chlorinetothevoid

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It truly is a wonder what some free time can do to improve someone's mental. Just me, my books, and some candles hanging out in my brainpan.

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How I Rate Books!

Before I get too deep into book chat entries and other discussions, I believe it relevant to establish my personal Star System. I find it fascinating how as a community we have decided to find ways to rank books objectively while not being objective in the slightest. Everyone's Star System criteria is subjective and slightly differs from person to person, and I find that fascinating. Please remember that everyone is entitled to their own opinions as long as they aren't hurting anybody or inherently malicious! So, without further fanfare, my Star System is as follows.

First note! I do not believe in half, quarter, or any non whole number amount of stars. It's cool if others do it; however, my brain vehemently rejects this for reasons I should discuss in therapy. On to the stars!

1 star: This rating is reserved for books that I should have DNFed. They have little to no redeeming qualities and I regret the time I spent reading them. No entertainment value on a subjective level.

2 stars: A book that gets this rating had some entertaining moments or redeeming qualities. It is otherwise riddled with technical issues and other nonsensical components. Did just enough to not be a regret.

3 stars: A good book! Definitely had some issues but was still engaging or intriguing. Probably not reread material but I would recommend to others if I thought it would fit their tastes.

4 stars: A great book! Issues here and there or a book I did not enjoy as much the more I thought about it. Majorly entertaining read and well done prose, plotting, world-building, character development, etc.

5 stars: A fantastic, if not perfect, book! Minor issues that I actively choose to ignore or no issues at all. Extremely engaging and consumes my thoughts during the reading process. They hold up the best under my own internal scrutiny and I will probably try and force my friends to read them once a month.

And that is my Star System! Happy reading!

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I kinda love books that are just good. They aren’t gonna change my life. They won’t affect how I think or see the world. I won’t stay awake running the words through my head over and over again. I probably won’t remember the main characters’ names. There’s a good chance I’ll forget I even read it at some point. But it was still good. It made me smile or laugh or cry or just feel content in the moment. Not every book needs to be a ground-breaker. Not every book needs to alter your brain chemistry. Not every book needs to be the best book you’ve ever read. Sometimes you read a book, and it’s just good. And that’s enough. That’s all you need

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Book Chat: Mistborn Series 1

Now that I have come into some copious amounts of free time, I have decided to tackle the large pile of unread physical books I acquired during my time as a grad student. The first series I successfully tackled was the original Mistborn trilogy by Brandon Sanderson (Mistborn: The Final Empire, The Well of Ascension, and The Hero of Ages). This is my first dip into Sanderson's Cosmere Universe and needless to say there is a damn good reason his work are so well regarded. I will try to keep this vague with no specific spoilers because I genuinely believe any fan of fantasy should give these novels a chance. Easily a five star series as a whole comprised of individual five star entries.

I am a sucker for media that cracks itself open, delving deeper inward and building upon its foundations rather than expanding itself outward. Sanderson's world building and plot pointing is the hallmark of this method of storytelling. Rather than feeling cheated by the twists and turns, I found myself in awe of how each one was set up right under my nose while I was none the wiser. I found myself excited the rare times I was able to predict story beats. Even when I was able to do so, the execution blew me away.

Mistborn gave me everything I ever could have wanted in a fantasy series with air tight execution.

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starts talking about my emotional state with 2 degrees of abstraction instead of 7 and the sniper across the street who i pay to keep me in line fires a warning shot thru my little hoop earring

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I am officially done with my grad program! Not because I graduated but because I dropped right the fuck out. Typing makes me feel better so, my dear void, please accept the occasional entries as I try to parse out what I am quickly realizing was an abusive situation. I can take no real actions in the real world against this, but I can sure as shit vent to the internet about it.

Frankly, my PI deserves the pits for the amount of complete and utter garbage this one person was able to put not only me but other current, previous, and surely future students as well. At least I have more time to read. A void post is surely incoming regarding my most recent reads to escape reality.

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Book Discussion: Sunrise on the Reaping by Suzanne Collins

SPOILERS FOR SUNRISE ON THE REAPING AHEAD!!!

SPOILERS FOR SUNRISE ON THE REAPING AHEAD!!!

SPOILERS FOR SUNRISE ON THE REAPING AHEAD!!!

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I consumed this book in approximately a day and a half and have no one to discuss it with irl so here I am ranting to the internet void once more. This is a final warning for in depth spoilers for Sunrise on the Reaping by Suzanne Collins. Please close out of this post now if you are trying to avoid those.

This book was frankly diabolical in the best way possible. I was one of many Hunger Games enthusiasts as a child and I directly cite the original Hunger Games trilogy as the books that cemented my interest in reading. I have a lot to thank the original trilogy for and Suzanne Collins as an author. Thus, my lens through which I perceived this book is HEAVILY biased.

This book had me in a chokehold from Chapter 1 all the way through to the Epilogue, dragging me kicking my feet and hollering the entire way through. I knew it was going to be a trip when the novel opened on four quotes centered around perception and propaganda from established figures such as George Orwell, William Blake, and David Hume. Collins was not messing around this time, clocking her audience before Chapter 1 even began as if to say "some of you didn't get my message the first time so let me tell y'all again for the people in the back". The president Snow/Tom Blyth thirst edits following the release of A Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes combined with the original trilogy getting pinned to an objectively lop-sided love triangle between Gale, Peeta, and Katniss really took its tole on society at large.

If Lucy Gray Baird in A Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes was the pinnacle of haunting the narrative then Haymitch Abernathy in Sunrise on the Reaping is the pinnacle of being doomed by the narrative. The absolute whiplash of the Chapter 1 lore drops between Haymitch stating he doesn't drink, the reveal of Burdock Everdeen being one of Haymitch's best friends, Haymitch's love interest being a covey girl named Lenore Dove Baird, and ending off with Haymitch's name NOT being called in the reaping was a lot to handle. Haymitch being illegally reaped after defending his girl from Peacekeepers kicks off the overall theme throughout the novel of propaganda being organized even if you cannot see it in the moment. It forces the reader to look at not only the events within Sunrise on the Reaping but within the original trilogy and media at large. Any story can be spun if the people telling it have enough finesse to make it seamless and enough influence to keep the people involved quiet. The staging of the reaping and later the events of Haymitch's games as a whole drive home the point that was deeply examined in A Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes: the narrative is whatever the people in power want it to be.

Gonna also give an honorable mention here to chaos of the reaping after the original second male tribute ran and was shot. A moment occurs where everyone is forced to their knees and Otto Mellark freezes upright. Burdock Everdeen is the one to punch Otto Mellark's knee in, forcing him to the ground and thus saving his life. Everdeens saving Mellarks and Mellarks saving Everdeens is an invisible string tying the stories together.

Haymitch being outlined as having the attitude of ending the games at the cost of his life due to to president Snow marking him for death only for Haymitch to win the games anyway... I am so impossibly emo about all of this. Watching the rebellion plotline unfold with the alliance of the non-career districts combined with the help from previous Victor mentors knowing there's no possible way for it to succeed was an exercise in agony. Collins knows exactly what she is doing, setting up the foundation for Haymitch to have an almost motherly relationship with Mags, an intellectual respect for Betee and Wiress, and later watching Katniss pick those exact people as allies in Catching Fire. Haymitch and Katniss are more alike than anyone could have ever guessed. Haymitch, the boy with the striker but not enough fuel, mentoring Katniss, the girl who caught fire, is excellent story telling.

The idea that rebellion had been brewing since almost the very beginning but needing the correct spark to light the whole thing up is so, so important. Rebellions take time. Having the original trilogy exclude Katniss from rebel plans either through her own desire to survive or through omission gives the reader a skewed sense of what was truly going on behind the scenes. Rebellion had always been brewing and Katniss was nowhere near the first attempt. Betee's plot to take down the arena during Sunrise on the Reaping had to fail so it could succeed in Catching Fire.

This is the obligatory mention of Ampert because that storyline was diabolical. Betee's twelve year old son Ampert is reaped as punishment for Betee's acts of defiance. Ampert and Haymitch team up with the other non-career districts but share the same goal of drowning the arena from the inside. When this inevitably fails, Ampert is attacked by mutts from the gamemakers and absolutely nothing could've prepared me for the description of his body being a picked clean skeleton. It was more gruesome of a description than any amount of blood or gore or horrific injury could've impacted. I mistakenly thought that Ampert was meant to be the Rue-esque figure here. The age and innocence was aligned and even their similar relations to the older figure BUT that honor, in my opinion, falls to Maysilee Donner.

Maysilee Donner, the original owner of the Mockingjay pin, is one of the female tributes reaped from District 12. She is feisty and unafraid to clap back verbally or physically. Her and Haymitch start as enemies but as she endears herself by fixing tokens for the other tributes, her and Haymitch come to the conclusion in the arena that one of them must win. After forming a sibling like friendship, the duo encounter a set of career tributes and a set of gamemakers. Maysilee and one of the careers kill the gamemakers and are punished for it by death. Maysilee and Haymitch are separated when she goes back for food. Her screams alert Haymitch but the bird mutts sent after her have done the damage. Her final goodbye to Haymitch is a pinky promise; a promise that he will win the games and not let the capitol control their narrative. It's gut wrenching in a way that the shock of Ampert's death could not properly achieve.

There are many other aspects of this story that I adored but am struggling to mention as I am running out of time and steam to continue. I would be remiss by omitting Wyatt and Louella/Lou Lou entirely. Wyatt being the oddsmaker and Louella the sweetheart as the remaining tributes from District 12. Louella tragically dies in the tribute chariot parade and Haymitch carts her body before president Snow, cementing his "fate" so to speak. She is replaced with a body double they call Lou Lou, a drugged and hijacked child who is determined to be from District 11. Wyatt runs the odds and picks Haymitch as his winner over the careers. He becomes protective of Lou Lou and later dies for her in the arena. Both are tragic in their own right.

Haymitch wins his games by essentially collapsing to dodge an ax thrown by the remaining career. He cheated his fate in the arena but doing so doomed his homecoming to be a Doomcoming (thank you Yellowjackets for that name). He is forever doomed by the narrative to survive while he loves and ever will love will die. The narrative cannot and will not ever allow him happiness. The overall experience reading this novel was a gut wrenching one that left me blankly staring at a wall. I give this book a 5/5 stars.

The chief complaint I have seen about this book (mostly via twitter). Is that it reads like fanfiction/it was too convenient how everything connected. In my opinion, there is a stark difference in reading something that was concocted to capitalize on shock and awe versus something that is emotionally impactful but still plays within the bounds of the established world. Lines that seemed to be throw-aways or one offs from the original trilogy suddenly take on a whole new meaning within the prequels and vice versa. All of the stories within the Hunger Games universe play off of each other through not brute force but by design, making the so called fan service cameos have more substance than style.

I will always be a Suzanne Collins/Hunger Games defender.

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when the blind man shows frankenstein’s creature the pleasures of life he shows him cigarette and music. notice how he doesn’t show him linkedin and email

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Book Chat: One Dark Window by Rachel Gillig

Personal Rating: 4/5 stars

The second installment of three book chats to kick off this saga is One Dark Window by Rachel Gillig. This is the first book in the Shepherd King duology. This duology got a lot of traction on booktok and made its way onto my radar. I am always a tad skeptical of books that are not recommended to me by trusted individuals (usually irl friends, family, coworkers, etc.), but I couldn't let this one go. Clocking in at just under 400 pages, I consumed this novel in an evening.

This book is a fantasy/romantic fantasy novel (also called romantasy as I have recently learned). The magic system centers around a set of cards that grant the user different powers if they are willing to pay the costs. Magic can also be acquired through surviving "infection" but those who are infected are marked for death by the ruling king and those who harbor them are criminals. All magic has a cost even if that cost is not yet known by the user.

The main character, Elspeth Spindle, is a survivor of the infection. As a result of her magic, her mind is home to a creature referred to as "Nightmare". Their dynamic is the true star of this novel. The story plays out as a twisting tale of magic, royalty, treason, friendship, and romance. The Nightmare serves as an observant passenger engaging in internal dialogue with Elspeth as they navigate external conflicts. I cannot stress enough how delightfully entertaining I found this aspect of the novel to be. Without the presence of the Nightmare the novel is still strong due to the well constructed magic system and political intrigue, but Elspeth and Nightmare take it to the next level. This elevates the read to a strong 4 star entry to kick off the year.

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Book Chat: 11/22/63 by Stephen King

Personal Rating: 4/5 stars

This is the first in a three book reading sequence to kick off my reading recent reading escapades. I recently finished 11/22/63, a science fiction novel written by the widely acclaimed Stephen King. I have not read any of King's novels before so this was my first experience with his writing. A professor of mine at university recommended this book to me specifically. I respect them tremendously so the natural course of action for me was to read this book ASAP!

The novel crafts a tale of time travel and alternate history following a high school english teacher from 2011 as he goes back in time to 1958 with the ultimate goal of preventing the assassination of President John F. Kennedy in 1963.

As a long standing consumer of the science fiction genre I find time travel to be a fascinating concept that is often mishandled in media. King's take on the trope was refreshing and left me asking just enough questions to keep the plot moving forward without destroying the story's foundations. The time travel mechanic is sound and the main character, Jake Epping, is compelling and charming as he navigates his rather delicate situation in the past.

Clocking in at just under 850 pages, the novel has its high and low points both in terms of character moments, plot developments, and stylistic writing choices. As a first time King reader but long time King movie adaptation enjoyer, I was not entirely aware that his novels follow a sort of Stephen King Literary Universe. Fans of King's previous works will get a kick out of the references and interactions with his other novels (the fictional town of Derry, Maine serves as a destination along the main character's journey in the past).

Overall I would recommend the novel as a first dip into science fiction for those who are already readers or are ready for the length (and vocabulary) commitment this book requires.

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Again I am here tracking my existence at the start of the new year! I will be tracking my stats for movies, tv shows, and books via spreadsheet but I wanted a place to store my thoughts and commentary on the media I consume. What better place to do that than a silly little blog? Hopefully my ADHD brain will allow me to stick to it this time (habits help me tremendously once I have them down).

I am very stoked to update this with my most recent reads to kick things off!

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I haven't kept up with this in a long, long time due to the trials and tribulations of pursuing a masters degree. After much consideration I will be taking the summer off to re-center myself and come back stronger in the fall! Ideally, I will be posting here more as I will have some time soon!

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Putting my kindle unlimited subscription to work this month in the form of reading Rina Kent's works. As someone who had no clue where to start and has only seen bits from "God of Fury" advertised on my instagram feed, I did not know all her books were connected until I saw the suggested reading order on her website.

I opted to go for the suggested reading order and thus started with the first one on the list "Cruel King" which is #0 in the Royal Elite series.

I did successfully finish this book (yippee!) but let it be said I am not the sharpest tool in the shed because I did not understand the British school system as an uneducated american and thought these were college aged individuals until the FMC's 18th birthday is explicitly mentioned towards the end of the book. This unsettled me slightly but I persisted onward.

This has a lot of the tropes I have come to expect from book-sta's usual reels that being the "dark romance" trope everyone seems to love so much. This brought along the usual suspects in that genre in the form of a playboy MMC turned obsessive, a double dosing of traumatic pasts, some bullying, and a background forbidden love storyline. Also, football!

I found the obscene amount of Vikings references to be a bit of a drawback as it was distracting. All in all Levi King is the first in what are sure to be many red flag male protagonists, but for something labeled as a dark romance I was expecting a bit more edge and a lot less consent (not to say the consent in this book was always enthusiastic but I was expecting much, much worse).

Despite my initial reluctance, I will be continuing on to the next book in the series "Deviant King" whenever my ADHD allows me to.

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My low-effort contribution to the Monument Mythos fandom

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The combined transgender swag of Freedom, Everett, and The Angel gave them the power of 30 atomic bombs so they could explode mars George Washington

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Chlorine's Reading Adventures

As someone who has been reading since childhood and is now grown with a kindle unlimited subscription, I am using this blog to post about my (often questionable) reads I pick up from instagram reels and personal recommendations. The less I understand the appeal of a book, the more compelled I am to read the book for myself and see what the fuck is actually going on.

I will be reading and reviewing everything and anything I feel like (horror, romance, fantasy, etc.) and will be tagging most future posts accordingly to (hopefully) ensure that the content can be adequately sorted.

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so much (for) stardust has been out for weeks now and it's time for me to accept the complete and utter demolition derby fob is running on my spotify wrapped