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

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

Haven't read it yet, but it's on the giant "I own this book but have not read yet!!!" pile.
Maybe I will bump it up in priority!

Allison Ann wrote: "Alysa wrote: "@Allison re Swan Song and The Eye of the World:

Votes in Captains group say Yes to Swan Song cover being Red, but there is still a tie for Yes/No on The Eye of the World, so I don’t ..."

BTW, @Allison:
Another vote came in in Captains Group on The Eye of the World being a blue cover. So... go for it, I guess?

Hah, that is true. Sometimes when I read triangles -- mainly in YA -- I just want to smack the characters upside the head and be like, "PEOPLE. Why can't you just all be together, or at least consider it as a valid choice beyond pairing off in twosomes?!"
Cassandra Clare's Infernal Devices series was like that -- why make the poor girl choose between the loves of her life when those two boys probably wouldn't even mind sharing? To not at least consider it, that feels like a complete erasure of polyamory as a concept and polyamorous people as a group.
I myself have never been in a poly relationship but I know people who have or are, and I recognize it as a legit possibility.
(And at least C Clare got around the choice in an interesting way, what with the supernatural longevity of 2 of the 3 characters...)

I'm definitely not conflating love triangles with poly relationships, just in case anybody thinks that I am!
Just saying A) it's great that this book does not have a triangle, and B) it's equally great that this book has a poly relationship IF one would like to read it that way.

And yes, I too am glad that Silas is not ace vis-a-vis that trope. When he was first introduced at the beginning of the book, I was a bit worried he'd be the major hot one and/or the third point of a dumb triangle.

DQs Day 5
Chapters 32 - Epilogue

18. Final battle time. Did you like the ending, or expect a larger/different conflict?

I liked the final battle, though the mystery surrounding how Ashcroft managed to infiltrate all the library branches -- basically "possessing" people -- could have been built up a little better. It seemed a little out of left field. The whole thing with the Archon was interesting, but I didn't wholly Ashcroft's motivation for summoning it. Overall I liked the grimoires rising up to defend the library! It was in keeping with the rest of the book.

19. So, the ending was rather open-ended but ended with hope. What do you think will happen next?

Elisabeth, Nathaniel, and Silas: OT3! I also would not mind a companion novel called "The Further Adventures of Katrien Quillworthy and Her Loyal Sidekick Parcifal." I would read the heck out of that.

20. Did you enjoy the world building? Were there any parts you found frustrating or wanted to know more about?

The world building was the weakest part of this book for me, and one of the two reasons that I would rate this 4.5 rather than 5. It certainly wasn't terrible, but it just wasn't quite fleshed out enough to feel lived-in, if that makes sense. Thin world building is a common enough issue in YA fantasy that I am sometimes willing to give it a pass -- so I'm actually rounding up to 5 rather than down to 4 stars for my Goodreads rating, since I enjoyed so many other things about this book so very much!
(The other reason for my taking off a half-star is that I'm quite troubled over Katrien ultimately turning out to be, frankly, a sort of token PoC friend who gets almost completely sidelined. The bit at the end where she's brought back for the scene with Director Wick was great, but it was too little too late.)

21. I found fairytale/Disney threads running though this from the library to mirror to the thorns to the fae and the dark hunt. Do you agree with me and did you enjoy them/think they added to the story?

This was a nice touch, making fairy tale elements thematically relevant. One can use this stuff (thorns, mirrors, etc.) to draw parallels between this book and various fairy tales.

22. Romance, personal opinion here, but why can’t we have YA without romance. I did like this one better than most. An ace character and no love triangle. Did you buy the romance development? Did you find it too fast, too slow, awkward?

I really liked it, actually. In general, I agree that we should have more YA without romance -- in some books its seemingly obligatory presence ruins an otherwise perfectly good story -- but I liked these characters together romantically.
And where someone else sees no love triangle, I see (as I mentioned) OT3! Especially since Nathaniel is canonically bisexual, and Silas is, like, equal opportunity nonsexual but possibly doth protest too much. Or can be asexual but not aromantic. Or vice versa. Whatevs.
Anyway, I liked the pacing of the Elisabeth/Nathaniel romance here very much. And I thought it was especially charming when Nathaniel so obviously enjoyed Elisabeth's bull-in-a-china-shop approach to solving problems. She can be emotionally mature, but when the need arises, she just hits things really hard! Nathaniel is the more delicate of the two, with his fancy magic and all, and he's always relied on Silas for any dirtier work. It's a great dynamic all around.

Allison Ann wrote: "I signed up for both the DQs (not the Backroom because I know that trying to write questions for that book would make me crazy) :) but I truly don't care about the questions, I just assume one more..."

My first time ever writing DQs (which I have only done twice so far) was in Back Room. It was a little intimidating but really fun.
The Oct one should be an entertaining to read, no matter who writes the DQs!

[[ Frankie ]] wrote: "Okay - I’m done spamming the thread with comments now. LOL. Had a lot of catching up to do!"

Spam away. I think most of us signed up w/ liking a Chatty group. Those of us who didn’t... well, I hope you don’t mind what you got yourselves into 😆

[[ Frankie ]] wrote: "If that link isn’t working for others either, I think this one might...

November BOM Poll
https://www.goodreads.com/poll/list/3..."

Weird. It was working for me originally, but now yours works better. Thanks! I edited my link too.

I vote Yes too! Typing “Spike heels” even auto-suggested this emoji 👠 Lol

[[ Frankie ]] wrote: ".Sure, however you wanna do it is fine with me! I’ll definitely be reading the book. But I don’t wanna step on any DQ toes! LOL"

No toes being stepped on at all. I absolutely do not mind if I don’t write DQs. I will just be happy if someone on our team gets picked at all, what with so many teams/players volunteering.

Also, as a Co-Cap, it is important to me that I don’t hog all the glory opportunities for all of our members, esp if someone is actively excited about writing DQs for a particular book 🙂
I would be happy to ask the Mods over in the BOM thread to make you the primary DQ volunteer, if no one else here has any objection...

Attention Team Ira!

Polls are now open for the November BOMs, so please go vote 🙂
https://www.goodreads.com/poll/list/3...
[ETA: link should be working now]


(No word yet on whether there will also be a Back Room BOM in November, so assume not)

Hi Rebecca!
We were on the same team for Wheel-a-thon III. Nice to see you again!

DQs Day 4
Chapters 25 - 31

17. After the big 'revelation' that Elisabeth is literally a child of the library, do you see her any differently? Do you think she still has any uncovered skills that might surface when needed - in the finale?

I don’t see her any differently, but I liked her from the start. It’s nice to have more little details about the books liking her better than other people. I think that will come in handy in some way.

18. What would you have done if faced with a man like Ashcroft? Do you think Elisabeth and Nathaniel's last resort idea was smart at all?

I liked how they confronted Ashcroft in public because it was probably their only hope to get the truth out. I have no idea what I would do faced with a man like that, and I’m glad I’ve never had to!

19. I personally was really touched by Silas' actions and how he 'sacrificed' himself for Nathaniel. What did you think of it? Even though we know now that he does care for his master, do you think he still has any hidden motives? And regarding his warning about setting him free, do you think it's a possibility that it's exactly what will happen at the end?

Silas is a hero for sure, and has legit grown fond of Nathaniel even if he won’t admit it. It is possible that he’ll be set free (maybe Elisabeth will find something in a Grimoire about “how to set a demon free without wreaking havoc,” or something along those lines) but not likely.

20. Do you have any predictions about how the novel will end? How would you like it to end?

I think it will have a happy “books, magic, and love” ending for Elisabeth and Nathaniel (and the sorely underutilized Katrien!) but maybe not for Silas.

OMG, right after I posted that, I’m reading Chapter 25 and Nathaniel is all, “I fancy both girls and boys.” 😏

DQs Day 3
Chapters 18 - 24

11. Easy question to start with. Who doesn't want Nathaniel's five story library with the skylight and the moving ladders? Do you have a perfect library in your head, or in your real life?

Heh. NO ONE does not want Nathaniel's library. Unless you have to dust it yourself. It would need to be magically dust-free! I've seen some gorgeous libraries, both in person and in photos, public and private and residential. My "perfect" library would vary greatly, depending on which of those categories it would fall into.

12. What do you think sorcerers do for a living? Nathaniel is practicing illusions for a dance. Is he being paid for it? We have been deposited in this world without a lot of backstory, so stuff like this makes me wonder.

I interpreted his making illusions for a dance as a professional gig. But the sorcerers also seem to be independently wealthy, mainly with "old money" apart from some of the upstarts referred to at some point (the people who manage to gather enough knowledge to call up minor demons but aren't seen as sorcerer families until it's been a while), so I don't think parlor tricks are a main source of income so much as, like, a debt to society. That is, the tricks are expected of them, in return for an amount of social cache.



13. Do you like the fact that Katrien was brought back into the story, and how it happened? Would you play with a scrying mirror?

So glad Katrien is back! I love the friendship between Elisabeth and Katrien, and feared the book had dropped Katrien once Elisabeth left the library. The scrying mirror is a nice detail, though also a bit of a deus ex machina.


14. What do you think of Prendergast? Any ideas yet on how he could help Elizabeth?

That whole thing with him locking his own spirit inside the book was great. He's half-mad and cannot trust her, but I don't blame him. I want him to start trusting her soon. Or maybe the Malefic incarnation of his codex can somehow become a friend, and help her that way!

15. Be honest. Did you at all think that Elizabeth's differences could be attributed to her growing up in the library? Do you think that is the right explanation?

I don't know if I buy it, but I think I kind of WANT it to be true. It would be less predictable than Secret Love Child of Sorcerer and Library Director or somesuch.

16. Where do you see the relationship between Nathanial and Elizabeth going?

It is clearly going to Romance Land. I do not mind.


Other stray bits in section:

* “I have served Master Thorn in every capacity these past six years.”
ROTFL. Considering Elisabeth wonders obliquely if Nathaniel likes boys, I am surprised she doesn't wonder if sorcerers ever hook up with their demons. I'm not saying Nathaniel and Silas have hooked up, just that Elisabeth is a little dense for not at least wondering about it. And the book, at least so far, does rather support a queer reading of the relationship if one is so inclined as to look for it. Slashers gonna slash.

* SIR FLUFFINGTON. Not the most original joke ever, in the history of shapeshifting characters, but still hilarious!

* "His eyes narrowed. 'So you do know your thaumaturgical theory.'
Elisabeth decided not to tell him that she simply read a lot of novels."

I LOLed at this in public and strangers looked at me.

* "Are you saying I’m a booklouse?"

This too, what with all those earlier jokes about Elisabeth being a feral librarian raised by booklice! Cute.

DQs Day 2
Chapters 10 - 17

7) We have some reveals here: the Big Bad (or is he?) Chancellor Ashcroft and his desire to destroy the library, for reasons.... How do you like the Chancellor and his motivation and actions?

I think I need to know more. I have a feeling we haven't learned nearly all there is to know about this devious Oberon Ashcroft and his real motivations.
But I really REALLY do not like to see female characters declared insane by manipulative a$$h0le male characters. I have a visceral reaction to that. So I hate this dude. Which I suspect is the point. So, well done, Margaret Rogerson.


8) We meet more demons, Lorelei and Mr Hob, and start to see differences in how they are and interact. Do you like this aspect of the magic system?

I like it. Kind of! It is engaging, because I am still liking Silas and Lorelei as characters and their relationships and interactions with humans are interesting. Buuuut I also think that the whole "demons grant sorcerers their power in exchange for X" deal has been done to death in a million other books.


9) Elisabeth demonstrates her unusualness again, in avoiding being completely sucked under Lorelei's control and then in escaping from Ashcroft's magic. Has your opinion of Elisabeth changed over this section?

Not particularly, no, because I liked her from the start. It's only become clearer that there's something fishy going on with her resistance to magical influence. I had said that she's quick on the uptake, and that's definitely bearing out. EXCEPT, as others have noted, when it comes to her own specialness vis-a-vis resistance to magical influence. I mean what the WHAT, with not being more curious about that!

10) How do you feel about the pacing of the book? Is there anything you'd like to see more of? Less of?

The pacing is fine, though a tad slower than I expected. Actually, I find it paced more like adult fantasy than YA -- I say that as a compliment, as it means the writing is better than average YA.
I want more books, and book taxonomy! And I must say, after Nathaniel and Silas were missing for a whole chunk of this section, I was really glad to have them come back.
Some more world-building details would not go amiss, but I think more will come in time.

Joanne wrote: "FYI, someone I'm friends with on Team Jealousy (Vicki) read Wilder Girls on July 10, 2019, so we're all good to read it and finish whenever to qualify for Sin Bingo."

Awesome! Thanks Joanne!

Marythios (AkaSusanne ) wrote: "My only issue with BOM is the way they use it in challenges. They give more points if you write discussion questions as well as answering them. the problem is when you have tons of people doing a c..."

It can be hard to swallow when the "Randomizer" seems like it never picks your team for writing DQs, but as far as participation/answering DQs goes... I think they are doing what they can to make it objectively fair:

Without the framework of answering a set number of questions, people would simply argue non-stop about how much discussion should or should not count as participation.
Nobody should feel cheated on participation points if they're having fun reading a book and putting in their two cents. And nothing stops people from having back-and-forth discussion alongside answering the DQs :)

Marythios (AkaSusanne ) wrote: "I got lucky and have [Wilder Girls] right now I put it in my library and got it really fast. I figured it was going to be in weeks and it was days"

I love when that happens... but sometimes I hate when that happens because it can mess up my reading plans, haha! Like when you have to read something fast, after receiving it all of a sudden, because you cannot/won't be able to renew it from the library for some reason.
Hopefully you can hang on to yours until closer to that BOM in mid-Oct!

Jessi wrote: "Fridays are half days at work for me woohoo!!"

*is jealous*
I have a lot going on at work so I can't leave early (especially since I just took a long lunch and read a lot, lol) but lucky for me I expect to have a lot of time this weekend. I hope nothing puts a crimp in that!