karigan commented on punkerella's update
karigan commented on a post
karigan commented on karigan's review of Three Holidays and a Wedding
Three Holidays and a Wedding had something great going for it, but the execution was not there. I was drawn in by the idea of three of the biggest religious holidays happening concurrently with the backdrop of a hallmark movie type setting. In fact, I think the handling of the holiday festivities was one of the things handled well. We experienced traditions from Christmas, Hanukkah, and Ramadan with pretty equal emphasis placed on each. There was no bashing of one another's holidays and all of the characters truly embraced each other's cultures with zero hesitation.
I also loved the way these characters interacted with each other. Sure it was cheesy and over the top, but that's what we signed up for reading a hallmark-esque holiday romance. The relationships felt real and I genuinely enjoyed getting to know each one.
Unfortunately, that is where the praise stops. Any conflict in this book was only present when necessary. Multiple times a conflict would be introduced just for it to go away entirely until it became important to the plot again. Speaking of the plot, I was disappointed that a major growth moment for one of the characters was taken away by another character telling the readers what happened to them. It felt out of place and, frankly, unfair to that character.
The biggest issue is that the readers are treated like they are stupid. The plot of A Christmas Carol was told over and over and over again as if we couldn't be smart enough to remember the details the first time. A character will be introduced and then in the next chapter they'll be introduced again as if we're meeting them for the first time.
I think what bothered me most though is that we were not trusted to either come with prior knowledge about Ramadan and Hanukkah, or given the ability to research them as we read. This book is clearly written for a white Christian crowd because anything related to Christmas is stated as if everyone should know what is being discussed. But anything related to Hanukkah, Ramadan or being Indian is mentioned with a little aside about what that thing is. Like imagine if I said, "over there you see a child with a ball, a spherical object that is often tossed or rolled." It's exhausting and places no faith in the readers.
That being said, I think this book is on par with many cheesy hallmark-esque romances. The inclusivity is great and overall the book is enjoyable if you go in with proper expectations.
karigan wrote a review...
Three Holidays and a Wedding had something great going for it, but the execution was not there. I was drawn in by the idea of three of the biggest religious holidays happening concurrently with the backdrop of a hallmark movie type setting. In fact, I think the handling of the holiday festivities was one of the things handled well. We experienced traditions from Christmas, Hanukkah, and Ramadan with pretty equal emphasis placed on each. There was no bashing of one another's holidays and all of the characters truly embraced each other's cultures with zero hesitation.
I also loved the way these characters interacted with each other. Sure it was cheesy and over the top, but that's what we signed up for reading a hallmark-esque holiday romance. The relationships felt real and I genuinely enjoyed getting to know each one.
Unfortunately, that is where the praise stops. Any conflict in this book was only present when necessary. Multiple times a conflict would be introduced just for it to go away entirely until it became important to the plot again. Speaking of the plot, I was disappointed that a major growth moment for one of the characters was taken away by another character telling the readers what happened to them. It felt out of place and, frankly, unfair to that character.
The biggest issue is that the readers are treated like they are stupid. The plot of A Christmas Carol was told over and over and over again as if we couldn't be smart enough to remember the details the first time. A character will be introduced and then in the next chapter they'll be introduced again as if we're meeting them for the first time.
I think what bothered me most though is that we were not trusted to either come with prior knowledge about Ramadan and Hanukkah, or given the ability to research them as we read. This book is clearly written for a white Christian crowd because anything related to Christmas is stated as if everyone should know what is being discussed. But anything related to Hanukkah, Ramadan or being Indian is mentioned with a little aside about what that thing is. Like imagine if I said, "over there you see a child with a ball, a spherical object that is often tossed or rolled." It's exhausting and places no faith in the readers.
That being said, I think this book is on par with many cheesy hallmark-esque romances. The inclusivity is great and overall the book is enjoyable if you go in with proper expectations.
karigan finished a book

Three Holidays and a Wedding
Uzma Jalaluddin
karigan commented on a post from the Pagebound Club forum
Hey âşď¸ I was wondering if thereâs a way to display more than 3 badges or not? I donât know if Iâm just missing something something or if itâs just not possible ty!
karigan commented on a post from the Pagebound Club forum
i keep seeing the lists everywhere but what are they? what are they meant to be for? is to group things? and most importantly how do i use it?
karigan commented on karigan's update
karigan commented on a post from the Pagebound Club forum
When I see "Activity from People You Follow" and some of them have DNF'ed the book, I would love to be able to click the map icon from there and see any posts leading up to the decision to DNF. Where is the map icon? I can never seem to find it.
Do I have to navigate to the person's page and then try to find it?
Sorry if it's very obvious.
EDIT: Turns out it doesn't work on the website, only on the app. Insert crying emoji here because I primarily use the website.
karigan commented on ChaosReader's update
karigan commented on a post from the Pagebound Club forum
Hi friends! I love hearing what everyone loves about Pagebound. Even though there are features I'm looking forward to having in the future, I would continue to use Pagebound if nothing ever changed and the site/app stayed the way they are right now, forever. I love it here, and there are already so many delightful features. Which features make PB feel special for you? What feature did you not know you needed until you had it? Is there a UI/UX thing that makes your life easy in a way that you love?
For me, the "pause" reading status was part of what led me to be able to finally start committing to DNF books. I used to force myself through every book I picked up, but when I realized I could put books on pause instead of committing to DNFing, I allowed myself to put them down without feeling bad. Now, I'll DNF anything I know I don't like as soon as I realize all I'm focusing on is what I don't like about the book lol
A recent feature I love is the progress bar on shelves in our library. I've immediately started using my shelves more, and it's overall increasing the usability of the shelves. Love love love đââď¸ Also, just a cute thing, I love that every different card in our feed is color-coded according to its type (e.g., comments are orange, posts are blue, etc.). It makes identifying what I'm looking at easy, and ofc it's adorable.
What about you?
karigan commented on MagPiper's review of As Many Souls as Stars
I was really intrigued by the description for this and had high hopes for the "Faustian bargian" and "cat-and-mouse" game I expected. Unfortunately, 30% into this, I mostly found myself growing tired of repetitive prose and unconvincing sexual tension (if it could be called that; at least, that's what I think it was meant to be) between two characters who had neither struck a bargain yet nor had any chemistry with each other. Ultimately this was a disappointment and I ended up DNFing.
Post from the Three Holidays and a Wedding forum
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