#wish i had the second book

[andreai04]

“Death was her poison, and all she wanted was to consume more.”

#reading #books read in 2023 #bookblr #books #book photography #book blog #bibliophile #books reading #belladonna #adalyn grace #signa x death #signa farrow #i loved this book #it took me by surprise #how much i loved it #not me rooting for death #adalyn grace you are a gem #phenomenal book #highly highly recommend #wish i had the second book #spooky vibes #perfect for halloween #murder mystery #poison #review #five stars #loved it #october reads #spooky #spooktober

[murdermitties]

And I love Vermont, but it's the season of the sticks, and I Saw your mom she forgot that I existed and It's half my fault, but I just like to play the victim I'll drink alcohol 'til my friends come home for Christmas And I'll dream each night of some version of you That I might not have, but I did not lose

Stick Season - Noah Kahan

#mothwing #leafpool #mothpool #mothwing x leafpool #warrior cats #wc #apparently i have a thing for tragic lesbians #these two and daisy and squilf too #stick season by noah kahan lives rent fucking free in my head as a mothpool song #what if your wife died and you had to hear about it second hand #and you dont believe in god so you can never see her ghost as she sadly follows you wishing you'd look back at her #i know I KNOW thats not how starclan works in the books BUT I DO NOT CARE #tragedy is my bread and butter when it comes to these two #what if you haunted only the places where you and your wife went on dates and met up #but she's always somewhere else and you never guess the right location and you dont hear her talk to the air hoping youd hear her

[greyhands]

#the wayhaven chronicles #n sewell #nate sewell #nate x detective #twc book 3 spoilers #I personally prefered the combat training scene #because of the dialogues #even if the setting in the research scene was more romantic #I have mixed feelings about this book though #I'm glad to learn new things about N's past and his insecurities #but gods I wish we had the opportunity to comfort him and to talk about the fight issue #I really enjoyed the first half of the book then to me the second kind of feels like... rushed ? idk #on the other hand I like how the romance isn't going to be a smooth and easy road #I've also read M's route and oh boi the feelings... !! #Next is A then F because I will probably need some fluff after A ^^;; #But nope no LT's route I'm a coward #my art #no full colors sorry no time ><

[aroaessidhe]

2024 reads / storygraph

The Saint of Bright Doors

a surreal Sri Lankan fantasy about colonialism, revolution, mixing fantasy with the modern world

follows a man raised by his mother to kill his father, a god-like cult leader

but as an adult he puts aside his life of violence and moves to the city for a quiet life

he becomes fascinated with ‘bright doors’ around the city that never open and have no other side, and joins a group studying them to find out more

and a support group for those with divine heritage that becomes increasingly revolutionary, until the task he was made for reemerges and his life upends

#the Saint of Bright Doors #aroaessidhe 2024 reads #this is kind of hard to explain I dont know if I did a very good job here lol #it is weird and full of so many interesting elements. I’m still not entirely sure how I feel about it but?? I really liked it mostly??? #It starts pretty small scale focused on the MC & slowly unravels the wider worldbuilding and narrative elements in a really interesting way #The first chapter or two I assumed it was typical high fantasy but then it’s like. oh this is a modern city. with emails and stuff. #The pacing is a bit weird - it’s quite meandering and also pivots significantly in the second half. tbh I’m still ????? about the ending lm #but also I am happy to float through on vibes. #and there’s some elements (like the doors that become….not that relevant) that I want to know more about. (as an aside - I saw someone say #that it’s a very clear retelling about Buddha’s son? which idk enough about but probably could give a deeper context to a lot of it) #writing style is kinda detached from the MC but also there is a reason for this that makes sense with the twist near the end! #which is a kind of twist i LOVE. Maybe I wish it had been emphasised a bit more over the story though? unsure. #I thought his mother's story was interesting also - you think she's an terrible parent just there for background context at the start but #then when she tells her story it's like ohh there's more context here. #also I hesitate to just say ‘if you like the spear cuts-- you should read this’ because I think the elements that are similar are done in a #kinda different way and might disappoint you if you’re expecting it to be the same as spear….but regardless the sort of dreamy writing #rich world; narrative with fantasy but also modern day elements; some of the writing style; mlm MC (tho not a romance) #idk. it will definitely not work for everyone but I enjoyed it overall #also it is full of queerness #bisexual books

[bucephaly]

BTW if you haven't already please take a minute to look up what venomous snakes are local to you and familiarize yourself with them

#i joined a local snake ID group recently #before that i knew roughly how to spot a pit viper and hownto tell a coral from a scarlet snake #but i didnt really know how to identify specific species other than copperheads #and now im very confident in my ability to tell water snakes from cottonmouths etc #and it gives really nice peace of mind #like. ive seen so many people here in the us south that will freak out of Any snake #my mom once was yelling and crying trying to get help over a kingsnake on the sidewalk cuz she didnt know if it could kill the dogs #and people will kill snakes if they dont know [and often will anyway but knowing helps foster appreciation] #and now i can see a snake and say thats a coachwhip. isnt it pretty. and will gently grab the back end to look at it for just a second more #before letting it go hide #idk. i saw a rattlesnake in the woods today #and its the first time seeing one in the wild like that. and yea it was scary tbh #and i got a pic but booked it out once it noticed me and reacted #but i wish i had stopped and watched it longer cuz it was super pretty #and i know it wouldnt have bothered me at all #im just glad that we've seen two big full sized diamondbacks here in the past few months. and i know theyre two individuals #because eastern diamondbacks are declining and its good to know theres a population here #idk. im getting sentimental over snakes i just love them #but my main point is its so easy to indentify snakes at least where im at #and learning to id them comes with learning to respect them

[xoparrish]

just finished watching red white and royal blue movie

#IT WAS SO CUTE #and so funny #i was cracking up every two seconds #the cake scene was probably the funniest #it served so well #movie did have its cheesy moments #and i wish june had been in it :/ #but overall it was very good especially for a book to movie #henry fox #alex claremont diaz #firstprince #red white and royal blue #rwrb #rwrb film #rwrb spoilers

[galaxythreads]

Hello! I’ve liked your fics for a long time, and was wondering if you would write something with fem- presenting Loki? There are some gender-fluid Loki fics on ao3, but I Need More To Live. I would write one, but I wouldn’t ever finish it.

I really want Loki to join the avengers in 2012 so that the other stuff doesn’t happen. sometimes I want Loki and Natasha to make fun of the rest of the avengers.

Idk I just really like the idea that Loki and Natasha would be friends. Or Loki and Wanda. (Except for all of the aforementioned characters got done so dirty by MCU. Isn’t that like a trope? Kill off the girl so the guy has a motivation to defeat the bad guy? Like from Green Lantern or something?

And Loki and Wanda got rewritten.). Whatever. I’m PERFECTLY OKAY! *eye twitches*

That kind of turned into a rant. Sorry.

Here are more of my headcanons, because I’d rather dm someone on tumblr instead of actually making a post on my blog. I’m weird.

-Loki was friends with Tchaikovsky and Mozart and Shakespeare. Maybe even Paganini, or like Ada Lovelace. Or Albert Einstein. Basically a lot of historical figures and also musicians from the 1980s.

-Loki is an honorary gay, because he’s an alien and aliens don’t have human concepts of gender and sexuality. But also you saw that 🏳️‍🌈hand flip🏳️‍🌈 he did in the 1602 episode. I mean, he was just being so gay in that 1602 episode. It was beautiful.

-Loki is a sad little boi. 🥺🥺

-Loki is a good little boi who got did dirty by MCU and Odin. (🥺🥺)

-Loki isn’t always a boy.🏳️‍⚧️🏳️‍⚧️(unfortunately no gender-fluid flag emojis so 💕🤍💜🖤💙)

-Loki knows all the languages.

-Loki would watch anime and Kdramas if HE WASN’T DEAD.

-Loki is a theater kid.

-Loki is cat

-Loki knows how to play ALL the instruments. He likes cello the best though. Also he has perfect pitch.

-Loki needs therapy. Like two blue whales worth of therapy.

-If Tony and Loki ever had a long conversation, they would figure out how to solve world hunger and climate change and overpopulation AND THEIR MOTHERS. (It doesn’t make sense but just roll with it)

-Loki is a Major Fucking Nerd About Everything.

-Loki likes calculus as a hobby.

-Loki is, (un?)fortunately, a British stereotype.

-Loki ships appledash and narusasu.

Thank you for coming to my Ted talk. Bye, and thanks for letting me dump headcanons on you.

Hi! Thank you so much for sharing all of these with me, it's so fun to see other people's headcanons about Loki and their excitement about his character. I love discussing this blorbo and cracking him open like an onion to peal away layers of trauma and reveal the nerd beneath.

Lol, the amount of times I've thought about doing an MCU rewrite post a1 to fix everything is insane. If I did do this, I'd actually probably start at civil war, because personally, I feel like everything was (generally) actually okay and enjoyable until infinity war. Civil war is just a good place to kick around the fix-its because everything is such a mess.

As far as your request goes, it might surprise you, but you're actually NOT the first person to approach me about a genderfluid, fem-presenting Loki. More like the....4th? or maybe 5th? Idk. I've definitely been approached by multiple people over the years about this. Firstly, thank you for trusting me with your idea and your headcanons, I'm humbled and honored that you would approach me about this because you believed I would be able to write the story in a way that you would find meaningful and enjoyable <3

Second - I really just don't know. My first inclination is to say no, not because I'm not interested or don't care, but mostly because I'm so busy right now I really don't know when I'll be able to get to the story. Plus, I'm really not sure how to go about this. I'd need to figure out what direction I wanted to take the story, because Loki being genderfluid wouldn't change that much except their outward appearance. Loki + genderfluid + Natasha friendship is an amazing concept, but it's not a...plot, if that makes sense? "Fixing" a1 could be 50,000,000 separate things, and if it goes out as a fix-it for mcu, that would be an enormous project. Easily 200k-400k+, which would take me like...uh 1-3 years to write.

Loki being genderfluid IS something I've thought about just adding to my fics in general now (i'm really not sure, because I love cis male Loki, and I know it's canon that he's genderfluid, but I kind of disregard most things from the series anyway?) but Idk?

+ and this is just a personal one for me, but I don't know how to include Loki being genderfluid as a major part of the plot/story right now. Like, for example, I've been in the process of dumping all of my religious lgbtq+ trauma on peter parker in a (massive) one-shot that revolves around Peter learning to accept himself as being gay, but the point of the story is that Peter doesn't accept himself at first and the conclusion is when he does. (I don't know if I'm ever going to share or finish that fic by the way, so don't look for it) I don't know how to take the concept of this story, turn it into a fix-it for Avengers 1 with Natasha, and have a meaningful story about being genderfluid at the same time?

Like to me there's two different ways to go about lgbtq+ stories: a story about being gay that is intended to talk about lgbtq+ experiences and focus heavily on that, vs a story where the character is lgbtq+ and it's just part of their character and not something we spend a lot of time talking about because we don't need to. The story isn't about them being lgbtq+ specifically, it's about the character. Recently, a lot more media has started doing the latter, which is really, really nice because I don't feel like being lgbtq+ has to be justified every 20 lines.

The story I'm writing about Peter Parker is the former. It's about being gay. The entire story revolves around it. What I can tell from what you're saying is that you want something where Loki just IS genderfluid, but it's not something we spend a whole lot of time discussing because the story isn't ABOUT being genderfluid, it's about fixing mcu with genderfluid Loki as the main character, if I'm understanding this correctly? Which is fine and I absolutely support it because there is nothing wrong with writing genderfluid Loki and I wholeheartedly support those authors.

So i guess to shorten this - because this isn't just like a ~5-15k one-shot (which are about the only length of requests I can successfully complete right now), as respectfully as I can, I'm going to have to lovingly turn you down. I'm not saying no, I'll never write about genderfluid Loki, because I'm like 90% sure I will eventually, but I just don't know about a fix-it for MCU from the first Avengers. One suggestion I have is maybe, if you really really need to see this come to fruition, is to just write a bunch of one-shots that are interconnected based on each of your headcanons and then publish it as an interconnected series, not so much a full length novel like I would write. I can easily see this being a really enjoyable series. Best of luck

~galaxy <3

#loki #fic request #lgbtq #galaxy's writing #i'm so sorry really #i can tell that you have SO MUCH passion for this 'verse and I wish that I had the energy to bring this to life for you #but I'm just so busy and so mentally ill and I just wish I could pick this out of my brain and gift it to you instead #but i just... #ghusdghsd #i'm sorry #:/ #i'm so burned out with writing right now #i think rewriting my og novel 4 times and the second book twice on top of all the fic projects I've been doing #kind of left me a very burnt out husk

[phoenixcatch7]

Cap marvel headcanons I Will integrate into a fic one day but also have Zero basis in canon to my knowledge (this ended up being LONG):

The living lightning is an ancient force akin to the speed force, and the 'true' guardian of magic, being possibly the first 'magical creature' ever created.

The rock of eternity only recently became based on earth, in the past several thousand years, with the planet's deities acting as mountains in the rain cycle - funnels to safely channel the magic back into the Champion. It's a fully symbiotic relationship that benefits the planet and its people immensely.

This means previously the rock has been based on alien planets. Previous champions are ancient aliens, many from species that no longer exist, either because the species died out or evolved into something unrecognisable.

The champion of magic may have inspired the oua (?), the creators and high council of the green lanterns. Ooh maybe an oua was selected as champion, which is how they learned of it!

The living lightning, when not in a mortal vessel, rests in the heart of the Rock in a large brazier, with a smoke lid of white edged with gold in a familiar pattern. It is tradition, or perhaps instinct, for a Champion to light the brazier whenever they visit the Rock. It will be lit for as long as the visit lasts, and be extinguished the next time they come.

Should it choose to take form, the living lightning resembles a washed out combination of each of its previous Champions. Its form is solid and clear, strong and made for battle, but distinctly uncanny. It doesn't leave its brazier, nor speak.

The 'ideal form' of a hero varies all the time, doesn't it? Especially if you're a kid still growing and learning about yourself and the world. Headcanon cap ever so subtly changes features sometimes. Gradually. Height and build changes sometimes. One of the league members has noticed but they really can't prove it to themselves and it's driving them crazy. Billy has no idea.

On that topic, the 'ideal form' also includes the clothes, right? The red costume? If Billy transforms with the intent of doing something outside his normal hero things (ie, attending a celebration), the outfit has every reason and ability to change to reflect that! Everyone expecting cap to show up in his normal gear and ready to throw a formal suit at him to wiggle on over his costume and he shows up in a red and gold set with a little one shoulder cape like 'yeah I have no idea either'.

Cap marvel Is An Adult. Billy isn't, but cap is in every single way that someone could count. This is probably canon but in some fics I think the jl forgets lol. It's still the same soul, just, with an adult filter instead of a kid one. However that filter manifests.

Not sure this is canon too, but the idea of the mind/soul/whatever of cap manifesting as this great impossible mass. A storm, or a tiger, or a barrier of lightning. This giant, untouchable, dormant mass of power and implied Danger™. Again, Billy has no idea. J'onn is eying warily from a very safe distance.

His wiki practically waxes poetic about his abilities and skills in strategy, mathematics, nigh precognition from ability to spot and manipulate patterns. Captain marvel is unbeatable at chess. Batman has lost to him. Billy cannot do fractions and it drives him up the WALL.

The champion, and ONLY the champion, can share his powers. If shazam wants a second champion he has to give a new set wholesale or convince the champion to share. Similarly, those patroned by the champion cannot transform unless the champion is also transformed. Because otherwise that would be too easy for Billy lol.

Every time Billy asks, tawky gives a different canon origin story. Billy has no idea which is true.

Billy's parents died accidentally freeing Adam on their expedition. Probably crushed by rubble :(. The wizard is the only one who knows and really isn't inclined to share, and Adam either hasn't connected the dots or never really noticed they were there.

Cap and Billy love each other, regardless of whatever version their whole thing is. They're the only reason the other remembers self care and that kind of self love, even if he's not sure he deserves it, makes a world of difference with how they portray themselves to the world.

Cap doesn't need to breathe to speak but he never remembers that and has repeatedly choked in water and space. Superman empathises but tries not to find it funny after the third time it happens.

Billy has showed the wizard memes.

The wizard internally refers to Billy as the 'sassy, lost child'. He has a pointy hat like any good wizard but refuses to wear one since Billy keeps asking him to, pretty please.

Cap once won an arm wrestle with superman by pretending to lick his hand. He didn't. Billy would have.

Cap marvel CANONICALLY bites but after the first time he regulates his jaw strength. Thankfully it was Black Adam so no one lost a hand. He had him in a headlock so who's fault was it really.

Ebenezer doesn't have a strong opinion on cap marvel either way. Billy thinks that's almost worse.

The living lightning isn't lightning. It was around before lightning. It is living, however. It is that 'living' that forms the main consciousness of the Champion form, in this case Marvel. Its not sentient or sapient itself, that's the vessel, but it is the building blocks of it.

In dc (again no idea if this has any basis in canon) magic is the fifth state of matter, above plasma. Yes this interferes incredibly with quantum physics and theoretical science. No the magic users don't know how it works either. No they will not help you they have their own research (into the exact same thing) to do.

If the Rock is obliterated cap marvel will die (along with pretty much everything else but irrelevant). However, if he manages to save the brazier, he will continue on. Magic as a whole deal won't be very happy and aeons of magical knowledge and history and artifacts will be lost, but cap will live and can rebuild from the ashes. The brazier is Heavy but enough super strength can move it if you don't mind bringing a chunk of floor. And the rock is so weakened it's literally falling apart but those are the right circumstances anyway so.

#We should be able to put multiple read mores in posts #I had more headcanons than I thought #If anyone has anything proving/disproving any of these PLEASE let me know :D #I'm still pretty new here and I don't know a lot of the canon material #Wish we could get post checks from others without having to @ them I'm not RUDE #but fr if anyone wants to whip out their reading glasses and comically large Well Actually book of references please do #dc comics #captain marvel #dc captain marvel #billy batson #shazam #headcanon #long post #I REPEAT LONG POST #also blanket permission for anyone to use these if they give you Ideas #I really want to write a fic where the jl (mainly superbat) help cap with saving the Rock and fail #But at the last second he swaps to desperately trying to rescue the brazier but his powers failing and he can't move it he's in tears #And superman has to haul it out while someone else carries an inconsolable cap #And when they get outside to safety they're like 'so what's the deal with this over literally everything else in there' and poor Billy just #Has had possibly the worst day of his life his powers fading just tries to scrabble into the brazier (he needs help and its uncomfortable #for everyone involved) and curls up like goodNIGHT and pulls his cape over his shoulders which turns to stone and he dissolves #To sleep and recharge and now the jl is stuck with the source of all magic which is big and heavy and has their unconscious teammate in. #And also it can't leave earth so no watchtower to put it! Very angst hurt comfort identity reveal methinks. HEA ofc #So.... Yeah

[saphira-approves]

Coming to the realization that much of my favorite dragon media, both growing up and recently discovered, had some stealthily normalized queer rep, including but not limited to:

Memoirs of Lady Trent (some genderfluidity, an asexual character who experiments to determine for sure)

Temeraire (a canon queer couple and some Strong vibes for another) (if you know you know)

Seraphina (trans character, gay saints, a fairly central queer relationship)

Priory of the Orange Tree and its prequel (lesbians all the way down, queer rep all over the place)

Eon/a (technically my first introduction to the very concept of being transgender)

So now here I am, politely staring down Paolini, raising a gnarled finger and intoning in a dread voice, “YOURS NEXT—”

#mr paolini please im begging you. we all know the elves are largely bisexual. #inheritance cycle #dragon media #saph speaks #yeah hi i just finished the second seraphina book and I Am Not Sane #im wishing i’d kept my friends apprised of my thoughts as i read because the seldaphina vibes were Immaculate™️ but i was like #‘psh. it’s a 20-aughts YA fantasy novel. it wouldn’t have flown.’ #I WAS WRONG. IT FLEW. IT FLIES. #who let me only read the first book as a kid. I COULD HAVE HAD MY BI AWAKENING SO MUCH EARLIER. #anyway moral of the story dragons are inherently queer to their core pass it on

[lenievi]

now I own both of my favourite Trek novels <3 or at least I hope I'll still consider Ice Trap a fave after rereading it.

#i have others but these are my faves #it took a whole month before ice trap arrived.... #gonna reread the captain's oath this year too #i need to buy deep domain too because i want a paperback of that too #i wish i had better opportunities to buy the old books second hand #but usually the shipping is 'WTF is that actually' #leni's nonsense #tos nonsense

[joenns]

just finished reading fourth wing

#IVE NEVER WANTED TO GOUGE MY BRAIN OUT AND STEP ON IT A BILLION TIMES EVER READING A BOOK MY GODDDDDDDD #it was just so fucking good and i was into it every second of it and i ate that whole book up in two days #staying up until 2am like i didn’t have work before AND 500 PAGES STILL WERENT ENOUGH I WOULDVE READ A THOUSAND #GOOD GODDDDDDD #ive never felt this way abt a book ever and if u told me i’d go this psychotic over a fantasy book i would’ve punched u in the face #i read acotar just before this and i thought it was good but this ….. THIS BOOK MY GOD #all the characters were so well written and the story wasn’t dull and the fantasy part of it was SOOOO GOODDDDD #u really get into the story and it’s not boring and i got invested in these little dragons and just UGHHHHHHHH #i’m gonna have a full psychotic episode by the time the second time is released i wish i could go back to the person i was two days ago #and violet is such a good character feyre in acotar bored me so much i had no connection to her but violet …. she’s my baby #and so is liam he’s so babygirl i love HIMMMM #i don’t even want to talk abt xaden just the thought of him makes me want to rip my hair out and set myself on fire #GOD THIS BOOK WAS SO FUCKING GOOD I WANT MOREEEEEERR #and the ending THE ENDING ???????? #OH MY GODDDDDDD #i’m so glad it’s the weekend and i don’t have work tomorrow bc they would’ve locked me up in the psych ward instantly

[dragons-and-yellow-roses]

Cars should be banned. No more cars allowed. We can walk, bike, bus, plane or train everywhere we need. No more cars.

#i almost got hit this morning by some fuckwad while i was walking home from the coffee shop #it was his turn to go ajd it looked like we were going same direction cuz he didnt have a blinker on #so i waited a second and he didnt move and didnt have a blinker so i started crossing #and when i was halfway through the intersection he fucking booked it and then stopped feet from me?? #i shouted 'what the fuck are you doing?' and he said 'im sorry!' and i shouted 'go fuck yourself!' and he said 'im fucking sorry!' #so it was bad all around #and this is the third time ive almost been hit in like nine months. because people do not pay attention #theres too much distracted driving and bad driving and its all too dangerous so the only people driving should be buses #and i mean that so seriously #long distance travel? train plane or bus. short distance travel? train foot or bus #i hate cars so so much #if i had a genie wish it would legitimately be to get rid of cars

[marblerose-rue]

click for better quality!!

hollyleaf/request

she was always my favorite out of her + her siblings

#my art #do not copy trace or steal #hollyleaf #warrior cats #warriors #wc art #I WISH SHE GOT A POWER but i also lovewing dovewing . the second book i read from warriors was the fourth apprentice #my first was the tigerstar and sasha comic . so i had a very warped intro to warriors #ANYWAY she deserved so much better #im also going to be real i havent read any of the power of three books since 7th grade im sorry #i was gonna reread the warriors series and i have the first arc and a few books onward but i never did #im a fake fan smh my head im sorry

[emeraldgreaves]

i’ve entered my Read Lots Of YA and SFF phase of the year, so today i’m wishing I could reread queen of attolia again for the first time

#emerald speaks #these books are my answer for ‘things i wish i could reread for the first time’ #because you know the surprise the second time #and it’s fun to go pick out the foreshadowing. but i do sort of miss the oh moment #reasons why i:ve had return of the thief for two years and yet have not opened it yet #i am not ready for this series to be over #emerald reads

[linked-fountain]

Brainrot so strong I made book cover/backcover for @st0rmyskies Townhouse AU series

#catch me at 3am comparing my book covers w eachother trying to figure out what style would fit hsh better #i wanted to make the tonal shift between those 2 apparent and also #like the experience of buying the first book of a series LONG after the hardbook copies sold out #and then buying the hardbook cover of the second book via preorder bc youve become a fan now #anyways i discovered canva and decided to have some fun<3 #wish i had planned this ahead to ask people for reviews to put on the back #also i was gonna make a fake autobiography until i decided i didnt feel up for it so. anyways rambling #linked universe fanfic #linked universe

[dykefever]

not to stir the pot but i’d love to hear why you didn’t enjoy tsh!

okay hello so i think the sparksnotes of my thoughts can be summed up with my storygraph review that i’ve copy pasted - but i can definitely expand on what i’ve said! under the cut again (tsh fans look away xx)

Donna Tartt creates an incredible atmosphere with vivid imagery and then essentially drifts through the book on that alone. Henry and Bunny were both interesting and dynamic characters (and Richard, to a degree) - everyone else was very one dimensional. Camilla sort of just waifs around and is beautiful and everyone is in love with her (it feels like tartt wrote her as a male fantasy character then failed to make a point about it in any way like she was almost accidentally written that way. sorry!!)

A huge amount of the action is told through dialogue which gets incredibly tedious and boring. There are an exceptional amount of scenes that aren’t really about anything other than sustaining that dark and beautiful atmosphere or showing dynamics between characters that don’t really … say anything - about the characters or the story or overarching themes (there are scenes that do achieve this too but just so many that don’t). What was achieved in 500+ pages could have been done with less, and with far more impact. I don’t mind a scene with no particular purpose than to show the characters/ who they are/ how they interact but as said before, most of the characters are one dimensional!! it’s an impressive feat considering how often the core group are on the page! I just finished this book feeling frustrated and bored - although the last 10% picks up.

+ i think i’ve said if i didn’t have such high expectations i would have been able to enjoy it more for what it was! to me, it read as a book by an author wanting to show they were a good writer - and donna tartt is in a lot of respects, she has beautiful prose - and how almost… smart? they are? also why was julian barely in it i feel like he could’ve had far more impact ALSO i think the julian/henry dynamic could have been explored that could have been so interesting

#i appreciate that charles got mildly more interesting as time went on too #the second half of the book in particular is like. stupid to me #and the road trip to the funeral and the funeral oh my god. fucking hell. trying to warn those guys bunny’s mum was coming down cause they #were smoking weed. we in a teen comedy now? it was so unserious i’m sorry #it felt like often there were the bones of some interesting dynamics or story threads that got crushed under the weight of prose and the #idea that donna tartt had of the book #like the twin story too…. wish that was explore because that’s horrifying and interesting #but it was barely a plot point??? #except to write out charles’s demise but yeah quite a few bits in the book felt picked up and dropped #there were parts where i loved reading it tho and then i would lose interest idk it’s a frustrating book #answered