esda | Reading

During the Covid pandemic, Cora loses her sister. She is murdered right in front of her, a stranger pushing her in front of a train. Months later, she is a crime scene cleaner. And scene after scene, she cleans up the remains of another Asian woman. Murders all of them.

And then, there is the hungry ghost.

Cora is somewhere on the spectrum, and she is suffering from trauma. It took me a while to get used to the writing style for her inner voice but after I did, this really worked for me and I think it was a great portrayal of her grief and the way her mind works.

The novel also was pretty gory at times, maybe a bit too gory for me. I was kinda glad that I'm pretty bad at imagining anything visually (or at all, I probably have aphantasia). It doesn't pull punches when it comes to character deaths, something that kinda surprised me. Also, the creppyness factor got pretty high at times. So yeah, all elements of a good horror novel.

( Spoilers )

I wouldn’t recommend for everyone, if you’re have a lot triggers, you better check if this novel isn’t too much for you.. But I thought it was clever and a good read.

scolaro

June...in which we continue cleaning out the house and suffer through a heat wave of up to 40°C (104°F). The weather is not improving the public transport situation.

I wasn't going to write a whole lot as it was almost mid week, still hot and I was tired. But then I did end up writing a lot after all and didn't have time to finish it properly before midnight on 30th June, so just dropped everything and continued when I could which is now.

( Heat, fires, train issues and a shooting, all in one day )
( Cellar cleanup )
( Garden in June )

Current Mood: hot

mabiana

We have normal temperatures and I am lying on the balcony being completely comfortable at 5 pm. \o/

I just had another grocery shopping adventure. Like the grocery store I remember from childhood my Aldi now has two seperate areas for scanned goods at the cash registers, so you can pack your purchases in peace and don't possibly annoy the next customers with not using your third and fourth arm for packing quicker. I am very pleased! There's even a second device for digital paying - only the one I ended up at didn't work, nothing appeared on the little screen. I was sent to the other one, stupidly held my card at it without first checking the sum and then found I had paid a bit over 11 Euros. For a well filled shopping cart. And the cashier at first didn't believe me when I said that can't be! I could have said ok then and walked out with goods worth 65 Euros having paid only 11... It was the sum the previous customer had had to pay which for some reason it was still showing. I ended up paying my 65 Euros with my card, too, and got the 11 Euros and something back in cash.

I'm glad I can blame it on menopause and don't have to wonder if it is early dementia lately - yesterday I plugged the tablet for loading, walked three steps and then started wondering where the tablet was. A while later I took out my earphones and placed them on the carpet as my podcast ran out while I was in the middle of exercising, and when I got up five minutes later I wondered what that blue thing on the carpet might be... I do wonder if that is also the reason why I suddenly seem to need much more sleep.

slippery_fish

Random news:

# Buffy and Ted Lasso star Anthony Head dies at 72
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# Joe Alwyn Joins John le Carré Thriller ‘Legacy of Spies’ as MI6 Agent, Hugh Laurie to Play His Boss The cast of this sounds like it could be good.

Random articles:

# Rollerena: New York’s Fairy Godmother
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Random Vids:

# Michelin-Trained Chefs Cook at the USA's Best Burger Restaurant
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Random Trailers:

# THE SOCIAL RECKONING
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slippery_fish

Two girls vanish only to be found dead a few days after. Decades later, a young girl vanishes and the same cop tries to do better this time.

This was a solid crime procedural with likeable characters and a few twists that I didn't see coming but that still made sense in hindsight. I actually liked the family drama and how that played out, even though it got close to being a bit too much.

At some points, the writing felt a bit too analytical and removed from the horrible stuff that was happening but it didn't happen often enough to truly bother me.

trobadora

Last seen at

graycardinal's: post the first lines of your last ten fics.

In reverse order, most recent first:

Outside the Snake Tribe leader's house, Ya Qing sits at a table with three hypocrites.

(Unwritten, Guardian, Ya Qing/Zhu Hong)

They were waiting for him at the spaceport.

(Zhentari's Choice, Original Sci-Fi, King/Knight)

The Black-Cloaked Envoy slammed down into the nondescript little flat like a thunderbolt from the heavens, not a moment too soon.

(Close the Distance, Lock Us In, Guardian, Shen Wei/Zhao Yunlan)

Not for the first time, Zhao Yunlan woke to the smell of citrus, sweet and strong in the air.

(in the darkness with you, Guardian, Shen Wei/Zhao Yunlan)

Da Qing glared at the Guardian Lantern.

(Dragon of Flowers, Dragon of the City, Crossover: Guardian/Thermos "Flower Series" Commercials, team gen)

Between all the worlds, there lay an ocean.

(Heart-Seed, Heart-Flower, Thermos "Flower Series" Commercials, Thermos Dragon/White Cat)

Nick wasn't the only one; they all kept looking at the door for long moments after Bélem Hoyos had left with her husband's body.

(Farewell to the Monsters, Grimm, Nick/Renard/Juliette)

Turmoil. Disruption. Zhao Yunlan.

(To Make a Dream, Guardian, Shen Wei/Zhao Yunlan)

The banging on the gate was loud - far louder than it should be, echoing through the Valley.

(forgetting any other tie but this, Word of Honor, Luo Fumeng/Liu Qianqiao)

Ya Qing, half-transformed, had feathers down the side and back of her neck.

(scale to feather, skin to skin, Guardian, Ya Qing/Zhu Hong)

Ha, I was determined not to cheat, to strictly quote only the first sentence (well, except for the one that's just a single word), but some of these really are much stronger if you take the following bit into account! Especially these two:

Not for the first time, Zhao Yunlan woke to the smell of citrus, sweet and strong in the air. Ack, did I fall asleep on my orange peel again?

Da Qing glared at the Guardian Lantern. Bad Hallow! How dare it be missing its wick?

enigel

Today I was pancaked on my sofa, two fans on full blast aimed at me, and it still felt like being in a fan-assisted oven. Then I dragged myself and my biggest fans to the bedroom and pancaked on my bed instead, because it's like 1-2ºC cooler than the living room.

(By "cooler" I mean "one hair less hot than hell's armpits", but you know, it's all relative.)

Blegh. Bleeeeeeeegh.

Current Mood: hot

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esdas Freunde

Reading

"Bat Eater and Other Names for Cora Zeng" by Kylie Lee Baker

Monthly entry - June 2026

(no subject)

June Random-ness 2026

"We are all guilty here" by Karin Slaughter

First Line Meme

blegh

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May 2014

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