Joanne’s Comments

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

Note: Joanne is not currently a member of this group.

I just finished one and will update tonight, I'm keeping on track for Gideon, so I will finish that one, and I hope to squeeze in one more, but not sure if I will finish in time.

Day 4 - Chapters 21-26

14. More deaths! Do you have any theories on why the Fourth were killed? Why Gideon was spared? Who do you think is committing these murders?

I don't have any theories right now but I thought the way that Jeanne-Marie was killed right in front of Gideon as she was sleeping in a room no one supposedly knew about was pretty creepy. Whoever it was could easily have killed Gideon so there must be an interesting story there.

15. The Third House (maybe Ianthe) seem to be lurking in the background of this book, all sneaky and suspicious. Coronabeth seems like the nicer one out of the Twins. But do you think this is the case? Do you think Coronabeth has something up her sleeves?

That is how it looks but who knows, they could be playing being at odds with each other as a psychological strategy against the rest of the houses.

16. Gideon had a weird encounter with the Eighth house. What did you make of the comment, 'because you grew up servant to a murderer, in a tribe of murderers. You are, more than anything, a victim of the Ninth House'. Do you think Gideon will accept their invitation?

I hope she does, because I would really like to know what they have to say.

17. (This is a bit of a silly question). Over the course of the book, Gideon has been getting closer to Harrow, Dulcinea and Coronabeth (although it seems she wishes she could get closer to the latter). Put yourself in Gideon's shoes. Harrow, Dulcinea and Coronabeth - Kiss, Marry, Kill.. Explain your reasoning haha!

Hmmm, kill Dulcinea because she's dying anyway and I don't trust her, kiss Coronabeth because there seems to be an attraction but they don't know each other, marry Harrow, because I think the book is leading to a romance between the two of them anyway.

Cat wrote: "It's chapter 19, Joanne
"

Thanks! I'll give it a re-listen on double speed

Cat wrote: "@Joanne, q12: her mother's last words were to shout (anguished, possibly??) Gideon! Gideon! Gideon!; which the people in the Ninth decided was a cue to call the child Gideon.

So it might've been ..."

OOOOOhhh even more interesting then!

Can anyone who has a copy of the book tell me which chapter questions 11 and 12 refer to? I'm realizing I must have zoned out for this one and it seems like it might have some important details. I'd like to give it a re-listen if someone can point me in the right direction.

Day 3 - Chapter 14- 20

10. Thoughts on the deaths, did you care to lose these two or are you just waiting for the body count to increase?

I really liked Magnus since he was the first one to be nice to her and seemed like an all-around nice person.

11. I like the electric toothbrush detail. What do you think of the room they found? Are there any details from the room that you think are going to be important later?

To be honest, I must have lost concentration for this room because I have only a vague recollection of a toothbrush and can't even remember how they found the room or why or what was in it.

12. The letter clearly has Gideon’s name in it (see below) but we get no comment from Gideon as the narrator on her reaction to this. What do you think of this as an author’s choice and what do you think the letter means?
" ut we all know the sad + trying realit
is that this will remain incomplete t
the last. He can’t fix my deficiencies her
ease give Gideon my congratulations, howev"

I love Alyssa's theory that this note is actually about another Gideon who this Gideon is named after. We don't know anything about her mother and wasn't her last wish to name her daughter Gideon? This whole thing may have more to do with her than they know.

13. This quote feel like somewhat heavy handed foreshadowing , though I may be wrong.
“You’re all right. Gideon, Gideon … you’re so young. Don’t give yourself away. Do you know, it’s not worth it … none of this is worth it, at all. It’s cruel. It’s so cruel. You are so young—and vital—and alive. Gideon, you’re all right … remember this, and don’t let anyone do it to you ever again. I’m sorry. We take so much. I’m so sorry.”
She would remember each word later, loud and clear. It seems to imply this is Dulcinea’s voice and does this impact your opinion of her?

The audio narrator read this quote in Dulcinea's voice along with the other dialogue as Gideon was trying to hold on, so I don't doubt it was her. During this scene, I was thinking that Dulcinea may know something about Gideon's mother/family and is looking after her because of it.

Devann wrote: "@Joanne all the people who listened to the audio share one brain cell and we lost it somewhere lol"

😂😂😂😂😂

Trinia wrote: "LOL Devann! Thank you for clearing that 3rd twin issue up for me 😂 I have been looking at my sampler with the characters and could not understand where this third twin was, and why didn’t they just call them triplets!? LOL"

I think all of us audio listeners are the same person. I was so confused about who the "third twin" was too.

[[ Frankie ]] - Punkins & Pages! wrote: "They’re twins, I believe, Joanne. But they’re from the Third, like Gideon is from the Ninth. That’s why I worded it as the Third twin. LOL. Sorry for the confusion. ;p"

Bahahahaha, this makes sense! Thanks. I think they referred to them that way in the book too "the Third Twin" and I was wondering who the first or second twin was.

DQ’s Day Two: October 7, 2019
Chapters 8-13

6. I think we all had a feeling (including Gideon) that Harrow wanted her ring - & of course, she got it. What do you think was her purpose of stealing the ring from Gideon?

I think Harrow suspected it was important and so felt like she should have it. She doesn't really trust Gideon to make decisions for herself that are in both of their best interests.

7. Gideon has never seen modern technologies such as a sink with running water, or a toilet. She didn’t even know the difference between night & day... nor had she ever had a hot beverage before. This, in itself, tells us more about the Ninth than we knew before, but could also leave room for speculation. Would you consider this book to be speculative fiction? If so, what are some of the different things you could speculate from this or other parts of the story?

I'm not really familiar with speculative fiction, other than thinking of it as another term for science fiction. It is interesting to see the differences in the Ninth House compared to others. It seems they are lacking what we consider basic comforts and I wonder what will happen there at the end of this book and whether Gideon will decide to return

8. Somehow the Third twin knew Gideon was hiding in the stairwell eavesdropping, even though she couldn’t physically see her, & told her that isn’t the way to start things off. Will this encounter affect Gideon & the Twins in the future? Is it a sign of what’s to come?

They're all at this secretive competition so I'm surprised this isn't considered normal behaviour. I didn't really get much impression of the Twins. Are there three of them? I only remember two - one who was described as "bright and eye-catching" and the other, more jealous, smarter, duller one. Are they Twins or Triplets? Help!

9. What do you think Dulcinea’s motive is when talking to Gideon? She seems to be the only one really “intrigued” by Gideon, to the point of wanting to be around her a lot. Is this just normal, friendly interest? Or is there something bigger at play here?

I feel like she is not being honest. She may be trying to find out more about Gideon and the Ninth House for her own ulterior motives. Hard to say at this point, but I'm not completely buying her sickly act.

LOL! And I know how they're pronounced, but not how to spell them!

The narrator pronounces it as "eye-GLAM-i-nay"

I'm glad to see I'm not the only one struggling a bit with the audio. I do find the narrator is using distinct voices for a lot of the characters, which helps, but there are still a lot of people to keep track of and I'm sure I'm missing stuff. I'm probably having more trouble keeping the characters straight than if I were reading it, but I'm not lost.

Right now the book feels like a middle-of-the-road three star read but I'm hoping it picks up. I'm planning to try to keep up with the reading schedule here because I think taking too much time will make it harder for me to follow.

I usually avoid fantasy and science fiction on audio, since world-building sometimes makes it more complicated to follow. I generally stick to contemporary, or romance. Plus I hadn't even heard of this book and am only reading it for TT so I'm not the target demographic I suppose.

Love that someone posted the name Aiglamene! I thought the name sounded pretty on the audio but had no idea how to spell it.

*muddle*

Alysa, the audios for Pillars of the Earth are so good!

Jessi, I am having trouble following the audio of Gideon also but I don't have any other options so I'm just going to middle through.

Day 1: Chapters 1-7

1. I love the world building this author does for her universe. I find it helpful in epic fantasies when authors give a little narrative upfront about the main characters in the story and their interrelationships. The world is very grey where Gideon lives - even her porridge is grey. Her arrival in this house as a baby from a woman that fell into the world was very auspicious. Gideon attempted to run away when she was four, and tried 86 times to run away by the time she was 18. What were your initial impressions of this world?

It seemed dark and depressing and pretty joyless. And a bit creepy, with the dead parents.

2. Harrow tricked Gideon when she talked about her offer of freedom. Gideon seemed to have the upper hand, but then Harrow won the fight through her earlier planning and planting that day. What do you think that says about their relationship?

I'm interested to know more about their backstory. They hate each other, but they also seem to know each other extremely well.

3. So Harrow wants Gideon to be her guardian as she travels to the other houses. Seems like a good opportunity to get off the Ninth, and become a Cohort. Gideon does take the position. Do you think that was a good choice for her?

Absolutely. Gideon really didn't have any other options. Staying where she was and hoping for another chance to escape would never give her the chances that this will.

4. I liked when Gideon’s sword instructor said “anyone can learn to fight, not anyone can learn to think”. Do you think that Gideon needs to do more thinking than fighting?

Always a good strategy.

5. What do you think about the House of the First? The world seems like the exact opposite of the ninth in terms of light and sky, rather than everything grey. All the houses are there - do you think Gideon is going to get into trouble or save Harrow from trouble?

I'm having trouble catching all the details on audio, so I didn't get much info about House of the First that I can remember. I thing Gideon will definitely get into trouble but I think her relationship with Harrow will become more amicable and they will work together better.

So my current planned books for this week are (probably):

- blue cover
- young adult
- young adult/dark fantasy
- blue cover

I wasn't planning on reading the BOM Gideon the Ninth, because it doesn't really sound like the type of book I generally go for, but Scribd has the audio and the reviews are very positive from what I've seen so I've decided to give it a go, and hopefully I'll be pleasantly surprised.

I'm going to start with . Should work for a nice blue cover right?

I'm 100% convinced our bad books recommendations are going to be used to make us read them for points. I have a few others hated that are on my TBR so I should be able to help with that.

Thanks for mentioning about it starting on Australian time. I didn't even think of it and was assuming that it wouldn't start till the 7th my time. Sunday afternoon or evening will be great!

I really liked that book a lot.