“In Boston, as soon as I stepped off the plane, I was hit by the scent of the air — wet and alive. A total contrast to my home in the desert, which had the smell of kiln-baked fossils.” - this is a great observation
“I think I’ll pass, I thought, letting out one strained chuckle, just before my bones blew up.”
That is the most I’ve laughed out loud from this story so far. Such good pacing throughout this chapter to get to this point, and YIKES it sounds terrible. Is it weird I kept imagining undergoing this myself though? On purpose?
Man what a menacing start to a training montage that I’ve never read in a book. I wonder how long they’ll sleep before next chapter? Definitely excited to hear how they all feel about this experience! I’m guessing we start in Esther’s head for the top of the next section but will be happy to see what is next disirregardless of who we are learning it from.
"Out of nowhere, a billion hot needles pierced my skin. I felt my lungs contract in a scream, but it was lost in the noise of agony. Somewhere just below the absolute threshold of endurance — that place where sanity dies — the burning flipped to freezing. For an instant: relief, as cold blasted away the hellfire. But then a splitting, aching frost sunk deep into my flesh."
From the comforting beauty of an Arizonan's first inhaling the North Eastern side of this continent, to the cringing horrors of imposed "augmentations," what a poignant kaleidoscope of imagery this chapter offers! I'm pretty certain what they underwent in order to adapt to their new environment eclipsed any normal form of "torture," since nothing, not one tiny part of each of their bodies, was able to escape it.
“In Boston, as soon as I stepped off the plane, I was hit by the scent of the air — wet and alive. A total contrast to my home in the desert, which had the smell of kiln-baked fossils.” - this is a great observation
“I think I’ll pass, I thought, letting out one strained chuckle, just before my bones blew up.”
That is the most I’ve laughed out loud from this story so far. Such good pacing throughout this chapter to get to this point, and YIKES it sounds terrible. Is it weird I kept imagining undergoing this myself though? On purpose?
Man what a menacing start to a training montage that I’ve never read in a book. I wonder how long they’ll sleep before next chapter? Definitely excited to hear how they all feel about this experience! I’m guessing we start in Esther’s head for the top of the next section but will be happy to see what is next disirregardless of who we are learning it from.
"Out of nowhere, a billion hot needles pierced my skin. I felt my lungs contract in a scream, but it was lost in the noise of agony. Somewhere just below the absolute threshold of endurance — that place where sanity dies — the burning flipped to freezing. For an instant: relief, as cold blasted away the hellfire. But then a splitting, aching frost sunk deep into my flesh."
From the comforting beauty of an Arizonan's first inhaling the North Eastern side of this continent, to the cringing horrors of imposed "augmentations," what a poignant kaleidoscope of imagery this chapter offers! I'm pretty certain what they underwent in order to adapt to their new environment eclipsed any normal form of "torture," since nothing, not one tiny part of each of their bodies, was able to escape it.