Lexi’s Comments (group member since Jul 27, 2016)

Lexi’s comments from the Nothing But Reading Challenges group.

I got my last day of DQs done for Starling House

Tracking Post
Day 1 - https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...
Day 2 - https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...
Day 5 - https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...

DQs Day 5
Chapters 27 - Epilogue

21. Wow what a ride! What were your initial thoughts and feelings after finishing the book?
I put the book down at least three times during the last dream sequence. It seemed to drag and then the ending seemed a bit abrupt and there wasn’t really any follow-up on the characters. I think the book either needed to end abruptly or not have the somewhat meandering ending.

22. An integral part to the book is the way the story of Starling House is told through many different viewpoints, with truth and lies and rumors and heresay and opinions often woven together. Did you find that you learned more about Starling House through each story? Did this type of story building and layering work for you? Why or why not?
It was interesting but a little fragmented. I think it tried too many themes with the different stories and could have focused more on one. Also, there really was absolutely nothing redeeming about the town which made it a bit flat.

23. In the ending battles, the MCs were fighting beasts of nightmares and of their own making, inside dreams. Do think it's hard for good dreams to win out against nightmares? Explain your thoughts.
I don’t exactly follow this question. Do you mean dream like hopes and aspirations or like things that happen when you sleep?

24. A major theme in the book is wants and needs, and how they seemingly twist into each other if you want hard enough. In this theme exploration, what was the message you got from the author, and did it resonate with you?
Not really, I didn’t think it had a strong message except for creepy men and coal companies are bad.

25. Would you recommend this book? Explain.
It was more YA than I expected. The characters were supposed to be older but still read a teens, and the brother never felt like a real character. I thought he was going to do more once he broke into Starling House, but he went back to being entirely flat and a plot contrivance that just gets sent away at the end. That felt too smooth with how much money was sent and the whole classism thing with the other school just gets dropped as a theme. I felt that on quite a few themes where the book just mentioned and moved on for several issues.

Kim, do you want to read it? You don't have a battle book yet. No pressure if you don't or can't read a book in a week.

Mary wrote: "Vengeful is on my to read list and I have a copy"

Can start reading after 22nd June at 9 UTC and finish it within the week? If so, one of the captains or I can add it to the spreadsheet.

Also lots of books starting with venom, vengeance or vengeful if anyone has one they would be able to read in one week.

I agree on wanting someone more gender neutral. I only did the audios after I read through book four.

Enjoy, I like 2 and 5 the best.

Mary wrote: "Sarah-- I was excited to see you added the Murderbot Diaries books to the spread sheet. I love them! I've been trying to read them all but they have a huge wait at my library."

They are my favorite series ever (or tied to be fair). Does you library have access to Hoopla? All the audios are on there.

Cordelia wrote: "Can someone add A Study in Drowning to the spreadsheet for me?

I finished it today."

Added

Ok, I checked it out from the library

I also found Estate of Mind but the pig book has better reviews

I'll read either. How mean do we want to be?

I found that my library has:
Estuary

Which has the added bonus of being a deeply obnoxious ending.

There are a lot of options for Esther at the library, including
Esther the Wonder Pig, which would be a lot nicer and not get us stuck in an estuary loop.

For anyone planning on getting points for the first The Hunger Games buddy read,

"To earn BR discussion points for The Hunger Games the book must be finished and at least three posts of actual discussion need to be made during Round 1," so the book must be read and comments made by June 15 at the end of the round. The countdown to help with time zones is on the first page of the planning spreadsheet.

Sarah wrote: "If that's okay with everyone that is."

That works great. I am sorry for being confusing. I meant I found one if either of you (Sarah or Mary) could not finish your Idaho book, but I was not planning on reading it unless one of you had an issue since you already started your books. Hope that makes more sense. Thanks

Sounds good, I found a short cozy if you need any help on the Idaho one.

I can also go find a new short Idaho book if needed.

Also, if both of you want to finish your Idaho books, I’ll DNF mine. It relies very heavily on knowledge of horror films and I’ve seen parts of two in my entire life so not a great fit. I’ll wait until I hear confirmation from you both.

For everyone, yes, you have to start and finish the book in one week. Not everyone will be able to do that and there are plenty of other tasks and minis to participate in. I may have to sit out some later, as my internet gets inconsistent when I’m traveling. There are many ways to support the team.