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

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

Congrats Romina!

I should finish and maybe 1 other by the end.

I'll do :40 for 20!

Hi mods,

can Alanna and I and anyone else interested have a thread for starting Wednesday, July 26th? Thanks!

Alanna wrote: "Are we still in for this?"

Yep, I'm down! I have one book to finish today I think.

I'm hoping to finish the 2nd book in the trials of Apollo series and maybe Missing this weekend if I get to enjoy time to myself.

Hope everyone has a nice fun or relaxing weekend!

anyone on?

Anybody feeling competitive for the last two weeks? We can see how many books we get read!! :)

by Sebastien de Castell
pages: 369
BOM: yes post 44 and more
read: July 13
rating: 3.5 stars

Laura, can you get Traitor's Blade from a library? That would be my suggestion

It's interesting. I'm definitely intrigued and it's a unique read for me.

I had to put the Armstrong book on hold to focus on Traitor's Blade for the questions. Now I'm into it more. Hopefully I'll finish today.

Sorry Megan, I've never been married or planned a honeymoon.

I'm into reading but I'm not. Does that make sense?

Day 2 Questions - July 13
Chapters 7 - 11

8. In this section, the characters are given more substance. We find out more about Valiana and Feltock, we see Bal again, and we get to know the Greatcoats a little more. Which character is most appealing or believable to you? Which character do you see yourself most like?

9. In chapter 7, Feltock and Falcio have a conversation about what happened the day the King was murdered. Feltock said he was demoted because he "forgot to laugh." What are your thoughts on this? What do you think he meant? Do you think it showed disloyalty to the Dukes?

10. What are your thoughts on the continued arguments Brasti, Kest, and Falcio have concerning fulfilling his quest to find the charoites? Why do you think they have different viewpoints on what is most important?

11. Valiana is the daughter of two powerful Dukes, one of whom helped kill King Paelis. However, it is still unclear who's side she's on, given Kest's opinion and what she does later concerning the Tiarren family. Will she turn out to be on the Dukes' side or the Greatcoats' side? Explain your reasoning.

12. I have been really intrigued by and appreciative of the author's writing style, dry humor, and story building. What are your thoughts on how the story has been built, flashbacks intertwined and all? How about the dry humor and witty banter?

13. What is something you still have unanswered questions about after having read this section?

I have to read a couple of books first...

12 July Discussion Questions
Chapters 1-6

1. The 3 Greatcoats were hired as bodyguards. It sounds strange they say torture and making love sounds the same, what do you think? Is it strange they didn't realize earlier what was going on?

I don't think it's strange because they've probable all experienced both, so they recognize the sounds at first, and they have a negative mindset from where they are at the moment. And no I don't think it's strange that they didn't realize earlier because they weren't expecting danger to come from inside the room with a woman he was clearly familiar with.

2. What do you make of the strange errands Falcio had to do for his mother when he was a boy? What do you think is the reason she send him away from the house? Why do you think this is one the childhood memories that is shared with us?

I honestly didn't think much the the errands. I did mark it as strange and figured she was doing something, but my thought is she's a spy for the "good guys"? The people who believe in Greatcoats. But there's no way of knowing yet.

3. Why do you think Bal told Falcio that legend said the Greatcoats wold be back again soon? Was he just trying to entertain a child or did he had other motives? Bal was important to Falcio as a child. Do you think we will see him again?

Bal wanted something to believe in that was bigger and better than the current reality. He also was sharing with a child because he had a captive audience. No, I also think he fulfilled his role.

4. The Greatcoats are called tatter-cloaks because they didn't stand by their king. Even though the kind was said to be a tyrant, people think badly of the Greatcoats. What do you make of this? Why would the Greatcoats not help their king?

It does seem like the Dukes and Kings and Knights have all spread rumors that Greatcoats have no honor and don't really fight for justice and are traitors to the King. (see my note at the bottom about the story with the young girl). I definitely agree that the Greatcoats had a major reason why they stood down and had to just watch and help. I noted Falcio's rage when he realized where he recognized the main Knight from, and how he just wanted to go after him. He definitely had strong feelings about the day his king was killed.

5. What do you think made Kest pick up the sword when he was twelve years old? Do you think we will learn the reason along the way?

I have no idea why Kest wanted the sword. Maybe puberty hit him and he needed something he knew he was good at for future career opportunities? Maybe a magical person or a fairy or something visited him and told him he needed the skill, or maybe gave him the magical gift of never being defeated by the sword? I don't know but I have a feeling we'll find out.

6. Do you think joining the caravan was a good call? Why would the lady offer to hire them if their leader wins in a 1 to 5 fight?

I can see why they would be wary of the job, but I have a feeling the Lady is "good". And she's smart. Also, If he can best 5 of her hired men, it means he's that much better than them and can protect her better on her journey. Since she seems very secretive and has things to hide, she would want able-bodied companions.

7. Why does the lady demand them to drop their weapons when the knight and his men want to "prosecute" the Greatcoats? And why do you think sing the song convinced the caravan men to help them?

Again, I think she believes in the cause of the Greatcoats. Somehow she knew about "playing cuffs," Because of how she told the enemy to "come help." The song was a song of pride in being a caravaner. Falcio sang it to re-instill pride and hopefully unity among his fellow caravaners. It worked!

Sidenote
Ok, I really think the story about Falcio trying to save the girl is really important. It demonstrated that the Knights were bad but had convinced the townsfolk they were good, since we can suppose the girl was taken by them or killed. I also think this is a testament to de Castell's story weaving, because he doesn't just write "the Knights were bad." He gives us a story from Falcio's past to help us infer that. It's a clever thing to do, and I think it's a demonstration of the author's talent.

I'm on Delite if you're on

Also I'm reading and free to chat if anyone wants to PM me.

I'm focusing on traitors blade so I'm not sure I'll get to Paper and fire for read and review. I've only read Ink and Bone and it was very heavy so I wouldn't know what to ask her.

Day 2 works for me!

Discussion Questions - July 8
Chapter 29 - end

Here we go! We are off and running until the end of the novel.

31. Carrie and Lo seem to find some common ground, and Carrie leaves the Winnie the Pooh book for her. Do you have a comfort book like this? What books do you think of fondly from your childhood?
I read too many books, and I probably would look fondly on most of them, but the top ones that currently stick out are Love You Forever by Robert Munsch, and the Chronicles of Narnia series by C.S. Lewis.


32. Carrie spills all of the plot to Lo before switching identities. Did you suspect she was masquerading as Anne prior to the reveal? And do you think Richard killed Anne as part of his plan to be with Carrie or do you believe it was an accident?
I did not suspect the masquerade at all. I definitely agreed with Lo as soon as she said it that Richard didn't want to be with Carrie, and that he was going to dump her or kill her as soon as he got the money, because it doesn't make sense to claim Anne Bullmer's death but still have an "Anne Bullmer" walking around with you. But I didn't see it coming until I read Lo's persuasive arguments.


33. Lo has a close escape with Richard and barely makes it to the hotel. Would you have had the courage to try to make it across the verandas? In that situation would you have tried something else?
I probably would have made a run for it, as it's my life on the line, especially if I couldn't think of another way to get off the boat.


34. When the hotel manager calls Richard, Lo runs for it. Barefoot and terrified, she comes across a police officer. When he reaches for his glove box, she runs again. Do you think she was justified in running, or do you think this was a result of her paranoia? Would you have taken your chances and gone with him?
Definitely was justified in running. He clearly wasn't talking to the police. Especially since she saw the boat turn around. I don't think I would have taken my chances, but I'm a very trusting person so I may not have been paying attention.

35. Lo finally finds shelter and drops in exhaustion. When Konrad discovers her and she gets to his phone, she calls Judah, not her parents or the authorities. Did you find this surprising? Who would you call in that situation.
I was just slightly surprised, but she needed to hear first from the person she loved most. No idea who I would call. Probably my dad.

36. The action really gets going in the remainder of the book after some really slow pacing up until now. Did the slow pacing and details add to the suspense for you? And did you feel the switch in pacing worked for the novel?
I appreciate the switch in pacing. I think it worked for me.

37. There were a couple of surprises at the very end. Were you surprised at which boat companions reached out and left her messages? And were you surprised by the reveal of the bank deposit and Richard's death?
I was definitely surprised by the bank deposit; it still feels unanswered to me. Why would Carrie give her money? How did Carrie obtain the money?

38. Overall thoughts of the book? Will you read more by this author?
I enjoyed it. It wasn't my favorite book of all time, but it being a BOM and reading it with others helped me enjoy it more and come to my own conclusions about whether or not I liked the setting characters, plot, pacing, mystery, etc.