ClaireB’s Comments (group member since Jul 06, 2014)

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

Shadow and Bone (Grisha #1)
by Leigh Bardugo

Date read: 28/06/18
Pages: 358
BOM/BR? yes First comment
Characters: Alina, Mal, the Darkling, Genya, Zenya, Nadia, Keramsov, Ivan

Letters: A, B, D, G, I, K, L, M, N, S, Z

The Wedding Planner's Manny (Oceanport Omegas #5)
by Ann-Katrin Byrde

Date read: 28/06/18
Pages: 309
Bom/br? no
Characters: Nathan, Ethan, Rhys, Caleb, Griffin, Laura, Seth

Letters: A, B, C, E, G, L, N, O, R, S, W

Erin ☕ *Proud Book Hoarder* wrote: "✿ Claire ✿ ~ Foxgard wrote: "Hey team !!!

@Erin: great recap !! Also, now I want to read some reverse harems. LOL! What do you recommend?
"

I'll have to look through my shelves and PM you some r..."

thanks !

Steven wrote: "Claire, you know the Ty & Zane books are being read as buddy reads for the challenge, right? :P and so are the Kate Daniels! :P

hehehe no pressure though.

Yes, Iron and Magic is the start of its ..."

Oh! I didn't know there was a Ty & Zane Buddy reads. Is it in that other NBRC group? It's been a while since I've been there... I wasn't even aware it was active again !
As for Kate Daniels, I did the Buddy read for the first two books and then was caught up in other buddy reads which needed to be started immediately. haha.
And I'll wait for Iron and Magic. Thanks for the info !

Hey team !!!

*waving like Sonia* ;)

I feel like it's been a while since I commented here and I have a lot of comments to catch up to. I'm sorry for being so absent.

@Erin: great recap !! Also, now I want to read some reverse harems. LOL! What do you recommend?

I see a lot of you are reading/planning to read . Does it have any link to the Kate Daniels series? Could I read it like that or do I need to read more Kate Daniels? (I only read the first two books)
I feel like a lot of Urban Fantasy authors like to make crossovers or link their series together and reading them in publishing order makes it more enjoyable. So I'm often scared to start new series without having read the authors' previous stuff.

@Sonia: so much Ty and Zane! ;) haha. You know I still need to finish this series. I know, shame on me. I wanted to continue it during this team challenge, because somehow I seem to read them only during team challenges. lol. But so far I've been so busy with buddy read I haven't had the time yet.

I think I'm going to give it a break with the buddy reads for now (well except for the ones I'm still currently reading now, and the Others series by Anne Bishop). The points are great and it's a lot of fun talking about the books we are all reading together, but I'm behind on the stuff I actually planned to read during the challenge. And maybe I'll be able to squeez in some Ty and Zane ;)

@Teddie, Good luck with the Quidditch match ! Go Gryffindor !!!!

@Steven I hope your husband is doing okay. I'm sending him all my best wishes!
Also, I've been wanting to sign up on Netgalley for a while, but I feel I need to get better at writing reviews first. Or at least posting them on goodreads. I write my thoughts in a notebook and then forget to also put them online. haha. Writing reviews is not exactly my forte. It's kind of lame considering I've studied literature and I'm writing a master thesis on victorian literature... '-_- But well... I think I'm going to sign up after I finish that thesis.

Sophie wrote: "Chapter 35:
Neville has been using his dad's wand. I vaguely remember something about wands not working as well if they aren't with their original owner - could this be why he had such problems in ..."

It would make sense. I also saw the same kind of theory about Ron. Because he, too, had inherited a wand from one of his borthers (probably Bill) in his first year.

Suzanne wrote: "I'm LOVING that this is a group read - it is just so much more fun to discuss, since it is a series I like so much!

Through 36 [spoilers removed]"

I agree with you! It's so much fun !
AND it forces me to continue with the series. because sometimes I have trouble finishing series. I'd decide to read something else and leave the series on the side for months, and wait so long I feel like I need to reread the first books before I can continue. I've gotten better at this this year, but there are so many series I never finished like that.

Laura wrote: "Cathy M. wrote: "Well, I started last night and thought I would only read a couple chapters before going to bed BUT ended up reading thru Chpt 20! And slept WAY too late so was late to work today b..."

Tess (view spoiler)[ maybe had an extreme reaction to the bakery drama, but I think it's more than that. Everything is piling up you know. Shops refuse to deliver to them, refuse to hire people who are friendly with the others. Maybe the spoiled food was just the last straw? In any case, I wouldn't want to be in her way when she finally explodes. (hide spoiler)]

Cathy M. wrote: "I'm thru Chpt 36 now - just cannot put this down!."

(view spoiler)[I felt so bad for Meg at the time, but she really needed someone to be brutally honest about what she did wrong. She needs to figure out a way to control her urges to cut and know for sure when it's really needed. It could have ended in a disaster. Poor Nathan. Must also have been a traumatic event for little Liz.

For the food shortage, I blame Scratch. Everything is on him at this point anyway. Problem is, they need to find a way to proof that because there's no way the humans are going to believe them without any. He's really got them indoctrinated. (hide spoiler)]

Lace (A Material World #1)
by K.C. Wells

Date read: 27/06/18
Pages: 124
Bom/Br? no
Characters: Shawn, Dave, Jake, Caroline

Letters: C, D, J, K, L, M, S, W

Cathy M. wrote: "✿ Claire ✿ ~ Foxgard wrote: "Cathy M. wrote: "✿ Claire ✿ ~ Foxgard wrote: "I've started the audiobook today, and because I had a few errands to make, for which I had to take the publid transports a..."

Lol !

(view spoiler)[Yes, apparently there are a few store displaying the signs. And I was also horrified at the proposal to put that kind of symbol on IDs. And the discrimination doesn't stop there. Makes me so angry. argh!!! It makes it so impossible for people to make peace with the others, or even to stay neutral. (hide spoiler)]

Cathy M. wrote: "✿ Claire ✿ ~ Foxgard wrote: "I've started the audiobook today, and because I had a few errands to make, for which I had to take the publid transports a lot, I ended up listening to half of it befor..."

Oh, sorry if you think it was spoilery! I changed it . (view spoiler)[It's just that in my mind HFL and Scratch are one and the same thing. And because he was already in book 2 I didn't think it would be a problem. But like I said, I changed it. I don't want to spoil anybody who hasn't read the first few chapters.
Scratch's really getting them all in a lot of trouble making them think they can just be hostile to the others so suddenly. Worse they are discriminating against their own kind with this NWLNA nonesense. They really are digging their own grave with that one, aren't they?
I love Simon's actions too. He's really a good leader. He only wants peace, but at the same time he knows when to take action. (hide spoiler)]

Deanna wrote: "Finished 7 - 12 this evening."

The Darkling (view spoiler)[I definitely don't trust him. You're absolutely right. He's more interested in her powers than in her. And I'm also sure she blocks her letters too.
The way he asked about Mal is suspicious. I have a hunch he's going to track the guy to see if he has powers too.
Also, I've thought about the king. He's way too superficial to be the mind ruling the kingdom. And My guess would be the Darkling is the one making all the political decisions. (hide spoiler)]

The Apparat (view spoiler)[I don't know what to think of him. He looks creepy and speak in a mysterious way, but I'm not sure if he's a bad guy. At first I thought he would be an equivalent of Rasputin, but now I'm not so sure anymore. (hide spoiler)]

Zoya (view spoiler)[ is just plain mean and obviously jealous of Alina. She made a big mistake during training. I bet now she's even more angry at Alina. I fear she'll do something stupid again. And also, I really hope once Mal comes back, she won't try to seduce him to get at Alina. I could very well see that happening, but I hope it won"t. (hide spoiler)]

I've started the audiobook today, and because I had a few errands to make, for which I had to take the publid transports a lot, I ended up listening to half of it before I knew it. Haha

So far I'm really enjoying it. Maybe more than the last book.

General observations, for the first few chapters, not so spoilery (view spoiler)[The situation between the humans and the others is getting tough. The Human First and Last thing really... I just want to shake these people. How is it possible to be so thick! Don't they see they are digging their own grave?!

It's also getting really difficult for Meg and the other Cassandra Sangue to adjust. I really feel bad for her. (hide spoiler)]

More specifics now, (view spoiler)[The situation for Meg seems so difficult right now, I wonder how she did in the first book. It shows how strong and determined to be free she was at the time.

She cut her hair in an earlier chapter, and I find it amusing how much the others focus on that. Especially Simon. haha. It was so much fun seeing him jealous of Sam because she allowed the little wolf to pet her hair and not him. Also, I already thought the hair of the lady on the covers didn't match the character's in the book, but now it's completely off. I don't see her dyeing her hair again, so the next novels are completely off. LOL

So Monty's wife is dead... I don't really feel bad about that. lol. It seems cold hearted to say it, but I really didn't like that woman. So I'm kind of glad she dies. However, it seems like she did try to do the right thing before dying. I can appreciate that. It's a kind of redemption. I just feel bad for little liz. Poor little girl who lost her mother. Right now, she doesn't know it, but it will be a hard blow.

(hide spoiler)]

Also, I recommended this series to my best friend a few days ago. She loves it so much, she already finished book three. Haha, it shows how great this series is, because usually she's not the kind to binge read a series.

megan wrote: "✿ Claire ✿ ~ Foxgard wrote: "Suzanne wrote: "I finished through Chapter 6, so now I can look at Deanna's spoilers - yay!

Alina and Mal [spoilers removed]

Darkling - [spoilers removed]

The Greish..."

It wouldn't surprise me either. (view spoiler)[ that Mal is also Grisha. In YA, don't they all end up with powers at one point? But I wonder what it would be. (hide spoiler)]

Tina wrote: "I ended up finishing it tonight Finally!
I agree Elen. The end was much better. I actually liked the battle between mother and daughter."

The ending was so good. The book only got better and better for me :)

Tina wrote: "Thanks Claire!

I've managed to read up to pg 26, Chapter 14.
So far I'm liking it. I've notice that the sirens language is actually Greek. And a lot of the land names are Greek as well. Psemata m..."

Greek, huh? Thanks for sharing. I was wondering if it was a made-up language or not :)

Sophie wrote: "Good catch on why it's unlikely to be James she was talking about!"

thanks ! ^-^

Devann wrote: "@Claire i'm so glad someone else can't stand dumbledore at this point lol everyone is always like 'well he's got a plan' and i'm like you know what makes plans often work better? IF YOU SHARE THE D..."

Haha, I get it. Just ask my best friend. I've ranted about how much I hate Dumbledore a hundred times! But she doesn't mind. she shares my opinion. Personally, I don't understand why people love Dumbledore so much after book 4. And I'm sure we are not alone thinking that. Just look at all the Dumbledore bashing fanfiction out there. There are so many.

wow ! we are nearly graduates then ;)