Vicky’s Comments (group member since Jun 24, 2020)

Vicky’s comments from the Random Reads group.

Ok things are still building up a bit but I like that there is still an overall sense of dread. Especially because we readers know how things turn out for them (well, those who already know about the Donner party). It’s one of those stories where you’re yelling at the book “no, don’t do it! Don’t take that ‘shortcut’!” Lol. So yeah, I’m liking it so far!

Woo hoo! We made it to the end! What did everyone think?

Let's discuss chapters 23-33 here.

Let's talk about Chapters 10-22 here!

Alright here we go! What did we think about the first part of the book?

I enjoyed this book, but I don’t think I’m going to continue the series. I think I’ll just watch the miniseries to find out what happens 😂 I liked the history and how it interweaved with the story of the two families. I did think the drama was a bit much sometimes, and by the end I was kind of glad it was over 😬 Though I liked the characters, I think by the end I had just tired of it lol. So it’s not a bad book, but I didn’t love it either. Thank you to everyone who joined us for our first book club read! I hope you had fun and will join us in October for our next pick! 😊

I’m soooo curious to watch the miniseries now and compare and contrast! Early on I was talking to my mom about the book because she was obsessed with the miniseries back in the day (lol), and when I mentioned that Orry lost his hand she was like “no he didn’t!” So I’m curious to see what other changes were made. That’s interesting that Cooper isn’t even in it!

Oohh the drama in this section! Though some of it is a bit over the top sometimes, I admit I am enjoying it. Ashton is turning into one of those villains you just love to hate. I’m scared to see what she ends up doing lol. She is a mean one! Also, Bent is back 😬 Billy and Charles are in for it!

I agree Mike! I thought it was weird that George condemned Virgilia’s stance on slavery given what he witnessed at Orry’s. I don’t like that Jakes seems to correlate her anti-slavery activism with her appearance, like the reason she’s so passionate about these things is because she’s “unattractive”. She’s villainous or is perceived as unlikable because she isn’t skinny or beautiful. Or that if she were “attractive” she wouldn’t care about slavery. Like, why should her appearance matter, yet he’s always pointing it out in a negative way? Does that make sense? It kinda bugs me! So yeah I say get ‘em Virg! Lol

I also found the quote from George pretty profound Mike! I really don’t know how to feel about Orry. Obviously I feel for him in that he lost his hand and that the woman he’s in love with is married to another (awful) man. But calling cat-hauling another human being “necessary”? No way man. By the way, that scene when Priam was cat hauled had me googling because I had never heard of it and I can’t believe that was actually practiced! Absolutely horrible.

I have to say, the romance aspects in the book so far have me rolling my eyes a bit lol. It might be because I just don’t care for romances in general, but the instalove between Orry and Madeline was kind of ridiculous and the scene where they first secretly met had me cringing 😬 George and Constance at least got to know each other a little bit before declaring their love lol. So yeah I could easily do without all of that. Who knows though, it might grow on me as the book goes on.

Thank you for posting this Bobbi!

Yes, I liked that we got that little bit of backstory in the prologue with the two families and their beginnings. The part in the prologue with the Native American woman was pretty unbelievable, and I feel like it further played up the stereotype that indigenous women are animalistic and hypersexualized.

It started out a bit slow for me, but now I’m getting into it. I’m really liking George and Orry’s friendship (and I’m totally picturing Patrick Swayze as Orry 😂). I also am finding the depiction of slavery interesting. Unlike Gone with the Wind, where the slaves are depicted as happy as can be and childlike, and don’t seem to know what to do when they are eventually freed, I think in this novel things seem a little more accurate. The slaves we’ve met aren’t happy, even if they are treated “fairly” by their owners. They are very aware of their situation and their oppression. I like that a lot of the anti-slavery views we’re seeing come from Orry’s brother. I’m interested in seeing how his story progresses (hopefully he’ll still have a big role in the story). And Justin LaMotte? I hate hate hate him. So much.

I’m so happy you’ll all be joining us! I’m getting excited; the North and South read starts on Saturday! 😄 Who’s ready?

Hi guys!
To kick off this new book club, Bobbi and I decided to read North and South by John Jakes. We thought this would be great way to start things out because our bookish friendship started back in 2018 when we buddy read Gone With the Wind by Margaret Mitchell, which is a classic Civil War era novel. We thought kicking this club off with another Civil War story would be a great way to start things.

Here is the synopsis:
"From America's master storyteller and writer of historical fiction comes the epic story of two families- the Hazards and the Mains. Separated by vastly different ways of life, joined by the unbreakable bonds of true friendship, and torn asunder by a country at the threshold of a bloody conflict that would change their lives forever..."

The group read starts August 1st and we hope you will join us!

Hi everyone!
Welcome to Random Reads, the online bookclub where we read random stuff. I'm Vicky and I'll be one of the moderators of this group. My bookish bestie Bobbi will be the other moderator. We are so excited to start this group! Bobbi and I thought since we do buddy reads ALL OF THE TIME, that we would open it up and make it a full-on book club. Bobbi and I have eclectic reading tastes and read across a lot of genres and we wanted our book club to celebrate that. We hope you enjoy the random books we will be reading here. So stop in, say hi and tell us about yourself! What genres do you especially enjoy? What genres do you hope to see here? We can't wait to read with you all!

Alright guys we made it to the end! What did you think? Will you be continuing the series (there are two more books)? Let's talk about it all here.

Let's discuss chapters 45-58 here.

Let's discuss chapters 33-44 here.

We're about halfway through! Let's discuss chapters 25-32 here.

Let's discuss chapters 17-24 here.