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Let Women Read Porn
This is a bit different than my usual post on here, but I wanted to talk about something I saw going around Threads and Instagram. Essentially, a woman had posted about the damage reading Romance and Erotica does. She states that it damages a relationship worse than a man watching porn does. Okay, strike one. Could that be because our society makes it more acceptable for men to watch it? She also says that it leads to women engaging in risky behavior (disgusting view in my opinion) and unhealthy/unrealistic expectations for sex and relationships. So let’s talk about it.
Starting with the unhealthy view of sex and relationships: I have seen this genre have more benefits for couples and single women than detriments. I went through the deep dives of a romance subreddit, looking for different views and stories that others have shared. A man reported that he no longer asks for sex with his wife – not because of anything bad though. He saw what she was reading, learned what she likes, and puts in just a smidge of effort by showering, wearing grey sweatpants, and rolling his sleeves up to his elbows. Shocking, I know. How dare she make him feel as if he has to do all that just to get laid.
I couldn’t even count the amount of reports that stated reading this genre has helped them feel more comfortable within their own bodies. They have learned new kinks they had and learned to do those kinks safely. Women have been able to learn what they like during sex so that they can have pleasure too. They’ve reported having sex with their husbands more than they ever had previously; and, get this, actually enjoying it instead of feeling as if it’s just another chore they need to check off. They’re finding themselves flirting with their husbands more, being more intimate, and just having fun. Which leads into my next point.
Why is it so bad for a woman to have fun, especially when that fun is targeted towards sexuality? So many people claim that reading these of books isn’t ‘real reading.’ But if it isn’t, then why? How? Explain it to me. In what way does women exploring their likes, pleasures, and interests harm or threaten a man? Because, from where I’m sitting, it’s just something fun and definitely not harmful for women to engage in. Unless you count having more sex with your husband as harmful.
What unhealthy views of relationships are we talking about? I, personally, would never want to be locked in a room with the love interests from some of the books I read, even though I am absolutely devouring the story they’re in. Since reading romance and erotica, I can say I never once expected my partner to act that exact same way. I’m able to look at the grand exclamations of love and over obsession and realize that my partner and I don’t need or do that. However, I have found new things to try. I have explored dirty talk more and I have set specific boundaries that I didn’t have before because I didn’t know how to. These books show how integral consent is, always. And, get this: the woman’s pleasure is actually important to the guy. Almost as if each person in the relationship deserves pleasure. Huh. And if you’re talking about monster or dark romance that you’re reading as unhealthy/unrealistic, then I ask you: do you really think a large population of women reading those genuinely expect their partners to become a gargoyle and fuck them with dubious consent? Cause I don’t. But, damn, is it a silly fun time when I read it.
Porn does not have to damage a relationship. Excessive use of it and fully expecting your partner to adhere to each and every fantasy without ever actually talking about that fantasy is the issue. Comparing your partner to the unrealistic bodies shown in porn – bodies that had help getting there – is the issue. P.S. a benefit of books is that you’re not being subjugated to real people while exploring and learning those fantasies. It’s about boundaries and conversation, not just watching or reading porn.
I do understand that there are religious values that hold some from engaging in this type of content, and that’s fine. If there has been a clear set of communication and boundaries and both parties are cool with it, don’t read any of these books. If you’re the kind of person can mix ideals in their head, that’s okay. Talk about it. Learn about what you like and what isn’t really realistic. None of that means all women should stop reading it. None of that means this genre is detrimental to women.
I don’t read this genre a lot. I read a romance once in a blue moon, but I have been reading fantasy romance more and more. And guess what? It’s really fun. And if a specific scene gets me hot and heavy, I get to explore that with my partner. I, like many women and men, have only seen benefits to exploring what this genre has to offer. Most of the book I read have an actual plot to go with it. There is intrigue and fun. Just let women have fun, man. Women have endured purity culture, rape culture, and just being unaware of their sexual desires, despite our sexuality being a key aspect of confidence and relationship intimacy. If we want to read a silly little book about gargoyles fucking people or a man falling head over heels in love with a woman and worshipping her body for it, let us read it. Who is it hurting? Who is it threatening? Let women read porn.
I’d be curious to know your thoughts on this topic as well. As a man, do you have an issue with your partner reading this genre? If so, why? As a woman who reads this genre, have you seen any of these benefits? I’d love to know.
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Blood Like Mine – Stewart Nevill
What would you do for your daughter?
Information:
- Goodreads: 4.10 out of 112 Ratings
- Age Category: Adult
- Genre: Horror, Thriller
- Series: None
Summary:
FBI Agent Donner is on the hunt for a pedophile killer. He feels as if it’s his job to make these guys face legal consequences; it isn’t someone else’s job to just kill them. Rebecca feels as if she’s helping the world – and her daughter – out by killing these men off. What ensues is a gripping cat and mouse as a mother desperately tries to do everything she can for her daughter’s sake and man who is desperate to fix his life by catching a killer.
– Trigger Warnings: talk of pedophiles, murder, bloody. While a pedophile is lured in by a young girl, there is no on screen rape. He is murdered before he does anything.
Review:
I started this book at 8 am before work started it. I then finished it by 9 that evening. It is absolutely compulsively readable with short enough chapters that I didn’t find myself wandering after a day of work. There is not a single character in this that I liked. They are all garbage. And I loved it. Moonflower is 12 and stuck in a van perpetually. She also doesn’t really have a ton of personality to her, she’s just the vehicle that really drives the story. She gives Rebecca a reason to continue to do what she’s doing and she gives Donner something to hunt during his unraveling life. Also, I hate Moonflower as a name. Donner is an alcoholic who left his family 3 years ago. Why? Couldn’t tell ya, don’t think it was ever explained. He wasn’t kicked out, he just left. Rebecca is interesting. She’s kind of a bad person. Her letters to her daughter are fucking wild. But, we get to see struggles of being a mother through her. However, even while loving the child more than anything, you can still wonder about what could have been. You can still grieve the life that you no longer get to have. We also get to see the lengths a mother would go through for her child and how she may rationalize that choice as well. It’s heartbreaking how easily and desperately Rebecca clings to her reasoning behind what she’s doing because it’s the only way to keep going forward.
What exactly is going on with Moonflower isn’t exactly explained. It can be inferred and I’m going with vampire that dogs happen to like. But it’s up for the reader to choose what they believe. All we know for sure is dogs follow around and she has to live off of blood like her own. I didn’t really find myself needing the details, I was more invested into the plot and how the characters rationalized their fuck ups.
Rebecca, after learning that her daughter needs to feed off blood, decides she’s just gonna go after pedophiles. She’s getting rid of a presence in the world that it would be better off without anyway and giving Moonflower what she needs. But life constantly on the road, unable to ever truly get to know anyone, isn’t really a life, is it? It’s just Rebecca and Moonflower. Their love for one another is strong, but not strong enough to stave off the loneliness and resentment that can build.
Donner is a FBI agent who struggles with alcoholism. Instead of working to solve his problems with his wife and two daughters, he just kind of leaves em. And because it’s easier to solve a problem that isn’t our own, he decides to chase this string of murders through the country for two years. We get to see as Donner slowly loses his mind and his grip on right vs. wrong. Honestly, I spend the entire book routing for his death. He consistently makes the wrong choice and I think he’s kind of dumb.
Blood like Mine definitely has its flaws, but it was such a quick and fun read. Jeeze, it was so fun. It ties in cat and mouse detective stories with vampirism horror. What isn’t there to love?
I’d love to know your thoughts on the book as well. Was it as fun as I thought! Did you spot some issues I haven’t? Let me know!
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The Midnight Library – An Exploration of Life Choices, Regrets, and learning to want to live.
Information:
- Goodreads: 4.00 out of 1,855,934 Ratings
- Age Category: Adult
- Genre: Contemporary
- Series: None
Summary:
Nora’s life sucks. She’s backed out of everything that had the potential of benefiting her life, her brother doesn’t talk to her anymore, and her cat just died. So, she decides to kill herself. Ups doing that, Nora find herself greeted by a familiar figure and is given the option to see how her life could have been different had any choice been made differently. This is a book about a depressed woman exploring ways that she has or could have found new love in living.
Review:
“Between life and death, there is a library…and within that library, the shelves go on forever. Every book provides a chance to try another life you could have lived. To see how things would be if you made other choices. Would you have done anything different if you had the chance to undo your regrets?“
The book begins with a countdown to Nora’s death. Her life is in shambles. She goes throughout her day in a melancholic way, feeling as if there is nothing worth living for. She got scared of her band and their potential, so she quit. Now her brother, the only one she had left, isn’t speaking to her. His best friend says she’s got a fear of life, and that hits. Her cat died earlier that morning and she was told by a lovely guy who had once asked her out for coffee. Their interaction was awkward and stilted. Nora also ended her engagement to her long-term boyfriend, Dave. And, ya know what? She just doesn’t know if it’s worth it anymore. So she ends it.
“Dear Whoever, I had all the chances to make something of my life, and I blew every one of them. Through my own carelessness and misfortune, the world has retreated from me, and so now it makes perfect sense that I should retreat from the world. If I felt it was possible to stay, I would. But I don’t. And so I can’t. I make life worse for people. I have nothing to give. I’m sorry. Be kind to each other. Bye, Nora”
Nora finds herself in a library, confronted by her old librarian. And she’s told about the midnight library. Obviously, there’s still a piece of her interested in living a bit, or she wouldn’t have ended up in the library. So we get to see her try on different lives she could have lead. She sees that her marriage would have been unhappy if she had went through with the wedding, her best firmed would’ve died if she had actually given up everything and moved to Australia with her, her brother would have overdosed if she had continued on with the band. But she also could’ve been an Olympic swimmer. She could’ve been in Antartica on an adventure, determining why the ice was melting so quickly and attempting to find a solution. She could have married Ash, the guy who asked her out for coffee. They could’ve had a beautiful little girl.
‘While the Midnight Library stands, Nora, you will be preserved from death. Now, you have to decide how you want to live.’
Throughout the book, we watch Nora find different reasons to live and different reasons not too. Why live if she’s going to be on antidepressants in every single life? But isn’t the love and adventure worth it? The writing is straightforward, to the point. It isn’t flowery, but I feel as if that’s what helped make it more impactful. This book isn’t saying much that I don’t already know, but it was impactful and poignant nonetheless. Nora is valid in her frustrations. We are all valid in our frustrations with life and our depression and our suicidal ideation. Yes, unfortunately, suicide does occasionally seem like the best or easiest answer.
By watching Nora work through this, the reader gets to work through it as well. What’s the sort of life you’d love the most? What would it take to want to live again? There are some characters who don’t. They’d rather continue hopping from one existence to another, never having to settle for one life and never having to cope with their regrets. Nora finds a life she loves, though. The one in which she went on that coffee date with Ash and fell in love, got married, and had a child. She loves it so much that she’s angry when she gets ripped from that life and back to the library. Yet, it’s because of her unhappiness and imposter syndrome that she was taken away. It was her life, yes, but she felt like an imposter. She jumped into the middle of her life, without seeing how she built the connections she did.
I think it’s easy to see that I loved this book. Nora is a great main character. She had so much potential but was so afraid of everything. I feel as if many people could relate to her story in one way or another. We all wonder how our lives would be different if one thing changed; or, at least, I know that I do. This book was a fun way of looking into that. It’s comfortingly written. Reading this made me feel as if I were sitting on my couch, snuggled in a blanket with a book and a warm cup of coffee, while listening to a thunderstorm. Matthew Haig deals with heavy topics in a cozy way. He doesn’t always add something new to the conversation. The “Just find a reason to live” is something I’ve been told often throughout my own mental health journey. What Haig has done that’s so wonderful is he’s actually given me examples of what that would look like. And he has shown that, no matter if our choices were ‘better’ or not, mental health isn’t something that can simply go away because of specific choices. It’s there. It’ll likely always be there, just like Nora and her depression. But we can learn how to cope with it. We can learn to not just live with it, but thrive with it.
Let me know what you thought of the book in the comments and thank you for turning in!
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None of This is True – Lisa Jewell
Information
- Goodreads: 4.13 out of 544,305 Ratings
- Genre: Thriller/Mystery
- Series: None
- Age Category: Adult
Summary
Popular podcaster, Alix Summers, has recently crossed paths with Josie Fair. They both were, coincidentally, celebrating their forty-fifth birthday at a local pub. How super duper cute, their b-day twins! Unfortunately, Josie pops up in Alix’s life once again, stating she’s been listening to her podcast and feels as if she has an ‘interesting’ topic for one. Josie is strange and makes Alix a bit uncomfy, but a part of her can’t help but be drawn into Josie’s nightmare of a life. Josie’s got some pretty juicy secrets that helps Alex escape her own life struggles, making for a nice and interesting podcast. Once Josie mysteriously disappears, Alix realizes that Josie has left some mystery and a dark legacy behind, putting her and her family’s life at risk. Whomp, whomp.
Review
Y’all, the title quite literally says that none of this is true. That did a pretty great job at setting me up for knowing that not one single character was going to be a reliable source of information, which was really fun considering the podcast element. We hear so many people tell a version of the story, without ever getting a genuine sense of what happened. Sure, we do get a general idea in the epilogue, but it’s given to us by someone who has already shown that we can’t trust their version of the truth. We can’t trust anyone, which is what makes this so fun. The audience gets to decide which version of the truth they believe is most believable to them. For me, I decided to – somewhat – believe the epilogue simply because I find that version the most interesting. That doesn’t mean it doesn’t still lead to some questions.
The podcast element, especially in the audiobook, is phenomenal. It was done so well and was often my favorite part of the book. You actually hear the chairs moving, people talking into the microphone, the heavy pauses. I enjoy listening to podcasts – particularly true crime podcasts (Rotten Mango and Lights Out are my favorite and I find that they are incredibly respectful towards victims; they do not glamorize the killer like I’ve seen a lot of others do). I cannot imagine how much a mind-fuck it would be to realize you have accidentally stumbled into creating a podcast on your own true crime situation. Poor Alix.
I love how all of the characters are just fucked. Not a single one is a ‘perfect’ victim. There are definitely things about Josie that makes my heart go out to her. She was groomed by an older man who was married to her mother. They slept together when she was 16 – while he was still married to her mom. I don’t care what kind of person Josie was; she absolutely could have been evil. That doesn’t change that a 45 year old man, who was married to this girl’s mother, slept with her when she was 16. Manipulated or not, she is a child. He was a grown adult. And then you’re telling me that he went on to marry that girl and have two daughters with her? No wonder she’s fucked up. Too bad she lies about everything else.
Then we have Josie’s kids, who are strange. They say they don’t see anything wrong with their dad and loved him – that’s understandable. But you also believe that him sleeping with your mom at 16 was her fault and not weird at all? No. That’s silly. Even Josie’s mom blames her, instead of her ex. I don’t know about you guys, but if my boyfriend or husband slept with my daughter and moved on to marry her, whether she was promiscuous and manipulative or not, I am still putting the blame on the adult who cheated on me with my own kid. We also see the woman that Josie paid to essentially kidnap Alix’s husband after getting him drunk. Hear me out: I don’t agree with what she did and she seems kind of silly for believing it was okay to attempt to convince a man to cheat on his wife so that she could prove to said wife that he’s good for nothing. But, she was offered 1,000. Get your bag, sis. It isn’t her fault Josie is bonkers.
Alix has to bribe her husband with sex to convince him to come home at a decent hour instead of getting absolutely plastered. And she starts her podcast on Josie feeling grateful that her life doesn’t suck as bad as Josie’s does. She uses Josie as almost a form of torture porn – a way to be grateful her life didn’t pan out that and it kind of makes her see that maybe her issues aren’t that bad. Unfortunately, Josie see’s Alix as her bestie and feels the need to protect her from her alcoholic, no-good husband. Despite the fact that he’s actually a decent guy who loves his wife and is just having a hard time with alcoholism. Sure, he can be a dick. Who can’t be?
Reading this felt like watching one of those train-wreck reality tv shows, but with murder and pedophilia thrown into the mix. I was playing Stardew Valley on my laptop while listening and was struck speechless multiple times. There are a few lags and I could definitely see someone feeling like reading it was pointless because we don’t really get a resolution and we don’t really know the truth of what happened. But, for me, that was part of the fun of reading it. It is entirely possible that there are a few other nit-picky things that I would’ve caught onto if I had been physically reading it rather than listening. I would go to say that I feel as if listening to audio would be the best way to go. It’s atmospheric and easy to listen to. Absolutely loved the way it was handled.
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Rogue Sequence – Zac Topping
Information
- Goodreads: 4.19 out of 16 Ratings
- Genre: Science Fiction
- Series: Not Listed, but the ending leaves room for one
- Age Category: Adult
Summary
This is what I like to call ‘dad fiction.’ Think of Avengers, Orphan X, that kind of stuff. I love it – even though I’m not a dad. Ander Rade was offered the opportunity of a lifetime = to be turned into a genetically modified super soldier. After the shitty life full of misery and pain he’d had, he didn’t even hesitate to say yes, to finally have a bit of power for himself. And things were going great, until that one mission that just didn’t sit quite right in his tummy. Coincidentally, that same mission lead to his imprisonment and forced him into the brutal fighting pits. And after years of being in the fighting pits, things have naturally changed in the world that he was unaware of, including one of his old teammates and issues with his modifications. It doesn’t help that who he is, a mod, is now illegal. Rade is presented with another option: help on this mission to get out of the pits. Kind of hard to say no. Full of action, spies, modified super soldiers going at each other. It’s a blast. It’s dad fiction at its finest.
Review
Reading this felt like watching a super cool spy movie. It’s more no-thoughts-head-empty-only-action — and I am okay with that. I had a fun time. It’s not overly emotional or thought provoking. This isn’t that kind of book and that’s not what it’s going for. We’re following Ander Rade as he hunts down an old friend and deals with the complexities of not knowing whose side he is fully on because every corporation is corrupt and every person is grey with multiple agendas.
We’re mostly following Ander and Moreno, but there are a few side characters who are just as interesting, even though they are (admittedly) less explored by the author. I like Moreno, who seems like the only person in this world who actually has and hold to her morals. Rade is still learning what his morals are after spending years killing in the fighting pits and even more years killing anything that his boss told him to without thinking it through. Watching his deconstruction of everything he’s ever believed as he’s hunting down a man who left him for dead is so interesting and a good read. That being said, we don’t really know either of these characters in full depth. I’m sure we’ll get to learn more in the next book – and there has to be a next one with how things were left off.
The world in this book is fascinating. It’s our world, but in the future where people have been genetically modified to become super-soldiers – but then the world decided these people were too dangerous and unfair. The governments decided they actually didn’t want super soldiers on either side. Now, each soldier is hunted down and also unable to fix their declining mods. They’re dying a slow death with no one to help them through it. Moreno is on a special team that uses cool suits specifically to hunt down these soldiers and still be able to hold their ground. It’s cool. There weren’t many moments when reading this that I felt pulled out of the world – I was invested and I was in.
The plot within the book is exactly what I was looking for. Rade is hunting someone down and learning about corruption all along the way and makes exactly one friend while doing so (Moreno). If you want a book that feels like Orphan X, Burn Notice, or anything else that I would classify as action-packed dad fiction, this is exactly the book for you. Don’t expect more from it, though. This is not the book that delves into the human existence or thoroughly explores heavy themes, so you’ll be disappointed if you expect those. The writing for this book is great. It pulls the reader in and makes the reading fun. It’s fast paced and fits in with what the book is – meaning it isn’t overly flowery. The writing is just as quick and cutthroat as the story is, which made it even more of a fun read. It felt like the writing, plot, characters, and everything else easily flowed into what the story was; nothing felt as if it were clashing or out of place.
Overall, this was such a fun read and one of my newest favorite dad fiction books. I’m hoping that there will be more within this, just like Orphan X. I think this will be a super fun and engaging series to read anytime you need a break or need to see some cool action scenes. A ton of fun, and who doesn’t love some good dad fiction every now and then? What are some of your favorite dad fiction reads? Please let me know, I’m always looking for more!
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Dark Theory – Wick Welker
Information
- Ratings: 3.97 out of 187
- Genre: Science Fiction, Fantasy
- Series: Dark Law Series
- Age Range: Adult
Summary
A robot with amnesia, a thief, a scrawny kid, and a man whose never been above ground venture around as the galaxy is set for collapse. The Robot only has one directive after waking up in a junk pile: find his creator. Unfortunately, he doesn’t know how. Or even what his creator looks like. He does happen to be sentient, though. So that’s a win. Miree is a thief who is afraid to care for anyone and is tasked with caring for Beetro, the robot. A warlord is wondering around seizing control of everything and the sky only has five stars. Only 3 people see anything wrong with that. Beetro and Miree team up to conduct a heist: steal a false of Dark Matter from the warlord. It does not go well, but Beetro does begin to learn more about his origin and learns that he may be the salvation humanity needs.
Review
This is a self published sci-fi fantasy novel that was an absolute pleasure to read. I’ve been making an effort to read more self published works and heard about this one from Petrick Leo – a recommendation that I am thrilled to have gotten. It does have an audiobook with it and I’m glad for it, but I do want to note that I could not only listen to the audio. There is so much packed into this novel with time travel, space, other dimensions, and more that I had to immersion read it (audio + ebook) in order to fully understand and read it.
We follow a few different characters. Beetro, Miree, Ribcage, and Arym. Each of them have intriguing backgrounds that we don’t fully know all of the details on just yet – but I cannot wait to learn more about all of them. Each character also goes through a process of learning who they are as people and where their loyalties lie. What is it to be a person? How do you pick and choose who you care about? How do you learn your individuality and what would you do if you learned that you’re not quite as unique as you think? Could you still be your own person if you were a clone? All of these are fascinating questions that this book explores through all of our characters. Some of them are quite unlikable, like Miree. That does not mean she is badly written. She makes horrible choices and will likely make you root for her death at some parts (If you’re as gruesome and bloodthirsty as I am when reading science fiction and fantasy) but everything she does makes sense for who she is and how she has learned to survive. Arym did take me some time to warm up to. We do learn more about the world from his perspective, but he felt so whiny and child-like at some points – which, again, absolutely makes sense for his case, but wasn’t super fun and fresh to read.
This world is horrible. It’s confusing. There’s time travel. There are clones. There are robots, both sentient and not. There are thieves, different kingdoms, and children who think an Arc is their mother (And that said Arc somehow gives her the ability to teleport and is from a different dimension). No matter how confusing it was, it never felt unreal. I was in the story and it was grim. I had a blast. There are also five stars, which is not ideal. Apparently only 2-3 people see something wrong with this. All in all, it was super fun and I had a blast reading through it. It did take me some time due to everything this book has going on within it. Never did it feel like too much, though. Definitely excited to continue and see where the story goes from here.
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The Eyes Are The Best Part – Monica Kim
Information
- Ratings: 4.18 from average of 685 Ratings
- Genre: Horror, Contemporary Horror
- Series: None
- Age Range: Adult
Summary + NonSpoiler Review
Ji-Won has been having a rough time lately. She’s Korean American and dealing with both being in college and having typical dudes fetishizing that fact that she is Asian. On top of that, her dad has just up and left her mom, who spends the time afterwards moping, contemplating suicide, eating fish eyes every night for good luck, and dating a new white guy. The fish eyes started off okay – gross, as far as Ji-Won and her sister were concerned, but okay. When her mother starts dating George, though, with his piercing blue eyes, eyes become a bit of an obsession for Ji-Won. I was pitched this book as a female serial killer who eats her victims eyes. While that is what I got, it took a while to get there. Mostly, the story is about these two sisters dealing the death of their parents’ marriage, no longer seeing their father anymore, and living through the constant fetishization of asian women. What white guy wouldn’t want to date one of them, right? Everyone knows all asian women are docile and submissive, sweet and calm. That’s definitely what George thinks as he comes waltzing into their lives, ogling every young asian woman that passes him. George is gross. All of the men within this book are gross. This book has a lot of commentary on that, as well as having parents who moved to America and what that can look like for them and their children. There’s discussion on how race and gender can effect one’s standing in this system we have. The horror of the book is Ji-Won’s intense mental decline. It was weird and gross, but so well-written. It’s definitely unhinged woman on a path of revenge and is thoroughly enjoyable. A 3.5 star. I did like it and I do think it was well-done, there were just some moments that felt too slow for me and I think different marketing would have worked in this book’s benefit. It is not purely jumping into murder, there’s a slow build so that you can understand and sympathize with the character by the end of it.
Review W/ Spoilers
We do get quite a bit of imagery of Ji-Won eating eyeballs, both fish and human. Ji-Won is becoming consumed by this obsession with George’s piercing blue eyes. The reasoning behind this is not necessarily mentioned. They do talk about how eating fish eyes is for good luck in Korean culture, but I don’t know if Ji-Won feels as if eating George’s eyes is for good luck or if she simply just wants to eat them because she hates him. I do find it so interesting that a lot of cannibalistic books have the characters consuming humans either because of intense love, lust, or hatred. In this case, it’s hatred.
I do think Ji-Won starts everything as a way of trying to protect her family. She mentions multiple times that it is up to her to look after the mother and sister. She’s the older sister, so the younger is definitely her responsibility and everyone know her mother can’t pick herself up off the floor. I think Monica Kim did a great job at showing what loss of a relationship can look like. This family is grieving their father, even though he didn’t die. He just left. And everyone is handling it in their own ways, but it’s also worth mentioning that none of those ways are necessarily healthy.
The discussion about Asian woman stereotypes was interesting and I could a lot of these people relating to it. I am not asian, but I have seen these stereotypes talked about and even joked about during my childhood- I was not raised around the most caring or intelligent people. There is not a single character during this story that is likable. Ji-Won is purposefully a nuisance on those around her. Her sister acts a lot younger than her age. Their mother is vain and needs a man in her life to feel any sort of contentedness or safety. George is a gross old white man who thinks serving in the military and being in China and Korea for a while makes him a lovely person – it doesn’t. He does not understand or care about their culture and thinks Chinese take out from a place with pretty Asian waitresses makes for good and authentic cuisine. There is genuinely a scene where he says that the take out food is better than the food he ate in China. Then there’s Geoffrey. He’s a stalker who spews out fake feminism to make women like him more, even though he does not know what he’s talking about. I have to admit, I was pretty happy when Ji-Won framed him.
I will also admit that it feels too convenient that Ji-Won seemingly does not get caught for everything she did. Because she’s the main character and we grow to understand her (a smidge) throughout the story, we do eventually come to root for her and it would make sense that she is able to go on without consequences. I could argue that there are some consequences, like her mother being devastated that the man who attempted to kill her daughter is dead. Even the mother’s need for a man in her life, while incredibly frustrating, does make sense. I just wish more was done to explore the concepts and discussions within the book. I wanted to see more unhinged killing, but I did enjoy watching the decent in madness and the obsession forming and building around this man’s eyes. Now that he’s gone and she’s consumed what she wanted, will she be able to stop? I think the tumor she had on her brain was supposed to say that everything was the tumor’s fault, but she does cut out and eat George’s eyes after the tumor is removed, so I don’t really know. If you enjoy unhinged women and weird reads, this is definitely the book for you.
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Swiped – L.M. Chilton
Read With Me!
Summary
Gwen Turner is struggling. She’s been swiping through dating profiles after a bad breakup and she’s pretty sure her life can’t get any worse. But we all know not to test the lord that way or he’ll test you because people she’s previously went on dates with are popping up dead – and she’s the main suspect. So, yes. Her life sucks.
Review – No spoilers
2 – Well below Average
Here me out – I’ve read a lot of books similar to this one that I have loved. Finlay Donovan is the one that comes to my mind the most, but there’s something about this one that can’t sit right with me. With Finlay, it’s over the top and ridiculous how Finlay gets herself into weird and shitty situations. She makes bad decisions all the time, but it’s balanced well by her friendships and that she’s trying hard to be a good person. She’s spurred on by her desire to protect and morbid curiosity at times. With this, Gwen is just dumb. She’s a horrible person who cheated on her boyfriend after falling out of love with him – basically doing the same thing to Noah that Aubrey’s wife had done to him.
She’s horrible to her best friend, always going on and on about how Sarah is always there for her, yet never really showing a single way that she’s there for Sarah. She’s just a manic pixie dream girl – which is even said in the book and it just came across as cringey. The plot was predictable – I called it by 50% of the book. But that isn’t to say that it’s well set up either.
I can see people like this. It can be a fun and quick read, absolutely. And I’m also well aware that my general dislike of the main character definitely led to me not enjoying the book as much. That being said, I will admit that I read the book in one afternoon, stopping every 25% to update the read with me. It was easy to read, absolutely.
Read With Me – Spoilers
25% In
We started the book with Gwen at her friend/roommate’s (Sarah) bachelorette party. Gwen is not having a blast and finds herself scrolling through the dating app she’s been using since a big breakup with her long-term boyfriend, Noah. She’s hiding in the bathroom to swipe through the app some more, I guess cause the party sucks and Sarah invited her fiancé, Richard, who Gwen is not the biggest fan of. He’s just awkward a boring – but I think Gwen is kind of awkward and boring too so far so maybe it’s just that she feels there can only be one of them? Anyway, Sarah doesn’t want Gwen swiping through Connector during her party – rightfully so might I add – and convinces her to come back. Little does she know, Gwen’s already connected with someone named Parker, who she’s trying to meet up with. Parker says no, sending her a report of a dead body found the day before. First of all, kind of weird to do that, but okay. Secondly, it was a guy Gwen went a date with a week ago. Oops. So she’s freaking out, wondering if she needs to call the police. She tells Sarah and Richard about the date with the guy, whose name was Rob. Now, Rob’s date was not a good one. He was drinking too much, talked about himself 90% of the time, and then ended up crying over his ex. He tried to cop a feel of her ass too. Then, when Gwen got the on train to leave, started crying again, waving his phone around, yelling about how he has so many other options. Like, okay? Go do that then, my guy.
Gwen continues to party with Sarah, trying to not think about the dead guy she had went on a date with a week ago. The cops have a different ida in mind, though,, because they show up to her house in the morning while she is morbidly hung over. Turns out, Rob didn’t die two days ago. He died the day after their date and had gone home very upset over their failed outing together. So she’s gotta give an alibi and she’s like, done. I was on another date with a guy named Freddie. And the cops are like, oh. How what a coincidence, Freddie was also found dead. So we have to verify your alibi for both guys and also, tell us about the date with Freddie. – Freddie was another failed date. Gwen thought she was going out with a hands and fun guy. Instead, she got a conservative old man who was kind of balding and even wanted to order her food for her? He got upset when she didn’t want to wear his jacket and started counting down Fromm 3 out of the blue. She didn’t realize it, but he was counting down to kissing her and then did it. Then begged her for a second date, which he’s been struggling to get for some weird reason. He tried begging her to call or text him back. His last text said, please talk to me. It’s life or death. Whomp, whomp.
The cops are immediately like, did you not think that was weird? But, honestly, what girl hasn’t gotten a text like that at some point? I probably wouldn’t think much of it either. So she cleans up and heads into work, where she sees her one and only employee, Charlie. Gwen is now the owner of a van that serves snacks and coffee – not because she particularly cares about either, but it was Noah’s dream that she’s been left with after the breakup. Charlie can tell somethings up. Gwen hasn’t been giving him any information about her night before and she always gossips with him about her failed dates. She caves and tells him and he is a typical guy and does not help the situation at all. Gwen gets another message from the guy last night, Parker, that just says ‘2 down.’ What the hell does that mean? So she asks him. And he saves his ass by saying he’s got two strike: one for standing her up and one for sending the link to the news article. He wants to make up for it, though. She isn’t feeling it.
One of the cops was a guy she used to goi to school with. His name is Aubrey Lyons – she called him Dandy Lyons – and he called to tell her of a development in. the case and asked if she could come into the station. She sends him her location and jots down a list of guys she’s went on a date with in the last two weeks. Rob, Freddie, Josh, Dev, and Seb. There’s one more, but she refuses to add him. She doesn’t ever want to talk about him again. Gwen has a lot of mystique around her – we don’t know why her and Noah broke up. She says it was amicable, but it clearly wasn’t and she isn’t even telling Sarah why. Something particularly bad happened on her date with Josh that she refuses to talk about and now we don’t know who this mysterious 3rd guy is, but its fine. I don’t really find myself being curious about these. I’m just quickly reading through and having a moderately good time. Pretty sure she’s going to have a romance with either the detective or Charlie – my money’s currently on the detective even though he’s just casually mentioned having a wife. I’m betting they’re going through a separation or something, but I could be wrong. I’m no gambler.
So Detective Lyons takes her napkin of names after some banter, with her making bad jokes and him not laughing at a single one. He does tell her that a napkin of names isn’t much to go off of and the ‘development’ was that the case didn’t have anything to do with her (as of now) and the guys both had pretty hefty deposits into cryptocurrency. Current running theory is that they were involved in drugs of some kind and it went bad. Still, she wants him to make sure Josh and the others are fine – which he agrees to but she doesn’t like his lack of enthusiasm or how low-priority it seems to be for him. As soon as he leaves, Parker messages her again: Ready for strike 3? So Gwen decides she’s going to make sure the guys on her list are okay herself.
50% In
Gwen decies that the best way to figure out if Josh is okay is by going to the place that they met up for their date, which was a golf course. The person at the front desk doesn’t want to let her see Josh’s information and vaguely remembers that dumbster fire of a date. Gwen makes a bet: if she can get a whole in one on this alligator course that no one ever gets a whole in one on, she can see Josh’s info. She tries once – nothing. It got stopped by something. She tries again – nope. She she goes to try and pull out whatever is blocking the ball and it’s a human hand. Josh’s human hand.
Naturally, the police show upand Aubrey and his partner, whose a total shithead, want her to explain a little more about her invovlement with Josh. She’s been telling them that she got along with Josh fine, he just wasn’t the one. Spoilers, it wasn’t ‘fine.’ The detectives show her the messages between her and Josh after the date, with Josh calling her a crazy bitch and saying she broke his hand. And the detectives rightfully want her to go to the station and explain herself a bit.
So she explains her terrible date with Josh. Was got there before her, didn’t take the time to get dressed well, chose the place specifically because it was easier and closer for him, only talked about himself, and explained in length about how immigrants should not be allowed in the country and called Gwen a spoiled bitch who thinks she’s better than him and has too many opinions. Then, he grabbed her wrist and told her she was making a scene, so she swung her gold thing at him and marched on – apparently breaking his wrist. After talking about that horrible experience, the poilce tell her she’s a person of interest. She tries to tell them about Parker, but Aubrey’s partner thinks he’s just another internet weirdo. Gwen insists she isn’t killing these men and that her ex, Noah, wouldn’t have done it. He probably doesn’t een care that she’s dating again. She’s not allowed to leave the area and heads home, running into Sarah. Sarah’s going on a pre-wedding trip with her mother and reminds Gwen once agian that she’s moving out after. her wedding. Gwen doesn’t want to tell Sarah what’s going on and its at this point that I’m making two guess (don’t make fun of me if I’m wrong). 1. I think it’s either Sarah or her fiance Richard committing the murders. Sarah’s motice would be to protect her best friend, because that’s the role that she’s played for so long. Not fully sure what Richard’s would be, but that leads to my second guess. The last date Gwen’s gone on was either with Noah (the ex), or Richard. Whomp, whomp.
So, Gwen notices Aubrey outside, staking her out, and confronts him. He comes in and talks to her, says he’s not married anymore. They talk and flirt and are for sure gonna end up together. He starts talking about the next guy, Dev, since he’s prbably next on the killer’s list. Gwen tells him about her date with Dev, which was actually really nice. They went bowling, which she doesn’t enjoy, but he was attractive and flirty and she definitely wanted to take him home, but Sarah was there hanigng out on the couch with Richard – the most exciting thing those two got up to these days. So they decide to go to Dev’s, cause his roommate is out. And they’re getting hot and heavy in the cab, until Dev gets two calls and a text on his phone that makes all the color on his face drain.
It wasn’t surprising that Aubrey gets a call from his partner when Gwen is done telling her story and is informed that Dev hasn’t been seen all afernoon – information they learned from Dev’s very pregnant wife. Aubrey leaves to go work on the case some more with his partner and Gwen, being incredibly nosey, goes to Dev’s wifes. She wants to know if Parker had made himself known to the wife or soemthing like that. The wife didn’t know Parker, but did inform Gwen that Dev came back with a pair of bowling shoes last time he went out all afternoon with a coworker. Of course, it makes sense. Dev hadn’t gone out with a coworker, he went out on a date. He’d even admitted that he took all his dates bowling. So that’s where Gwen goes and where she finds Dev tied up in the bathroom and he does not look happy to see her. He’s got a picture of his baby’s sonogram taped to his chest and is panicked, asking Gwen if she’s going to kill him just because he’s having a baby.
Then, dun dun dun, Parker shows up. He’s wearing a face mask and strangely kisses Gwen on the cheek. Then grabs a knife and holds it to De’vs throat, breaking the skin. He starts texting Gwen back and forth using the Connector app – my guess is cause it’s Sarah or Richard and they don’t want Gwen to notice their voice. Anyway, they’re arguing about whether or not Dev’s wife deserve that piece of shit as a husband. And Gwen is try to sneak closer to them, but Parker notices and tells her not to move another step or he’ll slash Dev’s throat. Gwen sends Parker a picture to try and surprise and its, very dumbly, kind of works long enough for Gwen to put pressure on Dev’s wound and Parker is able to sneak out of the bathroom window. Then Aubrey shows up and this does not look great for Gwen. We all know Dev is going to think that Gwen did this and is going to likely tell the cops about that. I think this scene was kind of silly and I had to suspend a bit of disbelief for that. Also, I forgot to mention that Charlie had told Gwen that Sarah actually met Richard through the connector app, despite how often she talks about the app being terrible and the fact that she repeatedly says she met Richard ‘the old fashioned way.’ I’m just saying the two of them are fishy.
75% In
I was correct. De only ever saw Gwen in the abthroom, But, lucky for her, Aubrey doesn’t think she’s the one doing anything. Gwen looks up Parker’s name and finds out that he’s going by his last name; it’s actually Collin Parker, which is incredibly dumb. And because Gwen is not like other girls and is very manic pixie dream girl, she decides to go to this random man’s work, interrupt everything, and accuse him of being a serial killer. He’s about 12 years older than what the profile would suggest and Gwen realizes she’s been catfished.
Aubrey picks her up and decides that he thinks dear old Charlie is actually the killer, which Gwen very much so disagrees with – me too, girlie. The duo go to get information about hacking into the app from Gwen’s one and only customer who has been using her free wifi for nefarious reasons (hacking into things with her IP address). He educated the two dummies about Connector’s algorithm and points-based system and also learns that Parker’s one and only match has ever been Gwen. He had set up his preferences to be within a .5 mile radius. I have never been more convinced it’s Sarah. Aubrey interrogates Charlie and learns that Charlie has been messing with the dating app’s algorithm to help them get more dates and it does look like he’s specifically set them up with Gwen. Right before Charlie stormed off, he had gotten a text from the last date standing, Seb, to meet at the Eye so that Sb could pay him. Because not only has Charlie been setting these people’s profiles up for success, he’s also been blackmailing them into giving him money.
Seb’s date was as bad as the rest. He wasn’t rude or anything, just overly gentlemanly and trying too hard to ‘be an ally’ despite never really giving Gwen enough time to speak herself. He puts on a show of being a nice guy and tries to convince her to open up to him – pretty forcefully may I add. He answered a phone call on the date and even opened up the Connector app. Gwen eventually decides that she thinks Seb is Parker and I’m getting pretty irritable towards her manic pixie dream girl-ing her way through this entire thing. It’s quite annoying and she doesn’t really seem to have a ton of depth to me. I see the vision. She’s hurt and scared and hides behind bad jokes. But it feels like I’m being told that more than I’m able to see that.
Gwen races to the Eye and finds Charlie, Aubrey, and Deb’s dead body. So she was wrong like we all knew she would be. However, Charlie is arrested and it is assumed that everything is going to be a-okay. Spoiler alert: we’re only at 70% and we all know it’s not done. But, Gwen and Aubrey are this time to go through their personal issues. Aubrey’s wife cheated on him because he couldn’t give her what she wanted out of life and then left him. Gwen broke up with Noah because she wanted to settle down in life and he wanted to go off and explore, going so far as to convince her to leave her job for his dream of traveling the world, despite how he never put in his notice, which is also how she ended up with the van instead of him. And then the two \have sex in Aubrey’s office after drinking with one another. And all of this could’ve been more interesting if the characters were more interesting and felt more real.
Completed
Gwen wakes up in Aubrey’s office to the sound of his phone going off. It’s a connector match, which is weird for a guy who claimed to have known nothing about the app 3 days ago. But, to be fair, grabbing a guy’s phone that you just slept with the night before and suddenly not trusting him when he has a genuine reason for everything you’re accusing him of is kind of irritating. I’ve seen the cop being the bad guy the whole time done right and this would not have been done right – and the fact that she was wrong just made it even more irritating because this woman has not been right a single time this entire book.
Let’s talk about what really happened. My two guesses were right. Gwen’s last date was with Richard when the two of them got shitfaced and Sarah is the culprit; she’s pissed that her bff slept with her fiancé. Honestly, rightfully so. She’d found out what happened with Gwen and Richard and started this whole thing to both kill Richard and frame Gwen as a serial killer. It ends with Gwen realizing that she’s been a shit friend and has never been good one to Sarah the entire time they’ve know one another – but Sarah’s also really fucking clingy to be fair. So, she tries to be a ‘good friend’ for the first time ever and let Sarah get a head start from the cops. And then get’s to live (maybe) happily ever after with Aubrey. The end.
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A Murderous Relation – Deanna Raybourn
Information
- Rating: Average of 4.14 out of 16,863 ratings.
- Genre: mystery, historical fiction, historical romance
- Series: Veronica Speedwell, book 5
- Age Range: Adult
Summary
*Quick Summary that does not spoil the series so far, then a summary for this book itself. Be aware of potential spoilers for books untikl this point and then, further into my review, be aware of spoilers for the book itself. I will add another spoiler tag when I get into them.*
Veronica Speedwell has a penchant for adventure – and often drags her friend/side kick, Stoker, along with her. The two of them solve mysteries together in London and suffer through mutual pinning along the way. The slowest of all the slow burns that has people absolutely devouring it. I am verymuch so late to this train. – Within this book, Stoker and Veronica are a little more awakrd around one another while dealing with the ramifications of that last book (i.e. Stoker admitting his feelings for Veronica and the two of them deciding to further their relationship). They’d gotten a letter from Lady Wellie reporting that their return was in dire need, stating it was a matter of life or death. See, Jack the Ripper is running rampant around London currently and, even worse. The Crown Prince (Veronica’s half brother) has given a precious diamond to a woman that is not his betrothed – the absolute scandal. Veronica and Stoker are tasked to retrieve this diamond to reserve the Prince’s reputation while debating their decision to further their relationship; both of them are feeling suddenly nervous and it is so fucking fun and cute to see them tiptoe around each other, especially when this investigation leads them to a brothel. It’s fun and interesting. If you’ve enjoyed the rest of the series so far, you’ll enjoy this one just as much.
Review – Spoilers
Veronica and Stoker have had everyone eating out of the palms of their fictional hands through this entire series. It hasn’t been a ‘will they;won’t they.’ It’s been a ‘when will they and, please, for the love of all things holy, let it be soon.’ I was flustered and excited when Stoker admitted his love for Veronica in the last book. I mean, ‘I don’t love her enough to kill for her. I love her enough to die for her.’ I beg your pardon? Are you joking me right now? I love it, I’m in. And then saying that he knew Veronica hadn’t run away due to being pregnant, but would have done whatever she needed of him if she were, such as going to any surgeon appointments or giving the baby his name? You got me bamboozled. Men, read this series and take some fucking pointers. Stoker is it.
– These books trive off of the relationship between Stoker and Veronica. The two of them are best friends, no one ecould ever know them better than the other. It was wonderful enough watching these solve mysteries together based on that relationship alone. We have so many shows and books of two or more people who are besties solving crimes together and it works. Some of my favorite shows have this dynamic such as Criminal Minds, NCIS, Sherlock, Bones, ect. We see this dynamic so ofen and, at least for me, it never gets old. It can feel so rewarding watching these people build their relationship slowly and through hardship. This dynamic sets up such incredible loyalty to one another and the pair are almost always perfectly paired/balancing of one another. It just works. And I’d be lying if I said seeing a man get shot to protect the woman he loves didn’t do something for me, okay?
– The mysteries are not always the strong suit of these books. With criminal minds or NCIS, it’s the crimes that draw you in and the relationships that keep you watching. This series is the opposite, but it also looks like the series is aware of that. Veronica’s hlaf brother, Eddy, has made an oopsie and given a precious diamond to the owner of a brothel that he is close friends with. This is not great considering he is the future King and must protect his reputation at all costs – plus he’s getting married soon. Veronica says no at first; she’s tired of being a pawn for her famly -the royal family- to use. But, there is also (although very small) suspician that the future King, Eddy, is the Ripper and Veronica is compelled to learn the truth.
– Turns out, it was all a set up. Stoker is shot once again and Veronica gets to bond with family. She gets to meet her brother and learn that he is indeed spoiled and childish but he’s also sweet and they both have the potential to love another if they were ever given time to do so. As with the other books, Veronica meets other women who have to build careers or reputations for themselves by various means. I love this series for being a romance first -and it is- but still giving Veronica her own agency and acknoledging the story of other women. Even Stoker occationally has a difficult time understanding why women occationally make the decisions that they do. It’s a consistent and important theme within the series. I also appreciate that the Ripper was not discussed as someone who is mysterious and creepy but in an almost…godly way is the only word I can think of? He’s given a nearly celebrity status even within our own world. In this, he’s there, yes, but the focus is on the women that he is killing and J.J. (who I’m really excited to see potentially build a friendship with Veronica) wanting to interview these women and write about why they have turned to prostitution.
– This series is so nice and cozy to me. The ending wtih Veronica and Stoker deciding to give in adn be with one antoher finally has me so incredibly excited to read the next one. I can’t wait to see how this makes small changes to their dynamic. I don’t expect it to change much, but they are ablke to be open about their feelings now and I’m excited to see what that looks like! All in all, it was just as good and interesting as the rest. Honestly, it’s the fifth book in the series, so I assume everyone whose gotten this far also likes the series. It isn’t make any drastic changes that I see leaving readers this far in feeling irritable. It’s just wonderful and feels like a warm hug.
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The Sword Unbound
Information
- Ratings: 4.19 out of 36 ratings
- Genre: High Fantasy
- Age Range: Adult
- Series: Lands of the Firstborn
Summary
Alf and his friends saved the world from the dark lord 25 years ago. That means all the bad things are done and over with, right? Not exactly. As seen in the last book, there have been invisible hands pulling strings that are working directly against our crew. Those hands helped build up the 9 twenty-five years ago, now it seeks to bring them down. We follow Alf, Olva, and Bor as they go through this world and fight against these invisible strings pulling them – some more so than others. Not only are they dealing with that, each has also been elevated to a new status: Olva is Queen and mother to the uncrowned king, whose going, whose going through some strange things of his own as his is not the only soul held within his body. Af is once again The Lammergeier, a title he has never held comfortably. He still has Spellbreaker and is bidden to protect his family and Necrad with it. Bor is just going with the motions, which has led to him facing how he has been pulled in numerous ways by invisible hands. Poor guy is struggling with his actions within the last book, but doing nothing to actually change as a better person.
Review
Alf is consistent in his desperate need for having his friends a ll get along. The man doesn’t want to fight, he just wants everyone to talk and get along. This can get really annoying. He has tried so many times to just have everyone talk everything out and consistently fails in that endeavor. It is always going to shit for his and he is simply never learning his lesson. Still, I kind of love it to be honest. He’s just so simple in his need to just be with all of his friends and have everyone get along that, even though it gets annoying and can feel lot like he’s just going in circles, there’s also something so sweet about this big dummy trying his best. Alf is still struggling with his reputation as the Lammergeier – it’s interesting to see how much he hates the title is also protective of the reputation he’s built. He doesn’t want it but he doesn’t want it being ridiculed and torn down either. Olva is also interesting in this book, maybe a little more so with how she comes to terms with her role as the ruling Queen of Necrad. No one else is taking care of business, so she may as well, right? Each character goes through a journey of figuring out who they are and what they are willing to do for their side. Yes, let’s use the evil creatures of Necrad – it doesn’t make us evil, we’er just using what we have for the greater good. Are you still good though? It was also really interesting to see how each person handled learning that their religion is what what they initially thought it was. Some refuse to believe it, some begin to actively fight against it, and some continue within their faith because they feel that they still need and love their faith even if it isn’t completely true. I absolutely love the world within this series. It feels classic and fun, but adds in new flavors here and there. It’s so fun and interesting with a pretty soft magic system – I’m sure the magic has rules, but those are only known to Blaise. There are so many cool. creatures such as vampires, elves, dread worms, wizards, wraiths, and more. Each of these creatures have incredibly interesting origins, though, with the Elves being at the root of it all. I think the miasma was interesting and continued to add more of that classic fantasy feeling for some reason. It was just wonderful. Unfortunately, the pacing and plot twists felt too predictable for me and I don’t know if how they were handled by our main characters really made up for it. It was pretty easy to see that the Dark Lord tagged along with Pier into Alf’s nephew – who was honestly so flat and boring that I’ve genuinely forgotten his name. Bor ending up with Spellbreaker was surprising and interesting to see and I wish Alf hand’t left the sword b behind, but I get it. It’s what his character has been leading up to. He is allowed to rest now. I kind of love that he ended up back at home with his sister and just living his simple life. His arc was interesting, I just wanted it to be different, honestly. I wanted the Lammergeier and I got the man behind the name struggling with his role and his title. It was still great to read, though. This was overall a super fun and interesting book Even with the issues I had, I still found it so engaging and quick to read. I definitely want to do back and read more from the author.
Thanks for tuning in and absolutely let me know of any book recommendations you have! And let me know what you thought of the book as well.
