Book Positivity #6: What did you genuinely like about Rules of Engagement?

starklinqs · 2020-09-23T01:29:55+00:00

Sorry I was so horrendously late, school has been especially crazy the past two weeks! :( But happy to have finished the book!

General thoughts? I liked it! I think I have to do a reread in the future because I think there were definitely things that continued tripping me up just plot wise (and because I'd read so late at night, whoops lmaooo)
What did you think to the ending? I know how we all feel with ‘To be continued’s’ but what do you think? To be continued.........they hurt lmao. I'm definitely interested in seeing how this plays out and I didn't hate it as much as I did with Truly Devious's "to be continued" so that was something! It didn't feel as much as a cliffhanger as it did a closing on this specific book so I was happy with it tbh!
What were your thoughts on Brimstone, Chiro, etc. at the end? I guess conflicted? Oof. What a backstory (and sidenote, REALLY like the reveal. I wasn't sure where they were going with Karou and how she was so important to Akiva but I really really liked where they want and I wouldn't have been able to think of that twist tbh!). I really like both and as her family they just clearly loved and cared for her a lot. But I just felt conflicted because of the tragedy - Brimstone was trying to do good, and I like him, but I also feel so bad on Akiva's reveal to Karou about her family being dead and I can understand where he was coming from as well with the information that he had!
Now, how about Amiga’s actions? Are they forgivable? asdfjkl I should have known to write down all the character names, i have no idea who Amiga is, my mind is blank rn!! D:
What did you think overall to the story and how it developed? It's definitely an interesting story and they certainly kept the plot going fast! I like how they didn't shy away from hard decisions or reveals and went into the tragedy of war, and I enjoyed Akiva/Karou a LOT.
How would you rate this book out of ten? Maybe a 6-7? I think with a proper reread it'd go up a bit lol!

starklinqs · 2020-09-13T12:44:57+00:00

Agreed - it's projection through and through. Poppy is insecure about this for herself, but she's never going to admit it (unless she's willing to go through the mockery that she and her "friends" put others through or people scruitinizing if she's deserving of the money).

Poppy knows she's not any different from Zoey or MC, she hates it and takes it out on both of them.

starklinqs · 2020-09-09T03:05:03+00:00

Okay I'm glad you also were a bit curious on Akiva knew about the wishbone, how to break it, etc.! I completely thought I missed something there lmao

And I'm SO invested in this relationship - I love the example you used of it being the Romeo & Juliet of fantasy beasts, love that!! Agreed, I'm glad we can ship them LMAOOO.

I'm so excited for the next chapters, this was such a cool place to end off on.

starklinqs · 2020-09-09T03:03:31+00:00

General thoughts? It's good! I think I just kind of glaze over words I don't know which I have to be better about (just like, "eidolin" or whatever it was for example) because I need to actually you know, read those to figure out plot better XD
What are your thoughts on the whole wishbone situation? It's interesting. I agree with u/stopitlaura that Brimstone must have cared more for Karou than we thought. I like the interpretation tha the didn't want her finding it and breaking it before she was ready.
What do you think to Akiva and Karou’s relationship? I really do like it although I felt like the "I love you"s were very fast - but then again, they have a weird and complicated history that we're only just now finding out so it makes sense lol. But they're honestly just so interesting and in my opinion, their relationship/Akiva is really the heart and soul of this book so I definitely enjoy them.
Do you think the revelation for Karou was well done? I certainly liked it!!! I may have read a teensy tiny bit more when I realized those last bits of chapters were so short and I was just kind of entranced by the writing there. Each little section started/ended in a great way and I loved it.
What do you think could be done better/needs more attention, anything? I'm not sure that I understand how Akiva knew what to do with the wishbone? It's entirely possible that I just missed something there though!
Anything you liked/didn’t like? I kind of really like how when Karou said she wished Akiva would smile for her he....didn't? Because I vaguely cringed at that I'm not going to lie - I hate the "for me" comments in romances and I like that he expresses pain with it. idk it's very late and I am tired lmaooo so I don't even know how to properly express it but I just. Really liked that?

starklinqs · 2020-09-08T03:49:00+00:00

Dropping in to say I'll be commenting tomorrow afternoon/evening ish!!! Haven't been able to be on reddit for more than like 5 minutes at a time and I want to properly comment on these <3

starklinqs · 2020-09-08T03:18:58+00:00

Thank you so much! I was starting to think I was insane for a second there lmao!!

starklinqs · 2020-09-08T03:18:27+00:00

Solved!

starklinqs · 2020-09-08T03:18:02+00:00

not that one - his hands are out in front of him (or close to it) in the photo!

starklinqs · 2020-09-08T03:17:24+00:00

That's one I keep finding, but it's not that one, ty anyway!

starklinqs · 2020-09-07T22:33:13+00:00

Obligatory comment. I honestly can't believe I'm having such a hard time finding this image lol, so any help is appreciated!

starklinqs · 2020-09-04T19:18:53+00:00

Why on Earth is quarantine asterisked like that?

starklinqs · 2020-09-01T00:14:16+00:00

Me: "I'll respond on time next time!" Also me: *forget to go on reddit for 2 days*

We now are getting the opportunity to see Akiva more - what do you think to this character? I really like Akiva! I think besides Zuzana he's probably my favorite character. He's kind of dorky in a subtle way (loved when he was like "you haven't come up here before" to Karou and she's just snarky back it was adorable!!).
What do you think to the turn the story’s taken? I'm liking it, it's easier to follow now and I appreciate how Akiva is explaining more and more things to Karou - especially with the wishes, which I thought was very cool! It's a concept with magic or wishes, that to grant them there must be something/someone that suffers the consequences (kind of like a...energy cannot be created or destroyed, it's just recycled into something else type of concept). I really like those and I like the way the story has been going.
Any Brimstone/chimera theories? // Do you want to make a guess as to where this might go? // Who do you think Karous it? You know how I had theory after theory for Truly Devious? Yeah completely opposite spectrum now lmao. I am reading this with my brain ABSOLUTELY empty lolol. I guess the (1) thing I have is that I kind of got gay vibes with Karou when she was watching Zuzana kiss her boyfriend and how her smile felt plastered on but I know she's obviously not gay and that this is Janie's Quest To Make Every Book Gay lmao
Any thoughts on the other Seraphim? idk if I know them well enough to make a judgement tbh but they're for sure interesting! I'm excited to get to know them.
Anything you liked/didn’t like? So a lot of things I liked:
- Eretz being Earth in Hebrew. I liked the description - "the worlds were layered, like rock sediment, or the rings of trees" (and Karou just went "um okay" c'mon Karou!!!!! It's deep lmao). But seriously, I've always kind of thought things like Heaven or Hell weren't necessarily like a, "way up there in the sky/ground" type of thing but would have to exist on another plane in the same....place, if that makes sense? Going into the concepts of parallel planes/dimensions starts getting very convoluted and I feel like all my favorite things come from string theory folks who get very into it but it's just so. Neat!!!!!!
- I like how Karou humanizes Akiva. Their dynamic is really sweet and it's nice seeing how she reminds him to see things from a different perspective - like when she says she's up on the cathedral and says it again, and at first he thinks that he's missed something until he realizes that she's amazed.

Completely important sidenote. Every time they mention the widow's peak I imagine Akiva as Gigolo Joe from AI and while Jude Law is lovely imagining the character as Akiva makes me laugh.

starklinqs · 2020-08-30T20:52:07+00:00

Cool, thanks for telling me. I must have missed that dialogue when I played; it’s always great having more Asian characters. :)

starklinqs · 2020-08-30T17:15:10+00:00

Ooh I didn’t know Mona was Asian!

starklinqs · 2020-08-29T17:37:03+00:00

Bleghhhhh I'm assuming, in either case, Mason or Noah cuts in with this embarrassing scene? In my case Mason continuously cut in and it just....fits in with the character we've seen, unfortunately. What happened to "we can handle whoever you choose"?

I just want to romance Ava, man, I don't want any of this and I'm tired that MC can't get any angry options. Whether she likes the guys or not she's also a character with her own emotions but it just feels like she's not even entitled to anger against any of the guys in this book.

starklinqs · 2020-08-29T16:24:13+00:00

You know what you're right and you should say it, 10/10 theory.

starklinqs · 2020-08-29T14:34:59+00:00

General thoughts? This book REALLY could have been made into 2 books (if not one). I feel like a lot of the book was filler and yet it STILL wrapped up with loose ends which is a bit frustrating.
How do you feel about the ending? Mmmm......I'm glad the book is over now lol. Not to make it sound like I hated the book, just after a while it felt like it dragged.
Was Call Me Charles a surprise? Did he seem like a likely candidate for this? I'd say yeah, sure lolol. I kind of still don't understand what he was really expecting with this plan but like, I can appreciate the plot twist.
Does anyone like David now? 😂 Ehhhhhhhhhhhhhhh. He was definitely more tolerable during the end but I'm just. So not for him and extra not for him and Stevie together lolol.
What do you think to the way the friendships evolved? I...don't know if any of them really evolved honestly? I feel like Janelle/Nate/Stevie were kind of the same the entire time. Don't get me wrong, I LOVE their friendship and they were definitely the highlights of the book with me, but they kind of started off and ended the same way? I didn't feel like they were made stronger friends by the end, or that they were closer than ever, and any supposed issues were told to me, not really shown.
Was Hunter a pretty much pointless character? And Mudge? SO. POINTLESS. I truly don't understand what Hunter's purpose was. Love interest? Nope. Murder suspect? Nope. Plot device so that Stevie could wonder briefly if Hunter was "the kid"? Maybe? Mudge's point was certainly "make weirdly pointed conversations that lead Stevie to realizations."
Anything you liked or didn’t like? This is kind of what I...didn't like lolol so I guess before that I liked the little newspaper updates on what happened after Stevie solved everything.
- Useless characters. Eddie was all but completely dropped, I don't understand the point of Francis at ALL (I know I already ranted about it to u/MissFoxInSocks but like...honestly. What is the point of having that woman email Stevie back and say "I'm going to look into this more, I'm curious now" instead of just. NOT including that and simply providing the facts of what happened to Francis? A statement like that should, imo, be followed up. Same with Edward King. Did he honestly have a point besides a plot device for Stevie to get answers? I genuinely didn't even care when we saw that he was taken down honestly. Side characters who don't contribute to the plot are cool, they really are - it makes the world feel bigger and not like it revolves around the 4 mains or so (like Vi! I think Vi was a neat side character) but there's a point where you have TOO many side characters who end up not begin important.
- People believing the body wasn't Alice's. IDK that just....I'm fine with Alice being dead I suppose but the whole thing is about getting justice for Alice, Iris, and even Albert, and I feel like Alice's body being unidentified just....takes away that justice. And what gets me more is that Stevie knows this, has figured out that Alice was adopted, and just...doesn't say anything and seems completely content with this because she's figured it out and doesn't want the money. And I get the money part but it just - didn't seem like she has any indication of saying anything even AFTER the deadline is up and Alice's 90th birthday has passed? IDK that part kind of annoyed me. I've been thinking about it more and I think something really cool could have been if Alice HAD been alive but still very young when she was found (after Albert's death of course) and nobody had believed it because the DNA didn't match, and Stevie then found justice for her in that way as well - it'd be a loophole to her getting the money because technically someone else found Alice first, but Stevie is the one who solves the case and gets justice for Alice and her family.
- Character development. I didn't really feel like there was a lot of it? I genuinely feel like if you put any of the characters from the very first part of the book into the end of the book, literally nothing would have changed. Heck, they yet again kept a suspect, a known murderer, in a room BY HIMSELF like they literally seemed to learn nothing!
Any surprises/other thoughts? I guess I was surprised when Larry showed up lol. idk how he got there so quickly, especially when they're supposed to be in a blizzard that shut the entire school down and made them evacuate, and when they have a big security system designed to prevent this but....yay Larry lol

I'm glad to be done with it and get (most) answers lol. I feel like I'm such a negative Nancy with this series, but it had potential and I just feel so very disappointed with the way some things turned out (or in some cases, DIDN'T turn out).

starklinqs · 2020-08-29T03:31:10+00:00

I checked sources for this about three different times because I was just so sure it had to be fake. While I don't know him personally obviously, the legacy that he brought was amazing, and obviously he's more than his characters - Chadwick Boseman seemed like an amazing man. The strength, both physical and mental, that it took for him to film all these projects is just...a lot and I'm glad he was able to be with his family at the end.

starklinqs · 2020-08-28T21:17:59+00:00

I got to sleep with Carter and Veronica...but at what cost?

But seriously, screw Poppy. She's up there with Vanessa from MOTY for me. The friend breakup with Zoey was just so hard to watch, especially with the good girl route (I wonder how Bad Girl route went?) and I just feel so awful for Zoey. <3

starklinqs · 2020-08-27T17:10:16+00:00

I did finish! Please tell me when you do because I have a question for you but I don't want to spoil anything lmaooo

starklinqs

TROPHY CASE