Alysa’s Comments (group member since Jun 27, 2015)

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

I am going to be reading this in the coming days:

To me on this device it looks like a red cover...
But I don't mind if others think not, or if I take too long and it gets gazumped. 🙂

Cookie Monster is definitely endearing.
Mmmm..... Cookies....

Cookie Monster!
4.) Read a book with the letters SID in title

I had read Dark Rise a while back, which works for this!


Griffin:
My book Franchise from earlier today fits the 300-349 page length one.

Completed book, 7/13/22


It is not on the spreadsheet yet. This will probably be the last book I finish prior to getting home and having better online access. 🙂

Was my Penric book used last time we got that MAN EATER one?

I will be back home in one week and will be able to stay more on top of things in real time again, and do spreadsheet, etc. It will be so much better.

Oh, cool!! Last time I checked the battleship thread, it was still listed as an alternate and it looked like someone else (a new reader) had claimed the last UF spot.
Well great! 😃

Sounds like my book Legendborn probably won't be used for battleship. Maybe it fits for a new task now instead?
ETA - the 500 page one?

Finished, 7/8/22


Not sure if it fits any open tasks (maybe a length-based one at this point?) but I just put it up as potentially eligible for Battleship too, so maybe wait and see. Just need help to get the book listed on the tracking spreadsheet if it isn’t already. 🙂

There is also a scene in Legendborn that features a “hellsnake” (a type of demon), in case that would work for the Chimera.

Melissa wrote: "Sphinx

3.) Read a book where the MC must solve a riddle"

I am almost done with Legendborn, in which the MC has to solve riddles during one phase of trial to join a secret society!

ETA: nevermind, I was missing a page of comments. Y’all already solved Sphinx. 😂

I went back and answered 2 more sets of DQs for the Ariadne BOM (so that is sets 1 thru 3 in total so far). I am going to answer all of them eventually but I think that’s enough for the TT points, if someone can add my answer links to the spreadsheet at some point??

Day 1 : https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...

Day 2 : https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...

Day 3 : https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...

DQs Day 3

10) What did you think of Pasiphae’s response to the death of her son, the Minotaur?

I was a little confused by it, but I can buy that her grief was less so for the Minotaur itself than more so an acknowledgment of the whole ordeal that she’d been put through from the start.

11) Dionysus makes quite the entrance, doesn’t he? What are your thoughts on him and the interaction between him and Ariadne?

He is very alluring, and I enjoyed their interaction. Ariadne had a healthy mixture of openness and mistrust. She really needed a friend, thought it seems about right to be at least a little bit wary of the friendship of a god!

12) Phaedra comes into her own in Athens. What do you think of her in her new life?

Phaedra definitely grows into herself in some ways. She is a clever person, but she also comes of as very… entitled? Her life isn’t happy, but I feel like there’s more she could do to carve out some space for her mental health, and she won’t do it because it would poke holes in her sense of entitlement. I am probably not explaining that how feels in my head.

13) We see many examples of the gods playing with mortals in this story; Pasiphae with the bull. King Midas and his golden touch, Hera causing Semele to burn. what do you think it would be like to live in a world where gods existed and interacted with humans?

AWFUL. An absolutely terrible world. I am so glad that it is fiction!

14) Do you think the sisters will find out the truth about one another? If so, any predictions on what will happen?

Again, I have read the whole book! I tried to answer this based on my impressions at that point in the story, but couldn’t do it without spoilers!

DQs Day 2

5. Have you heard of Theseus before? What do you think of his backstory, does it compare with other well-known Greek heroes like Hercules and Achilles? Do you think it fits his humble and collected demeanor in the previous chapter?

I vaguely remembered that Theseus was the guy who killed the Minotaur, but I have forgotten a lot of the Greek mythology and ancient literature that I once knew (or was required to learn), apart from my favorite stories, of which this was not one. His supposed heroic deeds here do not really fit with what we saw of him earlier, but at this point in the story (note: I finished the book several days ago so I have to think back to my reactions here!) it’s difficult to tease out what is or is not authentic about him.

6. I don’t know about you, but “insta-love” stories royally annoy me. Ariadne spends a significant part of these chapters reveling in her undying and world-changing love and devotion to someone she just met. Do you think this is realistic, or just a cheap plot ploy from the author?

Instalove usually annoys me in modern novels, but it is so common in mythology that it doesn’t bother me here — especially because the author tries very hard to describe the feelings in a way that you never see in the “original” myths, and also in a way where even Ariadne herself acknowledges the irrationality of it, more or less implicitly, and tries to justify it.

7. Why do you think Theseus left Ariadne on the island with no heads up whatsoever? How do you feel about her thoughts and actions, as she processes this new reality?

He is just an a$$hole, straight up. Her thoughts and reactions track with everything up to this point: mainly shock and disbelief.

8. During the "great escape", Phaedra is left behind - do you think it was by accident, or purposefully (and if so, why)? Do you think it was wise of her to return to the Palace?

On purpose! Theseus never meant to take her. Returning to the palace was the only thing she could do.

9. A common theme in Greek mythology is the linear progression of Fate - from Hubris (thinking and acting as if one is a God), to Atis (blindness of one’s puny nature, leading the mortal to commit an unforgivable or insulting act), to Nemesis (the anger and revenge of the Gods), and finally Tisis (the mortal’s punishment). Where have you noticed this process so far? Where do you think Nemesis will strike next?

This is particularly difficult to answer, as one who has finished the book. At this point I guess I would have said Minos and/or Theseus.

Bernadette wrote: "Here are two new monsters....

Manticore

Read a book with the letters MAN EATER in title (any order).."

If I am not mistaken, one of the books I read last week fits this!:
Penric and the Shaman
Can someone put it in if that task hasn't been claimed?

I finished Ariadne, if someone can update the spreadsheet please.
I will do more BOM answers for it in the next couple of days.
If more information is needed about it (more character names or whatever), LMK!

I tried posting in the Completions thread for Battleship so hopefully someone will take pity and get that stuff updated properly too!

Thanks!
Will definitely need my DQ answers for Ariadne added. In fact I just posted for Day One… just in time for boarding the plane, lol.

DQs Day 1

1. Excited about the book, or just here for the points? Were you familiar with the myths behind the story before starting this book?

I was excited enough about this book to get a print ARC of it mailed to me during an ALA conference, but then my excitement waned as my overall reading free time went down, but eventually my excitement for it grew again!

2. "Let me tell you a story..." I don't know about you, but I love opening lines like that. Do you have a favourite opening line? Have you ever bought a book on the strength of the opening line alone? (I have!)

Can’t think of any favorites, but I have definitely bought (or downloaded free for Kindle etc) based on the first line. Sometimes to my great regret if the rest of the book turns out to be bad compared to the opening.

3. Asterion: The early years. I bet no-one was fooled by the few paragraphs of almost sweet baby and toddler descriptions: This was always going to end with a monster in a maze of course.
But do you think it served well as a way to establish Ariadne's character?

It was very evocative, and therefore did the trick to help establish character. I did not find the baby and toddler descriptions anywhere close to sweet.

4. What do you think of the writing so far? There's a lot of description and narration and very little dialogue, which tries in with the idea that Ariadne is telling the story to the reader. It allows for a lot more depth and detail than more dialogue-heavy storytelling does. Is that a style you enjoy, or do you prefer the faster pace of a book that is more about character interaction?

I like it so far. It’s a bit purple but I kind of expected that to be the case. I agree about this method allowing more depth and detail.

I will be not very far from Snezana, for 2 weeks! Yay.

Beginning! 😁