Neela is kind of exactly how I like my insufferable characters who think they have all the answers — she’s annoying in a very real human way, like a friend who you know is being unreasonable about a situation, but they’re your friend and you love them so you ALMOST see their pov, and thus resign yourself to smiling and nodding. Rukmini done quite dirty tbh and I kind of wish

we got to hear from her after she disappears from the narrative when Neela makes Her Tweet. Just kind of feels like Neela Learned Her Lesson and Moved On without actually having to do the work. An apology is not a one-way street, and I would have liked to see what Rukmini would have had to say, how she felt about the whole situation.

Also did not fuck with the pov shift for similar reasons - is this the story of a friendship or the story of one person’s feelings about that friendship? Despite plot gripes this is one of the Twitter Discourse As A Book books that I think is a lot more successful in having its conversations and nuances through characters that feel like real people rather than full-on caricatures, and I like the additional exploration of Friendship and Jealousy rather than a strictly adversarial relationship! Not to mention I think it’s a talent to have writing this seamlessly readable while also juggling Big Conversations. Ultimafsly not sure if I’ll remember this a month from now but the time I DID spend with it I quite enjoyed. I think possibly my last read of the year?