Jayson’s Reviews > The Ink Black Heart > Status Update
Jayson
is on page 853 of 1024
Chapters 82-87:
(1) It's somewhat surprising how young all these anonymous characters are revealed to be.
- Though, I suppose the internet isn't exactly the playground of the middle-aged or elderly.
(2) Some jerk spoiled me on the ending early on, but I'm beginning to doubt its veracity. I have a theory that two mods are the same person, as the villain somehow knows information only this other account is able to get.
— Sep 26, 2022 09:30AM
(1) It's somewhat surprising how young all these anonymous characters are revealed to be.
- Though, I suppose the internet isn't exactly the playground of the middle-aged or elderly.
(2) Some jerk spoiled me on the ending early on, but I'm beginning to doubt its veracity. I have a theory that two mods are the same person, as the villain somehow knows information only this other account is able to get.
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Jayson’s Previous Updates
Jayson
is on page 1012 of 1024
Chapters 101-107:
(1) I'm essentially done. All I have left are the Acknowledgements and Credits. I'll mark this finished after I read those.
- Yes, I'm the sort of reader who must read every single word of a book to consider it done.
(2) The ending was a bit frustrating. A bit too monster-movie for me... plus the personal drama.
(3) Creosote tea is back! Of course it would be saved until the end, for maximum effect.
— Sep 28, 2022 12:00AM
(1) I'm essentially done. All I have left are the Acknowledgements and Credits. I'll mark this finished after I read those.
- Yes, I'm the sort of reader who must read every single word of a book to consider it done.
(2) The ending was a bit frustrating. A bit too monster-movie for me... plus the personal drama.
(3) Creosote tea is back! Of course it would be saved until the end, for maximum effect.
Jayson
is on page 960 of 1024
Chapters 96-100:
(1) Going into the homestretch, I'm flirting with rating this 5-stars, despite saying previously that I couldn't see it happening.
- Still a long-shot, but not a thing I even considered over the first 800 pages.
(2) At this point, I'm fairly sure who the villain is.
- There's at least one major unexplained scene that there's simply not enough pages to make sense of unless it's part of the end reveal.
— Sep 27, 2022 07:05PM
(1) Going into the homestretch, I'm flirting with rating this 5-stars, despite saying previously that I couldn't see it happening.
- Still a long-shot, but not a thing I even considered over the first 800 pages.
(2) At this point, I'm fairly sure who the villain is.
- There's at least one major unexplained scene that there's simply not enough pages to make sense of unless it's part of the end reveal.
Jayson
is on page 919 of 1024
Chapters 88-95:
(1) As usual, the last fifth of the book is just flying by.
- I had to make an effort to pull away.
(2) One of the ironies of this series is how two detectives can be so perceptive and astute, yet so clueless about their own mutual attraction.
- Though, early on, one did come to a shock epiphany about their own feelings, and the other did the same just now.
- Again, this book's just full of mirroring.
— Sep 27, 2022 10:15AM
(1) As usual, the last fifth of the book is just flying by.
- I had to make an effort to pull away.
(2) One of the ironies of this series is how two detectives can be so perceptive and astute, yet so clueless about their own mutual attraction.
- Though, early on, one did come to a shock epiphany about their own feelings, and the other did the same just now.
- Again, this book's just full of mirroring.
Jayson
is on page 802 of 1024
Chapters 77-81:
(1) Again, we have an example of mirroring. The restaurant scene in Whitstable is essentially identical to the Ritz scene at the start.
(2) "Strike looked down at his own plate: where there should have been chips, there was only salad."
- Perhaps the most perfect line in the whole book.
(3) The bit about "All-Star Batman and Robin" is so esoteric that I'm all but certain the author's a DC Comics' fan.
— Sep 25, 2022 11:50PM
(1) Again, we have an example of mirroring. The restaurant scene in Whitstable is essentially identical to the Ritz scene at the start.
(2) "Strike looked down at his own plate: where there should have been chips, there was only salad."
- Perhaps the most perfect line in the whole book.
(3) The bit about "All-Star Batman and Robin" is so esoteric that I'm all but certain the author's a DC Comics' fan.
Jayson
is on page 753 of 1024
Chapters 71-76:
(1) One thing you can count on in this series is that if the police arrest someone, and the book's not over, they're not the killer.
- Strike needs his info-dump reveal chapter.
(2) I fear this whole Strike/Robin romance subplot may end up being a perpetual ships-passing-in-the-night situation.
- At best, we might get a Ron/Hermione outcome, where thing finally happen at the very end of the last book.
— Sep 25, 2022 11:35AM
(1) One thing you can count on in this series is that if the police arrest someone, and the book's not over, they're not the killer.
- Strike needs his info-dump reveal chapter.
(2) I fear this whole Strike/Robin romance subplot may end up being a perpetual ships-passing-in-the-night situation.
- At best, we might get a Ron/Hermione outcome, where thing finally happen at the very end of the last book.
Jayson
is on page 704 of 1024
Chapters 66-70:
(1) "[Strike] thought ... what? That [Robin] was some innocent schoolgirl?"
- To be fair, Robin pretty much thinks this about herself a chapter or so back.
(2) Interestingly, Strike and Robin exist as a kind of implicit couple, emotionally, although not in reality. So, anything romantic or sexual expressed to others is taken as infidelity, with all the emotional baggage, but none of the confrontation.
— Sep 24, 2022 08:50AM
(1) "[Strike] thought ... what? That [Robin] was some innocent schoolgirl?"
- To be fair, Robin pretty much thinks this about herself a chapter or so back.
(2) Interestingly, Strike and Robin exist as a kind of implicit couple, emotionally, although not in reality. So, anything romantic or sexual expressed to others is taken as infidelity, with all the emotional baggage, but none of the confrontation.
Jayson
is on page 651 of 1024
Chapters 63-65:
(1) This moderator exam of Anomie's sounds exactly like the Å·±¦ÓéÀÖ' librarian application exam.
- Although, with the former, it's not merely used as a tool to dissuade and reject applicants. I'd assume passing the "Drek's Game" moderator quiz actually makes you a moderator.
(2) As much as I find information-gathering chapters tedious, the dots connected at the end of the Blay interview is worth it.
— Sep 23, 2022 07:05AM
(1) This moderator exam of Anomie's sounds exactly like the Å·±¦ÓéÀÖ' librarian application exam.
- Although, with the former, it's not merely used as a tool to dissuade and reject applicants. I'd assume passing the "Drek's Game" moderator quiz actually makes you a moderator.
(2) As much as I find information-gathering chapters tedious, the dots connected at the end of the Blay interview is worth it.
Jayson
is on page 601 of 1024
Chapters 58-62:
(1) It's utterly predictable that Strike would reach the conclusion that the ersatz Robin he's been dating isn't close to the real thing.
- Well, except physically, which, predictably, is about all he enjoys about her.
(2) As in "Lethal White," Robin remarks on how heavy her mahogany bed is. As a hobbyist woodworker, I just want to yell: "Mahogany isn't heavy! It's one of the lightest woods there is!"
— Sep 22, 2022 09:40AM
(1) It's utterly predictable that Strike would reach the conclusion that the ersatz Robin he's been dating isn't close to the real thing.
- Well, except physically, which, predictably, is about all he enjoys about her.
(2) As in "Lethal White," Robin remarks on how heavy her mahogany bed is. As a hobbyist woodworker, I just want to yell: "Mahogany isn't heavy! It's one of the lightest woods there is!"
Jayson
is on page 557 of 1024
Chapters 52-57:
(1) I wonder if the author's a DC Comics fan? She seems to know her way around Batman characters fairly well, but can't even spell Spider-Man correctly.
(2) We have a subtle callback to Strike and Robin's first meeting at the end of the "Red Shoes" chapter.
- In both cases, Strike saves Robin from serious, perhaps mortal, injury in a way that could be taken as sexual if not for the life-saving aspect.
— Sep 21, 2022 12:00PM
(1) I wonder if the author's a DC Comics fan? She seems to know her way around Batman characters fairly well, but can't even spell Spider-Man correctly.
(2) We have a subtle callback to Strike and Robin's first meeting at the end of the "Red Shoes" chapter.
- In both cases, Strike saves Robin from serious, perhaps mortal, injury in a way that could be taken as sexual if not for the life-saving aspect.
Jayson
is on page 501 of 1024
Chapters 48-51:
(1) Strike suffering humiliating injury due to his leg is a staple of the series. Here he has two in close succession.
- I'm still holding out hope for creosote tea.
(2) It's always satisfying to pass the halfway mark of any book, but more so for cinder blocks like this.
- I find myself going at a faster pace. Partly because mental pictures have cemented and I'm no longer having to sort out who's who.
— Sep 21, 2022 12:05AM
(1) Strike suffering humiliating injury due to his leg is a staple of the series. Here he has two in close succession.
- I'm still holding out hope for creosote tea.
(2) It's always satisfying to pass the halfway mark of any book, but more so for cinder blocks like this.
- I find myself going at a faster pace. Partly because mental pictures have cemented and I'm no longer having to sort out who's who.
