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

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

Depth by Lev A.C. Rosen

In a post-apocalyptic flooded New York City, a private investigator’s routine surveillance case leads to a treasure everyone wants to find—and someone is willing to kill for.

Depth combines hardboiled mystery and dystopian science fiction in a future where the rising ocean levels have left New York twenty-one stories under water and cut off from the rest of the United States. But the city survives, and Simone Pierce is one of its best private investigators. Her latest case, running surveillance on a potentially unfaithful husband, was supposed to be easy. Then her target is murdered, and the search for his killer points Simone towards a secret from the past that can’t possibly be real—but that won’t stop the city’s most powerful men and women from trying to acquire it for themselves, with Simone caught in the middle.

I get what you mean, Emily! But insofar as modern “YA” is more than just a marketing construct, in my comparison between NH and 10k Doors I was actually thinking more about style than content or common tropes like the “special” character. (It certainly seems like January will be “special” in some magical way, in any case, though her being markedly different in other ways already, according to the standards of her day and age, goes some way towards mitigating the predictability of that trope.)

NH suffers from several pitfalls that are often to be found in modern YA fantasy since it became a huge industry label (though I am definitely not saying this applies to every book released under that banner, and the problems tend to be more glaringly obvious in High Fantasy than in UF): the world building and magic systems are underdeveloped, and the level of the writing is more or less average. Never bad, but average. At least IMO, on all those counts!

But I think in 10k Doors so far (I am now up to 41%), the magic & world(s!) seem to have consistent internal logic, and I find the writing to be of a higher caliber.

10k Doors is the kind of book that assumes a certain higher level of intelligence and literacy from its readers, and is only being marketed as “YA” because of the title character’s age. Whereas NH is only being marketed as “adult” because of... well, rape. That’s pretty much it, really!

For those of you who also did the Adult BOM this month -
Who else thinks it's funny that the Adult BOM felt more like YA, and this YA BOM [at least after the first few chapters] feels more like an Adult book?
:D

Laura wrote: "Alysa wrote: "@Laura, just so you know, I have read several additional "character who plays hockey" books since the Right Side Up Spring Challenge, including one during TT. And I am going to Canada..."

Laura wrote: "Alysa wrote: "@Laura, just so you know, I have read several additional "character who plays hockey" books since the Right Side Up Spring Challenge, including one during TT. And I am going to Canada..."

LOL, you’re right, you’re not the reason for the trip. Only the reason I now apparently enjoy hockey novels (well, MM ones so far but we’ll see where my interest takes me 😉), since having to find one that time.

We’re going to BC, kinda near Kamloops (mainly a ski trip for my family, which means a sitting-on-ass trip for me, hehe) but have been to 7 provinces over the past few years for various reasons. Huh! I didn’t even realize it was so many. I guess I love Canada. ❤️🇨🇦

I’m gonna get out of your Team thread now though!
I hope everybody here had a great TT! (fwiw, Team Ira considered going for the Vanity prize, but y’all had pulled too far ahead by then. Congrats! 😁)

@Laura, just so you know, I have read several additional "character who plays hockey" books since the Right Side Up Spring Challenge, including one during TT. And I am going to Canada [again] next week.
IT IS ALL YOUR FAULT. :D

Emily wrote: "I feel this book is more about being lyrical then about plot development, which isn't typically a writing style I enjoy"

I think that's why so far I've also been enjoying Ade's story more than January's. The style is less lyrical. There have been moments during the January sections there are so many metaphors that it kicks me out of the story.
I'm only partway through the "Day 2" chapters though, so hopefully things will start to pick up for January too.

You also make an interesting point about January blaming her father instead of Locke, and whether she's been manipulated to do so. I have a feeling this too will become clearer soon.

DQs Day 1 — Beginning thru An Introduction to Miss Adelaide...

1) The beginning of this book explicitly evokes other magical doors in the reader's imagination, presuming a strong familiarity with the concept. Are you a fan of stories about magical doors? Why? Is that what drew you to this book?

Magical door/portal fantasies are awesome, and it’s obvious that the author loves them so much that not only did she write a book featuring them - a thousand of them! - but got all Meta about it. This is a booklover’s book. And I tend to enjoy metafiction, so I am happy so far.

2) Young January seems to exist as a kind of curio for Mr. Locke, who collects "exotic" things. Do you think this bears out in how he treats her and her father? Do you think the relationship between ward and guardian seems realistic, given the time and place?

It is an interesting relationship, but I actually find it a little clunky. Like, the author needed to line up these people in a certain way to make the plot work, and her seams are showing. Perhaps if Mr. Locke were a godfather or a business partner instead? The way it stands, it just seems off that she basically lives with her father’s boss. It makes me intensely suspicious of Locke. Racial difference notwithstanding (or possibly the point?!), if this were any other book I would be wondering if the girl is being groomed for child-bridedom by a latent pedophile or something.

3) The next sections interrupt January's story, to tell a story within a story. First we get a section of "scholarly" text, and then the story of another girl, Adelaide, from a somewhat earlier time than January. What did you think of these sections? Do you predict any connection between these characters, beyond just one reading the other’s story?

I really liked these bits. I really felt like January felt, sinking into the book she found.
Cat, I similarly wondered if Ade and the boy were January’s parents!

4) What do you think of the structure and writing style (or perhaps styles!) of this book so far, more generally? Do any “author tricks” stand out to you, good or bad?

I really enjoy the parallel texts, metafiction, and fake “scholarly” writings. I actually preferred the writing style of the Adelaide chapter the the previous January chapters - and it impresses me that the author could make that kind of switch.
But it annoys me that we seem to have the word “Scholar” being introduced as a formal title of some sort, and January’s last name is Scaller. Too on the nose!
I’m glad that Jeremy brought up the footnotes! The footnotes are fun, and add to the scholarly appeal.
Has anyone else read Jane Yolen’s Great Alta series? She does some interesting stuff with fantasy, meta, scholarly texts, and the way that true stories eventually pass into myth, legend, and eventual historical interpretation.

I never did Day 6! Doing now :D

Day 6 DQs – Chapters 26 – end

23. We start off this section with Blake trying to kill Alex for revenge. Did you expect this and did you accept that he was also responsible for Tara’s murder? Or did you suspect there was still something more? Also, were you surprised when Dawes came through to bash him in the head? I was not expecting that, but it was awesome.

I expected him to turn up angry, but I also suspected that he’d only be actually murderous if he was being controlled by some other force. Murder just didn’t seem like his MO otherwise. I also loved when Dawes bashed him!

24. We find out that girls had been killed over the years on dates that coincided with the formation of houses and that Dean Sandow knew about it. Did you immediately jump to the same conclusion as Alex, that Sandow killed Tara to form a nexus?

I liked that particular twist very much – it redeemed the book for me a bit! But I didn’t immediately guess that Dean Sandow knew about it. I’m still not sure whether I think the narrative up to that point clearly supports this, actually. There’s still a lot about the Sandow character that felt muddled to me.

25. What were your thoughts when Belbalm revealed herself? Were you surprised? Did you suspect the connection with North? It makes sense to me the Belbalm had a stronger role in the story than initially portrayed, but I was not expecting that.

I liked this twist WAY less. I did not suspect the connection with North at all, and as with Sandow but probably even moreso, I don't think that the narrative up to this point supports the Belbalm reveal. It felt more like a cheap trick than a clever twist. I also think it is provocatively “post feminist” in a way, to have the ultimate villain of a book that has been ostensibly critiquing patriarchy be a woman preying on other women. My critical faculties have many complex thoughts about this, but my kneejerk reaction was Do Not Like. I just don’t think we’re… there yet? As a society? IDK.

26. Belbalm seems to have the same power as Alex and she was able to live so long by stealing the souls from other girls like them and that they’re drawn to New Haven. Do you think Alex will meet other girls with her powers in subsequent books that are drawn to Yale?

That would be kind of cool! And they can tear down the patriarchy together, lol!

27. What are your overall thoughts on the novel? Will you read book 2?

I didn’t hate it, didn't love it. I rated it 3 stars. Maybe my expectations were too high. I thought the magic system was underdeveloped, I was expecting an “adult” writing style and got YA or maybe NA, and there was a lot of stuff that just didn’t work for me. I most enjoyed the parts about Alex’s past, when she was a teenager, which I guess makes sense in light of the YA writing style. I might read Book 2, if the plot sounds interesting, but it’s not high on my list.

Here we go!

DQs Day 1 — Beginning thru An Introduction to Miss Adelaide...

1) The beginning of this book explicitly evokes other magical doors in the reader's imagination, presuming a strong familiarity with the concept. Are you a fan of stories about magical doors? Why? Is that what drew you to this book?

2) Young January seems to exist as a kind of curio for Mr. Locke, who collects "exotic" things. Do you think this bears out in how he treats her and her father? Do you think the relationship between ward and guardian seems realistic, given the time and place?

3) The next sections interrupt January's story, to tell a story within a story. First we get a section of "scholarly" text, and then the story of another girl, Adelaide, from a somewhat earlier time than January. What did you think of these sections? Do you predict any connection between these characters, beyond just one reading the other’s story?

4) What do you think of the structure and writing style (or perhaps styles!) of this book so far, more generally? Do any “author tricks” stand out to you, good or bad?

Haha, me too.
*Mozart diez and iz ded*

Just a note that I will be posting first DQs later on today, when I get home from work! (I'm in EST time zone)
ETA: Haha, right before leaving works, as it turns out. I have my priorities straight! 🙂

So much pretty!
Thank you Mods! 😍

Sammy wrote: "And to give us all a tasty note to end on, I bring you some final inspiration courtesy of a song I've had stuck in my head the whole way home.

Sing along now: "SAVE A HOOOOOOORSE..."

Epic post is epic, and so is your total!
Congratulations, Lusties!
🍰🍪🥂

Aw, that’s okay!
TBH, sleep is another thing that I did not get enough of during TT because I had so much reading to do.
I plan to go to sleep early tonight for sure!

@Jessi, I think you asked about that zombie book? It was pretty good! Nothing too original, as it IS a straightforward zombie novel after all, and it doesn’t really have an ending per se. But it was pretty well done overall, especially for a KU!

Well we are all insane here, so. 🤪🤪🤪

I think we should just leave things as they are. I also have to go pick up kid ;)

So that a wrap!

Team Ira, with 11 members, logged 390 books, with an average page count of 555.
That is amazing, everybody!!!

Sorry, Cross-posted. Point stands :D

Jessi wrote: "Yes that will be the plan!"

Okay, it looks like we have logged 45 now (I removed one...)
Jessi are you sure we cannot have 46? It does say that in an early team thread post somewhere, but I guess the math was rechecked later? Have other teams ever posted 46 without a penalty?

And if Rebecca finishes hers (which is on the Vanity mini) we could potentially swap it in for M’s Rogue Protocol...?

Finished my last book!
This was so much fun everyone! A pleasure to play with you all!

Just left kid party #2 and will be done with my last book in about 20 minutes!

If we end up with more than the max # of books I guess we can omit the shortest one(s)? Would any of those readers be offended by that? Assuming we are even allowed to do that? 🧐