read_unchecked (e.g) is poorly named. Whenever I use it I feel like I am doing something unsafe like with the unchecked functions in the std lib. There really is nothing unchecked here - the lifetime is not unchecked, it is extended. A better name would be e.g. read_static or read_runtime_checked or read_extended since it gives the read Ref a static lifetime and relies on runtime checking instead.