Team !!TOO LIT TO QUIT!!: Book Talk Reading Challenge April 2025 - Page 21

Originally posted by: LizzieBennet

Yeah GR generally has a few pages off from what Amazon gives. Therefore, stick to Amazon. If you're continuing from March, just put down the pages you read in April.

Did that already, check my post on first page. I just used the percentage to estimate the page number.

Originally posted by: heavenlybliss

Did that already, check my post on first page. I just used the percentage to estimate the page number.

Originally posted by: LizzieBennet

You entered it in the sheet too? We're doing a half monthly tally in a couple of days so it would be nice if everyone did that.

I will finish Oblivion tomorrow and add those pages in the sheet, and the Karin Slaughter one I'll try to calculate the number of pages I read it and add that tomorrow night or Tues morning. The third one I haven't started yet, even if I do start that tomorrow it will only be 1 or 2 short chapters so im not adding that.

Posting some more quotes I liked before I forget and delete the book.

“You know,” he began, “marriage is everything. The good and especially the bad. What you learn by the time you’re my old age is that it’s the bad that makes the good so damn good. It’s about finding a way to put the pieces back together when life tries to shatter you, and realizing just how unbreakable you are once you’re whole again. You’ll get there. I have no doubt.”

“I know it’s been hard,” Dad continued. “Hell, harder than anyone should have to deal with. What you’ve lost, it’s more than most people could fathom. But pain’s funny, you see. It has a way of turning into distance if you’re not careful. You think keeping it inside protects the other person, but the walls you build always have a way of keeping the people you love on the outside.”

“Your mom and I went through our share of rough patches,” Dad went on, his hand gripping the gear shift. “There were times we thought about calling it quits. Too much hurt, too many words we couldn’t take back. But you know what saved us?”

Camille swallowed hard, her voice barely audible when she answered. “What?”

“We stopped trying to win,” Dad said simply. “When you’re hurting, you can forget whose side you’re on. Not yours, not theirs, but the marriage. You don’t do what’s good for you, you do what’s good for your future together. Who’s right, who’s wrong, who’s hurting worse. When that’s what you start fighting for, that’s when you lose. You both do.”

What book are these from? Maybe edit your post to add the book title.

The last one is especially relatable for married folks! <3

My favorite one and the only one I marked in the last book I read was this:

"Strength isn't always loud. Sometimes it's a quiet power that isn't so obvious to the world."

- Give me butterflies by Jillian Meadows

Originally posted by: LizzieBennet

What book are these from? Maybe edit your post to add the book title.

The last one is especially relatable for married folks! <3

My favorite one and the only one I marked in the last book I read was this:

"Strength isn't always loud. Sometimes it's a quiet power that isn't so obvious to the world."

- Give me butterflies by Jillian Meadows

The one im reading - Beyond Oblivion by Jamie McGuire

do we have a thread anywhere for quotes from books? I swear I saw one somewhere

Originally posted by: heavenlybliss

The one im reading - Beyond Oblivion by Jamie McGuire

do we have a thread anywhere for quotes from books? I swear I saw one somewhere

Full Review: Deal with the Demon - CM Tillman (may be a bit spoilery, gonna proofread later)

Overall rating : ⭐⭐1/2 stars

I liked the concept of the book, and the initial setup in the first couple chapters was very promising. However, it didn't quite manage to stand up to those expectations. From what was looking to be a dark, gripping tale, the story quickly changed into something like a middle grade adventure novel. Sure, the heroine (Sage) faces problems, but she also gets through them fairly easily, almost as if the path has been laid out for her. She's poisoned and in urgent need of healing? She somehow faints right on the courtyard of a healer. She's a novice, vulnerable and in need protection? She immediately gets the best warrior willing to fight for her and protect her. Any other challenge she encounters on the way, she just channels a burst of magic and everything gets handled, waiting for her to resume her special adventure journey. Even though she hasn't mastered complete control over her magic yet, it still never causes her any problems or backfires in any way or creates any dangerous consequences. We keep hearing throughout the book that she needs to control it better, but why? I don't see the point. She's already doing well enough and handling all the creatures just fine, what more does she need to master it for? The lack of any actual struggle on her part somehow reduced the stakes of the story by a lot, and made it way too lighthearted for me. Sure, there were 2-3 times where she burst into tears because of the mess her life had become, but it honestly never felt enough.

Am I being too jaded about this? Idk honestly but like, imagine there's a Demon who tried to viciously murder you (like, actual violent murder), and now he owns half your soul and you need to work with him to get the other half of your soul back (this is the actual plot of the book btw, not a spoiler). Are you not supposed to be traumatised by this? Are you not supposed to feel every bit of hatred and resentment towards this demon? At the very least, are you not supposed to second-guess all his intentions during every step of the journey? But nope, the mistrust got handled way too fast and then never came up again. Very convenient. Instead, these two became instant bickering enemies, giving "petty school rivals" rather than "mortal enemies".

Add to that the general writing style. Very plain, simple and direct. Not enough depth or nuance (further adding to the MG adventure vibe). There were so many creatures that they came across, so many times Sage got in trouble, yet apart from the few initial chapters, there wasn't a single time that I felt any anticipation or worry for her. First of all, because almost all of those problems were brought on by her own runny mouth. This, I felt, was to show her "character" — both to us the readers, and to Kade. She's very very quick to react, quick to anger, and takes a stand anytime anyone is being wronged. Like a champion of justice, of sorts. But this clashed with the initial characterisation we got of her, that of a timid girl with nerves, who could never dare open her mouth in front of her mother. She spent her entire life stuck in a world that she didn't like, with regressive traditions that she didn't agree to, yet never dared to question or resist any of it. Even her plan to bring about change wasn't quite her own, it was something her best friend came up with and she simply agreed. This is not at all very "rebel leader" behaviour.

Now in Sage's defense, her mother is implied to be a cold, abusive, power hungry narcissist. It is also implied that she was physically abused by her mother if she asked too much. So I can understand why she never resisted, never questioned. Her upbringing contributed a lot in making her the shy, afraid, anxious type. It's all understandable. What is not understandable is how she suddenly transforms into this spitfire canonball who is so quick to argue, pick a fight and take a stand, retorts ready at her mouth at all times. I mean, I like the confidence but where did it suddenly come from? Is it a result of unlocking her own powers? Or is it because of her trauma, that she's determined to not let anyone be wronged again. Both of these are very reasonable explanations, but the author did not take out time to actually explain or explore it. Honestly, the kind of trauma that Sage goes through, and the kind of journey she needs to take on... she should've made for a super interesting protag with so much emotional depth and conflict inside. Again, the writing makes all the difference. It's all addressed somehow but none of it held any weight. I guess we're just supposed to see her transformation and be like "woo! You go girl! 🥳"

Speaking of writing, there were also several spelling, grammar and punctuation mistakes throughout the book, which were a turnoff for me.

Lastly, coming to Kade, the demon who tried to kill Sage and then was her reluctant partner for this journey. First of all, considering he was the ML of this book, he was introduced a lot later than I'd have liked, but maybe that's just me being impatient Since this is the first book in a series, there were a lot of other characters that needed to be set up beforehand, and it couldn't have happened later in the story. Coming to Kade, though, he was way less demonic than I liked, which if I'd known earlier I probably wouldn't have read this book at all 😅 But by the time I actually realised this, I was already like halfway through the book so I wanted to keep reading. The romance and overall chemistry was disappointing (thank god I was already keeping my expectations low after being burned by my previous drama). I would've been okay if they'd hated each other for the majority of the book, like serious intense loathing, but like I said before, their behaviour and bickering kept it more like a petty feud. Lemme cry out my virtual tears a bit here, bcz there was no. intensity. at. all 😭😭 intensity was nowhereee 😭😭 this was supposed to be an "enemies to lovers slowburn" which is like the definition of intensity so whereee did it goooo 😭😭😭

Anyway... *drying off virtual tears* if you forgot expectations for a bit, the book wasn't actually too bad. I know it probably feels like I only have negative things to say about this book, and I must've hated it. That's not true. I'm very quick to DNF, but this book held my interest enough to keep me turning the pages. I genuinely wanted to know what happens till the end, and since this was the first part in a series, I want to read the next book too (I'm also very curious to see what Kade does in the next book, considering how this one ended). Whatever complaints I have are mostly stemming from all the unused potential that this plot had. Unused potential is always very frustrating to me, because the 'what could've been' is way too nice to not feel upset over. Actually, I wish this book was treated like a middle grade story from the beginning (and marketed like that too). With a bit of better writing and characterisation, it could've had a very PJO-esque vibe to it and felt very satisfying. The worldbuilding certainly holds a lot of potential. I feel like the author aimed to create something more intense and thrilling suited to YA readers, but her style itself is suited more towards MG fiction, and as a result this story fell in a no man's land that belongs in neither areas completely (much like our protag Sage who feels lost between two worlds. How ironic 😅)

Some snippets. Like I said, if you forgot expectations, you could enjoy the book for what it was. Also, even though the bickering couple was not what I expected or hoped for, the bickering was fun and definitely my favourite part of the book

“Should we ambush it?” Sage asked. Kade raised a brow.

“What do you mean, ‘we’? This is your idea.”

“You said you would help!” She scoffed.

“I did, I found it. Now you can go act like a hero.” He spun around and sat down behind the boulder. Sage watched him, mouth hanging open as he pulled some food from his bag and started eating. “What?” He asked through a mouthful of dried meat and cheese, “You made me miss breakfast.”

“It is not a bustling town, but there are people who live there. Forty-three to be exact.” When he saw her disbelieving stare he added, “I can hear their heartbeats.”

"I know you’re the unofficial expert on all things Maiden and magic, but you need to chill out!”

“What does the weather have to do with this?” He retorted.

“I said chill as in calm down!”

“Calm and cold have nothing to do with each other! What kind of world did you grow up in?!”

If you really want to try your hand with your magic, and be useful doing so, the only way you’re going to learn is by doing. Not by practicing in the dark under your blankets.”

Sage blushed, so he had noticed she was using her magic at night.

He raised a brow. “At least, that’s what I assume you’re doing under your blankets.”

“We need to leave, right now!” Kade appeared next to her, grasping her arm with his iron grip. He tugged her back to the light, but she pulled away.

“I am not leaving it to be eaten by some giant spider!”

Kade threw her a withering look, his eyes blazing fiery red. “It’s not a spider! It’s-“

“Hello, my Prince.” The voice vibrated all around them, bouncing off the walls, echoing down into the darkness.

"Why can’t we buy food off travelers on the road, or better yet, why can’t you hunt for some?”

“Hunt?” He said incredulously.

“Yes, Mr. nine-inch nails and razors for teeth. Why can’t you go catch us a deer or some fish?”

“Why don’t you?” He shot back.

“I don’t know how to hunt!”

“And what makes you think I do?!”

Yo, heads up y’all!

Please update your page logs in the Google sheet for the half month page tally which will be up tomorrow. Even if you have edited and updated your page logs here (which many of you have done), I’m asking you to please add them in the Sheet as well, it makes it easier for me to tally totals.

If I don’t have your page counts, I won’t be able to post an accurate page log for our team, so please do me a solid and update everything you’ve read so far in the Sheet! Thank you!