Ugh I’m up to chapter five and I’m really struggling with this book. Is this supposed to get better if I push through? I’m not sure if it’s because it’s a short book and together with the fantasy confusion, I’m not following the story at all and feel like I’m just reading and listening to words on the page. Maybe this is a book that’s meant to be slowly read? Or should I be approaching it with spark notes like in English class lol

I want to earn the summer badge but idk if I wanna risk a reading slump

Mer dining in underwater caverns, drinking wine from chalices made of cockles.

I think they're drinking chemicals? Like mercury or chloroform? Because wine mixes with water. Their wine would diffuse into the ocean. Things like mercury don't mix with water, same as oil, but unlike oil they're denser than water so they could actually sink into a cup instead of floating to the surface.

I watch in awe as false blood is spilled from the chest of a thespian, dissipating into the water around him instead of leaking into a puddle by his tail.

The author even thought of liquids dissolving in the ocean! This is from the next paragraph!

I don’t like him. I don’t like his name (Graydon). I don’t like his attitude. I don’t like how he pulled her hair and instead of apologising, started lowkey harassing her because she “doesn’t know what she’s missing.” I don’t like how he sexualises her.

“I have a truckload of baggage that no one wants to unpack, leaving me grouchy most of the time.” (Page 30 of my copy). No one owes you anything, you are the one who has to work on yourself. It is not someone else’s responsibility to ‘fix you’.

Can someone just tell me if he actually becomes redeemable at any point, because I have been scowling for the last forty pages and don’t want frown lines.