#Neverworld Wake

[libertyreads]

May TBR--

Thanks to my newly minted library card, this is not all of my TBR for the month of May. Just the books I currently physically own. I’m so excited for the reads for the month of May. I get to start my Murderbot Diaries reread and I get to check out some books that have caught my eye but not held enough interest for me to actually go out and purchase them for myself.

1. Daisy Darker by Alice Feeney (Library)-- This is a Murder Mystery set on an isolated island. Daisy Darker’s family has never been what one would call functional. After years of avoiding each other, the family is assembling for Nana’s 80th birthday at the crumbling gothic house on a tiny tidal island. When the tide comes in, they’ll be cut off from the rest of the world for eight hours. Each family member arrives while harboring secrets and then at the stroke of midnight, as a storm rages, Nana is found dead. And an hour later the next family member follows. This is a retelling of sorts of the Agatha Christie story ‘And Then There Were None.’

2. Rookie Move by Sarina Bowen (Library)-- Leo Trevi has spent the last six years trying to do two things: get over the girl who broke his heart and succeed in the NHL. But, on the first day he’s called up to the show, Leo gets checked on both sides. First, by the team’s coach who has a grudge; second, by the team’s sexy, icy publicist--his former girlfriend Georgia Worthington.

3. Greenglass House by Kate Milford (Library)-- This one seems to be a Middle Grade Mystery/Fantasy novel about a place called Greenglass House. It’s a creaky smuggler’s inn that’s always quiet during the wintertime. While Milo, the innkeepers’ adopted son, planned on relaxing during his holidays, things get thrown off course by the ring of the guest bell. It rings again and again. Soon, Milo’s home is bursting with odd and secretive guests who each bring a strange story that’s connected to the old house.

4. Demon in the Wood by Leigh Bardugo (Library)-- This one seems to be a graphic novel version of the Darkling’s history and backstory. I think it’s the only Grishaverse thing I have yet to read. I was never interested in buying it so I’m glad I finally have my library card and can read it for free.

5. Neverworld Wake by Marisha Pessl (Kindle)-- This is a YA Mystery following a group of friends a year after the death of their friend Jim. His girlfriend Beatrice has questions she wants answered and their meeting again gives her that chance. And then a mysterious man knocks on the door and announces the impossible: time for them has become stuck, snagged on a splinter that can only be removed if the former friends make the harshest of decisions.

6. A Study in Drowning by Ava Reid (NetGalley)-- A Fantastical Dark Academia novel that looks like it will be everything fans of Dark Academia could ever want. Since childhood, Effy Sayre has been haunted by visions of the Fairy King. She’s found solace only in the pages of Angharad--author Emrys Myrddin’s beloved epic about a mortal girl who falls in love with the Fairy King and then destroys him. Effy’s tattered copy is all that keeps her afloat through her stifling first term at Llyr’s prestigious architecture college. So when Myddin’s family announces a contest to design the late author’s house, Effy feels certain this is her destiny. 

7. The Marriage Act by John Marrs (New Release)-- From the author who brought us the insanity that was The One, comes a new Mystery/Thriller. What if marriage was the law? Dare you disobey? In near-future Britain, a right-wing government believes it has the answer to society’s ills--the Sanctity of Marriage Act, which actively encourages marriage and punishes those who choose to remain single. But four couples are about to discover just how impossible relationships can be when the government is monitoring every aspect of our personal lives and will use every tool in its arsenal to ensure everyone will love, honor, and obey.

8. All Systems Red by Martha Wells-- I’m finally starting my reread of The Murderbot Diaries! I cannot explain my excitement. I’ll just quote the GR synopsis since there’s so much I could just burst forth with already. “In a corporate-dominated space-faring future, planetary missions must be approved and supplied by the Company. For their own safety, exploratory teams are accompanied by Company-supplied security androids. But in a society where contracts are awarded to the lowest bidder, safety isn’t a primary concern. On a distant planet, a team of scientists is conduction surface tests, shadowed by their Company supplied ‘droid--a self-away SecUnit that has hacked its own governor module and refers to itself as ‘Murderbot.’ Scornful of humans, Murderbot wants to be left alone long enough to figure out who it is, but when a neighboring mission goes dark, it’s up to the scientists and Murderbot to get to the truth.”

9. The Beauty and the Beast (Minalima edition) by Gabrielle-Suzanne Barbot de Villeneuve-- I’m so excited to read this interactive, illustrated version of the original story. The epic love story follows a beautiful young girl imprisoned in the magical castle of a monstrous beast.

10. The American Roommate Experiment by Elena Armas-- This is a standalone romance novel that is set after The Spanish Love Deception. But I’ve been reassured that I don’t need to read that one first. In this novel, we follow aspiring romance author Rosie Graham whose life is a little up in the air following her quitting her well paying job. But through a misunderstanding Rosie and Lucas both end up staying at her friend Lina’s apartment. They end up trying to break Rosie’s writer’s block in some unexpected ways.

[flowersandfilth]

What’s your favorite very specific book genre?

I’ll go first. Mine is “ Weird academic leaning group of friends at boarding school have to come to grips with the death of one of their own whom one of them most likely murdered.”

[brightbeautifulthings]

Happy Groundhog Day! I hope you're not repeating it over and over...

Neverworld Wake by Marisha Pessl & The Echo Room by Parker Peevyhouse

WHY:

YA science fiction

Morally ambiguous characters

Stuck in a time loop

[sunflowerius]

currently going insane over the fact that there seems to be little to absolutely no fandom for Neverworld Wake (amazing book by Marisha Pessl please go read it you Will Not be disappointed).

like what am i supposed to do now huh

[forbannelsez]

the biggest mistake my brain made while i was in a process of reading the neverworld wake was drawing an analogy between jim and james potter because my boy WOULD NEVER

[myfriendthedictionary]

have been doing mini’s femslashfeb prompts for 2024… smiling ! i haven’t posted anything for them because all ive been doing is messy sketches to get the day by day prompts but it’s honestly been really fun… and also helpful to my art process. and i get to revisit a lot of my fav ships from over the years !! so a double win !

[livingasaghost]

okay @permanentreverie did this in honor of book lovers day (aug 9) so here i am being obnoxious and sorting my favorite books based on genres bc i'm procrastinating editing

put it under read more because i'm annoying and this is longer than i thought it'd be ahjflksd

classics:

les miserables by victor hugo

1984 by george orwell

a midsummer night's dream by william shakespeare

hamlet by william shakespeare

the crucible by arthur miller

the great gatsby by f scott fitzgerald

contemporary romances:

red white and royal blue by casey mcquiston

with you forever by chloe liese

everything for you by chloe liese

beach read by emily henry

happy place by emily henry

a very merry bromance by lyssa kay adams

crazy stupid bromance by lyssa kay adams

love, theoretically by ali hazelwood

the love hypothesis by ali hazelwood

not in love by ali hazelwood

let's talk about love by claire kann

roomies by christina lauren

the hating game by sally thorne

fantasy:

tower of dawn by sarah j maas

kingdom of ash by sarah j maas

a court of mist and fury by sarah j maas

a court of silver flames by sarah j maas

the starless sea by erin morgenstern

a storm of swords by george r.r. martin

a feast for crows by george r.r. martin

wizard's first rule by terry goodkind

temple of the winds by terry goodkind

prince's gambit by c.s. pacat

kings rising by c.s. pacat

a discovery of witches by deborah harkness

jade legacy by fonda lee

the dragon republic by r.f. kuang

babel by r.f. kuang

every heart a doorway by seanan mcguire

the magician's nephew by c.s. lewis

priory of the orange tree by samantha shannon

strange the dreamer by laini taylor

sci-fi:

the host by stephenie meyer

nona the ninth by tamsyn muir

graphic novels / comics:

monstress by marjorie liu & sana takeda

check please by ngozi ukazu

the boy the mole the fox and the horse by charlie mackesy

heartstopper by alice oseman

lore olympus by rachel smythe

fence by c.s. pacat & johanna the mad

heart of gold by eliot baum & viv tanner

the prince & the dressmaker by jen wang

historical fiction:

cloud cuckoo land by anthony doerr

the book thief by markus zusak

literary fiction:

evenings & weekends by oisín mckenna

henry henry by allen bratton

a little life by hanya yanagihara

piranesi by suzanna clarke

malibu rising by taylor jenkins reid

if we were villains by m.l. rio

the invisible life of addie larue by v.e. schwab

real life by brandon taylor

s by doug dorst

horror:

house of leaves by mark z danielewski

imaginary friend by stephen chbosky

night film by marisha pessl

don't let the forest in by c.g. drews

middle grade:

magyk by angie sage

a kind of spark by elle mcnicoll

sir callie and the champions of helston by esme symes-smith

holes by louis sachar

the mighty heart of sunny st james by ashley herring blake

new adult:

loveless by alice oseman

obsidian by jennifer l armentrout

masters of death by olivie blake

alone with you in the ether by olivie blake

angelfall by susan ee

the sunshine court by nora sakavic

the king's men by nora sakavic

vicious by v.e. schwab

queenie by candice carty-williams

hell bent by leigh bardugo

nonfiction:

into the wild by john krakauer

it was vulgar and it was beautiful by jack lowery

the last lecture by randy pausch

what i want to talk about by pete wharmby

furiously happy by jenny lawson

ace by angela chen

blood sweat and chrome by kyle buchanan

refusing compulsory sexuality by sherronda j brown

the great divorce by c.s. lewis

the cancer journals by audre lorde

the dark interval by rilke

inverse cowgirl by alicia roth weigel

translated works:

the memory police by yōko ogawa

vita nostra by marina dyachenko

the strange library by haruki murakami

young adult:

the mask falling by samantha shannon

check & mate by ali hazelwood

i was born for this by alice oseman

the hunger games by suzanne collins

just listen by sarah dessen

ignite me by tahereh mafi

the unexpected everything by morgan matson

save the date by morgan matson

tash hearts tolstoy by kathryn ormsbee

neverworld wake by marisha pessl

the spirit bares its teeth by andrew joseph white

compound fracture by andrew joseph white

the wicked king by holly black

short story collections:

the tangleroot palace by marjorie liu

what is not your is not yours by helen oyeyemi

the late americans by brandon taylor

filthy animals by brandon taylor

seven empty houses by samanta schweblin

[cosm1cx]

INTRODUCTION POST*⁠.⁠✧

HELLO THERE EVERYONE!! ^_^

I'm Cosmicx, but I also go by Cos or Kyu! Any name you call me is fine.

Though I am cis, I use any pronouns. My sexuality is unlabeled, but I am also polyam.

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★ I am a minor, and I'm just trying to have fun drawing and posting here. I like interacting with fans and friends, but do please remember that I am not only a person on the internet, but a person irl. So do know that I have boundaries and am capable of human feelings and emotions.

★ I have an art style crisis a lot and will constantly change my art style, so please bare with me.

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» I pretty much post and make sans au content, even sans OCs. I myself am a sanscest shipper and a multishipper, so if youre not a big fan of that, you don't have to interact with me!

» I REALLY love Errorink. They are my faves and I love them so much :(

» I love ships like Errorink, Destructivedeath(reaper x geno), Sci x Fell, Dream x Swap, Kustard, Dudebruh/Crepic, Swap x Outer(pls hear me out on them), Crossmare, Kross, etc!

» I have a huge liking for Swap and Nightmare.

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« I will say that I *am* autistic, and do need tone tags because sometimes I can't tell someone's tone in text. Tone tags are things such as /j(joking), /hj(half joking), /nf (not forcing), /p(platonic), etc! It'd really help if you could use them.

« There will be times when I take jokes too seriously, overreact, am being sensitive, send paragraphs if I'm being a nerd, etc., so forgive me if it annoys you 💔

——————————————————✧

× Not only will I post art/shit post art and doodles here, but I'll probably have rambles and rants about random things. They could be ships, headcanons, scenarios, even normal or odd things. I like to talk and let what I think. Like earlier, I am a HUGE nerd.

× Also if anybody has read Neverworld Wake by Marisha Pessl PLEASE TALK TO ME I'M BEGGING. I need to nerd out about it with people.

——————————————————✧

DNI

Basic DNI List

• Racists, homophobes, transphobes, any of that sort

• OC x Canon haters along with Sona x Canon haters (what's wrong with people having fun..)

• Proshippers, darkshippers, whatever label they go by. I don't want any of those interacting with me whatsoever. Proship/darkship neutral. I don't want them interacting with me either. I don't tolerate nor do I like it or the people who are these. I do not wish to start drama, do not interact with me whatsoever.

• Like the above, people who support/like incest, non-con, dubcon, lolicon, etc. Shit's gross.

• Dreammare shippers(it doesn't matter which au or anything. I don't wanna hear it.), fontcest shippers

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° I like to roleplay. A lot. It's fun.

° I will admit, I am cringe...! But as long as I'm having fun.

° To anyone interested in my OCs and are curious about shipping them with your OC or sona, I do not mind it at all in any way unless it is deemed problematic to me. Have fun with them man, ship my sans with yours or your ocs, ship yourself with my sanses, I don't care!! I do the same anyways

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That pretty much concludes this! I'll add anything else if I need to... If you wanna know more about me, just ask and I'll answer(though if it's a little too personal I'm not answering LOL). Hope we can be friends if anyone wants to be!

[howtobecomeadragon]

hello!! this is perexcri because tumblr is dumb and doesn't let sideblogs send asks :) anyway!! for the book asks: 32, 38, 103, 129, and also 71!! i need some good lgtbq+ book recs and am always open to suggestions :] 💜💜💜

hello hello!!!! :)

32: your favorite nonfiction novel

i don’t read much nonfiction, but of what i’ve read, Know My Name by Chanel Miller stands out from the rest. not only was it really emotionally impactful, but also really informative about the criminal justice system (and its many failures to protect victims of sa). very very heavy though, and look into trigger warnings going into it!

38: your favorite series

this is a very hard question. i can’t… i can’t narrow it down. i’ll share a few.

Inkheart: a childhood favorite that i still revisit often. characters come out of books. it’s magical :)

Six of Crows: this duology is so popular for a reason. they’re just amazing. amazing plot, characters that will stick with you forever, and every romance is perfect (there is a queer relationship in here!). there is scheming, heists, magic, found family, revenge.

In the Woods (Dublin Murder Squad): i’ve only read two of these so far, but they’re detective books! they really pull you in and make you feel disoriented in the best way. they just totally transport you somewhere else.

The Foxhole Court (All for the Game): it feels insane and ridiculous to include this book on this list, but this book series was all i thought about for a week as i read them, and i still think about them all the time, three years later??? they’re ridiculous, it’s about a made up sport and the mafia, it’s so outside of what i usually read, and yet i was captivated. and i’m not alone, there’s like a very small dedicated following to the series, it’s like a little cult classic. it’s self-published so they’re not extremely polished, but it’s not too bad at all. i got them all as ebooks for like $5, but i loved them so much, i bought them all in print too. a bunch of crazy stuff happens, definitely check tw if needed! there’s also an extreeeeeemely slow burn queer romance in here, but like, it’s slooow.

103: a book that deals with heavy topics

Neverworld Wake is one of my favorites. it’s kind of like dealing with grief in a limbo time loop.

Sadie was a devastating book, about big sister’s love for her little sister, and made me sob. check out trigger warnings as needed!

also, i don’t own this one, but My Dark Vanessa by Kate Elizabeth Russell. this book isn’t for everyone, but it’s an exploration of csa and grooming from a teacher, with flashes forward to the narrator’s experience confronting what she thought to know to be true about that relationship within a 2017 context when that teacher has been accused of abuse. check out trigger warnings as needed.

129: a book with beautiful prose

The Strange and Beautiful Sorrows of Ava Lavender. beautiful but definitely check out trigger warnings!

71: your favorite LGBTQ+ fiction

i’m going to give you lots of recs bc it seems like you want a lot, and i have read a lot :)

In Other Lands: one of my favorite books of all time. silly YA fantasy, bi mc, amazing characters that stick with you.

Red, White & Royal Blue: goofy little son of the president x prince of england romance

Autoboyography: kinda insta-lovey, but explores a lot of IH and religious homophobia (love interest is mormon)

Charm Offensive: it’s like the BACHELOR, but he’s ANXIOUS, and he doesn’t fall for any of the CONTESTANTS, but rather a GUY CREW MEMBER with DEPRESSION. 5/5, amazing.

Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe: a classic!!! a couple teens figuring things out.

A Dowry of Blood: not my favorite, but it’s Dracula and his brides, it’s queer and poly.

Song of Achilles: a classic!!!! the fall of troy and everything that came before that.

Wolfsong: it’s a whole series about gay werewolves. what more can you ask for??

The Gentleman’s Guide to Vice and Virtue: not my favorite, but fun. an adventure!!!

Every Heart a Doorway: first in a series of novellas, so much great rep. people find doors to other worlds that they slip into, but the story picks up once they’re back and homesick.

I’ll Give You the Sun: one of those like… early queer books that i read before i knew i was queer, but it made me feel so much at the time. permanently imprinted in my brain.

Fence: there are graphic novels, and then a couple novels. it’s fencing at a boarding school, and everyone is so so so gay. the novels are hilarious too, written by the same author as In Other Lands.

some books that i don’t own and didn’t love, but were pretty good: The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo by Taylor Jenkins Reid, Only Mostly Devastated by Sophie Gonzales, Perfect on Paper by Sophie Gonzales (explores biphobia and attachment styles, which was really interesting!), History Is All You Left Me by Adam Silvera (oh my GOD this book made me sob, it’s so much heavy grief), She Drives Me Crazy by Kelly Quindlen (fake dating), Her Name in the Sky by Kelly Quindlen (wlw but a lot of IH and religious homophobia)

i’ve read more that were just so-so, and have a ton of unread queer books, so if you want more ideas, let me know! i have a lot more i can give you, just without my personal stamp of approval :)

book rec asks here!

[spiritofmoonbeams]

About me.

If you’re reading this, I’m Spirit Of Moonbeams. Call me Spirit or Moonbeam.

Identity stuff:

Pronouns: Fluid, but primarily they/them. I also will not kill you for using she/her. I also unironically like hy/hymn.

Sexuality: Lesbian.

Gender: Fluid.

Kintype: Werewolf.

Theriotype: Arctic wolf.

Beliefs: Agnostic? Agnostic fits my experience the best. For now at least, I’m a secular, solitary, eclectic witch. Ex-catholic, so please don’t preach to me :)

Fandoms I’m in:

The Magnus Archives

My Little Pony

Wings Of Fire

Heathers

Marble Hornets

The X-Files

Ghost and Pals

Things I like but don’t really interact in any fandom for:

The Barbie Movie

Everything Everywhere All At Once

Neverworld Wake

The Trials of Morrigan Crow

Warrior Cats

Batman: The Doom That Came To Gotham

Yellowjackets

Vocaloid

I… don’t really know what to put here. I really like eating crystallised ginger. It’s my favourite food, but condensed milk straight out of the tin is a close second.

Thanks for reading this far!

DNI: If you don’t think you’ll like reading through this blog. Idrc, man. I can and will block and report anyone who gives me enough reason to do so. This is your first warning. Don’t let there be a second.

[miserywizard]

maybe it's because i don't have a clear sense of genre with what i'm doing? house of relics is so strong because it's a Gothic and if there is one thing i know to my bones, it's Gothics As Genre but academia adjacent time loops? idk man i don't like dark academia as a genre so i avoid it (i also am on bad terms with what feels like the majority of the authors who have written dark academia so i don't particularly want to interact with their works. it is what it is) and i have disliked most of the time loop books i've picked up except for one (neverworld wake there will never be anything like youuuu) so idk. idk what to do there. go back to the surrealists i guess. they'll never let me down, they're all dead.

[libertyreads]

Book Review #64 of 2023--

Neverworld Wake by Marisha Pessl. Rating: 2 stars.

Read from May 24th to 25th.

I struggle to find a way to discuss this novel. The premise is that following a car accident, five friends are stuck in a form of purgatory until they can make a choice. Only one person can survive and make it back to reality while the other four must die. And it must be a unanimous decision. But in order to get to that decision truths must come out and the group must face the reality that they’re all responsible in one way or another for a trauma in their shared past. But the premise is the strongest part of the whole novel which made this one of my most disappointing read in 2023.

I found the writing to be really stilted. A lot of it was overwrought and hard to press through. It felt like the author was trying way too hard to make this a story with A Message. It also didn’t help that the pacing was so off. The author would tell, not show a lot of things and suddenly months have passed in the course of 3 or 4 pages. Then other moments would take chapters. It was frustrating to read. We also had moments where the author would use mental illness in a way that’s just unnecessary and unacceptable. Examples include moments when the narrator suggests someone has schizophrenia because they can do voice acting, or when the narrator jokes that someone has multiple personality disorder.  The book came in 2018 which means there’s no excuse.

I liked the way the mystery was uncovered. I didn't like the answer to the mystery as a whole, but I loved seeing the characters in this purgatory of sorts and finding ways to investigate. I also enjoyed the variety in these characters. They were all unique and different and it was fun to see how those different personalities both worked together and broke down the longer they stayed in this purgatory of sorts.

[thecozypenguin]

🍀March reads🍀

Beach Read - Emily Henry

Conversations on Love - Natasha Lunn

Outlove: A Queer Christian Survival Story - Julie Rodgers

Longshadow - Olivia Atwater

How to Talk So Kids Will Listen and Listen So Kids Will Talk - Adele Faber & Elaine Mazlish

Neverworld Wake - Marisha Pessl

Outlove was heartbreaking, Longshadow was a lovely conclusion to the Regency Faerie Tales, and I enjoyed the experience of Neverworld Wake - it did feel like bits from Special Topics in Calamity Physics were being reused, and the ending was sort of loose, but I still mostly liked it.

[brightbeautifulthings]

Neverworld Wake by Marisha Pessl

"We swear we see each other, but all we are ever able to make out is a tiny porthole view of an ocean. We think we remember the past as it was, but our memories are as fantastic and flimsy as dreams. It's so easy to hate the pretty one, worship the genius, love the rock star, trust the good girl. That's never their only story."

Year Read: 2023

Rating: 4/5

About: Beatrice has barely spoken to her friends since her high school boyfriend, Jim, committed suicide. Her first year of college passed without incident, and she receives an invitation to Wincroft, the seaside mansion where they always gathered as a group. Determined to find out what really happened that night, she decides to go. When a tragic accident leaves them snagged on a splinter of time, repeating the same day over and over again until they make an impossible decision, it gives her the opportunity to investigate his death for real and find out, once and for all, whether Jim really killed himself. Trigger warnings: character/child death, suicide, car/boating accidents, guns, severe injury, violence, alcohol/drug use, hospitals, threats, guilt.

Thoughts: It was a funny coincidence that I was reading this book on Groundhog Day and the characters are stuck in a time loop. In short, Neverworld Wake is my kind of weird. I'm having trouble even classifying the genre. It's young adult but philosophical enough to appeal to adult readers. Science fiction/fantasy but without a lot of overwhelming explanations of the world-building or time travel. Dark academia adjacent since all the characters became friends at an elite boarding school and are investigating the murder/suicide of one of their group. It's a bit of all of them done well, plus Pessl's own unique concept of the Neverworld, and as these are mostly my genres, I enjoyed it a lot.

While the book as a whole is a very different vibe, the characters as a group remind me of the ones in We Were Liars. Talented, privileged, entitled, and somehow captivating in their utter lack of regard for other humans. I think the ending would have hit harder if we'd gotten to know them a little better before they were all, you know, dead, but for the most part, Pessl does a nice job on filling in the past. I was prepared to be disappointed by the mystery of Jim's death, but there are appropriate layers to it, and the ending is quite moving overall. I hovered between three and four stars, but the end ultimately pushed it higher for me. I'm guessing it's the kind of book that rewards rereading, and I'll look forward to seeing what clues I can pick up on a second round. (Also, I lowkey want Martha's favorite book, The Dark House at Elsewhere Bend, to be a real book. Anyone on that?)

[weltonboys]

january 19, 2021 - a little recent book haul + my favorite thrifted item and my record player

[forbannelsez]

neverworld wake is very confusing, how something so cringey can turn out to be so splendid