Adri Joy
@adrijjy.bsky.social
(She/her) once and future editor-criric at Hugo and Ignyte winning SFF fanzine NERDS OF A FEATHER, FLOCK TOGETHER. Dog person, ocean enjoyer, I like being elsewhere.
It's ok, I'm arriving at it independently 😅
November 17, 2025 at 4:29 PM
It's ok, I'm arriving at it independently 😅
Here's 10 I should read before turning into a pumpkin
November 17, 2025 at 3:33 PM
Here's 10 I should read before turning into a pumpkin
As the owner of a canine container opening savant: condolences
November 15, 2025 at 12:59 PM
As the owner of a canine container opening savant: condolences
Looks like [my] bullshit's back on the [review] menu, boys!
a cartoon cat is holding a pencil and writing on a notebook .
ALT: a cartoon cat is holding a pencil and writing on a notebook .
media.tenor.com
November 14, 2025 at 1:25 PM
Looks like [my] bullshit's back on the [review] menu, boys!
...The universe heard me. I guess I'm definitely writing about it then
November 14, 2025 at 1:14 PM
...The universe heard me. I guess I'm definitely writing about it then
It doesn't change from that tone, definitely not worth continuing if you didn't enjoy the first.
November 14, 2025 at 1:10 PM
It doesn't change from that tone, definitely not worth continuing if you didn't enjoy the first.
Partly doubling down and partly throwing the good things about that book (which I liked!) out.
I saw someone on Reddit refer to the current one as "Ready Player One: Academia Edition" and while I think that's a BIT unfair, it's closer to that endless reference slop than it is to her stronger work.
I saw someone on Reddit refer to the current one as "Ready Player One: Academia Edition" and while I think that's a BIT unfair, it's closer to that endless reference slop than it is to her stronger work.
November 14, 2025 at 12:46 PM
Partly doubling down and partly throwing the good things about that book (which I liked!) out.
I saw someone on Reddit refer to the current one as "Ready Player One: Academia Edition" and while I think that's a BIT unfair, it's closer to that endless reference slop than it is to her stronger work.
I saw someone on Reddit refer to the current one as "Ready Player One: Academia Edition" and while I think that's a BIT unfair, it's closer to that endless reference slop than it is to her stronger work.
If you're talking about a different book by the same author, 1) that's one way of putting it! 2) I think there's a LOT to unpack about sophistication/depth vs. subtlety and I like the way she challenges the idea that they're the same thing across all her work. But it doesn't always land, for sure.
November 14, 2025 at 12:41 PM
If you're talking about a different book by the same author, 1) that's one way of putting it! 2) I think there's a LOT to unpack about sophistication/depth vs. subtlety and I like the way she challenges the idea that they're the same thing across all her work. But it doesn't always land, for sure.
*depending on the expectations of the person perceiving it
November 14, 2025 at 11:26 AM
*depending on the expectations of the person perceiving it
Why is it LIKE this! I just don't understand!
it's so lazy! unserious! I genuinely don't understand how an author who is clearly quite invested in making big statements and writing deep themes in her work ends up writing something this silly!
November 14, 2025 at 11:16 AM
Why is it LIKE this! I just don't understand!
I hear you, I'm really trying to unpick and be clear about where I think I'm being "ungenerous" in my assessments (i.e. expecting something the author wasn't trying to write) but it's especially tough with this book for some reason 😅
November 14, 2025 at 11:01 AM
I hear you, I'm really trying to unpick and be clear about where I think I'm being "ungenerous" in my assessments (i.e. expecting something the author wasn't trying to write) but it's especially tough with this book for some reason 😅
it's so lazy! unserious! I genuinely don't understand how an author who is clearly quite invested in making big statements and writing deep themes in her work ends up writing something this silly!
November 14, 2025 at 10:59 AM
it's so lazy! unserious! I genuinely don't understand how an author who is clearly quite invested in making big statements and writing deep themes in her work ends up writing something this silly!
Also the big dramatic reveal when these two Cambridge students (one of whom was an Oxford undergraduate so has ONLY been to those two universities) get to hell is "OMG... hell is a CAMPUS" and it's like oh ok so completely unlike the institution it is sort of mirroring in our world then
November 14, 2025 at 10:58 AM
Also the big dramatic reveal when these two Cambridge students (one of whom was an Oxford undergraduate so has ONLY been to those two universities) get to hell is "OMG... hell is a CAMPUS" and it's like oh ok so completely unlike the institution it is sort of mirroring in our world then
Right? Like, the author knows it's not a thing in UK academia, so it's never specifically "oh this person at cambridge was fretting about being on tenure track", but when it goes off on academic career insecurities and how the MC thinks about her future it comes up multiple times
November 14, 2025 at 10:56 AM
Right? Like, the author knows it's not a thing in UK academia, so it's never specifically "oh this person at cambridge was fretting about being on tenure track", but when it goes off on academic career insecurities and how the MC thinks about her future it comes up multiple times
Minimal treatment of colonialism. Hell is portrayed as a mashup of Christian, Ancient Greek and Chinese myth - there's a bit of handwaving about how hell changes depending on so it's not "objectively" defined by those 3 (very dominant!) cultures, but it's all the book is interested in showing us
November 14, 2025 at 10:54 AM
Minimal treatment of colonialism. Hell is portrayed as a mashup of Christian, Ancient Greek and Chinese myth - there's a bit of handwaving about how hell changes depending on so it's not "objectively" defined by those 3 (very dominant!) cultures, but it's all the book is interested in showing us
I think it would be stronger if it didn't involve Cambridge at all tbh. She could still have written the main character as an outsider and her rival as a thoughtlessly privileged insider in a US ivy league setting, and the direct references to tenure and campuses etc. wouldn't have felt as odd.
November 14, 2025 at 10:48 AM
I think it would be stronger if it didn't involve Cambridge at all tbh. She could still have written the main character as an outsider and her rival as a thoughtlessly privileged insider in a US ivy league setting, and the direct references to tenure and campuses etc. wouldn't have felt as odd.
Yeah I wasn't very hopeful. I think I'm committed to seeing the hate read through anyway, but wow what a bizarre book. Definitely feels like the ball was dropped during editorial too.
November 14, 2025 at 10:41 AM
Yeah I wasn't very hopeful. I think I'm committed to seeing the hate read through anyway, but wow what a bizarre book. Definitely feels like the ball was dropped during editorial too.
Maybe I need to write about this book
November 14, 2025 at 8:34 AM
Maybe I need to write about this book
I keep telling people I'm doing an ungenerous reading because I clearly want this book to be something the author wasn't interested in doing. But the thing that she DOES seem interested in comes across as painfully limited. Really disappointing.
November 14, 2025 at 8:34 AM
I keep telling people I'm doing an ungenerous reading because I clearly want this book to be something the author wasn't interested in doing. But the thing that she DOES seem interested in comes across as painfully limited. Really disappointing.