Sharon’s Comments (group member since May 01, 2018)

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

Completed

The Latecomer by Jean Hanff Korelitz
Read - 7/27/22
Pages - 448

Terpischore - food/drink in text: "leftover lobsters, too many ears of corn" pg 436

Yayy I'm glad you liked it! It's funny, it sat on my shelf forever and I just kept putting off reading it for some reason. When I finally read it, I devoured it! So good! Have you read The Silent Patient by the same author? Maidens alludes to those characters at the end (Theo)

Completed

The Look-Alike by Erica Spindler
Read - 7/21
Pages - 311

Clio - on my TBR since August 22, 2019

Terpischore - "sandwich and a drink" pg 89

Completed

The Wedding Crasher by Mia Sosa
Read - 7/19
Pages - 385

Urania? This isn't listed as #2 in the series, but it does pick up with the same family/characters from The Worst Best Man. Not sure if that counts or not.

Terpischore
- Ball outfit on cover - male is wearing a tux
- "mayo, ketchup, and garlic" pg 75

Completed

As Seen on TV by Meredith Schorr
Read - 7/18
Pages - 352

Terpischore - good pizza and bagels (pg 8)

Completed

Wish You Were Gone by Kieran Scott
Read - 7/10
Pages - 352

Whew, it has been a WEEK! I'm hoping to get to relax this weekend and finish some books.

Just wanted to let you all know I'm still here!

Completed

Happy-Go-Lucky by David Sedaris
Read - 7/2
Pages - 259

Completed

The Perfect Guests by Emma Rous
Read - 6/26
Pages - 284

Moderators of NBRC wrote: "Team Helen, please welcome your new team member

• Meghna Sunny"

Welcome!!!

Completed

Where the Truth Lies by Anna Bailey
Read - 6/26
Pages - 384

Completed

The Maidens by Alex Michaelides
Date - 6/25
Pages - 337

Completed

I'd Like to Play Alone, Please: Essays by Tom Segura
Pages - 240
Read - 6/24

Monsters -
Minotaur - Goodreads rating 4.0+ (4.5]

Completed

The Book of Cold Cases by Simone St. James
Read - 6/20
Pages - 352

BOM - DQs
Day 1
Day 2
Day 3
Day 4
Day 5

Mini Monsters -
Empusa - Character is a bully - Beth Greer is known as a manipulative person who gets what she wants when she bosses people around

DQ DAY 5 (Chapter Thirty-Nine - Forty-Eight)
19. Beth's relationship with Lily is extremely important to the story, obviously but Shea also has an older sister? What do you think the point of having both main characters have sisters? Do you think it's a purposeful connection the author made?

That didn't occur to me at all; I don't know if there was a connection/meaning for both of them to have sisters. I think it was good for Shea to have a sister to make her relatable and not as closed off. She needed someone in her corner for the reader.

20. Why do you think Lily always kept the house the way it was decades ago? Was it just a way to torment her sister or do you think there's something more to it then that?

Definitely control. And I wonder if it's because she was mad that she couldn't have the house when she was alive so she wanted to make Beth suffer and be forever stuck with the house. Kind of like in Matilda when the student was made to eat all of the chocolate cake he stole.

21. Shea was almost murdered by Lily because she went to Beth's mansion while she was away. Do you think Beth knew her sister would try and kill Shea?

I think she knew, but I think she also knew she wouldn't be able to stop Shea. It was something Shea needed to do to see it through.

22. How did you like the ending? Did any of the reveals surprise you? Did the conclusion for the characters feel satisfying to you?
I was a little disappointed with the ending. Shea's confrontation with Lily's ghost seemed rushed. It ended how I thought it would, but I thought it could have maybe been developed more. I definitely like Sun-Down Motel better. This was probably a 3.5 stars rounded up to a 4 for me.

DQs Day 4 - Chapters 30-38

15. In this section, we see Beth really open up in the interview and describe two different Christmas flashbacks. The first, when Beth was 14, Lily was bruised and had been clearly abused by her foster family. We also (at least according to Beth) see the beginnings of Lily as a serial killer. Do you feel any sympathy for Lily? Do you agree with Beth that Beth could have stopped her?
I do feel a little bad for Lily because she was in a crappy situation (especially getting to visit Beth and Marianna and seeing their wealth, but not getting to stay with them). But that doesn't excuse her actions at all. I don't think Beth could have stopped her. Lily was manipulative and a user.

16. What did you think of the interview with the lawyer Ransom Wells? Why do you think he and Beth never told the police about Lily, even after the murders?
I kind of think Beth didn't want people to know about Lily because she was still protecting her mother's reputation. And I'm pretty sure Beth is going to kill Lily.

17. Beth gets a wonderful shopping trip with her mom that immediately gets ruined when they return home and Lily is there. Lily is clearly the favorite. Why do you think that is?
Definitely the guilt that Marianna feels about giving up Lily and seeing the situation she is in now. I feel bad for Beth. She gets ignored by her parents a lot of the time.

18. Can Shea trust Michael? He seems almost too good to be true.
I hope so! I want her to have good relationships (not necessarily romantic; she needs friendships too) in her life and people she can trust.

I hope you're on the mend now! So sorry to hear you had to be in the hospital - sending healthy and happy wishes your way!

DQs Day 3: Chap 20-29

10. Beth's house has seemed important from the beginning of the story and there have been a lot of descriptions of the "Frankenstein ugly" house. During one of Shea's interviews Beth told her to go upstairs and see her childhood bedroom and then she said, "Not all of the answers you want so desperately are going to come from me. Some of them are going to come from this house." What do you think Shea learned from the house when she perused Beth's room?

I think it's interesting and odd that everything in the house is the same. Beth tried to throw things away and they ended up back in the house. I think Shea is starting to learn about the mystery surrounding the house, even if she (and the reader) doesn't totally understand it yet.

11. We now have a better insight into the note that was left at the murder scene that said, in part, Am I bitter or am I sweet? In this section we got a lot of details about how this "bitter/sweet" was played out in the house with Mariana and the two girls. Lily also told Beth that everything was her fault and she could have stopped it. What do you think the note will reveal about the murderer and how do you think Beth could've stopped it or could she have?

I don't think it's Beth's fault; I think Lily is just saying that to manipulate Beth. I think Lily may have killed Beth's father so she could move into the house with Beth and her mother.

12. Julian's treatment of Lily is rather atrocious, especially considering how young she is when she first visits them. Why do you think he hates her so much and who do you suspect Lily's father is? (I have only read through chapter 29 for my questions, so I don't even know if that is revealed. Just curious what others are thinking about the situation.)

I think he's mad that Mariana had a child out of wedlock and he didn't know about it. He's resentful of Lily and what her existence means. I don't think he was particularly nice to Mariana, so I wouldn't expect him to be nice to her child.

13. Lily told Beth she wanted a lot of things, including the house. Beth told Lily she hated the house to which Lily said, "That's because you don't understand it...It's an abomination that shouldn't exist...It's exactly like me." What do you think she meant by this?

Lily can feel she isn't wanted by Julian. Because she's been in foster care and apparently moved around to different families, I think she feels like an abomination. But I also wonder if there is something more sinister involved. Especially since Lily dreamed about visiting the house and her footprints showed up in real life.

14. Lily appears to have more power in the relationship between her and Beth, but based on Beth's current day ability to manipulate others, do you think Lily really is the more powerful one in their relationship? Why or why not?

Beth was a naive little girl who was pretty sheltered. Lily had more life experiences and was hardened from her time in foster care. I think Beth is more manipulative in present day because she's had to learn to be so. She survived being arrested and tried for the murders and she's lived in the creepy house for so long.

DQs Day 2: Chap 12-19

5. Shea is trying to explain the taps being turned on and the cupboards being opened by themselves through telekinesis. If you had experienced what she did, do you think you would have tried to explain things logically or do you think you would have believed it was ghosts and left it at that?.
I probably would have believed it was ghosts, but would have tried to convince myself of something logical so I didn't get freaked out. When I was reading that in part 1, it made me think of the movie Poltergeist and how scared I was watching that as a kid.

6. After getting a cat, Shea calls on Michael to ask for advice on how to care for it, through the conversation she thinks about wanting to meet him. Do you think they will end up together or perhaps just remain as friends? Could Michael be interested as well?
I think they will end up meeting. He could be a love interest for her, or someone that will help when she has to inevitably face whatever is happening in Beth's house.

7. Mr. Greer’s former secretary tells Shea Mrs. Greer wasn’t competent and that she was "sent away somewhere when she was eighteen". Do you think she was crazy or do you have any other theories?
I don't think she was crazy, maybe just misunderstood. I wonder if it has something to do with the house and ghosts. Maybe she always saw them (what is trapping her?) and no one believed her and thought she was crazy. It could have also just been that time period - women were often considered "hysterical" undeservedly.

8. While listening to the recording of Beth’s interview Shea hears a voice in the background whispering “I am still here” and poor Winston gets spooked. Did you find this scary? Do you think cats/animals have a feel for the supernatural? If it were you, would you come back to the house after hearing that?
Super scary! I would have a really hard time going back to the house after that. Although I also would have once the taps started turning on and I saw the blood originally.

9. Finally, in order to get in the mood for more scary stuff. Have you or someone you know have any scary/ghostly experiences you might like to share?
We joke that my grandmother hangs around and is more of a meddling/trickster ghost than scary. Especially around her birthday, things go missing or doors weirdly open and we warn each other that grandma is up to her tricks. The only creepy part surrounding that is a story from when my cousin's daughter was a toddler - they found her talking to someone alone in her room and when asked about it, she said it was grandma.

DQs Day 1: Chap 1-11
1. Have you read the The Sun Down Motel by this author? If so, does it change your expectation for this book? Either way, what are your expectations for this book?
I have read The Sun Down Motel and loved it! It hasn’t changed my expectations, so much as let me know to expect something creepy with some possible ghost elements. I also know this is an author whose books I enjoy listening to rather than reading.

2. The MC writes about cold cases and is in her late 20s and divorced. I have read quite a few horror/thriller/mystery books recently where the MC is a recently divorced, usually a bit older, woman. Have you experienced this as well? Why do you think authors might make this choice? Why do you think the choice was made for this book?
I think that type of main character was a trend for awhile (woman in the window, etc). This MC might be younger to relate more to all of the true crime fans that are prevalent - me included!

3. This section includes the start of the interview. Did it go the way you expected? Any one comment really stick out to you?
I wasn't expecting some of the creepiness to start already with the cabinet doors and faucets. I also wasn’t sure Shea would open up so soon about her past.

4. What do you think about the ghostly occurrences in this section? How do they add to the story (or maybe detract)
It’s helping to build up what is for sure coming later. And I’m so curious who the ghosts are/is. Is it Beth’s mom? Is her dad involved? I can’t wait to read more!