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

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

I think I'll start tomorrow. If not, the day after :)

Hearts and Flour
by Tara Lain

Date Read: 03/07/18
Pages: 163
Characters: Micah, Quentin Derby

by Kelly Link, Gavin J. Grant, Nik Houser, Alice Sola Kim, Kathleen Jennings, Joshua Lewis, Patrick Ness, G. Carl Purcell, M.T. Anderson, Paolo Bacigalupi, Holly Black, Sarah Rees Brennan, Cassandra Clare, Nalo Hopkinson, Dylan Horrocks, Nathan Ballingrud

Date read: 02/17/18
Pages: 480

Letters: A B C D G H K L M N P S

Chapters 1-8

1. The opening line of this book had me really sit up and take notice! Did it hit you in the face too? What's your favourite opening line from a novel? (Mine is Anna Karenina: "All happy families are alike; each unhappy family is unhappy in its own way"

=>It was an intriguing line. a promise for a bloody and gory book. Maybe it's cliché but my favorite first line is "It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a good fortune, must be in want of a wife." Just seeing this line makes me all happy, because I love Pride and Prejudice so much <3

2. The Author's Note at the front says to skip it and return only if you need it. So.. I skipped it. (I'm not big on spoilers). How about you? Did you skip it, or read it?

=>I skipped it. But it's a good idea to place that at the beginning. Often I don't even see it when it's at the end.

3. How are you finding the style? Do you like the flashbacks into Nona's past?

=>The style is okay. I certainly like it better than in . And I like the flashbacks. They are very well introduced, I think.

4. Raymel Tacsis is "surrounded by Academy men sweating to keep him from death". Would you want people to try and save you like this, given the risks?

=>It's a hard question. I don't think I would.

5. What do you think of the world building? I'm finding it quite intriguing. And I love the names of the Sisters (flint, apple, wheel!). What name would you give yourself?

=>I like it. Again, if I compare it with Prince of Thorns, this one is far better. And I don't know if I like the name. I like Apple, but wheel? not so much. For myself I'd choose... Sister Whisper

6. Initial thoughts - are you enjoying the book so far? Any favourite characters?

=>I'm enjoying it but I think I still need some more to be really into it. I guess our main character would be my favorite so far.

SandyC wrote: "Finished but keep forgetting to post!."

It's ok Sandy, I've been forgetting to post too, but alas, that's because I haven't made much progress.

I agree that (view spoiler)[ Claire feels a lot older than she is. But I guess it's normal. She has gone through a war after all. It's bound to teach you some maturity.

Wentworth is a difficult passage to read. I'm dreading the moment I get there... *shudder* (hide spoiler)]

Have fun with DIA!

A Baby for Christmas (Oceanport Omegas #6)
by Ann-Katrin Byrde

Date read: 30/06/18
Pages: 128
Characters: Ben, Robin, Calvin, Lorena, Aaron Keller, Mitch

Letters: A B C K L M O R

English Fiction of the Victorian Period: 1830-1890
by Michael Wheeler

Date read: 30/06/18
Pages: 265

Laura wrote: "Finished

Loved this book too. Bishop just keeps building a terrific world and characters. I am a little worried about what is going to happen to the humans; will Simon be able to keep the human pa..."

I feel the same about Elayne. (view spoiler)[She's such a spoiled brat, but in the end she was able to see clear and she did the right thing. But then on the one hand, it's kind of her fault Liz was put at risk like that. On the other it was also because of the pressure and expectation of her family... (hide spoiler)]

Devann wrote: "CHAPTERS 11-14

this just in, ron is a total friggin' hipster and he liked that quidditch team before it was cool! come on, ron.

once again i have to be immature here but ''we're not allowed to us..."

The McGonagall scene is one my favorite in this book. Right after the scene later with the carreer orientation thing with McGonagall. She's just the best teacher. I love McGonagall so much!

Fudge is just stupid and completely delusional. He's putting everyone at risk just because he doesn't want to face the truth. no he prefers to make up tall tales about Dumbledore wanting to be minister when the man refused the position years ago, before Fudge was even elected.

Hooray for Gryffindor !!!!

Vision in Silver (Others #3)
by Anne Bishop

Date read: 29/06/18
Pages: 493
Bom/Br? Yes First Comment
Characters: Meg Corbyn, Simon Wolfgard, Vlad, Erebus, Burke, Monty, Liz, Hope, Nick Scratch, Tess, Henry

Letters: A, B, C, E, H, L, M, N, O, S, T, V, W

Cathy M. wrote: "Okay. Breathe.

HOLY CRAP!!!!! (finished)."

I just finished it! And what a book. I love this series so much. I think I'm going to buy physical copies. I want them, no I need them on my shelves! It's so good !

Meg & Simon (view spoiler)[It's definitely my favorite part about the books. I love seeing their relationship grows, making slow and innocent steps without even realising it sometimes. They both learn from the other and pick up on their habits. Like Meg howling, so cute. Simon is also acting a bit more human, I feel like. And they are just so cute together. They make me swoon. (hide spoiler)]

Others and Humans (view spoiler)[I was also really surprised that Simon and how he manages things with humans is the only thing that prevents the annihilation of the human race. I didn't understand how great an influence he had until now. But OMG! I was expecting retaliation, but the whole annihilation of the human race?! I'm so glad Simon's there. I hope the humans will put their heads out of the sand soon and realise how dire the situation is, and that they can't just do whatever when it comes to the Others. (hide spoiler)]

Cassandra Sangue (view spoiler)[Her name is so fitting. The fact that she can draw visions gives me so much hope that they can save Cassandra Sangue.
True that the Cassandra Sangue being left on the side of the roads feel like a huge plor whole at this point. I hope we'll have answers on that part in the next installment. (hide spoiler)]

It's a 5 stars for me too!

I finished it this afternoon. I really liked it, but I still think it was overhyped. I thought the plot was a bit slow to develop at times, for instance. And I don't understand the hype around the Darkling. (view spoiler)[He was an okay villain, I guess. But that's it. I never even believed in his little romance charade with Alina. Nothing about him really wowed me. (hide spoiler)]
That being said, I plan to read the rest of the trilogy soon.

Talia wrote: "I'm in chapter 15.

[spoilers removed]"

(view spoiler)[I didn't trust him before. I'm glad my instinct was right here. I didn't expect Baghra to be the one to spill the beans, however. It was clear there was an animosity between the two, but I was sure they were on the same side nonetheless. (hide spoiler)]

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.