Hello, hello! How’s everyone doing? Things here are okay. The ice went away. I didn’t do any creative writing last week because I was lazy and meh. I’m writing this post a little early (it’s currently Saturday the 4th and, if I don’t finish it tonight, I probably will tomorrow) so that I can go to a doctor appointment with Dad on Tuesday (the 7th) if I want to. Anyway, I don’t have anything to ramble about, but the book I’m reading for fun is disappointing me, so I thought I could complain about it. This is not a review, just a rant. That being said, so many people recommended The Kaiju Preservation Society by John Scalzi to me. And it definitely sounds like something that would be right up my alley. You had me at kaiju. But I’m only a third of the way through and struggling with it.

The first thing I noticed about the book was that it tries way too hard to be funny. And it’s really not. I mean, I’m all for fluffy and fun and punny. You know this about me. But not everything has to be a joke. It’s a book. Even fluff should have a little depth… not much, but a tad. It definitely shouldn’t be a bunch of mediocre jokes strung together in the shape of a story. And the “I lift things” joke? It was cute the first couple of times. Remember, I’m only a third of the way through a pretty short book and we’re up to like the 50th time. It’s just sad now.

And the thing that I’m beginning to notice now is that there’s no real plot yet. Again, I’m a third of the way through. I should be able to see where the story is headed. Don’t get me wrong. Things are happening and backstory is being revealed, but there’s no cohesive plot yet. Not even a hint of one. Just some random events that don’t really form any bigger structure. I’m hoping that changes soon. Sometimes beginnings are a bit rambling until there’s this “Hey! There’s the story!” moment. I believe those beginnings should be edited more, but they happen. Fingers crossed a story shows up soon.

Also, the description is on the weak side. I fully admit that I’m not a visual thinker at all (I think in sounds and words, not pictures), so it’s more difficult for me to “see” things that aren’t either based in reality or described fully. Vague descriptions of mountains with tentacles don’t really help me, so it’s not as engaging for me as it could be. Even the human stuff has very little detail so far. That’s not necessarily a bad thing. I’d rather things be vague instead of 10 pages describing trees. But still, it’s super thin description all around.

I’m going to keep reading because I like the premise and it still has room to get better, but I’m not holding my breath. Plus, it takes a lot of hatred for me to put a book down. I’m nowhere near that point yet. If it gets better by Tuesday, I’ll add a PS to let you know. As always, feel free to leave your thoughts and questions here or on my social media pages!

PS! (February 7th, 62% through) Hey! There’s a plot. Kind of. Maybe. Okay, there’s potential for a couple of big plotlines, but if the one was going to happen, it should’ve been introduced way back in the beginning. The other one I could’ve made believe had been hinted at, but it feels like it’s probably not happening. Mostly, this book reads like a series of vignettes cobbled together to make a maybe-story. It’s not bad, just disappointing. Everything else I said still stands.