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

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

@Allison
- If you wanna do the #5 book you just mentioned, that'd be good. I don't think anyone else has expressed having something for that #. Otherwise, sticking to various long stuff sounds like a good plan.

I just finished the YA BOM, and answered the last set of DQs (which you can totally do next week, no prob). It was enjoyable but not great, IMO.

DQs Day 6
Chapters 32 - End

24. Ellery keeps coming up with somewhat plausible theories, but is getting shut down in chapter 32 since another theory was proven false. Still, her mind is always working. Do you think she's showing intelligence with some of her theories or do you think she's reaching too far and just making a fool of herself playing detective?

Neither. That is, she's not showing any particular intelligence but she isn't making a fool of herself either. At least she's come into town with fresh eyes and a willingness to try.


25. Do you think Declan is being fair to Malcolm in the apartment getting so upset? What do you think about them making up later; was this all realistic?

They weren't being fair to each other, but like Declan says when they make up later, Declan is the adult. It's nice that he was so magnanimous about the whole thing. Not sure whether it was realistic, but it was nice.


26. Were you surprised about who the killer turned out to be? Was this a good twist and well done for a mystery, or were you not satisfied?

I long suspected that an inter-generational hook-up was involved, but although it briefly crossed my mind early on that Peter might be part of that, I dismissed it for most of the book, on the grounds that I was really hoping the author wouldn't take such an obvious route. I mean, I guess the target audience here is too young to have seen, say, the original run of Veronica Mars, but for those of us who aren't… Come on.


27. Do you think the mother had something going on with the killer in her past, based on the last line that he whispered in Ellery's ear?

He mentioned that he'd gone out with her a few times, and I long suspected that Sarah was killed by someone who thought she was Sadie. So, that final line "twist" was not a twist to me, and I don't really understand why Ellery did not want to tell anyone about it. Would it bring pain to her family? Yes, but it would still be better for them to have closure.
My personal unwritten epilogue is that the police, stated as working on a profile of Peter, put it together that the dude has probably been killing or at least commiting violence towards women and/or animals since his adolescence, and that's when Sarah went missing. So he'd be questioned about that again now, and everything would come out. And maybe there were other girls between Sarah and Lacey too.


28. Overall, what do you think of the book? Would you read more of the author?

Eh. It was quick and kept me reading, but I wasn't super impressed. I'm giving it 3 stars. I liked the writing well enough, but the plot was a little pat and derivative, and the characters didn't always work for me. The relationships were sometimes hard to keep track of, and everybody was too transparently moved around and dismissed as needed or not needed. There was some tokenism, too, with the minorities and with Ezra being gay. Not sure if I'd read more by this author, esp considering I don't go out of my way to read non-fantasy YA. Maybe if she wrote a supernatural mystery, or an adult novel.

Kerri wrote: "I don't have any series books that I was planning on starting that isn't the first book, lol. We all know I'm a slower reader, so that won't work. Instead, I'll try and pick up a bigger book or a n..."

Sounds good, Kerri!
Too bad Fireborne isn't another 50something pages long, lol.

DQs Day 5
Chapters 26-31

20. We now know who the father of the twins is. Have you suspected him? Do you think that the way they have discovered it was too accidental/not very realistic?

I said something in a previous set of DQ&A about not thinking the book would get into that, and that the timing might not line up. The way it got resolved after all was pretty darn dumb, IMO. Brings the book down closer to petty soap opera than noir-ish murder mystery.

21. How do you think why did Sadie lie about who the father of the twins was? Was it only because he was a married man and she didn't want to ruin his family?

Maybe that, or maybe she just didn’t want the twins making her take them to Echo Ridge to meet their father if they ever found out. She has been avoiding the town at all costs, so that would fit.

22. Ellery now has Kyle and Liz as her suspects. Do you agree with her? Or do you have somebody else in mind?

It’s possible. I still think there’s at least one older adult involved.

23. Malcolm invites Ellery to a clown museum, which sounds very interesting to me. Would you like to visit such a museum? Or have you visited a similiar or other non-traditional museum?

I’ve been to a few non-traditional museums and historical societies. Some have been really great... others a little pathetic. The trouble is that you can’t know in advance which reaction you will have!

DQs Day 4
Chapters 20-25

16. It seems that one character has so far flown under the radar and yet to me is highly suspicious. The Policeman, Ryan Rodriguez has been in every scene and yet only at the end of this section is he coming under Ellery’s suspicion, I think he may be working alone or in concert with other characters – Why might I be thinking this and who might he be working with?

He is definitely acting suspicious, but I feel like the book wouldn't be this obvious about it if he were the culprit. Maybe he's helping cover for someone else though? Maybe the other cop?

17. Why did Sarah go missing? She wasn’t in the homecoming court so why her? Is the reason for this the reason Sadie feels so guilty?

Sadie may have been the real target, and Sarah's disappearance was the result of mistaken identity. Either that or Sarah had a stalker and/or hidden depths.

18. Viv changes her mind about a connection between what happened previously and what is happening now she is quoted as saying “Even if someone was unhinged enough to get away with murder and brag about it five years later, the MOs are completely different” Why do you think she changes her mind and do you think she is right about there being no connection?

She's seemed jealous of Ellery, so it doesn't seem OOC at this point that she'd steal Ellery's words and ideas.

19. Everything started after the death of the teacher on the overpass – do you think there is a connection between that and the developing storyline . Do you think Malcolm, Ellery and Ezra will tell someone what they have found out?

It's most likely that they would confront Katrin about it before going to any adult.

Also, my mother broke her knee some years back, and then re-broke by dog mishap. These animals, man.

Saw your PM-
Sounds good to me, if you are into doing that! :D
How about you just stick the #s you want to read on the planning sheet, and if anyone else has anything between my #6 and your books, they can work around/between us?

M wrote: "I know I can read a ton next week. my stay-cation isn't really about relaxing. It is me being a clumsy oaf and re-breaking my ankle. so, reading time galore."

Oh no! Re-breaking?!?

[[ Frankie ]] wrote: "Alysa wrote: "What other book are you about to finish? :) ..."

I just finished . Low page count (sorry!)

But would you mind adding it to the spreadsheet for me? Fo..."

Will do in a little bit! Thanks Frankie!

wren wrote: "I have Angels & Demons which is a #1 and I'm starting that tonight. I think I can try and finish right after the weekly reset since it's a good time for me."

That'd be really great, wren!
Especially because it is long. :D
If you are able to commit to finishing it after right the weekly reset, or the day after that at the latest, that'll be excellent.

If you end up unable to finish in that time, just let us know asap so someone else (probably me, lol ) can finish their #2 book without waiting. Then you can still finish yours after, just not for the ladder; it'd have to be for a "Sin."

I gather that you have some time off school for the Thanksgiving holiday. Yay for you!

Everybody knock on wood!

Yeah, the ladder is a Big Ask.
Which is why Jessi and I are not expecting everyone to do it :)

I have to say, I totally get why the Mods kept this Mini for fairly late in TT — we need to be pretty familiar with each other’s reading patterns in order to best to strategize and make this work to our best advantage.

Unless our 2 biggest readers (in both book numbers and lengths) happen to have a whole bunch of Higher Series Numbers they wanna read anyway, it probably does not make much sense for Team Ira to go more than, say, a dozen or so rungs, tops.

It’s 5 points per “rung” which (Sin Bingo notwithstanding) is only better than Color Covers for books that would otherwise be Top Shelves/Sin Specs, and the bonus for every 3 rungs averages out to 3.33 extra points per book. That is nice, but as usual it is not as good as reading doorstoppers and BOMs 🙂

We can leave the super-tall-ladder-building to the teams that care more about the Mini-Challenge prize category, lol.

Just to say —
I do not at all mind only doing #4 (which I have to return to the library soon anyway) and #6 (because it is long) and letting other people have all those other #s. Especially cuz I can’t go higher than 6 next week.
Not trying to hog all the numbers. Just trying to make coordination easier, and make it so fewer people end up sitting around waiting for other people. :)

I think we'll need someone to do #1 very quickly, if at all. So, choosing who will cover #1 will depend on the length of the book as well as how fast the person can read it vis-a-vis the Week 7/Week 8 turnover.

For instance, I can start a short #2 book tomorrow night and finish it by Sunday late-afternoon/ evening which is the earliest we're allowed to finish books for Week 8 anyway (I'm in EST). but if someone's reading a #1 I would potentially have to put down my #2, wait until that person checks in to say they've finished, and start something else as well.
I also have a short #4 book that I would like to read.
Then, a long (over 600p) #6 book which will take a few days, and which is the highest # that I'm able to cover next week.

Jessi and I were thinking that since looooong books are still the best, we're not gonna get too crazy with this Mini.
The more people trying to build more ladder rungs, the more we'll be waiting for each other to do stuff, and potentially fewer people reading long books.

@ Allison and M, do either of you have long, high-series-number books to work towards for the middle and later of Week 8?
We'll need a #5...
Plus maybe anything between 7 & 9 (if Jessi's got a #10) and 11 &up?
If not, it could better for you to stick mainly to big books for Sins...?

DQs Day 3
Chapters 12-19

11. So we've heard from Sadie again! (every time I hear her name she reminds me of Sadie by Courtney Summers and I have to keep reminding myself: wrong book sis)
I wonder if substance abuse is the only thing she struggles with, or if there's more to her. She feels a bit off to me... Is she hiding something, or is that just who she is? Do you think she knows or at least has an idea of what happened to her sister? Why does she not want to talk about Sarah at all, and why did she leave Echo Ridge? Would you have left?... Is she even still at the institute?

I think she's still in rehab, but as to the rest of the above... IDK. I think maybe she has some idea about what happened to Sarah, but has either blocked it out (be it consciously or unconsciously) or feels responsible in some way. Like, maybe she was the target and whatever happened... happened to the "wrong" twin. Or maybe they were both involved in something untoward and Sadie doesn't want to be caught out, even after all this time.

12. Even though Sadie has hardly ever been back to Echo Ridge, I have a feeling Ellery and Ezra's dad might be from there. Do you think we have met the twins' father by now? Could it be Vance, or Peter, or somebody else completely? (I actually have a theory, and it's neither of the guys I just mentioned lol)

But didn't Sadie leave Echo Ridge way before they were born? They're 17 and she left over 20 years ago? I suppose it could have been a hometown-visit-hook-up, if she was ever back at the right time, but I don't think so. Could be wrong, I think she's been upfront about the twins' being conceived in California. This book might be gearing up to have some "inappropriate hook-up" twists but I somehow don't think Ellery & Ezra's parentage will be one of them.

13. Viv has been acting very strangely towards Ellery. What is her problem? Do you think she's jealous of Ellery for getting nominated for Prom Queen, or that she has kind of gotten into their friend group without even trying?

Yes to the above. She seems jealous that Ellery, as the new new girl, is getting attention.

14. I can't stop thinking about what happened in the past. First Sarah went missing, then years later Lacey vanished and had been found dead shortly after. Do you think Sarah shared the same fate, or is she still out there somewhere? Are their cases related? And then Mr. Bowman has been killed in a hit and run - what a nice introduction to town our twins had here. Do you think this is connected to everything else that's been going on in town, with Daisy and Declan being back, etc.?

I think Sarah's dead too, but I don't know if the cases are related. And with that Mr Bowman thing still out there too... And Daisy... Eh, I think the book will connect everything, but in a convoluted, eye-roll-inducing way that I won't like, lol.

15. Just like Viv, Brooke has been acting weirdly as well, but I don't think it has anything to do with Ellery. She seemed worn down when El sat with the girls at lunch, and Mr. Bowman's death seemed to get to her way more than to her peers. Do you think she had anything to do with the hit and run, or maybe was involved with the late teacher? Is this why she was so agitated at the party? Where do you think she vanished to when she slept over at Katrin's the week before but was gone for at least 20 minutes?

Ah, the late teacher comes up again! Yeah, I think there's some inter-generational hooking up happening in this town, but I still don't know who exactly is involved. And if people have been getting killed so they won't, say, reveal information, then IDK what's with the graffiti and bloody doll stuff. That could just be a red herring, some innocent-ish kids having fun with the bad town history and all.

Random:
Did anyone else get annoyed when Ellery described the "That's what she said" joke as coming from The Office?
I was like, jeez McManus, people have been using that line for yeeeeeeeeaaaaaaars before The Office aired. My first memory of it was from Wayne's World, and it was probably old before that.

M wrote: "I still have a bunch of big books left on my shelf. I will post later with what I have."

Cool. If any of them are series (especially upper numbers) that's great, but if not -- that's great too :D

Gluttony Mini Challenge next week!

Jessi and I have some ideas :)
But... take a look, everybody, and see what you think!

Because this will take lots of coordination, it's likely that not everyone on the team will be able to participate in this one, since some do not check in very often.
And since the general Team Strategy is still Big Books, we don't expect that we'll build a gazillion rungs. But a few sets will be nice for the Bonus points.
(Please note, too that there can be gaps between "rungs." That is, after #7 for example, we do not need to read #s 8,9, and 10 before reading #11. We just wouldn't be able to read them afterwards. ;D)

Well, unless you want to ;D

You are amazing, Allison!

I hope you and M aren't blowing through your entire big-book TBRs though. ;D

DQs Day 2
Chapters 6-11

6. It's taken me a bit to understand what's happening in town currently and in the past. Has anyone else struggled or have you caught on well? Do you think the author has set the scene well, or are there improvements/other ways you think would work better?

I caught on to the convoluted relationships a bit better in these chapters than I had in the previous ones. I’m not sure the author has done as well with the mystery yet though. All the graffiti and dolls and such doesn’t seem to be having as much impact as it is probably supposed to. The atmosphere is just okay.


7. We meet Declan Kelly in this chapter, Malcolm's brother. What are your impressions on him? Do you think he murdered Lacey? Or has anything to do with Sarah's (Sadie's twin) disappearance? The hit and run of Mr Bowman or the threats around town? If not, who do you think is responsible for all of them, or any of them? Do you have any theories so far on the connections of the occurrences? I feel like there's so many suspects and Sadie is definitely hiding something.

I don’t think Declan was responsible for any of that stuff (was he even born yet when Sarah and Sadie were seniors in high school???), and my theory is that some privileged adult or adults are responsible. Maybe the missing or murdered girls were having affairs with teachers or their friend’ dads or something like that.


8. The Homecoming Court announcements: Did it surprise you that Ellery was nominated for Queen? Why do you think she was 'chosen' as a potential Queen? It's kind of ominous to the Homecoming, isn't it? I feel like Homecoming is where things will go crazy. What do you guys predict will happen?

She was set up, for sure. I also think Homecoming is where things will go crazy.

9. As an Australian, I don't understand the craze around Homecoming. We have Formals which is similar to Homecoming but no one is chosen as a Queen or King. Did you go to a Homecoming in High School, or something similar? What was it like? I went without a boy (too cool for boys back then) and went with one of my girl friends. We had a blast! My aunty actually helped me design my dress and made it for me. It was actually my first introduction on how to dress feminine and like it!

I’m American but my school didn’t do Homecoming... as far as
I remember. I was “too cool” for some of that stuff too, lol. Though we did have Prom in the spring. I didn’t go to “mine” but when
I was in 9th grade I went with an 11th grade boy to his
Junior one. It was actually pretty terrible, and part of what put me off going to “mine” a couple years later. But I did come to regret that as an adult. I wish I’d been there.

10. It seems like Daisy has been through a lot... Her breakdown in the car and shutting herself in her room. What do you think is going on with her? Do you think she's finally dealing with Lacey's death or do you think something else is going on with her?

It seems like a combination of things. Didn’t she leave some kind of high-powered job? If she is just a depressed person, it’s hard to say if that is just who she is, or if it was precipitated by events related to Lacey’s death. Declan being back in town at the same time is also a weird coincidence. Or not...