u/herbalspurtle

Starting with the good, I think the sequences for the compulsive need to follow the rites was extremely well done. I personally have issues with checking things like door locks, coffee pots, burners and the like. I feel like I could send some of the passages from the book to someone who doesn't experience those feelings to show them what that headspace looks like.

However, this book seems more like a tech demo for the author to show his skill at that one aspect rather than a cohesive story. I will preface this by saying that this is my first book by this author.

The book tries to go too many directions and doesn't stick with many of the threads it picks up. The themes it stays with are not even well explored.

We see a little bit about class differences with the disheveled guy on the bus, the homeless encampment, and Grace's being out of touch. But then those topics are dropped or ignored

Jemma has a kleptomanical tendency, but it doesn't really add anything.

Lucy is honestly the most interesting character in the story but we only see her for a few pages >!Not counting The Visitor version of her. !< she has actually meaningful, interesting things to add. But then again, she adds some strings that never go anywhere, like the lore for the cliffs.

The book just felt like a slog to get through

Spoilers!

Is there actually any supernatural issues going on, or is it all just in Macy's head? We never really find out.

The rites were so poorly done.

Macy fails a rite: next time something bad is going to happen.

Macy fails a rite: "We called your insurance adjuster and actually you won't be getting any life insurance money from your ambiguously suicidal dad."

Macy fails a rite: "ok you really shouldn't have done that. Something bad will happen! If you don't do X, something REALLY bad will happen!"

That's the book.

No Stakes, No Punch. In between pages and pages of Macy reexplaining that she's a bad person and she's a failure, nothing happens.

Maybe it could have been more impactful book with the internal monolog if the reader cares about Macy, but it's difficult to do so. Maybe that's what the author is going for. If so, he succeeded because I can't make myself give a shit about Macy, but man it makes it does not make for a good book.

You get some interesting things like the lore about the people calling her, but again, we don't learn anything about the nature of the entity/threat. Or even if it's just a metaphor for OCD and Depression.

This is a 9 hr audio book that should have been a short story. (Corey Brill did a great job though. I loved her performance!)

And then the end happens. She dooms humanity to an ambiguous SUPER-SCARY-OMG^tm undefined maybe apocalypse. The apocalypse that had David crying in the kroger, but that's about all we get for the details. I've done that without hellish visions.

Overall I'd give it a 3/10 for some interesting writing, but I couldn't get over the fact that we were left waiting all book for ANYTHING to happen.

Disappointing range with the gizont 17cm omni on a heltec v4. Barely getting .3 miles. Is this normal?

Dead simple heltec v4 case that actually fits a 3000mah battery

I have a fresh box of esp32s, a 3d printer and a desire to jump in to meshtastic. What resources should I explore to build nodes/ comms?

Is a mortgage survey like this enough to build a fence off the easement or would you have a surveyor come out and mark lines?

Little skink!