Danielle’s
Comments
(group member since May 19, 2014)
Danielle’s
comments
from the Danielle L. Jensen's Reader Group group.
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Melissa wrote: "1. Not with a book, but I did stop watching Downton Abbey after the killed the love of my life. *sobs uncontrollably* It was so unfair! It took me over a year to finally watch the rest of the seaso..."I REALLY need to watch Downton Abbey. I love historical fiction so much. I was OBSESSED with The Tudors.
Shreya wrote: "1. I haven't had the issue of stopping a book because of my favorite character dying yet, but when I do stop a book it's either because my favorite is either never addressed again or if something h..."Hi Shreya,
That's a very astute analysis of the Anais/Roland betrothal - I'm impressed!
(view spoiler) I LIKE red herrings :) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Red_her...
Adriyanna wrote: "1. No, I only quit a series if I can't connect with the characters or don't like the writing. Although, Game of Thrones may be the only tv series I've quit for a reason like this (haven't decided i..."Hi Adriyannna,
Ugg, the Sansa thing was so horrible. Also the burning of the little princess. I was not happy about them showing us all that.
Abby wrote: "1. I have never quit a series because of a character death, I have had to put it down for a bit, but I usually keep going as long as the main character doesn't die. :) 2. The chicken murder did f..."
Hi Abby,
I think a lot of people guessed that was how Anushka was staying immortal... sort of like the queen in Snow White and the Huntsman https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2-UMN...
Morgan wrote: "3. Tristan is pretty angry/disgusted to learn about the betrothal of Anaïs (Lessa) to Roland. What were you thinking at this point? Did you believe this was more of the King’s manipulation, or did ..."Hi Morgan,
SUPER ICKY, RIGHT?! Yes, Lessa definitely has plans of her own. She IS the daughter of the King and sister to Tristan, so can you really expect anything less?
Fun FactsChapter 16 – This is one of my favorite scenes in the novel, because it reveals the sorts of conversations Tristan has been having with his aunt all through his life. Also, it’s the second time in as many chapters that Reagan has been mentioned. Which given that she’s not been an important character, should make you start wondering how she’s going to come into play.
Chapter 17 – The friendship between Cécile and Sabine was really important to me, and I really like how we are starting to see how far Sabine has come from the girl who was scared to ride a horse to the young woman she becomes. IMHO, Sabine has one of the most developed character arcs of all the secondary characters in the series – she really changes and comes into her own.
Chapter 18 – In this section of chapters, but this one in particular, I wanted the reader to see the King more as a man and less as a uniformly villainous villain. Hidden Huntress is full of little clues to what’s going on in his mind, and I loved drawing on them for Warrior Witch.
Chapter 19 – The chapters where Cécile and Catherine interact were rewritten more than any other part of the novel. I really struggled with how I wanted to characterize Catherine. She was originally more of a mentor/teacher, but I ended up making her more of a reluctant ally.
Chapter 20 – Tristan likes to eat when he’s working on a problem. It’s a character trait that pops up over and over again, and one of the awesome entries for the Hidden Huntress art competition featured him nibbling away as he worked on his plans.
Chapter 21 – Nineteen burn marks. THAT number was quite the challenge to come up with, because there were a whole bunch of factors. I wish I still had the scraps of paper where I worked out the number, but at any rate, I’ll write a post about it when we get further along in the book.
Chapter 22 – Figuring out how to trick the King in this chapter took me forever to figure out. One of the hard parts about writing characters that are supposed to be super clever strategic geniuses is that I have to think up super clever genius strategies. Which given that I’m not a super clever strategic genius, is often quite the challenge.
Chapter 23 – Not sure if I’ve mentioned this before, but if I every use a specific ingredient in a spell, it’s because it has a real-world property that relates to what the spell does. Rosemary is good for the memory. In Warrior Witch, Cécile uses Lobelia and Passiflora for two different spells.
Chapter 24 – This is sort of a funny story, but one of my mom’s friends told me once that she thought Pierre was the only likeable character in my novels.
Chapter 25 – Cécile makes quite a few BIG MISTAKES in this series, but taking Julian to see Catherine is the only one I actually consider stupid.
Chapter summaries continued...Chapter 23
Trapped in her room Cécile mulls over everything she has learned so far. They know that Anushka is somehow using the deceased women they found in the graves to maintain her immortality. As she continues to mull through all of the information, Sabine comes in. She admits that she had hoped to free Cécile of her connection to the trolls, but she sees now that they have even more influence over the human world than she had realized.
Cécile tells Sabine her theory about the Regency. She believes that the Regency began when the trolls became trapped in the mountain. The Regent was put in place to hold onto the power until the trolls could kill Anushka. Cécile believes that the Regency wanted to keep the power so they have been hiding Anushka while conducting witch-hunts to appease the trolls. Catherine might have been in the castle to help Anushka stay young. The only way they can confirm this, however, is by doing a spell as Catherine refuses to talk to her.
Cécile performs the same spell that she used on Élise and she watches Catherine’s memory. The memory opens with Catherine reciting a spell for eternal youth. Then the memory follows Catherine through the castle. She arrives at a woman’s door, but Cécile can’t see the stranger’s face. Catherine tries to tell the woman that she wishes to stop; she is having a hard time hiding the bodies and she doesn’t want to practice the dark magic anymore. The woman says that she must continue. Cécile notices that the woman makes Catherine’s spell sound vital, rather than just a spell for vanity. The memory ends and Cécile still hasn’t seen the woman’s face. She decides then that she must speak to Catherine again. The only problem is getting around her mother.
Chapter 24
Tristan is fulfilling his promise to work on the tree. The project is a constant drain on his abilities, however, and he can feel the wear of constantly using his magic. Despite the dire effects on his health, he loves working on the tree and helping his people.
As he is walking to one construction site, he hears Pierre yelling at some members of the Builders’ Guild. There had been a small quake the night, but Pierre believes the Guild hasn’t done a good enough job checking to see if the tree needs adjustments for shifts in the rocks. Reminding them that this is against his father’s orders, Tristan checks the magic of the tree himself.
One of the men steps forward and asks Tristan to explain what he’s doing. While Pierre is still yelling at the other two builders, the troll reveals to Tristan that many of the builders have suspected that the King had given them false plans. He tells Tristan that the half-bloods are not the only people who want Tristan on the throne. Many full bloods feel that Tristan is their only chance at survival. Just then a messenger comes from the palace. He is there to announce the engagement of Prince Roland and Anaïs.
Chapter 25
It has been a week since Cécile took Catherine’s memory, but she has been unable to go see her thanks to her mother’s monitoring of her activities. She asks her mother how much longer she’s going to be so restricted, and her mother tells her only until the masque is complete. After that, she doesn’t care what Cécile does. Cécile notes that her mother seems to be obsessed with the event. Julian is present, and he is amused by their arguments. He professes a desire to go out, and Cécile convinces her mother to let her go with him.
Cécile convinces Julian to go with her to Pigalle, and she leaves him in the carriage while she goes in to see Catherine. The other witch is drunk on absinthe, and tells Cécile to leave. But when Cécile extracts the stolen grimoire from her bag, Catherine flies into a rage. It is short lived. Cécile tells her about the memory she stole from her mind, and presses Catherine for more information on the woman she was serving. Catherine tells her that for a long time, all the woman wanted was creams that would keep her from aging, but that one time she asked for a love potion to use on the Regent. She didn’t want to make it, because it would be a betrayal of Lady Marie, but out of fear she did it anyway. But instead of the potion making the Regent fall in love with the mystery woman, it made him fall in love with Catherine, which was a disaster. Cécile tells her that she suspects the mystery woman was a witch herself, and that she altered the potion as a way to get rid of Catherine. She offers Catherine a chance to get back at the woman who ruined her life by helping Cécile find her.
Chapter summaries for those who need them!Chapter 16
The imposter is Lessa. Although Tristan has discovered who she is underneath her disguise, he doesn’t know what her motives would be to help the King. He leaves the auction and heads back to the palace where he hopes to find answers.
He goes to see his aunt, but the first thing he notices is that his mother seems angry, which is out of character. At first, he thinks that she is angry with him, and asks his aunt what is wrong with her. Although his aunt will never say anything outright against the King, Tristan pieces together the clues she gives him and realizes what he is seeing is his father’s anger reflected through his mother because of their bond.
Tristan and his aunt “resume” a match of Guerre, which she notes he’s losing, and he notices she’s commissioned a new game set. The pieces have the faces of people he knows. He has very few players left, and all bear the faces of his allies. His aunt’s pieces are black, the king piece bearing the face of his father. The black pieces vastly outnumber Tristan’s players. They start discussing strategies for the game, which is code for how to bring the King down. Through the game she informs Tristan that his father still hopes to control Tristan.
Tristan tells her his strategy is to use his own piece – the white king – to assassinate his father. But his aunt tells him that plot will play into the other player’s strategy. She then adds another set of game pieces that are red in color – Angoulême. Through the game, she reveals to him that killing his father while Roland is heir is exactly what Angoulême wants, and worse, that Roland is completely under the Duke’s control. Before he can think on this further, all the mirrors in the room explode, and his mother starts to scream.
Chapter 17
Cécile sits in her dressing room waiting to begin her performance. Sabine comes to assist in her preparation and Cécile notices how much her friend has changed. She also remembers Tristan saying that out of everyone, Sabine took her disappearance the hardest. Sabine blamed herself for Cécile’s disappearance and Cécile begins to understand that Sabine’s recent actions come from a place of love. Before she is about to go on, her mother suggests that they fire Sabine as she’s a troublemaker, but Cécile won’t have it. She threatens to quite if her mother gets rid of her friend.
She goes on stage to perform and can’t shake the feeling that she is being watched. She sees motion in the Regent’s box, but she can’t make out the individual’s face. By the time the performance is over and she can take a good look, whoever was in the box is gone. She is shaken with the knowledge that Anushka could have been the one in the audience.
Chapter 18
Glass flies through the air as the Queen loses control. Tristan and his aunt use all of their power to protect themselves. Unwittingly, Élise walks into the room, forcing Tristan to throw himself in the way of his mother’s magic in order to protect his friend. Ordering Élise to go find his father, he takes off the manacles to free his magic from the limitations of the steel and tries to control his mother without hurting her until his father has arrived.
When the King arrives, his mother’s rage subsides and Tristan is surprised to see the amount of concern on his father’s face for his mother’s wellbeing. He watches in silence, realizing that his father genuinely cares for his mother, and it gives him a brief moment of hope that his father might care for him as well. Then his father turns on him, and orders him to put the manacles back on or he’ll put more in their place.
Élise approaches and they discuss what happened. Tristan tells her that it wasn’t his mother’s rage they witnessed, it was his father’s, and that they need to discover who provoked it. Élise agrees to help him. Before she goes, he asks for her help putting his manacles back on. She does so in exchange for his promise that when he’s king, half-bloods will be allowed to be bonded to anyone they choose. He agrees.
Chapter 19
Accompanied by Chris, Cécile rides to Pigalle to speak with Catherine. She’s nervous, because she knows that the King’s messenger is watching her, and also strongly suspects that Marie is in league with Anushka, therefore is watching her as well. Cécile and Catherine discuss how a witch’s power is inherited, and Cécile indicates that it came through her paternal side, as her grandmother is a witch. Cécile then asks Catherine about curses and blood magic and how to break them. When they start to discuss blood magic, Catherine warns Cécile that it is a slippery slope.
Heeding her warning, Cécile asks why Catherine was dismissed from Lady Marie’s service, believing that it must have been because it was discovered she was a witch. Catherine is amused, and tells her that Marie had originally employed her because she was a witch, which given the laws against witchcraft, shocks Cécile. Cécile mentions that Lady Marie has taken a special interest in her since she is performing for her. Almost immediately Catherine asks her to leave, explaining that she was dismissed for meddled in things she shouldn’t have, and that she won’t make the same mistake twice.
After she is kicked out, she finds Chris, who’s been eavesdropping. He admits to have stolen one of Catherine’s grimoires that last time they were here. Since she offered to help Cécile, he was planning on returning it, as he was disturbed by its contents. But when Catherine kicked her out he decided to keep it. She looks through the book and one page in particular stands out to her. Cécile makes a choice then to ignore Catherine’s advice about staying away from blood magic.
Chapter 20
Tips is examining the real plans for the construction of the tree with Tristan. He’s surprised that the blueprint is so different. They turn their discussion to how Tips lied to Tristan about his true name, and Tristan asks how that is even possible. Although Tips isn’t completely sure, he believes it has something to do with being part human, although not all half-bloods have the capability, as it takes quite a bit of willpower. Tristan tells Tips that Lessa is masquerading as Anaïs, and as he’s explaining the situation, he realizes that his father already knows that some half-bloods can lie and is using that information against his enemies. Tristan tells Tips he has an idea. That it’s more than a bit mad, and if it goes poorly, they might both lose their heads. Tips agrees to go along with it anyway.
Chapter 21
Chris arrives at Cécile’s home with a chicken in tow. It is the last piece she needs to perform the locator spell she found in Catherine’s grimoire. When they arrive in the kitchen, Cécile begins the spell, which is supposed to create a burn mark showing Anushka’s location on the map of Trianon. She can feel the magic working, but once the spell is complete, there are nineteen burn marks on the map. It didn’t work. Disappointed and frustrated, she starts to wonder who she has become. Chris assures her that she has not turned evil, that she’s only trying to help those she cares for.
She begins to clean up the mess, but when she tells Chris to throw the map in the fire, he hesitates. He notices that at least ten of the burn marks are in cemeteries. Wondering if it has something to do with how Anushka has been maintaining her immortality, they decide to check out the locations. They discover that all but two of the markings are graves or tombs of dead women. One marking is out of the city limits, but the last is within the castle walls. They cautiously make their way to castle keeping a safe distance. All of a sudden Cécile feels compelled and starts moving dangerously close to the castle gates, eliciting the threats of the guards. Chris stops her in time and they decide to stop their hunt for the night.
When she arrives back home her mother is there waiting. She sees through Cécile’s flimsy lie. Her mother has no idea where she’s been. But she assumes Cécile is having an affair with Chris. They argue and her mother forbids her from going out. Angry, Cécile retires to her room. When she enters there is red writing on the wall that says tick, tock, Princess, and she knows her time is running out.
Chapter 22
Tristan is summoned to see the King, and though it’s part of his plan, he’s nervous. He can hear the mob of angry half-bloods outside. He is given protection on his way to the throne room because many half-bloods want to kill him. When he arrives, the King tells him that he’s been accused of destroying all the work that had been done on the stone tree. Tristan admits to being guilty. The half-bloods in the throne room begin shouting, demanding that he be punished. The King voices his surprise at Tristan having destroyed the structure he’d dreamed of building, and Tristan tells him that it was because “they weren’t his plans.” The crowd speculates on his meaning, and then Tips steps forward. He tells the King that Tristan’s actions were motivated by spite, because when he tried to regain the half-bloods support to move against the King, they rejected him.
Tristan watches his father’s reaction as Tips recites the conversations he had with Tristan, all of it the truth, which the exception of the last: that the half-bloods wanted nothing more to do with him, and that they’d go to the grave before seeing him on the throne. Tristan confirms the conversation happened. Which it had. That Tips had been lying through his teeth when he’d said it did not change the fact the words had come from his lips. No one in the room doubts that Tristan has confirmed Tips’s words, except the King, who has used the same ruse before himself.
The King knows Tips is lying, but he can’t call him out without revealing the half-bloods ability to all those present. Caught up in his own web of duplicity, he believes that the half-blood mob calling for Tristan’s death is an act – that Tristan once again has them under his control. He asks Tips what the half-bloods want. Tips tells him that as punishment, they want the King to order Tristan to rebuilt the stone tree. The King agrees, but then Tips demands that Tristan promise to finish it (which was not part of Tristan’s plan). Furious, the King tells Tips he has no right to ask for such a thing, but Tristan gives his word anyway. The King tells him under his breath that he was a fool to bind himself so.
As Tristan heads back to his room, he’s pleased that he was able to trick his father. There is a tray of food waiting for him. It’s from his aunt who says that she still cares about him so she sent this tray with Élise. He looks for a message, but finds none. Giving up for the moment, he starts to eat the soup on the tray and finds the name Anaïs written at the bottom of the bowl. Élise has discovered the source of the King’s anger.
Here are the discussion questions (a bit early, because I'm off to Emerald City Comic Con tomorrow) You can answer as many or as few as you want, and you can also pose questions about these chapters to me!Unlike with the Stolen Songbird read-along, there are quite a few people who are reading Hidden Huntress for the first time. If you think your answer might spoil things for them, please mark it as a spoiler using html. https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...
One participant on this thread will win a signed copy of WARRIOR WITCH, courtesy of my publisher, Angry Robot Books
1. Have you ever quit reading a series because one of your favorite characters died?
2. Cécile begins to delve into some fairly dark magic (chicken murderer!), and it only gets worse through the novel. Do you think she was right to perform that spell, or do you think she should’ve found another way? Would you have done it?
3. Tristan is pretty angry/disgusted to learn about the betrothal of Anaïs (Lessa) to Roland. What were you thinking at this point? Did you believe this was more of the King’s manipulation, or did you think that Lessa or Angoulême was putting a strategy into play? Tell me all your guesses.
4. Was Tristan giving his word to the half-bloods to build the tree a mistake or a good way to earn the trust of the half-bloods? Feel free to reference the rest of the novel, but hide your answer as a spoiler if you think necessary.
5. Cécile discovers quite a few clues about Anushka in these chapters from the spell that revealed all the graves, to the memory she steals from Catherine, to the information Catherine willingly gives her during their visits. Did you have any guesses on how Anushka was remaining immortal? Hide your spoilers!
Mi-Mi wrote: "I can't say for other people, but if I were an author, I would read reviews of my book. I think it can be a good way to learn from and reflect on your work. Obviously, I would just ignore the revie..."Hi Mi-Mi,
She is a VERY interesting character. If someone hasn't written a historical fiction novel featuring her, they should!
Thissi wrote: "1. I think that it depends on the author when it comes to reading reviews that others left on their books. I believe that reviews can often be insightful, and give authors constructive criticism on..."Hi Thissi!
Yes, the sort of hatred Fred has for the trolls at this point is a very dangerous sort. He refuses to see beyond it, and that could cause him to make some ugly choices.
Nicole wrote: "1. Personally, if I had published books, I'd read reviews of them. Even if it's not ALWAYS a great idea, I just know I would be too tempted to see what other people think. I mean, I'm already reall..."HI Nicole,
Most authors feel that way when their first books come out :)
Perla wrote: "4. Well if Tristan was serious about giving them a voice then yes, as a leader among the miners, it is Tips responsibility to look out for his people. Tristan has to be accountable for his mistakes..."HI Perla,
You'll find out if Lessa gets what's coming to her soon enough. May 3, May 3, May 3!
Lillian wrote: "1.) Authors can read reviews if they really want to, but sometimes they can drastically affect his/her confidence. The five-star praising reviews will bring it up, and the one-star overly-critical ..."Hi Lillian,
I think narrow-minded an excellent way to describe Fred at this point in the story. He has a lot of character development yet to do :)
Nicole wrote: "1. Tough question... I think reading reviews can be useful, because there might be constructive criticism that could improve the author's writing. On the other hand, I don't think it would be nice ..."Hi Nicole,
Yes, Lessa was the perfect person to be the impostor, because despite being so powerful, she spent her life being invisible. No one has ever considered her to be important, so it's hard to imagine her being a key player in one of the King's schemes.
Kelsea wrote: "1. Hmm...I think that its up to the individual authors if they want to read reviews or not. I know one author doesn't because she doesn't want to be influenced for future books (like if someone sai..."Does the King trust anyone?
Erika (The Nocturnal Fey) wrote: "1. Yes and no...maybe. I think reviews can help authors in many ways like improving, let's say if it's a series, on the sequel of the first book. I have this one book which I loved, but there was a..."Hi Erika,
Yes... some reviews can be pretty harsh, and those are tough to read. I find 3 star reviews are typically the best for constructive criticism. Those are the ones I read when I'm looking to figure out what is and what isn't working for readers with a particular novel.
I agree that Fred's reaction was pretty understandable. While Cecile (and the reader!) know and love many of the trolls, he's never met any of them, so I think it's hard for him to have much sympathy for their plight.
Shreya wrote: "Before I answer anything, I think seeing a frustrated Tristan trying to cook something would be the best thing ever!1. I think reviews are very insightful and, as someone who writes reviews mysel..."
Hi Shreya,
I agree that the King's plots are Tristan's Achilles' heel. I think part of it is that his emotions are involved when it comes to his father, and that sometimes interferes with his logical thinking.
Ashley wrote: "1. This is a hard question to answer... In general, I think reviews are mostly for the readers. There are critique partners and other such people authors can go to for constructive criticism in ord..."Hi Ashley,
I like your answer to #1 :) Yes, it really depends on the author as to whether reading reviews helps or hinders their process. Some people aren't bothered by harsh criticism, while others take it really hard - so hard that impacts not just their ability to write, but their life outside of their work. Personally, I'm somewhere in the middle of that range.
Karim wrote: "1. Yes I do. It is always nice to hear feedback, whether good or bad on one’s work. It helps you grow and develop. As long as the comments aren’t hurtful they are a great tool to gage not only the ..."Hi Karim!
I agree that Tristan needed to be called out. Which I guess is obvious, given I wrote it - hah!
As much as he's generally aware of his mistakes, I felt it was important for Tristan's development as a character and a leader for him to admit his mistakes to his followers.
