Jan 27, 2023
20 Chapters in so I figured I’d leave any random thoughts I’ve had while reading here:
•If I had to guess at a theme, so far I’m reading this as an analogy for growing into adulthood. Suzu’s primary characterized by her childishness at the start until she’s suddenly forced into just about the worst world possible for her. Betrayed by the person she trusted, she turns into something unrecognizable. In this new body, she’s introduced to an even worse fate as she encounters awful people like Clive. She doesn’t understand this world, and is essentially the same child she was before- but her guard is steadily raising as she continues to face hardship and her transformation has gifted her with great power.
•The handling of the more transgressive elements is almost passable, if not a little iffy. This kind of thing is very subjective, and really only bothers me when I consider whether or not the author is writing about these topics in good faith. Suzu’s remarks at the end of Chapter 15 about Anton assaulting her felt pretty weird to me. I mean, it’s not something unbelievable for her to think, and I suppose the characterization fits, but it’s just a lot to take in out of nowhere. I understand this she is immature, and this is a very low point for her, but I’d be lying if I said it didn’t take me out of the story for a little bit. I really can’t give you any advice on how to do something like this quote-unquote “better” other than show it around to people in your target audience and get their opinions. At the end of the day, if you’re just trying to get your message across, it’s all good. It’s just that the reader can’t always know what you’re intending, and that’s something we as writers have to keep in mind.
•My biggest criticism is gonna have to be the sheer amount of exposition at times, and how long the “kidnapping arc” went on for. Both overstay their welcome for me.
•The best thing the story has going for it right now is probably the open-ended nature it’s now accquired. I’m guessing Suzu will go after whoever’s alive after shit went down, but where exactly that’ll take her I really have no idea. We’ve got a lot of monsters out there and a really huge world that’s been fleshed out, so it feels like anything could happen really.
•My main hope going forward is that Suzu will see development. She’s on trajectory to become stronger after facing some hard truths, so I hope we get to see that followed through on in a satisfying way.
