MelanieJoy’s Comments (group member since Apr 26, 2016)

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

DQs Day 1
Ch 1 to 4

1.) Had you heard of this book before it was nominated for/was selected to be a BOM this month? Or read other books by the author? Any expectations going in?
I had never heard of this book/author and had no expectations going in.

2.) How effective is the author at conveying the isolationist nature of Kaigen? And at the glimpses of what the rest of the world is really like? How do you think the Emperor has managed to do this so effectively?
The isolation was clearly communicated and it got even more clear as the book went on.

3.) Misaki is an interesting character with a lot of repressed or hidden depths I think. I like that one of the main characters in an epic fantasy is not a 20 something who just happens to master everything in 5 pages. What are you most curious about her at the moment. Also, shout out to her friends, who seem like real women-friends. Yay!
I loved Misaki and was like woah she's a great character to have a POV for!

4.) Takeru (husband/father) has managed to make me hate him without even popping up on page yet. Go him. Do you think we'll get a scene where Misaki does her version of 'down with the patriarchy' before the end of the book?
I had this feeling that he would be formidable and not super great... but I also didn't hate him. I'm not sure what I thought Misaki would do to be honest. She was so meek at this point.

5.) What do you think of the magic system so far?
Honestly I didn't understand it at this point.. I still sort of don't...

you guys are just cruising along! meanwhile it's taking me forever to get through the Sword of Kaigen. But I'm finally 72% through so I'm hoping to be done today or the next couple days.

I'm due with my second child on August 15th so I'm hoping to get some books read before then, but I also feel like I have a long to do list with house straightening and baby prep. This is my last week of work though so that's nice.

Hope everyone else's reading is going well!

how's everyone's reading going? I'm reading The Sword of Kaigen and trying to pick an audiobook to stay with.

Yasmine wrote: "MelanieJoy wrote: "#19:

Very very worth it you guys! I really enjoyed it; probably one of my most enjoyable series in a while. Continuing on with the qui..."

I read the trilogy and The Brothers Hawthorne and I think I'm good to stop there for a while.

Looks like The Sword of Kaigen is a really good BOM so far if anyone wants to try it for extra points. It's free on KU.

thanks you guys! Maybe someone can take a look and pick one of these if they don't know what to read next.

Captains - are other teams official spreadsheets available for you to peak at? Are there any teams who completed the “first word is THEY” task?
If so let us know what books are listed and maybe someone can read it.

I should finish blonde identity by this round but that’ll be it for me. First time I’ve ever hit my cap! My record for books in one month I think is around 11 anyway so it worked out for me.

@Jhmingos did you like The Unexpected Mrs. Pollifax ?

The deadline expired to get BOM points for A Great Big Beautiful Life, Correct? I just got my hold from the library.

Thanks Deanna! Yeah he’s widely known as Xander

Yeah but it’s widely used so it might be okay. We can check.

even though that's just a nickname for him?

I'm also shocked at how well I'm keeping up with my lofty goal. I've never read this many from my TBR by this time this year; I think I ended the year last year at 18 books. What has saved me though was a bunch I added at the end of 2023 that count toward my goal, haha.

#19:

Very very worth it you guys! I really enjoyed it; probably one of my most enjoyable series in a while. Continuing on with the quickness! I love the pacing, characters, mystery, suspense, plot, all of it. No wonder it's gotten so much hype. I was hooked by 3% and I read it so fast because it was captivating! My recommendation is don't sleep on this.

I LOVED IT!!! I was captivated from the start and I thought the pacing, character dynamics, mystery and suspense were all SPOT ON! I felt like I had the same questions as the MC at the same time so I didn’t feel stupid. There was a lot going on but it was slow enough for me to keep all the parts separate in my brain. I haven’t found a book I loved like that that I can remember in a while.

Thanks for the thoughts Cordelia! I'll feel less of an urgency to read it now, but it's still on my TBR, lol.

When it comes to mold, I can’t even do blue cheese dressing lol

Cordelia I’m also interested in your thoughts because that book looks good and I can check it out from my library!

#17 for me
Hook: Dead to Rights
I thought this sounded SO GOOD when I found it back in 2018 or 2019.

You guys, it was NOT. I'm one of the most lenient people I know regarding book sentiments and book reviews. At first I like it more than the reviews that said they DNFed around 30%, but man this just went... nowhere? The author left it wide open for more in teh series but nothing was resolved, nothing. The choice the MC made at the end was heartbreaking. And a subplot you thought would be nothing turned out to amount to something, and that was surprising. The writing style felt off; some of the language was beautifully put together but the story just didn't go anywhere. And it took a long time to go nowhere. So honestly, I don't recommend. The idea sounds AMAZING but was poorly executed.