#he doesn’t know that Cale already has a part of his secret figured out

[youngyoo-apologist]

I like this scene because when I was writing it I was thinking about how fun everything would be once Alberu joins the party ahaha

This poor guy will not only have to deal with Regressor Cale, but Regressor Choi Han AND Kim Roksoo. Those three will never let the opportunity to tease Alberu slip by. Also I find this one scene really funny because Alberu is absolutely thinking to himself ‘what the hell was that’ when he made eye contact with Cale, the young master of the Henituse family who is famous for his brutal honesty and words, is smiling at him in a way that reminded Alberu too much of himself.

Realistically, there should be no way the young master knows anything about him, not when they had only exchanged a few greetings in passing. Sure, the Henituse county was rich, but they had no reason to dig for information on him unless he provoked them. So why did it feel like Cale Henituse knew something very important about him?

[mytragedyperson]

Thoughts I had while reading TCF chapter 12

Deputy butler hans was one of the first people to be victimised by Cale, idc. My man is just living in confusion at this point, and every time he tries to clarify, he gets nothing exept maybe more confusion.

Cale may not seem like trash anymore but he does seem 10x more insane and unhinged than before I’d say. Love that for him.

Hans is a really good judge of character actually. He’s the first to realise Cale is/could be dangerous. Good for him.

Love that Hans seeming ruder is actually just him calling Cale out for his bullshit. You go Hans. You’re like the one person who isn’t just an enabler and occasionally thinks to ask Cale what he’s actually doing. Sorry, I may have a bias for deputy butler Hans which is only made worse by the fact that, IMO, he isn’t talked about enough. Also, really he’s just more comfortable which we love to see. It’s just too bad that now he’s going to be living a life of confusion and obliviousness, but as long as he’s happy, that’s fine.

Honestly Cale being like really? This guy is the most reliable deputy butler we have? Well, I guess I’m taking him to the capital as well. Deruth is torn between being relieved that someone who reports to him is there to keep and eye on things and being upset because his favourite deputy butler is gone. This only gets worse when Cale decides to extend his trip. Also, I feel like Hans slowly starts leaving things out of his reports. Like he’s thinking “do I tell him the young master smuggled two people into the capital? Hmm. You know what, I don’t think I will.”

Ok so I saw something recently that was talking about Dragon people and how he hoards people and the trip to the capital is proof. He brings everyone he has some sort of bond or relationship with, and along the way collects a few more. He may not be a full dragon but I feel like he’s an honorary dragon at this point. Like there’s been an adoption process, but there’s a slight disagreement over who adopted who. Cale likes to think that, because it’s his group, he adopted the dragons as family members, and most of the dragons are happy to let him think that, because they find it cute, but really, let’s face it, they’ve adopted Cale. Yes, even Raon. Eventually, they settle on, we adopted each other. But my point was part of the reason Cale attracts Dragons, is because he’s already so similar to them, and he doesn’t try to control them, that I’ve seen. If they want to join him for a plan, or something, he’ll make it work, but he’s never forced Raon or Eruhaben to do anything from what I can remember. I might be wrong though. And because of this he’s an honorary Dragon and his hoard is people, and Ancient Powers, etc. honestly he just likes hoarding things in general, wealth, resources, information, people, secrets – his and other people’s.

But Cale is so precious. He says he wants Ron away from him, but if he doesn’t see him in a while, he always remembers to ask about him. Do you think he realises Ron is already part of his small hoard? Like, he clearly doesn’t but that just makes it cuter.

I love that we can figure out the relationship between Ron, Choi Han and Beacrox just form the couple scenes they’re in. like, we don’t see every interaction they have, but from the interactions we do see, we can, not only tell that things aren’t quite as smooth sailing as Cale hopes, but also infer what their other interactions that we don’t see are like. and then it cuts to Cale lik I’m so glad they’re getting along as expected. In some ways it reminds me of the this is fine meme. You know, the one where the house is on fire and they’re just like this is fine. Only Cale actually does think this is fine, and actually is oblivious to the house burning down.

And he’s so happy that his people are getting along, but sure, it’s because “this is just like the novel”. Sure, hun, we’ll let you believe that. As long as you’re happy, we’re happy. And so is Hans

And once again Hans is confused. Every time he tells Cale something he thinks is a good thing, it’s somehow not. Someone give this man a raise, he deserves it.

Look at Hans, so happy to be complimented, completely unaware that he’s just sealed his fate by confirming he knows 3 basic martial arts. Somehow, I feel like he won’t be that put out about it, not as much as he would’ve been on day one

Also the fact that Hans has just casually been holding the kittens this entire conversation. That sounds adorable. I love that. Also, am I just forgetting or have we not gotten a description of Hans’ appearance. I only ask because I want to be able to visualise him in scenes better.

Ok so I looked it up and oh my god, he looks so cute.

Honestly, The Fragrance of Tea with Poetry sounds so relaxing.

Also, Billos is part of the hoard, but you didn’t hear that from me because he doesn’t realise it yet and Cale is in denial.

Honestly I love Billos’s approach. It’s not I’m going to make them acknowledge me because I’m their son, it’s I’m going to make them acknowledge me as their son because I’m more important/better than them. You go Billos, I’m rooting for you.

Also I want to be clear, on my first read through, I only got to about chapter 150 -160, somewhere around there, Clopeh had only just been mentioned/introduced, but I took a break and then, when I came back, I couldn’t remember a thing that was going on, so if I say something I’ve heard about this story, that happens after that point, and it’s wrong, that’s why. My knowledge of it is coming from one reaction fic, set after all these events, starting at chapter 1. So it’s probably right, but I don’t know

Anyway, that being said, Cale not liking people who don’t fight for what theirs makes so much sense with both what I’ve heard of him as Kim Rok Soo, but also in general. He doesn’t realise it but he’s constantly fighting for what’s his, his people. I think that’s why him and Billos get along so well. They’re kinda similar in that they’re both ready and willing to fight for what’s theirs and if they can make a profit off it, even better.

God, Cale is so accepting. He doesn’t care whether you’re human or another race. Can you help him? Great. If it doesn’t get in the way of how useful a person is, he doesn’t care. And, honestly, even if it does, he doesn’t necessarily dislike them. He only dislikes things that get in the way of his slacker life, and that’s so real of him.

The real reason Cale isn’t around Billos that much is because Billos can see right through him and tell when he’s just pretending to be annoyed. That must be Cale’s worst nightmare. Wdym he can’t just pretend to be annoyed to hide how he really feels? Oh my god, Cage and Taylor do this too, can tell he’s actually a kind person. It makes so much sense. Everyone he tries to push away can see right through him, that’s why it doesn’t work, but that’s also why he tries in the first place. I was gonna say I know he wasn’t trying here but I stand by this, and I still do, because this is what Cale does, tries to push away those who see him as a good person, maybe in an attempt to protect them so they don’t get hurt. If something bad has happened to everyone he’s cared about, he wouldn’t want to care, but you can’t just stop yourself from caring, and Cale is a very caring person, so he does the next best thing, he pretends, tries to convince himself and everyone else that he doesn’t care and he’s just using people, and he’s managed to convince himself, but everyone else sees him for the caring person he really is. Maybe he’s not even lying when he calls himself selfish, maybe in his head caring about others and letting them stay around him is selfish because it could lead to something bad happening to them.

I’m sorry, even Billos, who, as far as we know, had no conversations with OG Cale and if he did they were limited, has noticed that Cale has changed. The saddest part of this story is realising the reason Cale typically doesn’t do much to act like trash is because he already thinks he is trash, so considers everything he does trashy or selfish or some otherwise negative. Someone give Cale hug.

Cale: possibly accidentally convincing Billos he’s tired of being trash

Ron, overhearing: what a precious puppy young master, so cute.

Cale’s thoughts: I’m still going to do whatever I want. I’m still trash

No one knows what Cale is thinking, including Cale.

Imagine living in a world where you can ask someone if they’ve always been a tarshy young master, and it’s not even an insult. Imagine being so earnest, so genuine, that you can ask someone this as a genuine, honest question, with no insult or judgement intended.

Love how everyone can just kinda tell he prefers honesty and genuine questions and getting straight to the point and just being generally blunt instead of tiptoeing around the subject and being polite just because he’s a noble. For someone who keeps his cards close to his chest, he’s somehow also an open book to anyone who talks to him for more than five seconds, unless he doesn’t like them. Also love how even little details like this make sense and are fairly consistent. Later on we learn Violan is blunt because she grew up around merchants and stuff, and Billos is the illegitimate son of the leader of the merchant guild, and also probably spends a fair bit of time around other merchants, so it makes sense that he’d also be very blunt, because that’s just how merchants are.

And as we all know Cale is very good at figuring out ways to make money, and some of these are very creative and outside the box.

Cale might just be the perfect reversal of Deruth’s thought of there are times when the body is stronger than his mind. Like, yes, this is true, sometimes you need brawn to win battles, and that contributes to winning the war. But physical strength alone cannot win the war, and the physically strong people aren’t usually all brawn, and even the ones that are have someone smart standing next to them offering their assistance. And it’s intelligence, tactics, knowledge, that truly win a war. That and charisma, and that is what Cale has, That’s why he is the perfect leader and commander. He may not be the strongest physically, but he makes up for that in Charisma and intelligence, and more than that, he treats the people around him as equals, and he doesn’t put them in situations more dangerous than he’s willing to face himself, so he also has the morale, respect and support of his people. Sometimes the body is stronger than the mind, but Cale and his group are the perfect example of how intelligence and knowledge are really what matters.

How does one act like trash at 8 years old? Most “trashy” behaviour you can do at that age would seem bratty at wors. Also I’m sorry, but the idea of little 8 year old OG Cale, sitting there, trying to figure out how to convincingly act trashy is adorable and really funny to me. Like, him sat, with a serious expression on his face, or trying to act like trash and no one really taking it entirely serious at first.

Also I feel like, to some extent, Cale has some level of respect for OG Cale and is a little impressed and amazed by him, and I like that. Honestly, I need the fic where most of the stuff is the same, like Kim Rok Soo still goes to that world, but instead of replacing Cale, the GoD figures out a way to just send KRS there and OG Cale is still Cale, so KRS basically does everything the same, only he also befriends OG Cale. And everyone else in his crew is a little annoyed at OG Cale, except Cale who is just kind of amused by his trashy act which he sees through in 5 seconds. He also still prevents OG Cale from getting beat up by Choi Han, and just kinda drags Cale around as he goes on his adventure, and eventually Cale grows on the others and they all just end up being amused and endeared to him. The Henituse family is confused, but KRS seems to bring out a better, happier side of Cale so they’re fine with it. This features a lot of KRS teasing Cale, and later everyone else teasing him. So everything is the same only KRS and OG Cale both exist in the TBOAH world. So, if you have a fic rec, please provide. I’m sorry but you can’t tell me that KRS wouldn’t take one look at 18 year old Cale Henituse, pretending to be trash and just adopt him, because when I say Cale is a dragon, I mean KRS Cale. OG Cale would be adopted so fast.

I feel like that’s such a good message. The whole it’s okay to throw away something you’ve spent a lot of time doing. If it’s not bringing you joy anymore, or you just feel like a change is in order, go for it. My mum has mentioned a couple times going back to university or something but won’t because she sees herself as too old, and that’s bullshit. If there’s something you want to do, or a change you want to make, and it’s not going to hurt anyone, you should do it. And, even if it does hurt people, as long as it’s not illegal and it makes you happy, you should do it. It’s your life.

No wonder everyone believed him, he sounds so passionate about it.

He’s just so respectful. He acknowledges that they have different goals, but is still so supportive about it ugh.

Wait, is Cale one of the first people to believe Billos can achieve his goals, to encourage his ambitions. Maybe his uncle did but I wouldn’t imagine anyone else really does. And he wonders why he can’t get rid of people, when he’s one of the first people to believe in them, to encourage them, to support them. I feel like Alberu because he’s driving me crazy. He seems so relieved that someone believes in him, so happy.

On a different note, I remembered the scene of Cale going to kitchen 2 and casually collecting people as he went so he had like 4 people following him, and that is both a crazy powerful image to me but also just the perfect way to summarise this story. Him just going places and casually collecting people on his way until he has like, entire kingdoms and territories following him, and I think that’s so powerful of him.

He really thought Billos would still follow Choi Han instead of him after not even a proper interaction, when he’d just given Billos the encouragement he needed. Cale is a clown,

Also I’m not being funny, Billos has literally no reason to follow Choi Han. I know we don’t know what happened in the books, but here Billos knows nothing about him, except he was with Cale. He doesn’t even know how strong he is as far as we know. The interaction in the capital, I imagine, happens after the terror attack, when Choi Han manages to save some of the people, but that doesn’t happen the same way. And that is what Cale blissfully ignores/doesn’t realise.

Cale, what did you expect. To Ron, it seems like you were having a real heart-to-heart. Of course, he assumed you know him.  And then your answer is phrased like a question, as if you’re unsure if you’re close with him. How can someone so smart be so oblivious to how the things they say or do come across? I’m not even sure if Ron believes him or not. There’s every chance he thinks Cale is just embarrassed to admit it for whatever reason.

Yep, and now Choi Han thinks everything he’s heard about how trashy you are are rumours. Oh well, this is the consequences of your actions, I’d say this is a fairly good consequence all things considered. Choi Han probably feel more positive towards him than he would if the rumors were proven correct.

Yes, yes, Cale giving Ron lemon tea is funny, it’s good revenge for the lemon torture. But how did he know Ron didn’t like lemon tea? Was it in the books or just a lucky guess? Either way Cale is a little shit and we love him for it.

fun fact: i wrote this on word first and it partially took up like 5 pages. also have the photo of Hans I found as a treat.

[halfblood-fiend]

So I just wanna make a huge, and I mean massive, thank you post for all y’all that came out and supported me during my liveblogging of finishing The Calling over the last couple days. It’s honestly been the best part of being stuck in bed sick and it actually made me want to finish that bound--forgive my language here--piece of crap. (If you wanna see the posts, you can find it all under #Fiend attacks The Calling and spoilers are tagged, just in case.)

For anyone who’s interested in me doing it again, the other two DA books I haven’t read right now are Asunder and The Masked Empire and you can let me know via ask, message, reply, or whatever, which one should be done next (though I think I know which one might win).

If you replied to any of my posts and didn’t get a shitty personal reply I tried to do through mobile, I am literally gonna put them all here, under the cut (and if you have the time, I feel like it’s worth looking through all of them because some people said interesting things and I like to think I can be pretty funny with my responses. lol). Lmao.

Thanks for enjoying this mess of a book with me! When I first started venting my frustrations, I low-key thought I’d be slamming a book everyone loved. Lol. I’m glad I was wrong.

@inuy21 replied to her own reply post:  I’ll have to give Stolen Throne a look to see if will change my mind Loghain. Though I wasn’t really a fan of his in the game nor Maric’s in The Calling. And it’s Empress Celene, right? LOL

Nah, that book is actually called The Masked Empire. It’s the one where allegedly Celene and Michel de Chevin are The Worst™.

Anyways, do at least take a look at Stolen Throne because Loghain is 15/10 in that, honestly. I hated him too until I read that book and now I’m in love.

@thexann replied to Why do I hate David Gaider’s book’s so much?:  The only good thing his books did for me were make me unconditionally love Loghain, but even then, his writing was so difficult to give a damn about I skipped around the ENTIRETY of The Stolen Throne, read all the good Loghain bits, then never picked it up again!

Same! High five for solidarity sisterrr!!

Skipping around, that was smart. That could’ve saved me a lot of Maric moaning and complaining as he destroyed not one, not two, but THREE of his friends’ lives. WHat a swell guy!

@october-rosehip (I hate it when it doesn’t TAG PEOPLE!!) replied to the same post: Dude needs an editor, BAD. He also suffers from… severe need for someone to hide his thesaurus. He’s written about people sitting redolently, smoking *kohl*, and once, three elves were playing HARPSICHORDS in a town center. Outdoors. Also, pacing issues. Dude has great ideas, but he’s not a novelist. Or historian.

He does! I’m surprised he didn’t have one? Isn’t everyone supposed to have one? Or did it not matter because he was riding on the coattails of a successful game of a hopeful franchise?

But yeah, I noticed that too. There’s overly conspicuous complex words, like he actually went into Word processor and tried to find the biggest word he could to replace his plain English ones. Causing no one to understand him. I mean harpsichords?? outside?? Has he ever SEEN a harpsichord??? Gaider wtf man... I look forward to that nonsense.

@cullenstairshenanigans replied to Dusty. Everything is “dusty” with this guy.: I quit after the 20th use of “the man”

Oh yeah. I saw that. He was notorious for that.

Don’t be afraid! Use people’s names! Do you realize how many men there were in this book?? Especially at the beginning?! Use. Names. There’s some free writing advice for ya, Gaider.

@october-rosehip replied to the same post: Oh, I guess someone DID steal his thesaurus.

Lmao. Only when it wasn’t convenient. Not only did he use “dusty” for everything, he also believes that the only noise swords make is a “clatter,” be it a “dull clatter” or a “clear clatter” (literally both phrases he used in the same scene!) Not to mention that he also thinks warriors just drop their swords willy nilly all over the place, as if they aren’t the most important singular possession to a SWORDSMAN.

@oh-thatcal  replied to “She had never spoken of this to anyone.”:  if you wanna rage, just read The Masked Empire… OTL these books are both good and awful at the same time.

I am actually rather beside myself with excitement tbqh.

@bombasticpro replied to  Oh god now Maric is doing it too…: Dat dab

Now I’m not sure if I’m Young and Hip™ enough to understand this correctly, but I’ll go out on a limb and say, “Yeah, I know right??”

Maric and Fiona bled their hearts out to each other for literally no reason. Do real life people actually do this? I don’t go around spilling my deepest secrets. Maybe it’s just that no one has gained enough Approval to unlock my Tragic Backstory™ yet.

@oblivionscribe replied to Maric has been stabbed by several spears...: For all the head trauma Maric received, I’m surprised he lasted long enough to sire sons.

Me too. I seem to recall that this isn’t new either, that Maric was often receiving head trauma in The Stolen Throne too!

What I would like to know is why is no one wearing a fucking helmet???

@thecrazyfereldan replied to I think that I’m starting to see one...: His writing also tends to be rather dry.

TRUE. It’s hard to read. Like, I read his story the way I would eat beef jerky: slowly, in near agony because I like the taste but hate the texture, and with my jaw aching because I had to chew so god damn much. And in the end, it’s for what? A steak tastes better, is easier to eat and is still beef.

(the steak in this metaphor is a DA game btdubbs, lol)

But seriously, it goes right up there with show and don’t tell. Telling only takes me to Snoozeville.

@october-rosehip replied to the same post: Dislocated thumbs continue to dislocate for MONTHS if you keep using your hands. Guess how I know. Also? Putting them back in hurts just as much as putting them out in the first place.

Oh, yikes!! I am so sorry there, friend. But, yeah, I can see that because my jaw still gives me trouble. Not that it redislocates, but it’ll pop sometimes and it HURTS.

So that means that Duncan would have been in WAY more trouble by doing that to himself. Imagine being a rogue who’s thumbs kept dislocating??? Especially when he was trying to pick the locks on their manacles again in the climax?

And when Duncan popped his thumbs back in, all he said about it was that second quote (“He took a moment to get used to the stabbing pain…”). That was it.

Gaider, I can only suspend my disbelief so far, bro.

@oh-thatcal replied to @starlanellfic ‘s post about my liveblogging:  Do all the books!

Dude... I kinda want to...

Although I wouldn’t do Stolen Throne again only because it would probably crumble into me fangirling over Loghain which no one, except maybe @@element-104 , would want to see. lol.

@ma-sulevin  replied to Okay, so, as much as I sorta like Duncan...: My personal favorite part is when the mage asks him about Grey Warden stamina and he’s like “uhh….. YES yes we do have that let me show you”

*snorts* omg YES. It was classic! Predictable, but classic, and I was totally willing to accept that from him. xD

@ma-sulevin replied to WHY DID SHE KISS HIM I AM SO MAD... : It literally made no sense

I’m still mad. I haven’t gotten over it. There was no romance until that happened and even that was forced af. Not one piece of it felt real. At least I can thank the Maker that he didn’t write about Fiona “boobing boobily down the stairs” or any of that other male gaze nonsense.

@thesecondsealwrites replied to Duncan has an obsidian dagger. Smh.:  \o/

Bless you, PonySeal. I feel like you might’ve already figured this was a peeve of mine. Lol.

@queenofeire replied to the same post:  0/10 against any kind of armor Hella sharp for 5-10 cuts then pretty much useless….

^^Yup, basically.

Granted, it ended up being magical? But if that mage didn’t enchant it with an Unbreakable spell, chances are it’s still useless. Fite me.

And @fenriswaifu? You’re welcome. :) Sorry if I ruined your Aesthetic.

@valammar replied to Gaider keeps using the word “almost.”:  I’m still cackling at the last line of this post.

Look, I’m still VERY angry about obsidian knives, okay?? lmao. Volcanic glass IS GLASS, it’s not ALMOST GLASS. It is.

It is.

@amarmeme replied to Well that resolved neatly...:  yea, that book was… not my cup of tea

Mine either. Of the three DA books I have now read, The Caling is my least favorite. And by least favorite, I mean it was awful. Sorry to those who love it.

And that’s all te replies for now. LMao.

[mermaidsirennikita]

May 2017 Book Roundup

This month was so-so; some releases were good, some weren’t.  But Renee Ahdieh dropped a new book and that’s always a good thing!  I do feel like I read a few books that I normally wouldn’t have (The Love Interest, because I never read male protagonist books) for better or for worse.  Right now I’m working on Angie Thomas’s “The Hate U Give”, so that’ll get reviewed at the end of the month!

China Rich Girlfriend by Kevin Kwan.  4/5.  This sequel to “Crazy Rich Asians” is set two years after the events of the first book, kicking off with the preparations for Rachel’s wedding to Nick.  Of course, her future mother-in-law isn’t to be kept out of the process despite Nick cutting her out of his life, and swoops in at the last minute with the identity of Rachel’s long-lost father.  Meanwhile, Nick’s cousin Astrid is struggling with her marriage still (and her friendship with ex-fiance Charlie), actress-turned-billionaire’s-wife Kitty Pong is trying to fit in to Hong Kong society, and... lots of other drama.  “China Rich Girlfriend” is similarly fun and super gossipy, in the same way that “Crazy Rich Asians” was.  I enjoyed the antics of Kitty, and loved seeing Rachel get to know her family, especially her brother.  Plus, it was refreshingly clear once again that Nick Young, while deserving a firstname lastname introduction, is not a Christian Grey type--he’s a sweet, realistically goofy guy who happens to be hot and rich.  I wish he and Rachel were a *bit* more interesting, but they’re very likable.  What took this book back a bit is that while I appreciate Kwan not wanting to duplicate his first book is the lack of Singapore high society adventures.  I miss Nick’s crazy family, especially his mother Eleanor, whose appearances in this novel were woefully short.  Eleanor is the BOMB DOT COM.  The mainland stuff just wasn’t as fun.  With that being said, I was super invested in Astrid’s storyline, which aside from whatever Eleanor is doing is my favorite part of these books.  So frustrating.  So romantic.  While I didn’t love this quite as much as “Crazy Rich Asians”, I’m still left waiting excitedly for the next book.

The Hundredth Queen by Emily R. King. 3/5.  This fantasy novel takes place in a world in which the rajahs are each allowed a maximum of one hundredth ranis (queens), which they pick from these convent-like places in which young girls are reared to be both wives and warriors.  Kalinda, or Kali, is chosen as Rajah Tarek’s hundredth and final queen, which means that she’s obligated to fight his courtesans, many of which hope to kill her in a chance to take her place as the last queen.  Complicating an already difficult situation are the motives of Kali’s future husband and her desire for a captain in his service.  Among other things, of course.  This book had an interesting premise, but a lot of things became a lot more predictable than they should have been.  I liked moments of women supporting each other, but they were dragged down by stereotypes--like the older queen envying the younger one and being basically all-around kind of evil.  The villains in general were fairly flat, and Kali’s relationship with Deven, the captain in question, just kind of happened out of nowhere.  It’s unfortunate because I don’t mind a forbidden romance cliche if it’s done well, in fact I tend to love it--but Deven and Kali seemed really fucking stupid the entire time. With that being said, it was an entertaining read when I didn’t think about things, and the concept was interesting.  That being said, I feel like the fact that the author used Hindi words versus making up shit for her fantasy world was distracted as fuck--this book isn’t set in India, but it still refers to saris and ranis and much more.  Why?

Into the Water by Paula Hawkins.  2/5.  Single mom Nel shows up dead in the nearby river, living behind her teenage daughter and a sister she hadn’t spoken to for years.  Nel had been obsessed with the pool in which her body was found--a pool with a history of suicides, including that of Katie, her daughter’s best friend. At first, Nel’s death is brushed off as a suicide--but as time passes, it becomes clear that she knew much more than it initially seemed.  Ugh, I wanted to like this so badly because I did enjoy “The Girl on the Train”.  But... what?  I didn’t so much mind that the mystery here was much more obvious than that of TGOTT--or that the themes were just... less about human flaws and reliability, and more about very obvious domestic drama.  There was a bit of a twist at the end, but not much.  All of this I would have cared about more had there been fewer POVs.  Who is the lead?  Nel’s sister, Jules, who has a dark past we keep flashing back to?  Her daughter, the troubled Lena?  But there are a lot of other characters we keep flashing to, and I didn’t care about half of them, and... There was very little suspense.  Not entertaining.

The Love Interest by Cale Dietrich.  3/5.  Caden--a name given to him only recently--has been raised to be a Love Interest.  His task?  To seduce his Chosen and--for the rest of their lives, ideally--manipulate her and sell her secrets to his “owners”.  The problem: a Chosen always has two people competing for his or her affections, a Good and a Bad.  Caden is a Good--the boy next door--and Dylan is a Bad--the quintessential damaged bad boy.  The two are sent to pair with Juliet, a super smart girl whose potential means she’s up for manipulation.  Whoever she doesn’t choose will be killed; and the issue is that Caden is beginning to fall for Dylan, rather than Juliet.  Look, gay prettyboy spies is on paper a great idea.  And there are some charming things about this book.  The conceit of the good boy being pitted against the bad is interesting, and I liked the struggle the boys had.  But it was all a bit young and underdeveloped for me.  Someone will love this book, I just didn’t.

Ramona Blue by Julie Murphy.  4/5.  Teenage Ramona has been living with her father and her sister in a FEMA trailer since Hurricane Katrina.  Now her sister is pregnant, and she feels obligated to stay after high school to help with the baby--even (or especially) after their flaky mom returns.  To add to all the complications, she’s in an on/off sort of thing with a girl who’s closeted, while Ramona, who has always identified as a lesbian, is not.  THEN, her childhood friend Freddie returns to town.  Freddie is a boy; Ramona has never liked boys.  But she might like Freddie.  This book got some shitty ratings by people on Goodreads without it being read; I won’t lie, years ago I once gave a book a one star rating on there because the author was (and still is) a shitty person.  But now I wouldn’t--I just wouldn’t read the book.  I feel like it’s super dicey to review something you haven’t read/seen, and the reason why people have been low-rating this book is because they think that Freddie is turning Ramona “straight”.  No.  The entire relationship is about how complex sexuality is; not all people identify as straight their whole lives until they meet someone of the same sex that they like.  Some people really do identify as gay for a long time and then meet someone of the opposite sex; it happened to a close friend of mine.  My close friend identifies not as straight now, but bi.  There aren’t really labels put on Ramona’s sexuality as she figures it out because she is really JUST figuring it out.  She might not ever like any guy besides Freddie.  She certainly doesn’t stop liking girls.  I feel like Murphy handled the issue really well, and at any rate Freddie and Ramona’s relationship isn’t the point of the story.  The point is the poverty Ramona lives within, and her struggle between her loyalties to her family and her desire to be somewhere else and do something more.  It’s a really lovely story, and I recommend it.

Flame in the Mist by Renee Ahdieh.   5/5.  This Mulan retelling (a retelling in a loose sense but a retelling nonetheless) is set in Heian Japan, and centers on Hattori Mariko, a girl on her way to marry the emperor’s son.  During her journey, she’s ambushed by the fearsome Black Clan, with her guards and servants murdered.  Disguising herself as a boy, she finds the Black Clan and decides to infiltrate their ranks to figure out why she was targeted--and perhaps put off her marriage for a bit longer.  As Mariko is drawn into the world of the Black Clan--and becomes entangled with the mysterious Okami--her twin brother, Kenshin, pursues her relentlessly.  I really love Renee Ahdieh, and I especially appreciate the fact that she writes historical fantasy that isn’t given a European setting.  At first, I sort of doubted the Japanese angle for a retelling of a Chinese story, but it worked here.  Mariko is a strong, unyielding, an flawed heroine who certainly spends a lot of time lying to herself, which I appreciated.  One of the things I loved about this book was how much Mariko learned about her own privilege as a noblewoman, and the reality of the world versus what she’d been brought up in.  (Also, she gets a great callout from another woman in a scene, and it’s just fantastic.)  There is definitely a romance present, but it’s a slowburn in the best way.  Okami is super hot, and Mariko is definitely physically drawn to him before emotions get in the way, which I love.  There are fantastical elements as well, but they’re well-done and honestly, a lot of the story read as a historical adventure to me.  I loved it.

Hold Back the Stars by Katie Khan.  1/5.  (Wow, what a drop.)  Carys and Max are trapped in space with ninety minutes of oxygen left, after which they’ll die.  As they desperately try to find a way out of their situation, they relive their love story and all that went wrong (and right) with it.  I feel like this is one of those “quirky” books where the protagonists are in an outlandish situation but you fall in love with their very real romance.  And I’m not totally against this when it’s done right, but Carys and Max were insufferable, their world didn’t make sense, and I zoned out very quickly.

The Girl in 6E by A.R. Torre.  4/5.  Deanna Madden makes her living as a cam girl, having cyber-sex with men and women for money; she also hasn’t left her apartment in three years, due to her intense need to kill.  Lately, she’s been more tempted to interact with other human beings than ever, in part due to her attraction to UPS guy Jeremy--but she knows exactly how much of a threat she is to society.  But when a client begins showing particularly deviant behaviors, Deanna is drawn out--for better or for worse.  I’m really bad at describing this book, because a good 70% of it is a creeping sense of dread, Deanna working with her clients (and shrink) and the looming threat of the antagonist.  The actual antagonist is nothing amazing.  The strength of the story is Deanna and her struggle between wanting to kill and wanting to protect people--along with the cam subculture.  The author did their research, and you can really tell.  The book is incredibly fast-paced and vivid.  It’s an awesome thriller.  The only reason why it doesn’t get a 4/5 is that I felt that Jeremy wasn’t super compelling, but I didn’t dislike him.

Scribe of Siena by Melanie Winawer.  2/5.  Neurosurgeon Beatrice heads to Siena after the death of her brother, a historian intent on uncovering the secrets of a fourteenth century plague.  There, she discovers the journals of Gabriele, a fresco painter, and upon being sent back in time falls in love with him.  There were subplots, of course, but the main core of the story was Beatrice and Gabriele’s love story, and it was super weak.  He just wasn’t my type of guy--and honestly, he was so ridiculously idealized that he became bland.  For that matter, it didn’t feel like the author did much research about the period; I didn’t feel like Gabriele was a painter of the time, and I took issue with how easily Beatrice fit into fourteenth century society.  Not a winner.

Rich People Problems by Kevin Kwan.  4/5.  The final entry in the Crazy Rich Asians trilogy has the Young clan swarming back to Singapore after matriarch Su Yi has a heart attack.  Nick is left hoping that he’ll reconcile with his grandmother before she dies. At the same time, Astrid is having issues with her divorce and her relationship with Charlie; Kitty Bing, now married to an even richer billionaire, is still struggling to become accepted by upper class society while battling her stepdaughter, Colette; and the villainous Eddie is still social climbing while trying to get as much as he can from his grandmother on her deathbed.  This series is so enjoyable, and while Rich People Problems still wasn’t quite as good as Crazy Rich Asians, I feel like it returned to the roots of the series: Young family drama in Singapore.  I loved learning more about Su Yi, and I admire Kevin Kwan’s ability to let go of the more settled core couple a bit--Nick and Rachel--in favor of tying up the still high key drama happening in the lives of Astrid and Kitty.  This is a very satisfying conclusion, and it was at turns hilarious and heartwarming.