Eunice’s Comments (group member since Sep 19, 2016)

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

Thanks for a fun challenge! I had a great time :>

Such a scholarly family, Preeti! :0 I've always thought that you talked(typed) in an educated manner. Relatively prim and proper. Now things make sense!

Karolyn wrote: "@Vaidehi / we all read what we can and the pace we can - don’t worry about being busy or a slow reader 😄

@Eunice - I finished The Mysterious Affair at Styles yesterday, so you’re good to grab a mo..."

I started The Monogram Murders!

Sure, Karolyn. Fine by me

Ooh, I'd be willing to do one or both of the old and new Poirot series

Karolyn wrote: "Good recommendations Jenny! I’m not sure what I’m in the mood for genre wise.

Everyone - there are a few new wheel tasks up for grabs…

Read a book featuring a witch or wizard
Read a book featuri..."

By featuring Death, does it have to be a personification of Death? Or can the occurrence of death in a book work as well?

Participation Tracking
Day 1 - https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...
Day 2 - https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...
Day 3 - https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...

DQ Day 3 Chapters 14-20

10. So we are half way through the book. Thoughts and feelings? Loving it? Hating it? Ambivalent?
I'm ambivalent about it, leaning a bit toward liking it. The tropes are a bit exaggerated in their implementation, and it reminds me of Chinese underdog wuxia novels. Now that I think about it, the general premise and story progression are exactly the same. The protagonist comes from a prestigious family but is weak or fell from grace, so everyone hates them, some even attempting to kill him. But then they defy all odds, rise to the top, and faceslap everyone who looked down on them.

11. Jeremiah gets killed pretty quickly as his signet shows. Do you agree that power can't be allowed?
I think it's likely mainly for the benefit of the dragons and then the military higher-ups and their classified documents to a lesser degree. As Violet said, the dragons are strict about mind-communicating only with their rider and the sacredness of the mental bond between rider and dragon. A mind reader's ability pretty much violates this tradition. They can intrude into anyone's mind with ease. It's also hard to trust someone who can easily learn all your secrets and private thoughts. Another thing is that that type of ability will drive anyone mad eventually.

11. What's the deal with Andarna? Why do you think 2 dragons have bonded with Violet?
I guess when Tairn says that Andarna will always try to get what she wants, he means it. Andarna joined the Threshing even though she's still a foundling. Why not break another custom lol?

12. If you coul choose a Signet what would it be? https://www.julesbuono.com/fourth-win...
They all sound so good, it's hard to choose... I think wielding ice or summoning is more practical in a non-war setting. I live in a tropical country that's hot all year round, so being able to generate ice like Elsa would be great.

13. Were you surprised about Amber's betrayal? How about when Xanden completely believed Violet but Dain didn't?
I didn't think she had it in her to break the rules when she's such a stickler for them. I'm guessing that's what Dain thought too, especially when he's also a stickler for the rules himself. Kindred spirits and all. Plus, the accusation came from Xaden, who Dain completely distrusts.

DQ Day 2: Chap 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?
At the moment, I like Xaden better, but only as a person, not for the romance. I was initially rooting for Dain because he was giving second-lead nice-guy vibes and I generally dislike bad-boy romance, but he has proven himself to be a bit of an a-hole. The whole "I hate you but you're so hot" and the constant push and pull "I want you but we can't" isn't for me.

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?
That college is basically encouraging you to use almost any means possible to gain a lead on the other students. I don't think it counts as cheating. In the first place, she is already in a disadvantageous position due to her small stature and the length of her rider training compared to the others. She wouldn't win most of the time in a fair fight. And I'm sure the professors noticed but don't care.

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).
It really highlights her smarts, which have been touted as her greatest strength. I don't think the book specified her height, but around 5'1" or maybe an inch or two taller sounds about right to me.

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 way it happened surprised me, but it makes sense that the underdog protagonist gets one of the strongest dragons available. I wonder about the thought process of the black dragon since he's committed to making her his rider in spite of her fall when the rest of his kind are unwilling to save their riders if they ever fall.

Bonus: If you could have a dragon from any book or movie, which one would you want?
If there's a friendly dragon, that's the one I'd pick,

When is the nice guy going to get his chance at love?

It's good so far, but I might dislike the romance. The book is basically screaming that Xader is the first male lead. The hot enemy trope that's ruthless but has a heart

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?
At first glance, this book has typical character tropes. My first impression of Violet is that she's an underdog protagonist. Although seemingly all the odds are stacked against her, I'd reckon she'll survive and rise in the ranks. I like Dain a lot, and I'm hoping they'll get together in the end, but he's giving a lot of second-lead vibes. Rhiannon has been a great friend, and I'm hoping it stays that way and she doesn't die. As for Xaden, my first thought was this might end up becoming a fraternizing with the enemy situation with Violet, but I'll be hoping it doesn't. Xaden's probably going to be a major antagonist in the future, and the nation literally handed power to him on a platter.

From the worldbuilding and foreshadowing so far, I anticipate learning about the problems and how bad their situation has become in the context of the war.

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?
Family honor and pride are my best guesses. Like, if you're a well-known family of doctors, it may be expected that you'll also become a doctor. Don't like her so far. Truly has ice for a heart, as Violet mentioned. Maybe she sees potential in Violet as a rider, but it's still very heartless that she would disregard what Violet wants. But maybe there's a hidden reason that we'll only learn in the future, who knows. At least Mira is trying her best to help Violet survive.

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?
The brutality raises the stakes in an underdog story. Also, it makes for a more exciting story, knowing that anything could happen and that she's not safe while studying to be a rider.

No, I wouldn't have given my boot to a stranger, especially when I'm not sure I'd be able to survive myself. I thought it was pretty selfless of Violet to do, but she gained a hopefully loyal friend in the process and she didn't die so things worked out.

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?
Maybe what Xaden said is true, that they're finding something specific.

5. Do you think that Violet will survive and get chosen by a dragon? If so, any predictions on what kind?
Yes, because this seems like that kind of story. To defy all odds, I mean. I'll hold off on the predictions. It could go anywhere

Also, I noticed that the second Muses task set is hidden. Was that a mistake, or does that mean that it's already been completed? Because there's someone who put in a Muse task in the succeeding empty task set

Is my Mr. Monster anywhere on the sheets, maybe hidden? I know it was in the TT sheet the last time I checked, but now I can't find it anymore.

Mr. Monster could fit for Melpomene. Several brutal serial murders where the victims were tortured prior to their death

A wheel set's done

A book I read recently that surprised me (in a good way) was
The Second Ending. I picked it up for a challenge that needed MPG Music, but I liked it a lot. It was a cute and whimsically chaotic feel-good story, like a romcom but without the romance.

I also just finished Mr. Monster.

Talk about completely different vibes lol.

Karolyn wrote: "So one of the more evil aspects of this wheel challenge is that we can get the same set of tasks over and over. If anyone played last year and remembers the Monster Mini… it’s like that."

But Vanilla has a different set of tasks from the Choco tasks that were rolled earlier (according to the wheel tasks sheet, at least), so we haven't repeated any set yet. Unless it's the task set name that's wrong...?

Sorry if I'm being dumb. Just wanted to clarify.

Jenny wrote: "Our new set of tasks-
Tower Teams 2: Vanilla (Lemon Cupcakes)

-Read a book with cake or cupcake in the text
-Read a book with chocolate in the text
-Read a book featuring a baker
-Read a book wher..."
Jenny, I think you copied the wrong set of tasks. Those are for the Choco Cupcakes set

Muses task set is done