#and now i'm reading a touch of darkness which is honestly atrocious but i'm kind of invested now

[nectaric]

wowie , here's a little update for y'all since i've been mia for a while: i'm finally moved in and settled but there's a lot of little things to do that have been adding up and taking time, so i haven't spent much time writing.

i've also been focusing on other things for my health, like getting outside and eating real meals and spending time with friends and family. i've also been reading a lot more! i finished a whole book and i'm well into another, which hasn't happened in over six months at least, and years before that so!! not to mention a new book idea struck me like a train and i've been working really hard on fleshing that out so i've been busy.

i intend to write here soon, but otherwise, if you want to reach me you can add me on discord or get my insta since that where i spend most of my online time these days. <333

[sharkbaitouhaha]

Tell me about your book !!! (I saw the name of the book btw) I just don't know what it's about . Curious to know why it's not that enjoyable but you're still reading 😂😂

Lola i am about to write you a novel i am so sorry

for anyone curious this is a bout the book "a touch of darkness" okay so! i have to start with the fact that this was a book bought for me for my birthday and was very much a shot in the dark on if i'd like it or not. and this is all going to be very rambly because i'm really not sure why i'm still reading it 😂

it's a retelling of the hades & persephone myth but it's like a ✨spicy✨ retelling. so look i love some good smut but i'm not a big romance or smut book reader, it's just usually not my jam or something i'm drawn to outside of fanfic. i adore greek mythology which is why the book was bought for me, with the biggest worry being "is the retelling going to be good enough for my dear darling wife who admittedly is sometimes too critical of retellings". My sweet darling beloved husband also did not realize this was a smutty book he was buying which actually is the funniest part of this entire story to me.

at the time of writing this i'm about 50% done the book. now the way this author has gone about doing the actual retelling or reworking of the myth is just, in my opinion, not great. however it really reads like maybe they had this other story and just slapped some greek mythology characters onto the book. the story very much feels like they wanted to write that kinda 'billionaire, possessive, enemies to lover' type story which again just not my usual type of story but hey it's good to give things a chance. also persephone, who this particular book really places the focus on, is just really fucking stupid

the smut is also just not really smutting to put it in the worst possible wording i can. there's like hints of it but nothing has really happened. perhaps i am just impatient but also there's been moments where there's definitely build up and then it doesn't go far and just ends very abruptly.

honestly it feels like maybe the book would have been better if it was not meant to be smutty at all, or there was more commitment to the smut. it almost feels jarring, like i'm being pulled out of one type of story and i'm being plopped into another type of story.

now with all of that i'm sure you're still wondering why is she reading this she has many a complaint. and i really wish i had a firm answer here because i wouldn't be so confused myself. here are some thoughts on why i think i have continued to read it despite all of the above

like sometimes things are objectively bad but they're fun and so it's still enjoyable and while it may not be a super enjoyable book it's also not unenjoyable, it's kind of a middle ground i guess. at no point have i been reading and felt "this is so atrocious that it's a waste of time to read it". so while i don't find it's very good i also don't think it's bad enough to just stop reading. ya know what i mean?

i am also genuinely curious to see where this author takes the myth. i don't necessarily think it's a great retelling or rework of the myth but i am so curious to see where she takes it, at least for this book because i don't see myself reading the rest of the series. that's part of the fun in reading retellings is seeing how things are changed and while i don't love the current choices i've seen the authot has in fact piqued my interest enough to see where things go, or at the very least where this book ends in terms of the myth.

it's also a pretty quick read so it doesn't feel like it's draining or taking more mental energy than its worth to read it. and hey why not try to just finish a book in a genre you never would have bought yourself

anyway i don't know if any of this makes any sense or really explains why i'm reading it. i guess there's just parts of the story i am somewhat interested in but as a whole im just not really liking it. if i had to rate it right now i'd say it's like a 2/5 so not the worst but also not good.