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

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

Marie (UK) wrote: "this is my problem with the book. Both timelines are slightly off for me and it is difficult to work out what the divvil is going on. This is either a very clever narrative ruse to make the reveal more shocking or else the reveal is going to be ridiculously unbelievable"

THIS!
IDK what is going on, but I am really hoping all the pieces come together in a clever and not stupid way!

Side note -
Is anyone else struggling to suspend their disbelief over how well-preserved everything is in this town? Like, apart from unmitigated exposure to seasonal elements -- which is paid lip service but doesn't seem to have done much damage beyond one rotten bridge and a couple of weak stairs for characters' feet to fall through -- how has the whole place not been heavily vandalized and all its houses' contents looted? There are still clean sheets on the beds, FFS. It's been 60 years and no bored kids or "urban explorers" have heard local legends and come to do their thang? Unless there really is something supernatural going on, I have a very hard time buying it.

DQ Day 3-4 : 32%-62% (p198)

6. Alice muses on the different perceptions of Esla from her grandmother and Aina, and of course we are in her POV for the Then sections? What do you think about Elsa?

I like Elsa. She seems like a strong woman trying to do the best she can in a very difficult situation.

7. Emmy and Alice have a big disagreement over Tone's injury and how to respond. Do you favour one side of the argument over the other? Was Emmy's decision to take off to get a call out justified?

It's true that Tone is an adult who should be able to make her own decisions… But Alice is also biased against leaving the site before finishing the film work, and doesn't seem to take seriously the possibility that Tone's emotional connection to the site could be clouding her (Tone's) judgement. That, plus her alleged mental instability. I would have suggested staying a little longer, but heading to a hospital if Tone's ankle wasn't better in some agreed-upon amount of time. 24 hours or something.
Regarding Emmy's decision… Hard to say, because even Alice wasn't sure (after the fact) how she would have responded if Emmy had just asked first before sneaking off to make a call (if that is in fact what she was doing).

8. Do you think Alice was right to keep Tone's secrets? Conversely, do you think Max was right to share both her secrets?

Alice was right, initially. Tone's secrets are Tone's to tell. Especially the mental health stuff, which was absolutely not anybody else's business. I didn't realize that Max knew about Tone's mother being the Silvertjärn Baby, and I don't fault him for telling Emmy and Robert after Tone disappears, but I do fault him for revealing someone's prescription medication -- which I'm not entirely convinced is Tone's rather than Alice's, btw.

9. What the divvil is actually going on?! (In either timelines)

Okay, so, now we've got a total cult situation in the 1950s. But also maybe slight vindication on my "criminal hiding from the law" theory. Maybe not a convicted criminal but certainly persona non grata. I don't think Mattias ever managed to become a real church-approved pastor, but somehow found out about this vulnerable rural town where he could take over and pose as a pastor because the old one was such a mess, and use his position and charisma to prey upon women and girls. It's strongly implied that he raped his cousin as a teenager, that he raped Birgitta, and that his brainwashing of Aina had a sexual component. I don't know yet how this will cause the eventual disappearance of every last townsperson besides the Silvertjärn Baby (and Birgitta's corpse), but I hope the author sticks the landing, whatever it is. Like Lexi, I don't appreciate being let down by Reveal Fail.
I don't know if there's anything supernatural going on in the "now" sections. It seems like this might be one of those books that lets readers decide if there really were ghosts or if the characters were just imagining things.

bamaace83 wrote: "Team slow driving in the left lane."

Haha I was about to say this one!
XD

DQ Day 1-2 : beginning to 32% (p101)

1. What attracted you to this book? Do you tend to read a lot of horror/thriller/suspense novels, and what are your expectations for them?

I requested this book on NetGalley a while back because I was intrigued by the mysterious abandoned town setting. I like abandoned town settings! I'm a bit more likely to read horror (esp Supernatural horror) than to read thriller/suspense novels, as I tend to find myself disappointed by underlying misogyny in the majority of them. I've had better luck with female authors in this regard, but I also have to be drawn to the premise and/or setting (such as here), so given that combination… it's still relatively few.
I expect horror/thriller/suspense to have a good creepy or tense atmosphere, at a minimum. Some sense of dread! Without that, there's no point.

2. Poor doomed Silvertjärn was a "Company Town" where the company shut down. Do you think the 1950s sections do a good job of describing what it was like for the townspeople at that time?

So sad when this sort of thing happens. That's part of end-game capitalism, when a town's only significant employer turns its back on its people, and there is no back-up plan.
Oddly, I didn't get a sense that the townspeople had any idea that the mine might be shut down. There's often a period of decline with this sort of thing, as natural resources are depleted, but this was like BANG sudden, no? Or am I forgetting something?
Beyond that, I think the book does an okay job of describing the upset caused by the shutdown, what with people leaving, people drinking to excess, people turning to the Church, etc. But it's not totally over-the-top misery… yet...

3. The relationships in the modern day sections are interesting. Things seem complex and messy, especially between the female characters. Alice is the only one who knows about Tone's real connection to Silvertjärn. The bad blood between Alice and Emmy causes a lot of tension. The possible romantic entanglements are unclear. What are your thoughts about these relationships? What do you think of Alice's reasons for bringing Max, Tone, Emmy, and Robert onto this film project?

I don't see it going well when the others find out that Alice knew Tone's mother was the abandoned baby of Silvertjärn and didn't tell them -- especially Max, because he and Alice are supposed to be close. I don't get what Alice and Tone have holding them together besides their mutual interest in Silvertjärn; is that enough for real friendship and trust? Alice asked Emmy to come be part of the crew on this passion project because she'd exhausted all other options (and Emmy is good at her job, besides). But if they don't air their dirty laundry it's going to make things worse. Why did Emmy accept the job? Hard to say. Maybe she's not doing as well in her career as Emmy thinks. Maybe she felt like she had to say yes because she knows Alice wouldn't have asked if it weren't super important, and she does feel bad deep down about how their friendship ended. Maybe some combination? Alice seems to find her annoying, but to me it looks like she's just doing her job. From the backstory, we know they have very different personalities. If it really went down how Alice says (Emmy ignoring Alice's suicide attempt), that's rough. Hard to know if we're getting the full story there though. Don't know what to make of Robert yet. He's the most random, a package deal with no direct connection to Alice.

4. We're getting hints that Pastor Mattias was at the center of a weird religious sect. Do you think this will turn out to be true, or just a red herring?

I agree with Mary and Cat -- it doesn't make sense that a second pastor would be sent out to this dying little town. So where did he come from? WTF? -- but I didn't get any cult vibes so far, in the 1950s sections. Maybe something else hinky, like he's a criminal hiding from the law, and outsiders glommed onto the cult theory later, because of things like the Jonestown Massacre, as was mentioned. Possible red herring? Although I also would not be surprised if religion played a role in Birgitta's death, so.

5. Before the "official" DQs kicked off, our lovely mod Cat mentioned being struck by the timeliness of reading "a book about how society views women suffering from mental illness." How do you think the book has handled this topic so far?

Without having seen that description, I wouldn't necessarily have discerned, at only 1/3 of the way through, that that would be one of the book's main themes. I mean, Birgitta was clearly neurodiverse, but we don't yet know if/why people turned against her to the extent that they (or at least someone) must have.
Alice has suffered from severe depression, at least as far as we know from hearing her side of the college-years story. I assume we'll hear more about this too, and I'm wary of what comes next. That is, it remains to be seen whether the book reveals Alice as an unreliable narrator, perhaps. Or conflates suicidal depression with everyday Millennial blues (no offense meant to Millennials, or anyone else), as it kind of tried to do earlier a little bit. Though perhaps that was an intentional conflation and this author is very nihilistic. She was born in 1992, hah.

DQ Day 1-2 : beginning to 32% (p101)

1. What attracted you to this book? Do you tend to read a lot of horror/thriller/suspense novels (or not), and what are your expectations for them?

2. Poor doomed Silvertjärn was a "Company Town" where the company shut down. Do you think the 1950s sections do a good job of describing what it was like for the townspeople at that time?

3. The relationships in the modern day sections are interesting. Things seem complex and messy, especially between the female characters. Alice is the only one who knows about Tone's real connection to Silvertjärn. The bad blood between Alice and Emmy causes a lot of tension. The possible romantic entanglements are unclear. What are your thoughts about these relationships? What do you think of Alice's reasons for bringing Max, Tone, Emmy, and Robert onto this film project?

4. We're getting hints that Pastor Mattias was at the center of a weird religious sect. Do you think this will turn out to be true, or just a red herring?

5. Before the "official" DQs kicked off, our lovely mod Cat mentioned being struck by the timeliness of reading "a book about how society views women suffering from mental illness." How do you think the book has handled this topic so far?

I am aiming to get the first set of DQs up before 1:00 EST on Tuesday, if that helps anybody plan their time :D

Congrats, Team Lord Vetinari!

If we've learned anything from Lord Vetinari, cold and calculated scheming wins the day! LOL

I need read the story but will first say THANKS TINA for putting it together!!! That can't have been easy!!!

BTW, our official team spreadsheet is not counting Lisa's BOM points for Pumpkin Spiced Omega for some reason, even though it is logged properly. Probably a formula thing. I only noticed 'cuz right now it looks like I have the most BOM points but I know it should be Lisa. 🙂

Didn’t Christina T chime in a little bit ago about having more books? I might be thinking of someone else.

Finished


On spreadsheet.

Woohoo!!!

Tina ❣ wrote: "Thanks for the book updates everyone. I'm adding them all in to the main sheet so hopefully it will bump us up"

Final task and bingo will certainly help. Plus our Guards!Guards! BOMs haven’t been added for the bonus points… So there is hope for us yet, lol.

Completion Post


On spreadsheet

I’ll finish my last book (for last Bingo square!) in the morning with plenty of time to spare.

I'm nearly done with both of mine remaining!
😃

Completion Post


Details on Spreadsheet, including BOM info!

Can't believe we're so close to the end!

DQ Day 6 - Chapters 17-Epilogue

22. Were you expecting Linus to leave the island? What were your feelings while reading the different goodbye scenes?

I was expecting him to leave, yes, though I had no particular thoughts as to whether he would come back so soon. I never completely felt the chemistry between Linus and Arthur, so their first goodbye didn't especially tug at my heart, but I did feel for Linus being sad about leaving the children, with whom he clearly developed strong bonds.

23. Linus has gone through a journey of self-discovery throughout the book. The Linus from the beginning is a completely different person to the Linus defending the orphanage case to the Extremely Upper Management and challenging the people surrounding him. Do you think his speech was the reason why they approved the orphanage to remain open? Were you expecting him to change that much? What do you think that are the things that have impacted him the most?

Linus didn't fundamentally change as a person, IMO. What changed was his willingness to see beyond his initially narrow role and responsibilities as a case worker, after he gained broader knowledge of DICOMY's place in a larger system. He also got a little more courageous, I think, when he realized on a personal level that he had more to gain than to lose.

24. What do you think about the ending? Our beloved characters got their happy ending and it seems that things are starting to change in society. Would you have changed anything or are you happy with how things ended?

Sweet, but too idealistic. I'm not sure what other ending would have fit, since this is what was set up by the entire book. But… what will Linus do for a living now? What happens if none of the kids ever want to leave when they grow up, even as more kids come to live on the island? And although Linus and Arthur seem like a cute couple in the end, I never felt the chemistry leading up to that. it was more like, hey, they're both into dudes so let's put them together, and never point out the investigator/subject power differential that exists for almost the entire book.
But this snapshot of the kids in their happy bubble is so sweet that I can forgive a lot.

25. What is your final rating for this book? Did it deliver the story you were expecting? If you had to summarise your review for a friend in one sentence, what would it be?

I gave it 4 stars. I had low expectations (based on my one bad experience with the author's previous work), so it certainly exceeded them. Summarize in one sentence, hmmm? A frustrated case worker is sent to monitor a remote orphanage for magical children, and finds love, laughter, family, and purpose with the kids and their eccentric caretaker!

DQs Day 5 (thru End)

17. So the dungeon was not quite what I expected. And Lord Vetinari was utterly relaxed while being supposedly incarcerated, and waited on by rats no less. Who would have thought? What do you make of the man?

He's suspicious of everything and everyone, but very smart, so he plays a long game. Admirable, in his own way! And exactly the type you'd think would be running Ankh-Morpork.

18. Turns out that Errol was the hero everyone had been waiting for! Interesting pairing though. Do you think we're ever going to see Errol again? Maybe accompanied by some offspring?

I suspected something like Errol defeating the big dragon, and was waiting for it, but I was not expecting them to hook up! So funny! Dunno if we'll see those two crazy dragons again but considering how many Discworld books there are and how many callbacks and interconnections, I would not be surprised.
I was kind of annoyed by how the humans reacted when they realized the big dragon was female, though. Some odd, misplaced chivalric-type sexism going on there.

19. Lady Ramkin is a force to be reckoned with! Defies the city dressed in nothing but a nightshirt... Vimes is quite right in thinking that society won't know what hit it. Has your opinion of the lady changed perhaps? The first mention of her was to call her "mental" and then she was about to be sacrificed to the dragon, a dragon she then defends. Do you think she really is mental or just a woman who is very sure about what is right and wrong?

I liked her from the start, and liked her even more as the book went on. She's great, and absolutely not mental! Just a little eccentric, to go along with her having such a strong personality and moral code.

20. Overall, was it an ending you expected? Did you enjoy the book? Was there a favourite scene or quote maybe?

The ending was pretty much what I expected, with the exception of there being no explicit mention made that Carrot is probably the hereditary heir to the old monarchy. (I think Lord Vetinari is the only one who strongly suspects.)
I enjoyed the book. It had a lot of great scenes and quotes -- can't pick one! In the last section, I especially enjoyed the scene after the explosion, where Nobby and Colon think Carrot is still in the water. Hold my helmet. Hah!
I do still think that for me these earlier Discworld books are best taken in small doses, in a way that doesn't seem to be the case with later Pratchett books that have a different balance of humor and seriousness. This was my first time reading Guards! Guards! though, and perhaps I'll like it better after a second time, like what happened with Mort. Time will tell! It's pretty likely, because this set of characters was so great!

DQs Day 4 (ends: "That's 'cos we're intelligent.")

13. Nobby, Colon, Vimes, Carrot – they all sure do have their charms. Who’s your favorite member of the City Watch and why?

They do all have their charms, huh! Can’t decide between Carrot and Vimes. One is so naive and the other so cynical, but both have their heart in the right place. Carrot seems a more unique character though, what with the dwarvish upbringing and such.

14. Carrot – I’ve been really enjoying his letters to his mother, especially the PS. Is he ever going to return to the dwarves and reunite with Minty? How would you see that going down?

Those letters are great. His take on things is so earnest. He’d probably go back to visit but never live with the dwarves again, and it doesn’t seem like his love for Minty was really reciprocated, so I wouldn’t see that reunion going especially well. She probably married someone else.

15. Will Colon, Nobby and Carrot succeed with their plan? Do they even have a plan? Or is a hero going to show up to save the day after all?

They don’t seem to have a real plan, and whatever they do, something or someone is bound to come along and change things midstream. The Librarian, perhaps?

16. There’s quite a few things going on that could be tied up (or not) by the end of the book. Other than a potential solution to the dragon problem, what else do you expect from the ending?

Hmmmm… Vimes will officially be on the Watch again. Vimes will ask Lady Sybil out (or she’ll ask him). Carrot will be promoted. The Patrician will be back in charge. Some other secret order will hatch a different stupid plan to take power in Ankh.

Sounds good! Having two days per section gives us more breathing room, for sure. I will most likely not start reading the book until 2 Aug, so now I don't need to worry overmuch if I can't put up the first set of DQs until 3 Aug. 😆

I have finished a whole bunch on my ancient TBRs recently (thank you, TT8)!!!



Two of them (Extraction and Hidden) were pretty bad, but all the rest were quite good!

This brings me to 26/30... So, coming along nicely :D