

“Why bother letting things get serious if they’re just going to end in heartbreak?”
… “That sounds like a lonely way to live, Mark.”

🫶🏻

Hard to tell if it’s intentional because of Arden’s overwrought state, but there are kind of too many adjectives in this opening chapter. It’s a little overwhelming and out of character for analytical Arden — maybe that’s the point, but it feels weird to introduce our main character in a very out-of-character moment.

“Perhaps it is our thorns, and the questions they raise, that enable us to uncover the treasures of the Spirit and those great and unsearchable things we do not know. Maybe it is only in our pain that we can learn that the experience of knowing God is worth the piercing of any thorn.”

We do love a nice, feel-good ending. This one’s high on the recommending list!

The nerve of Logan. Honestly. Getting his cousin to apply for a job at Jake’s bar, as a play to get a compromising photo of him, to shatter Cora’s heart and SOMEHOW win her back? And posting the photo he took (basically without consent!) on the plane, literally designed to trigger Jake? And then SHOW UP AT HER HOME? On Christmas Day?!?!
At least Jake had the sense to call Mark this time 🤦🏼‍♀️

Ew Bailey. Just eww.

Shots fired! Unfortunately, I think Logan’s skin is still too thick to get it…

“I lost myself trying to contort into the woman you expected. … I was dying inside but plastered on a smile … I don’t miss you, Logan. I missed me.”

Cute and finally on the same page properly, and all that… but are we forgetting that Logan is flying today as well?!?! If Cora bought tickets with him, she’s going end up sitting with him… right?

NGL the tense-but-not-there-yet scenes are kind of more interesting than the actual sex scenes. Soz.

The CHEMISTRY of these two! There’s so much tension, and it just keeps on building — but their relationship actually grows too, which is so good to read.

Adding a favourite line to the fake dating trope!

“None of this with you has been an act, Cora. Ever.”

Simple, but deadly.

Of course they’re neighbours now 😂 what a room-com thing to happen!
As much as I love these two, Cora seems a little too forgiving? Although maybe that comes with the territory, since she’s spent years trying to justify what her manipulative ex does and says. Hmmmm.

‘Happiness may not be a promise. It's a temporary emotion that can be stripped away at any moment. But it might last beyond a day or a week. It could last a year or ten years. And Owen's right, feeling something is better than nothing, no matter how long it lasts.’

❤️‍🩹

Ma’am, I don’t know who hurt you, but you write trauma well.

"You're absolutely petrified to care about someone again. So you're pushing Cora away rather than risk getting hurt." … She saw the cracks in my relationship with Tessa when no one else did. Saw how I contorted myself, trying to make Tessa love me as desperately as I loved her. Knew that … Tessa would never cherish me the way I deserved.

Crying.
"Our grief doesn't have to define us… We might feel like the world stops around us. The truth is, it keeps going, with or without us. Moving forward doesn't mean we can't look back. It doesn't mean we don't still hurt from time to time. But it does require us to let go. To realize that it's okay to think about what we want for ourselves. Choosing to live doesn't mean we're choosing to live without them."