It's Monday! What Are You Reading? #210: This Fiction Is Too Real

It's Monday! What Are You Reading? is a weekly meme hosted by Kathryn at Book Date and Unleashing Reads.

What I finished reading this past week:

I finally finished Tales from the Gas Station Vol. 3 and it was as good as I expected it be! Such a good series! Plus the audiobook narration is great!
Also, out of completely nowhere, I read Hot Mama, the second book in the Bigtime superhero series. I don't know what came over me that I suddenly had the urge to read this book. And the reason I'm surprised is because I wasn't the biggest fan of the first book in the series, Karma Girl, but I am happy to report that I liked this one better! Which is a relief because I have absolutely loved everything else by Jennifer Estep. I don't know why, but I just don't vibe with the romance in this series (which IS paranormal romance... there's a reason I don't really read those anymore 😬).

Currently reading:

I picked up Queen of Air and Darkness once again thanks to the readathon I failed at 😂 And I think I finally know why it's been taking me so long to read this, and why I'm finding it so hard to get through: the Cohort. They are absolutely awful! I can't stand them! I read about them and what they're doing and I just want to cry. This is a work of fiction, but it is SO real. What they want to do to Downworlders... this has happened before in the real world and it was horrid. I just can't with these bigots and the way they treat Downworlders.
That's not to say that the book is bad, because it is not by any means. It's just that this issue is too real and it makes me mad. Especially because I'm only about 200 pages in and the Cohort seems to have the upper hand at the moment. Everything just seems so bleak. But again, I don't hate this book. I love this world and the characters (the ones NOT in the Cohort), and I really appreciate that Cassie Clare is exploring this very important issue in this book. It's just going to take me a while to get through (and not just because of its lengthiness).

Up next:
All that being said, I'm starting to think I picked up Hot Mama because I just wanted something lighter between my reads of QoAaD. I kid you not, but I dread heading into a POV where the Cohort is present. I don't look forward to the bigotry they spit out. And I love the main characters for standing up to these assholes... it's certainly makes it easier to get through when you have good-hearted main characters to balance out all the evil. I don't know why this book is hitting me so hard, but it is 😩

Which is why I am definitely gonna be starting another book. I'm gonna continue reading QoAaD as much as my fragile heart allows, but I am also gonna be starting one of the above books... I just don't know which one yet. I might start the third book in the Bigtime series and just hope that the series will get better and better as the series goes. Or maybe some zombie apocalypse-ness is just what I need. I don't know yet. Lol.

What are you reading this week?