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

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

Rebecca wrote: "Fugitive telemetry is finished. Could someone please update the spreadsheet? Thank you…"

Added, thank you

DQs Day 6: Chapter 32 - end

24. Chapter 32, though! How did you feel about the heart-to-heart on the parapet? Did it fill you with fluttery lovey feelings, or did it fall flat? Are you loving “Vioden” (Xadlet?)??
I am always in support of good communication in relationship. However, the whole relationship seems like a mess and the whole I will never trust you again because you didn’t tell me something that effects a huge number of people’s lives is just stupid.

25. Xaden has Violet join his special group for the War Games, and we find out about all the secrets that EVERYONE has been keeping from her. Do you think she overreacted to these revelations or is her reaction warranted? How do you feel about Dain’s betrayal? Surprised (hint hint - NO)?
I think she overreacted as it wasn’t entirely his secret to tell but at the same time if he didn’t feel like he could tell her, he should not have invited her with all the other marked riders. Dain was not a surprise really. He needed to stay as a bad guy since this book does not do subtilties on comparisons.

26. Anyone crying yet? I know I was losing it through a lot of the last 15% of the book. What are your thoughts on the major losses we see during this battle? Any thoughts on the battle itself (or the enemy themselves)?
I liked Liam but also figured if they author needed to kill someone the reader care about to show how this was a serious battle, Liam was the only choice. No crying, though. I think the author left a large plot hole with the time delay business. Why didn’t they start with holding time and stabbing the four figures then try it at the very end ineffectively.

27. That CLIFF-HANGER of an ending had me stunned! What did you think of the sudden appearance of (view spoiler)? Was it too much, or just enough?
I was not surprised and didn’t really consider it a cliff-hanger. I will be more interested in how they explain why her dragon didn’t tell her since his rider supposedly died trying to resurrect her brother and if she’ll get all angry about that.

28. What are your overall thoughts on this book? Will you read the next one?
Nope, I still have no idea how this is going to be 5 books.
I’m not reading the next one since I don’t care enough for the next one to be even longer. This wouldn’t have been bad at about 200 pages shorter and much less angst and description of Xaden’s abs. I haven’t even read Red Queenand I find this book derivative. I have DNF’d A Court of Thorns and Roses.

Tricia wrote: "I finished Practice Makes Perfect yesterday and it would work for princess/rogue trope. She's the beautiful virgin and he's the dashing, womanizing rake."

I used yours for this space. Thank you

New tasks:

Read a book with MPG Space Opera
Read a book with a humanoid robot/android
Read a book with a princess and rogue trope characters - this does not need to be literal any romance with a bad boy type and a women who would work as a princess type

Brittany wrote: "If you switch the alien books, you will complete one of the Sith sets"

I did , thank you

DQ set 5: Chapters 26 - 31

19. I'm so confused by the logistics of this world! Firstly there's the comment that 6 hours in flight left them all super-stiff, but surely they've been putting the hours in in flight fight practice? And then the sudden realisation that actually it's TOTES fine to put a saddle or harness on to secure them in flight, as if that wouldn't be the very first thing you'd do the first time the dragons decided to plummet and every rider loses their seat!
Anyway, that rant is mostly to say: how are you enjoying the world-building now we are further into the story?
The logistics of traveling have clearly not been thought out in this world. I would have thought they would have been flying at least six hours a day since they said they did not have time for other classes. Why doesn’t everyone have a saddle? I have no idea. How do they get supplies to these mountain areas and how did the trainees carry any gear if they can’t have saddles. Do they wear backpacks on dragons?

20. We discover that riders of mated dragons can now talk in each others minds... What do you think this adds (or detracts) to the story, characters, world?
Detracts. Now I have to deal with their nonfunctional relationship if situations where it is not appropriate. Too much talking and stupidity. I thought Xaden was supposed to be the brooding silent type.

21. Lightning! Who'd've guessed that Violet would end up with a super rare, super powerful signet?! What do you think the lightning says about her character?
That she is super special and powerful and destined for greatness of at least another 4 books. It does put her in contrast to the dead brother who was a healer.

22. There's some destructive sex, followed by a decision that it can never happen again. What do you think about the different approaches that Violet and Xaden have towards their attraction to each other?
Now, we get my whining on how these books what to make a sex positive and free-thinking world, so they have a secondary character and then make the main female character obsessed and jealous over some boy with no causal sex and following all the usual tropes. Honestly, I would rather neither as this entire section has been all relationship drama and not actual plot.

23. Finally - is it just me, or is Dain starting to redeem himself? I feel like I'm seeing signs of improvement in him....
I agree with Cat that they kept talking about being like siblings growing up so the whole romance thing is weird anyway.

New tasks:

Read a book featuring aliens
Read a book featuring a rebellion

Cannot use the BOM b/c it is over 400 and right now the one labeled alien book is being used for an I so seeing if anyone else read a book with aliens

Rebecca wrote: "I just finished Everyone is Beautiful. Could someone please update it on the spreadsheet? Thank you in advance"

Updated, thank you

If anyone is reading one or has one banked (not over 400 pages and not a hard letter), we have one uncovered, new task:

Read a book set on a form of transport (e.g. train, ship, space ship)

It has to be over 50% on the transport.

From what is currently on the planning spreadsheet, we need another 7 books in 500 page range if anyone has any they plan to read by the end of the month.

We have a repeat of Tower Teams 1: The Original:

"Read two pairs of books where the second is a spin-off from the first. This could be a secondary series by the same or different author (e.g. Sherlock Holmes original and Sherlock Holmes and Mary Russell), a continuation of a series by another author (e.g. Poirot by Agatha Christie and Sophie Hannah) or a retelling (e.g The Great Gatsby and The Chosen and the Beautiful)
It is NOT two books from the same series"

DQ Day 3 Chapters 14-20
10. So we are half way through the book. Thoughts and feelings? Loving it? Hating it? Ambivalent?

I started not liking it and then started liking it more but now it is annoying me again since we have spent way too much time thinking about Xaden and his abs. I’m not sure how this is going to be a five book series with it being entirely romance focused so far. Is there just going to be sexual frustration and angst for over 2,000 pages. For a world with more casual sex, we still have a MC following the typical YA romance focus on one male angst thing.

11. Jeremiah gets killed pretty quickly as his signet shows. Do you agree that power can't be allowed?

I feel like it closes a potential plot hole because if they had mind readers, then Xaden and crew could not keep whatever secrets they are. Also, it allowed another violent death to be added to the list.

12. What's the deal with Andarna? Why do you think 2 dragons have bonded with Violet?

Andarna is immature and allowed for the random time magic, which I assume will happen again. The level of specialness for Violet is a bit much for me, but I am a bit annoyed at the YA part. The question will be if she gets to keep both once it is clear one is not full grown or is this temporary.

13. If you could choose a Signet what would it be? https://www.julesbuono.com/fourth-win...

I like mending as a signet. It would be useful. Why was their healer in direct battle for Violet’s brother and within arrow range? Has that been said?

14. Were you surprised about Amber's betrayal? How about when Xanden completely believed Violet but Dain didn't?

I was a little surprised because the author had her as entirely rule bound. I assume she would try to kill Violet within the letter of the law. We have managed to make the comparison between Dain and Xander as obvious and blatant as possible so I this just added to this. Dain isn’t a great friend at this point and condescending, so his response isn’t a surprise.

Why is this marked as an Adult book? I don't mind YA, but this is a very YA theme and the obsession with Xander is very YA. I know it has cursing and discussions of sex but really, YA books have that too.

Alysa wrote: "Jenny wrote: "I had to look up Toothless. I have never read the books not seen the movie. So. Should I?"

The books are VERRRRRRRYYYYYY different from the movies.
Both are fun in their own ways, b..."

I don't like the books, but I do like the movies. The animation is really fun.

DQ Day 2: Chap 7- 13

6. This section starts with two scenes with each of the male love/lust interests. The comparison of them continues very clearly. Do you like Xaden or Dain better or neither?

7. Violet uses alternative methods to survive the fighting challenges. Do you think that counts as cheating or using the resources available? Do you think she is aware that she only has this information because she comes from a privileged background and her sister count sneak in it? Do you think one of the professors should have noticed after 5 rounds?

8. The obstacle course is straight out of American Ninja warrior (and other similar TV shows) including ending with the giant ramp. Did you enjoy this section and how Violet figured out working with her height limitations? Have they told us how tall she is? (Though in real life, the shortest person to make it up the wall has only been 5’1” – I just Googled it).

9. Finally, we meet the dragons. Was it all you were hoping for? Did anyone guess the black one when it was first introduced in this section? (Also, I am not taking the fall seriously at the end of my section since we still have 2/3 of the book to go).

Bonus: If you could have a dragon from any book or movie, which one would you want?

They let them starve and encouraged stealing and yes, I would not consider it similar/equivalent to modem relationships. If this was training accidents, I think it would make more sense, but this isn't.

I will now try to get over the setup and see if I can like the book accepting that the random murdering is true in book.

Welcome back, Aoife.

Logan, I think we have both diamond books covered if you want to focus on the BOM. People seem to be liking it.

Cat wrote: "@Alysa re Q3 and the pointless deaths - added to which it seems ridiculous that they allow killings across the different wings - at the end of the day you want the whole dragon force to be coherent..."

I don't know that much about Greek history but consider Sparta. They wanted a perfect fighting force, so the state took boys at age seven and raised them as brothers. They were encouraged to sleep with each other if I remember my college history course correctly and to form bonds. No random murdering.

Cat wrote: "@Lexi re the dragon magic - I agree, that copping out with magical healing will be annoying and defeat the purpose of Violet. but I still suspect that will be what the author goes with.
I quite enj..."

That is really good to know. I have the same issue as the author and the MC, so I have been avoiding that book since I wasn't sure.

DQs Day 1, Chapters 1 - 6

1. As someone who grew up with the Pern books, I love diving back into a world with dragons and dragon riders. And this one has extra bonus Gryphons, apparently!
Do you have any first impressions of the main characters (Violet, Dain, Rhiannon, Xader) and the world building? Do you want to know more?

I started ok being ok with it and then the description of the two males and setting up a potential love/lust triangle thing was a bit much and really annoyed me. At which point, I stopped the audio and kept reading and am doing a bit better again. But really, could we have a book where we are about to die and don’t need to describe people’s abs at the same moment. That is a personal pet peeve. I like the sisterly relationships and the friendship starting. It is good to have no romantic relationships and I hope they are central going forwards. I liked Pern but I really dislike magic school stories generally, a few exceptions such as Naomi Novik which I love, but I don’t have high expectations going forwards unless we get out of school fairly soon.

2. What do you think of Violet’s mother and sister? Any idea about why her mother chose to order her to the Rider Quadrant instead of the Scribe Quadrant?
Because this book needed an antagonistic relationship with the dragon riders and a plot. More seriously she seems to think it is the only important position.

3. The brutality of the selection process and the casual acceptance of murder is something else. What do you think the purpose of it is? (If there is one beyond societal norms.)
Would you have given your boot to a stranger?

There seems to be no reason yet to why there needs to be this kind of murder and death toll. Also, the frightening everyone with a dragon. They don’t seem to be in all-out war and even then, these people qualified above infantry so possibly if you failed out, they would still make superior ground forces. I think the author wanted a high-risk scenario but I don’t yet think it is given a decent reason why.

4. So this is a world at war, but at the battle briefings at least, they don’t seem to know why the outer provinces are currently attacking the borders. Any ideas about why this is happening?

No ideas and I am not sure we will be given a reason. It may be one of those we have always been at war situations, which I find lazy writing but can be done right.

5. Do you think that Violet will survive and get chosen by a dragon? If so, any predictions on what kind?

Yes, and likely a really nice one because that is how these books work. Also, this is a series with apparently a planned five books. The second one is already longer. I deeply hope it does not fix her physical disabilities such as laxity of joints because I want her to succeed with that being a part of who she is and not magically fixed. I hate books that magically fix disabilities.

Note: I read them when I was exhausted last night so I hope to be in a better mood for my questions tomorrow.