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

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

DQs Day 4: Chapters 63-78


16. I could not believe how much abuse Eric afflicted on his wife and children. It made me sick to my stomach reading about how he justified his actions and knew he would get away with it. Even when he found out about his wife’s death after learning that she was planning on running away, Eric thought it was justice being served. How was your experience reading this section?

His POV was an unpleasant headspace to be in from the get-go. I am just so not interested in reading the POVs of abusive horrible dudes.

17. Hess is annoyed when he finds out that Nylander is in communication with his ex-boss from Interpol. There’s been hints so far as to what resulted in Hess’s dismissal from his previous job. Do you have any ideas what it might have been?

I've been actively wondering about that and still can't figure it out. Could be a suspected but unproven corruption thing? Like, taking bribes or something?

18. The killer keeps distracting the police officers with incorrect leads. Did you think the killer was going to come to Jessie’s apartment? Were you surprised that her lover came instead?

I did not think that the killer would show up at Jessie's apartment, but I was surprised when the other guy showed up instead. The killer was pretty clever about luring him there with the fake-out text. Obviously the killer knows Jessie's movements well. Could it be a Tech person who follows patterns in CCTV activities?

19. One of the things I really like about this book is how you get multiple viewpoints from the various characters (the women before they are killed, Nylander, the cop in charge of Kristine’s case etc.) It really helps to flesh out the plot and character development. What are your thoughts about this? Do you like this type of narrative or would you have wanted the focus to be on Thulin and Hess?

I like this technique when it's done well (as opposed to feeling random) but I don't know how well it is done here. Some of the added POVs add value but others feel gratuitous. Not to mention super icky. The casual (and of course not so casual) sexism of so many of them is gross. Even the way the author writes Jessie Kviam's POV is gross.

Bonus question: The author of this book is a writer for the TV show – The Killing. Have you watched it or are you interested in watching it after reading this book?

Have not seen it, and I probably won't. It's been a few years since I've been interested in investing my free time in a new TV show, and this would not top my list of shows to try.

Thanks Cat!

Thanks!

Today is also my daughter's birthday (yep, she was born on my bday) so people around us tend to celebrate that and forget all about me.

Other people who share our birthday:
Tilda Swinton -- oddly, Swinton is one of my daughter's 2 middle names, after Tilda, but we did not know until way later that we share the birthday too!
Art Garfunkel -- I have been getting my daughter into Simon & Garfunkel, which is way better around the house than the vapid 2019 pop she otherwise loves.

Today is my birthday!
Time to party like it's 1789! Dies Irae!

@Allison, I have been inspired to delete that Ness book from my TBR. So, thanks for that ;D

Lol, I was looking into that book too, as it’s on my TBR, and was like.... no, cannot do it.

I have now started well into though, which is not that bad so far. A little boring but not terrible. Hoping it does not get worse.

That’s great on all counts, wren!
The books, I mean, not the part about your week being so busy. :)

Long books are still the most important in general, fwiw.
But if anyone’s got some short “adjectives”, just a couple’s all we really need.

And that is all regardless of Bad Books, which will last past the current week anyway :)

Team Ira! Since we would like to have 1 complete story for Part 1 of the Lust mini-challenge, it looks like we are in need of some “Adjective” book titles!

From the Bad Books list, I was looking into Stray but unfortunately won’t be able to get any version in time. I also have Matched but it’s a Sin Bingo so I would rather keep it for that if possible, assuming I would even be able to finish it this week. Anyone else able to fill in at least one good Adjective?

Towards the end of the week, when we have more book titles in the spreadsheet, anyone who would like to take a crack and making the story, please do. We can spend some time on Friday and Saturday crafting and redrafting 😃

Aha! And here I thought downloading would be better, as then I would have offline access.
What a deceptive service, so far. D:

That “cap” thing is interesting, but doesn’t seem to be why almost my entire saved list just went into “unavailable until 11/22” — so weird. The site claims to warn people, but I had no such warning.

I am only mildly happy with it so far -- mainly, but not exclusively, because they just effing "temporarily" removed, with no warning, books that I had downloaded and was about to start reading!

I dunno if I will keep my account after my trial is over in mid-Dec, but it's been pretty helpful for TT so far. They sometimes have longer versions of things, for better page count value.

If you know anyone else who has a membership (an actual membership, not currently a trial one like mine), ask them for a code and you get 60 days free instead of 30 (and they get 30 days free).
That's how I got my trial. And yeah, it's international so you should be fine ;)

DQs Day 3: Chapters 39-62

11. Steen finds out from Kristine's friend Mathilde that they didn't make Chestnut Men last year like Rosa said. Do you think Rosa was just mistaken when she told the police Kristine made and sold them or that she purposely lied? What were her intentions if you think she lied - did she just want the cops to get out and leave her grieving family in peace, or do you think she knows something about the chestnut men and/or the killer?

Rosa was just mistaken, IMO. Didn't it say that Kristine and her friend made stuff over multiple years? If so, Rosa probably wouldn't remember which years the girls made which figurines. Could also be that Mathilde is the one who is mistaken, for the same reason. Though that would likely mess up the author's chosen narrative.

12. Both victims families were reported to Social Services through an anonymous tip and evidence of sexual/child abuse are later discovered. Do you think the anonymous tipper is the killer?

It's less likely that it's the tipster and more likely that it is someone who has access to the same information as the tipster (or tipsters), one way or another. Could just be someone who happens to have noticed the same abuse signs.


13. When Hess calls social services he speaks with social worker Henning Loeb who gives him information on Magnus, but lies about finding information about the two girls, Lina and Sofia Sejer-Lassen, after he "sees something he doesn't fully grasp, and that makes him wary." What do you think he saw and why did he lie? Do you think there is a connection here with Rosa who is the Minister for Social Affairs?

Ugh, yet another male character with a gross POV. Re him seeing something in the computer system, first I was thinking that the Sejer-Lassen files were flagged in some way that seemed sensitive. But then Henning is worried about covering his ass over NOT helping the police. So I really don't know.

14. A few people have speculated that the basement Officer Marius enters in ch. 1 could have been used some sort of abuse, possibly child abuse. Given what we now know do you agree and do you think the killer was possibly a victim?

The killer was possibly a victim, or else someone who witnessed someone else being abused and wants to help victims, albeit in a twisted way.

15. While it's clear Hauge was the one abusing Magnus we don't know for sure if Lassen was the one abusing the girls. Do you think the abuser was Lassen or his wife? (He seemed ready to offer up info on his eldest's broken nose which is the only thing giving me pause.) If the killer is reacting to the abuse, why target the mothers and not the abusers (assuming Lassen is the abuser)? Is Thulin right in speculating that in the killers eyes the mother "ought to have know... didn't react to the report."?

It would be pretty obvious if Erik was the one beating up his daughter or daughters, and I still haven't determined just how obvious (i.e., Easy Armchair Psych 101) this book is going to be. It does seem like Thulin is correct about the killer blaming mothers for not knowing about or stopping abuse though.

Hah, I know the feeling.

It’s actually pretty funny though. The very beginning was like, ugh this is going to get old fast, but I am about 1/4 in and chuckling a lot.

Kerri wrote: "Oh man... just that title alone has me cringing, lol. I'm not a Back Room member, though I am kind of intrigued..."

*jooooooiiiiinnnnn uuuuusssssssss........*
😜

Anybody else down for the Buddy Read of Fifty Shades of Mr Darcy?
Link here: https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...

7 bonus mod points per reader [this week only]. Everyone can use 200 page count.

Sooooo not my usual thing but it’s short. (I am doing a trial of Scribd right now, too, and it is on there. 🙂)

DQs Day 2: Chapters 20-38
6. We have got a fair way into the book now and my first question is to ask how you feel about it? What do you like / dislike about it?

The writing is okay, just average mainstream novel level writing. The serial killer/police procedural stuff is something I can occasionally enjoy but don’t tend to read much of – largely because I am put off by the gratuitous violence against women towards which the genre tends. This book is no exception. And the portrayal of Thulin’s sexuality (she’s cold and hardcore! you can tell because she’s sexually using Sebastian!) is an overused trope in itself too.

I do want to know what’s going to happen next though! So, it’s not a bad book for what it is, I suppose, but not something I would have read if it weren’t a BOM. It’s good to get out of my comfort zones, though, if only to reverify why I… normally don’t, lol.

7. What are your impressions about the time line from Marius to Kristine to Laura?

From what little I can put together I can only just say that Marius pointing out that the Chestnut doll was not at the playground earlier the previous day, coupled with Kristine’s mother going back to work, as well as the threat against her, means we know there’s a connection between all of these things and that the killer (or killers?) are taking advantage of this moment in time.

8. Hess and Thulin are not necessarily bosom buddies How do you see their differing working methods and relationship developing?

Odd Couple work pairing that will ultimately prove fruitful. They’re both deeply flawed in that “tv cop” way but the case will bring out qualities in them, and they’ll bring out qualities in each other.

9. Hess insists on visiting Magnus Kjaer and showing him some photographs. What do you think is the significance of "The chestnut man" being something new?

No idea. I don't feel like we learned anything new from that at all.

10. Erik Sejer Lassen is arrested - there is a lot going on during the chase - How do you read the events leading up to the arrest and during the questioning?

He wasn’t actually arrested in this section, just grabbed and questioned. (Maybe he gets arrested in the next part?) I hated the whole Erik POV section where he’s following that blond woman around. Like, did we need more gratuitous sexual predator stuff via this dude. o_O

It is reeeeeeeaaaaallllly not my thing. And it would take me way too long away from other stuff.

I was considering reading The Wandering Inn (volume 2 of which is one of the books that gave Lust such a big bump) but I dunno. Will need to look at the Amazon sample.
I had also started a >1000 page non-fiction book a bit ago, too, which is going to take me a while as it is.

Holy crap, Team Lust is now beating us by THREE POINTS!!!

THREE POINTS!!!

*shakes fist at them*