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Too good not to attempt to share...

From the New Yorker. "This is What Your Unsolicited Advice Looks Like by Natalya Lobanova"




I've been reading too many self-help books, and not really getting anywhere, well not unless you count about ten to fifteen watercolors of random people I see on the subway? I'm debating doing one of a young woman reading The Atlas of Six. Yes, she was reading an actual paperback novel on the subway. A young woman under the age of thirty. I was impressed.

So, I looked it up...

It's the The Atlas of Six by Olivia Blake

With a 3.7 rating on Good Reads. I'm not reading the reviews - mainly because I rarely agree with them. Also most people suck at writing reviews of things. They either provide too many spoilers, or they just tell you how they felt about it - and unless you know their taste and the degree to which it syncs with your own - this is kind of useless, and tells you more about the reviewer than the book or if you want to read it.

I mean I could hate a book - that you'd absolutely love, more than likely for all the reasons I hated it. Or I could love a book, and you could hate it for all the reasons I loved it. Same is true about movies and television series. The trick in writing a review is to provide the reader with just enough information for them to ascertain why you liked or disliked it, and whether they will based upon your review. This is not easy to do without spoilers.

Good Reads sucks at it, so does Amazon.

What's the book about?

( Atlas of Six synopsis )

It's basically the "contest trope" which is very popular in fiction at the moment. People compete to the death to get into an exclusive magical club.
People are into games.

It's odd, I like this trope a lot in fiction - even though I am not a person who enjoys playing games.

**

I'm slowly making my way through Rebecca Ross's A River Enchanted. I like the characters, but the world building and plot could use a bit of work. Also it's poorly paced - partly due to one too many points of view. I can tell them apart, but they cut up the action a bit too much. I think it would have worked a little better if the point of view was more limited in scope.

There's a lot of potential in the world. But a lot of it is left out - and I've got questions. I don't really understand the feud between the two warring clans. And how the magic works. It appears one side of the isle can practice magic without hardship, but there are other consequences (we're not really told what they are - and vaguely at that), while the other can practice magic but with hardship, and no other consequences. The rules of magic aren't explained in enough depth, and the spirits aren't played with enough.

Too much time is spent on characters wondering if other characters care about them or love them - and not enough on the world building, plot, and search for the missing girls. There's a mystery - and it's more interesting than the two romances, which kind of fall a little flat. They shouldn't - since the characters do work together, and I want them together, but something is lacking in the writing. Also, I was glad the sex scenes were scant, since the writer's skill doesn't lie in writing action or sex scenes.

The story is also dragging, which is a shame because the characters are likable and interesting, as is the world. I think the problem lies in execution? I don't know, it could also be a mood thing? I can't quite put my finger on why it drags. Sorry couldn't be more helpful.

****

I've decided arguing with folks about stuff on social media is kind of pointless - so I don't bother any longer. I'll discuss, but not argue. Basically I'll discuss thing with people I agree with or don't feel too strongly about, and haven't made up my mind on.

**

In the News...

Apparently two broadcast journalists got fired today? I found out on Twitter, which couldn't shut up about it.
( Read more... )

Be happy you don't work in broadcast journalism. At least we got rid of Tucker Carlson.

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Here's a picture of the flowers planted at the entrance to Greenwood Cemetery...