Wow. Am I the only person who feels incredibly mid about this book? Like wow. That's all? This wasn't even that awesome. I saw a comment that said its praised for its takes on mortality. But not gonna lie, I've seen more interesting dissections of mortality from pretentious 14 year olds on Substack. I'm a bit upset. I didn't get the cult they advertised. Maybe it comes later but idk. I don't really care that much about the characters. I'm a bit tired of nothing really happening. And the big thing wasn't even that big or cool. There isn't enough academia for me to like this more. I'm waiting for like a manic spiral or like something but I don't see it happening. Just more vague comments that don't say anything all that new or exciting. I would rather reread The Death of Vivek Oji. Because that's a damn good exploration of death and grief. But whatever. Maybe it's gonna get cooler. I have hope cuz so far I see this as like 5 star but ngl I can't ignore how nothing has truly caught my eye here. I love something that stands out, does something cool, etc. That's actually the reason Poppy War is only 3 stars for me. It was just a history lesson of history I already knew and folklore I was already aware of (The Monkey King was mentioned and I was so hype when I saw it. Loved the show.) But idk. Maybe it will do something in these last few chapters. I have hope. I just need something that makes me page turn. The only reason I read this far was for the reveal and it wasn't satisfying, but I can't give up! If it doesn't get better, I have no choice but to give it a 4.75 star review. I just can't give it a full 5. I only let 5 stars be on my bookshelf.

6 7

ALSO FUCK HAMMOND. Lex is so fucking annoying. I can't have kids. I would genuinely just abandon them when shit like this happens

Loving it. I love the organization. Takes a bit of brainpower. Not a simple easy read. Which I love. I love thinking. Beloved seems a little off. Idk tho. Maybe I'm just crazy.

Dude. That review I read was right. There is really nothing to this book other than flowery prose. This is genuinely the worst. The prose is great. But that's really it. Prose alone doesn't make a 5 star book. Everything else has to back it up. And everything else is genuinely bad. The characters don't do anything. At all. Bunny and Henry are pretty much the only characters. Richard is barely interesting. He just seems like he's kinda there. Same with everyone else. Bet you didn't care about anyone else huh? Exactly. And the setting and mood is great. But there is nothing all that great about this. The plot is pretty mid ngl. I read the rest beyond this point on Wikipedia and I'm shocked that this is all there is to the book. That's it. That's all. Side note, yeah this book could lose about 200 pages. We didn't need them. At all. Just a bunch of nothing. Also what is with the random racism?? We didn't even need that. That character and that entire plot line was pretty much meaningless. The message is already so obvious and clear. I seriously don't understand the point of any of this. Genuinely. I swear she just wanted another excuse to write the n-word with the r. Because who calls Arab people "Sand n-words"? Like are we deadass. What was the point of that? It was barely even an interesting or good message but surprisingly enough that's one of the few interesting things that happen in this overly long snoozefest. What a waste of a Libby loan!

The bitch is BACKKKKKKKK!!! The downvotes on the last one were high. So yk I had to double it. 😝😝 Dude idk what's with this writing. All the pieces for good characterization are there, but they aren't put together in the right combination. So it makes for bad characterization. It's like a wonky puzzle with all the pieces in the wrong areas. If the author was a bit better at this, it would have smacked. Especially cuz it is missing some flavor that just can't be defined yk? Cardan is a fucking pompous dick. Cannot like this guy. Locke creeps me out. I was so freaking bored reading this book that I developed a new method of forcing yourself through a book. You repeatedly move your hand back and forth over the pages while reading and it helps keep your attention. At least for me. Anyway, it's a total snoozefest.

I'm a creature of habit, what can I say? We all have our vices. Some read smut, I reread Crazy Rich Asians when I need my soap opera drama fix. I watched the movie again and it had me thinking about the book which is WAYYYYYYYYYYYY more messy than the movie. And I'm a girl who loves mess and romance. But only this series can scratch the messiness/romance itch in my brain. Plus it helps that the dialogue is good and the plot is pretty good. I refuse to stoop lower than that. I still have my standards.