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

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

Sophie wrote: "I'd say yes for all three"

LOL, thanks Sophie!
Now I need to decide what to read dammit.

At least it's not another Listopia task -- those seem easy, but I get spoiled for choice looking through dozens and dozens of pages of lists!

Jenny wrote: "Wow, I can see why you are questioning these. The third one for sure is a photo. The second one looks more like a painting to me, and the first could be either a painting or a photoshopped picture."

Hah, see, to me, out of those three, it's the third one that looks most like it's been heavily photoshopped and the first and middle ones that look most like natural photos!
IDK!?!?!?!

So... I need to read a book with a photographed cover, but I have now spent so long staring at cover image JPGs that my eyes are now confused and can barely tell what's a photograph anymore!

I have a few obvious ones that I won't ask about, but also want to confirm that any of these three would work?

Yay I finally read my first maze book and have started my second!
I am getting nervous hearing all these stories about having to backtrack. This could take years... but would that be a bad thing? LOL

I am sooooo close, but I don't think I'll be able to complete this by 3/22 (I'd planned to use gem coins for 1-month extension).

I'm still completing it, just for myself, but will not be able to declare true Victory or get a new coin. Oh well!

I made a huge list of possible books that fit my first task!
I love it: a best fantasy Listopia task, titles N-Z.

But... I have other stuff to finish before I can start, argh.
I am still trying to finish another challenge that I am already behind on.

I'm in for Medium.
What with my current reading pace, thanks for making the Duration "as long as it takes" :)

I'm dropping in to say I'll be using gem coins to extend this by a month! I've been reading (slowly, argh) but just not on GR very often.
I'll post books and gem coin trade soon, because I really want to complete this challenge!!! :D

DQs Day 3: Chapters 20 – End

9) What did you think about the connection between Leander, the Divine, and Sarathiel? Were you expecting something along those lines?

I had worked out that the Divine was involved, but not another Revenant (Sarathiel or other), or that Leander was actually trying to stop it. I thought the Divine was trying to cause a crisis in order to stop it and thereby affirm her authority and dominance over the realm, or something to that effect, and Leander was helping her.

10) Mother Delours, what did you think of her character? In future books are you hoping to learn more about The Lady and if she actually talks to her believers?

I love Delours, and her reference to the idea that the person who doesn't want power is often the best person to have it. She seems kind, practical, fair, and an all-around good leader. In future books I'd like more information as to whether the Lady "talking" to her believers is literal, or figurative in the sense of real-life religious believers thinking that God "talks" to them indirectly through feelings or supposed signs. In this book it wasn't entirely clear to me.

11) What did you think of the final battle? And about the revelations about how revenants were created? Surprised? Wonder why more aren't made?

I enjoyed the final battle, and the revelations. I had somewhat worked out that some human or humans bound Revenants against their will with knowledge that was at first freely given by the Revenants, who were never human themselves.

12) Overall thoughts on the books. Liked? Disliked? Are you going to read the next one in the series?

I liked it a lot, though some of the religious and world-building aspects kept it just a smidge under 5 stars for me. I will definitely read the next book, and other books by Margaret Rogerson.

DQs Day 2: Chapters 10 – 19

5. How do you like the magic system, using dead people to power it? And what about the ties with and resurgence of the old magic....

I like the magic system very much, though a teeeeensy bit more explanation would be nice. I wondered, before starting the book, whether there would be similarities with Garth Nix's Abhorsen books but it's definitely different.
The tie-in with "Old Magic" that's been suppressed and written off as heretical is completely unsurprising. I mean, I wasn't bored by the reveal or anything, just thought "Eh, typical" regarding religions taking only bits and pieces of earlier pagan practices that serve them best, and claiming the rest is evil.

6. More generally, how do you feel about the world building here? Does it feel sufficiently real? The revealing of new parts make sense within the plot?

I think the author may be relying a little too much on French and France-inspired names and place-names to set the scene without going much deeper, which reminds me too much of Robin LaFevers' His Fair Assassin series (which also features girls in special convents for supernatural ability training purposes). But it does feel lived-in, and everything makes sense.

7. Artemisia finally develops a friendship with Marguerite. Do you like how this friendship developed? What do you think of Marguerite as a character?

LOVE. I can't say enough how much I love this whole thing. I love how the two work out their childhood misunderstandings of each other, and how everybody else (in awe of Artemisia) views Marguerite (who is certainly not in awe of Artemisia). So much love.

8. So, Leander - is it too simple for the Big Bad to just be him? Any thoughts on how effective he is as a villain?

He's a pretty effective villain, and reminds me a bit of the priest in Katherine Arden's Winternight trilogy (here I go again, name-dropping other series… I guess that means Vespertine fits quite well into a certain YA fantasy canon!?)
I'd read ahead at this point but was assuming Leander was working in league with a specific someone.

And thanks captains! 😃

Happy holidays, everybody!
Great job!

Done! Updating spreadsheet now too!

We have like an hour left, right? I am nearly done!

I should be getting Vespertine in just under the wire tomorrow, just FYI :D

I didn't read it as glorifying self-harm, because the book also seems to be saying that that's the entirely wrong approach when dealing with revenants.

Lexi wrote: " Has anyone read the Penric and Desdemona series?"

No, but I'm adding it to TBR!

That's a good point about atypical behavior being linked to demon possession, and it being used it harmful ways.
This book almost takes an opposite approach when (view spoiler)[Artemisia explains to the revenant that her parents never suspected that she was possessed as a child, just assumed she was evil. It's in other, sadly real-world religions that parents would jump immediately to "our child is possessed". (hide spoiler)]

DQs Day 1: Chapters 1–9

1. Did you go into this book with any expectations? Have you read any previous books by this author (Sorcery of Thorns was a BOM)?

I read and loved Sorcery of Thorns (@Judith, I think maybe that BOM was where you and I first interacted!) so I was hoping I'd like this too, and so far I do
But going in I wasn't sure how the nun/religious aspects would be handled. As long as it's fantastical I'm usually fine with that kind of stuff, but it's weird to me that so many big fantasy series recently have revolved around a girl raised in an abbey or convent.

2. This has been described as a medieval Venom (which means nothing to me but is a recent movie). How do view the relationship between Artemisia and the revenant?

I also have not seen Venom and don't know anything about it, but hey, whatever the marketing dept thinks will sell the book, right?
I really love the relationship between Artemisia and the revenant! It's surprising, funny, complicated, poignant. I am looking forward to seeing how it develops, and what it's consequences might be for what happens to Artemisia vis-a-vis the clerisy.

3. This section ends with the first big battle and escape. Who do you think is pulling the string from within the city and why?

I've read ahead a bit, but at this point in the book I had no idea at all. And actually even now, with more information, I wonder if we're being cleverly misdirected.

4. Finally, the MC seems to be presented as neurodiverse in her avoidance of people and eye contact, but it seems to be implied that this results from the trauma of her childhood being possessed. How do you think this is handled, and do you think there are any concerns with aquating the two? (No right answer, I’m not sure on my thoughts on this either).

I do think there's concern about linking neurodiversity to childhood trauma. It's possible for someone to have both, of course, and perhaps that's the case with Artemisia, but it does seem like it's only the trauma and the resultant isolation and child abuse that made her socially awkward (understatement).
Or it's possible that being possessed as an infant baby caused permanent physical changes to her neurochemistry… argle bargle I'm not gonna try to science this book!

Finished another one! I think this is going to be my best round 🙂

Read

33/30

Both terrible and strangely engaging in kind of the same way that, like, Twilight is both terrible and strangely engaging.