Gord’s Comments (group member since Apr 06, 2017)

Gord’s comments from the Vampires, Weres and Fae! group.

I'm going to have a hard time explaining this as a lot of it is based on my gut. This is a low three at best but a lot of it comes down to entertainment/not entertained. A two star book is something that I actively had a hard time reading and just did not like the book/characters/the writing/something. Now I know that it sounds like this book should fit that bill to a tee but here is the thing. I was at least mildly entertained while listening to this book. Sure there were moments where I was yelling at characters for doing stupid things or just being stupid in general but there was always that part of me that was curious about that mystery. Now granted it played out in the end pretty much how I guessed it would. This book just never crossed that weird internal line for me.

It's been a bit of a slower week but here is what I've completed this week.

-3 Stars
Oh man this book was stupid and I mean extremely stupid. This was the longest feeling 8 hour audiobook I think I've ever listened to. How do I even sum up this massive train wreck. A young woman heads to Paris with her friends and classmates for spring break. She finds out that she is descendant of french royalty that was part of this secret organization that had ties with Marie Antoinette. While there, quite conveniently, something has awakened Marie's ghost and she is going around killing the descendants of this secret organization. Oh and because it's a YA book set in Paris we need a little romance mixed in as well. The above book I described actually sounds rather interesting but something went horribly wrong somewhere and we ended up with this really dumb train wreck. Lets start with the MC since we spend the most time with her. She ricochets between dumb, TSTL, and poor writing faster than a coked up squirrel. A perfect example of this, at the beginning of the book the MC talks about how excited she is for this trip to Paris and how she has memorized the itinerary for the entire trip. Once she gets to Paris though it seems like she forgot everything because for the rest of the book it's "what are we doing today/tomorrow?". There is another point after she has started seeing the ghost where she comes to the dumbest conclusion. She is in a dark alley and hears footsteps and her first though is ghost. Then there is the day where the class is heading to the catacombs. Now our MC has claustrophobia so you can already see how this could be a rough day for her. No, she has no idea what the catacombs are nor does her friend. How? Just how? You memorized your itinerary for the trip and never once looked into where you were going? In general, how the hell do you not know what the famous catacombs of Paris are? Even if it's just a sterotypical image of what they are. Just, just, aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh.

Alright, enough MC, lets get into the supporting characters and other stuff. There is the school teacher/escort who has no problem with a 16 year girl going off into the city with the 20 year old sexy tour guide by themselves. There are the two friends of the MC who are somehow valley girls from Toledo, Ohio. Maybe that was just the narrator but "yas gurl" is not something I want to hear in my headphones very often. One friend is the passive hanger on and the other girl is every mean girl trope rammed into one character. I was secretly cheering for her to die first but that never happened. Oh and our MC has to keep a massive secret from her friends lest she get kicked from the cool girl club. Her parents are divorced and she is now poor. Her mom has to work at the mall to make ends meet. Mean girl would use that against her and ban her from being her friend. Why does the MC hang around this moron? What else? The only history of Paris is of course the stuff surrounding Marie Antoinette because nothing else of any importance every happened in Paris ever. There is just so many things to talk about with this book. It's a mean girl school drama, it's a historical murder mystery, there are horror elements, there is a romance subplot. Why did I keep at this book when I was starting to set a trend of DNFing books? It's hard to explain but it's liking watching a bad B movie. You know the movie is hot garbage but you keep watching just to see what happens next.

One final thing, the narration. This book had two different narrators and it just added to the train wreck vibe of the book. Now take what I say here with a grain of salt. As I've already stated many times I'm no expert when it comes down to accents. Throughout the book there are short scenes where we, the readers/listeners, get to see people getting murdered by the ghost. These sections had there own narrator and for my ears it sound like how French should sound like. Then there was a narrator for the rest of the book. This is the narrator for the "yas gurl" parts. The narrator was perfectly fine but lets just say her French didn't feel as natural. It felt like a very Americanized attempt at French. Which makes sense for some characters. But we would get this horrible French for the native speakers as well. Including the ghost from the other sections and it was just jarring.

-4 Stars
It's a Junji Ito book. That statement either makes all the sense in the world to you or it means nothing. Junji Ito has a unique art style and writing style. A lot of his stories don't really explain anything. You are just dumped into a horror scene where weird things are happening and then the story is over. There isn't a happy ending where everyone lives and the "evil" is defeated either. It just kind of ends and it makes for a unique style of horror. There is of course the iconic Junji Ito art style that really twists human features to the extreme and there are just panels that burn themselves into your brain.

-4 Stars
Still enjoying this series. The characters are now actively trying to save their building. It also has this weird love knot with different people interested in other people. It's much more than a love triangle and for right now I am down for it. I can't wait for the next volume.

-3 Stars
More muscle bound guys punching other muscle bound guys until they explode. I'm not hating the series and I can appreciate the cultural impact of the story but I also don't think it's the greatest thing ever.

I've already started my next books but here is what I am currently working on.

On audiobook I'm listening to . It's not what Goodreads promised me but at the same time I'm kind of vibing with it. I'm about 50% of the way into the book and I'm at a point where I'm hoping things start picking up soon.

I also reading which has immediately pulled me in. After that I need to finish and this week as well.

Time to start the final round of emotional damage. I'm about to start . Will Lena finally get her redemption arc? Highly doubtful. I even took steps and gather up all my hopes and expectations for Lena, took them out back, tied them up, gagged them, and then buried them under the floor of the shed. I doubt it will help but here is to hoping.

Gord is a cold grumpy bear this morning. Gord stood outside the main doors for 15 minutes because everything was locked not knowing that everyone was using the side door.

Gord is not excited about going to work today. He has many books to get read and he is ready to start Beyond Reach today. Gord understands though that repairs need to be done and that he hasn't done them in two months. That is why Gord is making himself go to work.

Gord was planning to use it all weekend, except for his weekly update.

Indeed, notifications have been borked since last night.

Gord glares jealously as he is buried alive in more and more work.

Total Bravery. I just needed a book set in Hawaii so I picked that one.

Gord has done the insane thing and chose the challenge book. Why? Get the pain out of the way I guess.

Gord loves this day but he is a little bummed. Gord has to come in and work the weekends for the next little while to get things done because he is behind on things. Gord is so "excited" for this.

It's talk in the third person day and Gord loves the silliness that comes with this day. Look here for an explanation and come join Gord and others in the wacky fun of this day.

https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...

Gord is super excited to see what silliness happens today. Gord would only be happier if this was a weekend so there was no work to interrupt the fun and games.

It's done! It's done! *breaks into a frantic happy dance* It's finally done. That was the longest eight and a half hour audiobook I have ever listened to. I will fully rip into it this weekend during my weekly wrap up but it's finally done. Now do I listen to another challenge book and try or dive into a highly anticipated book I've been waiting months for. Regardless it's finally done!

Thanks Meels. This is going to sound really dumb but that confirmation feels good. One of the many, many, many thoughts running through the back of my head since I found out was "am I even allowed to feel like this?". It's stupid, I know, and I didn't pay it much heed but it's still there lingering like a bad smell. I've always felt a bit weird when discussing divorces. From my experience men do not speak very positively of getting divorced or of their ex's. For me, I married young (early 20's) and we just grew up over the course of our marriage. We got to a point where we felt that we were better of as friends then anything more so we got divorced and went our separate ways. For a long time we kept in touch and helped each other out when the other needed it. Over time though we drifted apart as our lifes steadily went different directions. We would still say hi if we ran into each other and what not and there was no hard feelings at all. Her mother is my mom and I see her every week. I've heard about all that she accomplished in her life and I can't help but be impressed. At the same time it's not a life I could ever see myself fitting into.

Sorry for all the downer stuff guys. Here is a fluffy kitty photo to help out.

As an outsider I've been equally puzzled and and had to laugh at some of the tornado stuff. I've seen many clips, news coverage, etc where someone makes a statement along the lines of "we never saw it coming" and I just wonder "how?". You literally live in a place called tornado alley and you didn't think you would get hit with a tornado? It's right there in the name of where you are living.

It's definitely a coffee table topper. It's essentially an art book full of "scientific facts".

I had to do a double take when I saw the price for it the first time. I figured it would be expensive but not that expensive. I'm glad I got it through the library though. It was an interesting book for the free price but I don't know if it would be worth $115 to someone who only has a passing interest in Marvel. Maybe for a diehard fan or collector it would be worth it.

Lots of manga that ranges from $12-$19 a piece, six audiobooks, and then a few omnibus editions. Oh and that Marvel anatomy book that was $115 if I was to buy it new from the store.

Thanks guys, just trying to sort through my feelings while keeping on and all that.