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

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

DQs Day 3 - Chapters 13-17

9. We're home! Phew! But are they really safe? How did you like the horror / creep factor in this section? (I hope no one is reading this before bed!)

I kept expecting them to suddenly find out that they weren't actually home, but in some alternate world closely resembling home. But creepier. Like the Upside Down in Stranger Things or something. It was both a relief and a let-down that they really were home!

10. We get contact with Carrot's mum and her ex. What did you think about these two calls? And what about the conversation with Uncle Earl?

I really like Kara's interactions with all of these characters. The ex is so obnoxious! Uncle Earl is still so endearing! And like Audrey Jane and Cat, I thought that Kara's mom seemed reasonably worried. Typical mom, not as difficult as she was previously made out to be.

11. There are fewer allusions to other literary portal stories in this section, as they've settled on Narnia and Hellmouths (yay Buffy!) How relevant do you think the Narnia comparison is? Why do you think they use that one? Do you think there is a better literary connection available?

Like Alisha, the Willow World definitely reminded me of Area X from Annihilation!!!

But the Narnia comparison is the obvious go-to. Since Kara is aware of meta, I think it would have been fun if there had been an overt reference to the Neitherlands in The Magicians series, where fountains are used as portals to other worlds. Those fountains immediately came to mind when the bunkers in the Willow World were introduced. The Magicians series has an alternate world that is greatly inspired by Narnia, but to me the fountains seem like the most direct comparison to the bunkers. I would bet money that Kingfisher has read The Magicians, but mentioning it in this book would be far less known to readers than the more classic Narnia references. In my headcanon, I have decided that Kara reads Magicians fan fiction.

12. We get insight into more of the explorers in the willow-world. Does it normalise the world to read of others exploring it or make it creepier?

Creepier, for sure, because we get only snippets. Story within story, and we learn only enough to find out who met a terrible end.

13. Beau! shout out to Beau for being awesome. But, taxidermy coming to life, how does that play into the story so far? Why is the corpse-otter doing that (I assume)?

Beau, the latest in a long line of fictional cats being cats! He's fun.
The taxidermy thing, I dunno. I often find taxidermy creepy, but it's almost less creepy when it's moving, if that makes sense? Because then it just seems like regular animals, who aren't creepy unless you know they're supposed to be dead. In any case, I didn't fully understand the book's logic about why some of the animals would take Kara's side, either. It also didn't help that about half of the times when Kara said "Prince!' I would immediately picture the pop star. Not the effect that Kingfisher was going for, surely.

DQs Day 2 - Chapters 8-12

5. We have horror elements now, specifically body horror, with Them and the bus and park ranger. How creepy are you finding them? I often feel let down by the reveal in horror books, especially when you wait, and the ending seems lackluster. Does this book work for you so far as horror or creepy if not full out horror?

I really enjoy the horror elements in this book. I think the author has been quite creative, and I'm not let down in that respect. But I almost wish that the comedic bits in the book were... less? I mean, the comedy is great, but detracts from the horror a little too much. I was expecting more horror, and it's welcome when it appears.

6. What do you think of the phrase "Pray they are Hungry"? Did you have an idea what it meant before being told?

Hard to know, but definitely creepy and provocative.

7. Willows, let’s talk about the willows. I think in the first section they were supposed to seem familiar. How do you think that familiarity and imagery with the willows has shifted in this section?

The trees sure took on a life of their own! The concept doesn't seem that scary at first, but if I actually try to picture the Willow World in my mind, the trees do get scarier, starting with what happens in this section of the book. I agree that familiarity is what ultimately makes them uncanny.

8. We aren’t told what Simon is using to not think of Them , but Kara uses petty grievances (her ex, sister-in-law, fanfiction community). Do you think this is more effective than singing, and if you feel like commenting, what do you think would personally be effective for you to not think about Them ?

It does like Kara's petty grievances help, and she has a healthy number of them. Personally, when I'm in a bad environment and want to get my mind off it, my go-to has always been to think of David Bowie lyrics from his earlier albums like Space Oddity, and Hunky Dory, and The Man Who Sold the World.
Try "Quicksand" -- works wonders!

I still have a little bit left of the book I started before Wheel (dammit) but I'll finish tonight, and I did also start my first Wheel book today too!
I decided on Poison Fruit, so I'll finally be finished with the Agent of Hel series.

Here's my shelf:
https://www.goodreads.com/review/list...

I am still deciding what my first couple of books will be. Being off work until 18 Oct changes the calculation. No commute!

Louise wrote: "Hope you enjoyed the film, it’s been a long time coming."

Haven’t seen it yet — seeing it Saturday, hence the interference with my Wheel reading.
No idea why it was released in most countries a bit earlier than in the States, where this will be its first weekend. Seems silly, since a lot of people will just pirate it!

Yay I finished The Hollow Places last night so I still feel on track to finish current stuff before Wheel.

However, I was talked into seeing the new James Bond movie this Saturday night... It better be good!!!

DQs Day 4 - Chapters 18-end

14. We get more information about what happened to the Bible-writer's group. Marco, Steen, and Petrov ended pretty horribly. Kara chooses to believe the Bible-writer and Singer somehow made it out of the Willow World, but that seems unlikely. What do you think happened to them?

15. Kara finally figures out what's going on with the corpse-otter, literally stating "Everything snapped into place." This leads into the scene where various taxidermied animals reanimate. What did you think of this section? Scary, silly, both, or neither?

16. What did you think of Kara's decision to go back through the hole? Her final visit to the Willow World was quite climactic, bringing together a lot of the scary and/or gross bits of the book: the animals, the trees, Sturdivant, pain, THEM… Did it work for you?

17. We find out how the corpse-otter ended up at the Wonder Museum. Did you figure it out earlier, or were you surprised?

18. In the end, we see Kara and Simon close off the hole. Life goes more or less back to normal. Kara reflects on her experience. What are your thoughts? To steal from the last line of the book, do you "wonder what happens next" for these characters? Please elaborate!

Cat wrote: ""During Wheel it might be a whole different story!"

Yeeeeaaah, I will not even attempt to volunteer for writing DQs during team challenges until my RL workload significantly improves. I may read BOMs but definitely can't commit.

Nearly done with Chapter 12 now...

Just a heads up that I am a bit behind on reading, which means I will be late on posting Day 4 DQs as well. Most likely I’ll post later on 6 Oct. Sorry, everybody 😔

Oh and hello everybody and congrats Cindy!
🎉🥳🎉

I usually like to plan my challenge reading ahead but Wheel is relatively low key, plus my current less-than-usual amount of reading means I shouldn’t commit to much in advance, in case I fall behind. 😕 So I will try to give as many spelling options as I can for each book, maybe find a cover with a wheel, and maybe read some of the BOMs.

Right now I am reading the current BOM, The Hollow Places, which is pretty good so far, and Dragon Untameable which is just okay so far.
I should be done with both just in time for the beginning of Wheel. But if I get behind by a day or two, I will make it up quickly because next week I am taking off work! *huge sigh of happiness*

@Louise : Ahahahaha we were probably at odds during the Infamous Wheel Tower of Seven Sins... :D

@Namita : I think you're right! Our last TT team was so quiet though, I didn't feel like I really got to know anybody. I was actually convinced that I'd accidentally not chosen "prefers chatty team."

WooHoo!!!
Hi, I'm Alysa from NYC! I have a daughter who is almost 11. I'm a librarian in real life.

I've played plenty of NBRC team challenges before, including several Wheels, though I don't think I've played with anyone on this team. I have encountered a few of you on other teams (and apparently Namita and I are already Goodreads friends somehow... :D)

I have been known to get super competitive and be super chatty but since I've been going through some major stuff at work, my reading time and online time have been constrained. I'll definitely check in at least a few times a week if not daily though :)

ETA:
PS @Melissa and Louise : I have captained before and I have a tendency to "backseat captain" sometimes; i.e. suggesting strategy, fixing or pointing out spreadsheet errors, etc.
Like I said I've been too busy lately to do much, but LMK if I'm being unhelpful or if I step on your toes.

DQs Day 1 - Chapters 1-7

1. Uncle Earl, what a colourful character! And it seems he has some interesting friends as well. What's your opinion of him? Do you think he knew about the secret hallway ?

Uncle Earl is a sweetheart. Very endearing, and I'm thinking there's more to him that what he presents to the world.
I am thinking that he knew about the secret hallway but didn't know Kara or anyone else would find it.

2. What do you make of Kara and Simon's reactions following the discovery of the dead body in that "bunker" ? And their decision to not call the police ?

It was a pretty humorous scene, actually. I've been surprised by how funny this book has been in general so far, though it may change as the horror elements come to the fore.
Kara and Simon's reactions made sense in context, as did their decision to continue exploring and not call the police.

3. Do you think there might be any connection between the carved corpse-otter sent by Woody and the hidden hallway or is it just a coincidence that the hole was there?

It certainly seemed like a connection was being drawn, but I really have no idea.

4. Maybe a random question but what's with all the maple trees ? Seeing as a tree is depicted on the cover as well, do you think there's any significance to this ?

I had assumed that the tree on the cover was more atmospheric, and now that I'm actually reading the book I think it's representative of Creepy Freaky Forest, but I don't know yet whether there is any more significance than that.

Audrey Jane wrote: "I will join. I really enjoyed The Seventh Bride by the same author this year."

That was such a great book! I read it years ago and I think it's still the only T. Kingfisher book I've read. I'm glad to be finally correcting that. 🙂

I read H of H in late-March, so if we're doing 6 month rule, that means I can still join for re-read. Though I don't do many re-reads generally.
And that's IF I do the next team challenge. I want to, but I've been in bad reading slump since TT ended, while getting my ass kicked at work.
Instead of reading I've been binge-watching Cobra Kai.

I've been sitting on this for a while (it's an eARC!) but never got to it last fall, and then earlier this year I read House of Hollow and didn't want to read this one too close because of the name! LOL

Yay! Can I take the last set of DQs please?

The Hollow Places by T. Kingfisher

A young woman discovers a strange portal in her uncle’s house, leading to madness and terror in this gripping new novel.

Pray they are hungry.

Kara finds these words in the mysterious bunker that she’s discovered behind a hole in the wall of her uncle’s house. Freshly divorced and living back at home, Kara now becomes obsessed with these cryptic words and starts exploring the peculiar bunker—only to discover that it holds portals to countless alternate realities. But these places are haunted by creatures that seem to hear thoughts…and the more you fear them, the stronger they become.

Bad Witch Burning by Jessica Lewis

For fans of Us and The Chilling Adventures of Sabrina comes a witchy story full of black girl magic as one girl’s dark ability to summon the dead offers her a chance at a new life, while revealing to her an even darker future.

Katrell doesn’t mind talking to the dead; she just wishes it made more money. Clients pay her to talk to their deceased loved ones, but it isn’t enough to support her unemployed mother and Mom’s deadbeat boyfriend-of-the-week. Things get worse, when a ghost warns her to stop the summonings or she’ll “burn everything down.” Katrell is willing to call them on their bluff, though. She has no choice. What do ghosts know about eating peanut butter for dinner?

However, when her next summoning accidentally raises someone from the dead, Katrell realizes that a live body is worth a lot more than a dead apparition. And, warning or not, she has no intention of letting this lucrative new business go.

But magic doesn’t come for free, and soon dark forces are closing in on Katrell. The further she goes, the more she risks the lives of not only herself, but those she loves. Katrell faces a choice: resign herself to poverty, or confront the darkness before it’s too late.