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

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

DQs Day 2, Chapters 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?

Hmmm… Xaden seems to be falling into the hot-enemy-to-eventual-lover trope. It's kind of toxic, but also appealing depending how it ends up proceeding. Meanwhile, Dain is being a controlling sh*tbag. So at this point I would say neither, but that may change.

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?

Given that the world as built seems to waffle wildly between Anything-Goes and Rigid-Rules, I think her methods count as using the resources available. I don't think she's consciously aware of her privileged background playing a role, though she does understand that her Scribe tendencies are helping and that no one else has that.

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).

I enjoyed it! I like this gamified sort of stuff in YA novels.

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).

The introduction of the dragons was very effective. It was fairly obvious what would happen with "the black one" but still pretty nicely done.

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

Why, movie-version Toothless, of course!

I've got a 126 page book I can read pretty quickly this weekend, if it's needed!

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..."

Yes! And it's sadly so common across YA books, because it's such an easy trope to rely upon for drama.

Weird. The link to my (audio) edition of "Fourth Wing" in the tracking spreadsheet points to the right place, but when you hover over it, it looks like it points to "Animal Farm" ! So odd.

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 tend to like dragon/dragon rider books too, though I haven't read the Pern books past the 1st (which I didn't like). I've read ahead a bit but will try to answer DQs as if I hadn't, lol. I like this so far, especially Violet and the whole idea and set-up of the academy, but I definitely need to know more. The worldbuilding and other characters are all feeling a little thin.

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?

I like her sister, who seems very understanding and supportive. Her mother is seeming like a cold and distant piece of work, but I think we'll come to know more about why she's like this. I would understand why she would ALWAYS have pushed Violet towards the Rider Quadrant, but I don't understand why she would let Violet prep to be a Scribe for all this time and then suddenly change her mind. I'm not convinced that that's what really went down, and I hope that in thinking there's more to it, I'm not giving the book too much credit. Guess I'll find out!

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?

It's clearly designed to show how seriously their society takes the concepts of strength and weakness (however those things get defined), and to show Violet's emotional reactions to losing potential friends and associates. But I tend to find it very short-sighted in books and movies that feature the ultimately pointless deaths of so many promising young people just because they're not "the best" (whatever that even means), often on their first try at something, because this is such a stupid way for a society to function. I mean srsly, there would be no one left and society would collapse. It's dumb. Just save the failed aspiring riders and put them in a different role!
ETA: And no, I would not give my boot to a stranger. That's ridiculous.

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?

Not particularly. I wonder if it will have something to do with Violet being forced into the Rider Quadrant? If her mother knows something secret?

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

She'll obviously survive, and quite obviously get chosen by some sort of interesting dragon that marks her as "different" because that's just the kind of book this is. I don't mind that at all! I'm just saying :)

I wonder if Fourth Wing (the BOM) would fit for a Potter task?

Deanna wrote: "Alysa wrote: "Re message 851 -- do we still need Calliope? And if so, would my described book work?"

We're good for the muse challenge. If you want to note it on the spreadsheet, we can use it if ..."

Well the thing is I might only read it now if it's needed for TT. Otherwise I may choose something else and read it another time.
I will think about it 🙂

Re message 851 -- do we still need Calliope? And if so, would my described book work?

Deanna wrote: "

Spin 6 - Tower Teams 9: Muses
"Pick four different Muses, for each Muse, read a book that fits their role
Thalia (Comedy); Clio (History); Euterpe (Music); Melpomene (Tragedy); Terpsichore (Dance); Erato (Love); Polymnia (sacred poetry); Urania (Astronomy); Calliope (epic poetry)"
Melpomene (Tragedy) - Rebecca

Ideas: Thalia - MPG Humor, Clio - MPG Historical Fiction/History or historical setting, Euterpe - instument on cover, musician characer, Erato - MPG Romance, Urania, night scene on cover. These are just to get you started. Feel free to suggest alternatives...."

I have a book loosely inspired by mythology that has some gods and goddesses and such as characters, and one character is named Calliope (might be the actual muse but without having read the book yet I’m not sure).
Would that work for Calliope?

Alysa wrote: "I have "heron" in my current book and I'm almost done"

Done!

I have "heron" in my current book and I'm almost done

Jean wrote: "I have heron in my book "

I was just coming to say I have Heron it in the book I'm currently reading!
But I've been a bit slow lately because things are kind of insane IRL. So you will probably finish first.

Kimberly wrote: "Thanks Snowtulip!
So we’d just need a book that starts and ends with S and we’d have our quadrilateral!

T—->W
W—->S
S—->S
S—->T"

I'm planning to read The Sea Queen at some point this month, if that helps. But obviously, if I am taking too long, use something else 🙂

Alysa wrote: "I'll be done with #53 tomorrow :)"

Well I finished Sunday morning, not on Saturday, but... finished is finished 😁

I'm off to update spreadsheet and figure out what to read next!

I'll be done with #53 tomorrow :)

Jhmingos wrote: "Cordelia, what did you think of Fourth Wing? Seems like everyone is reading it."

Even me! I'm hoping to Audiobook it, next week! :)

Deanna wrote: "

53: Film 10s - 10 - Read a book with 10 (or ten) in the title - Alysa..."

I'm about 2/3 done with my book for this. If necessary of course it can also be used for page range 600+, but someone else would need to read for the chipmunk task.

I have not been tracking character names. LMK if I should start doing so. There's a large cast.

Just checking in.
Still working on my long book for #53.
I didn't have as much reading time as I'd hoped, after Monday, but I should get a good chunk done over the weekend :)

Deanna wrote: "

NEW TASK
🐾 80: X Books - Read a book where the title starts with X

39: 10 Awards - Read a book that won a RITA - Corderlia
53: Film 10s - 10 - Read a book with 10 (or ten) in the title - Alysa
6..."

I finished my Wolverine book yesterday and just got online to update everything. But it looks like someone else took over the task since last time it appeared with my name in the run-down. :/

I hadn’t really been keeping track of character names much because it was slotted for Wolverine, so hopefully what I put in is sufficient for it to fit somewhere. IDK if it has a majority color cover. Or maybe some other word-in-text will come up.

I’ve started my “Ten in title” book. It is long, but is going pretty well for me as I had a ton of reading time yesterday. Hope it won’t take too long!

I can also read a book with the word “ten” in the title, which works for 3 of the tasks currently open, except it’s a really long book and will take me a while to finish.
It’s Ten Arrows of Iron, and I do want to read it in any case. So, “wolverine” book first, and then “ten” title book. :)