Joanne’s Comments

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

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

Behind Her Eyes by Sarah Pinborough
Finished: 05/21
Pages: 307
Buddy Read: https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...

Spells: B, S, P, David, Adele, Louise, Ian

Classes:

Potions: Flobberworm Mucus - p57 "A worm of a thought slithers into my brain"

I wasn't sure how to rate it either. I ended up on 3 stars. I did like some things, but certainly didn't love it.

Finished

(view spoiler)[Still not sure how I feel about the whole thing. I was honestly expecting a lot because I've heard good things about the book, even if I avoided reviews. Wasn't happy about the supernatural element because I wasn't expecting it.

When it became more clear in the book that Adele's plan was going to be her own death, I starting thinking she was going to steal Louise's body, and then that got me thinking about Rob and wondering if something similar had happened there because he also saw the doors. And there were comments about how Adele had changed after Rob's death and how she wasn't showing any remorse or sadness, which didn't make sense based on the flashback chapters where she seemed to really like him.

I need to go read reviews now and see what it is that everyone liked so much. I like the twists where you can then go back to the beginning and re-read and see how if you had noticed, you could have read it completely differently. I don't feel like this was the case in this book. Recently I read a book like that and thought it was extremely well done. (hide spoiler)]

Cat wrote: "Chapter 46 [spoilers removed]"

(view spoiler)[I never thought of that but it does make sense. Why else does her own death seem to be part of some big plan? (hide spoiler)]

Kate S wrote: "I have read through chapter 44 at this point (view spoiler)[Through parts one and two, I was a bit captivated, forcing myself to put the book (aka my phone) down and do something else (like go to sleep), but the last few chapters have felt more like a train wreck. I am less invested and it just feels like more bad things are happening, just for the sake of bad things happening. I am also getting a serious paranormal-ish vibe. It started in part 2 with the discovery of the second door. I am not yet sure where this story is heading, but it is definitely veering off of my expected thriller track... (hide spoiler)]"

(view spoiler)[Agreed. I'm not a fan of magical realism in my books. And for thrillers especially if I go in expecting a regular story and something supernatural turns out to be important to the story it feels like a cheat. As soon as that second door stuff started happening I started feeling less invested in the story. I'm almost done (my Kobo says one more hour of reading) so here's hoping there is a satisfying explanation for everything. (hide spoiler)]

So I caved. I downloaded the harry potter mobile game last night. For those who are playing, how far have you gotten?

Just finished Part One

Chapter 18
(view spoiler)[So confused as to how EXACTLY Adele knows what happened when David went to Louise's apartment. At first I was thinking Adele planted a listening device when she was over there, but she even describes his tears in the shower afterward. And it seems this is all part of Adele's plan somehow. I literally have no idea how this is all going to play out! (hide spoiler)]

Yup it's a buddy read and I haven't been reading much actually, but I plan to get through a big chunk of it today.

I was in Vegas last May (to get married!) and it was already getting hot. Can't imagine living there, especially in the summer.

I've been really enjoying my Harry Potter re-read. I finished the first two, but want a few other books in before starting the third.

Currently working on and going to start

I'm happy it's a long weekend here and I'm planning to finally get my plants into the garden outside now that the risk of frost has passed here. (I bet those of you in the southern US must think that is funny)

Elena wrote: "A question for everyone - when you read books like this do you try to figure out what a plot twist could be or just go along and let the story take you there when the time comes?

I definitely try..."

I generally do not try to figure out the twist. Sometimes I will figure out part of it just by paying attention but most of the time, it's a real shocker for me, even on books where reviews say the twist was so obvious. I honestly wish a lot of the time that I didn't even know there WAS a twist, because then you start looking at everything differently, thinking about what it could be, and if it's not shocking enough it feels like a let-down. A lot of times, how the twist plays out determines how I end up feeling about the book a lot of the time.

Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets by J.K. Rowling
Finished: 05/18
Pages: 251
Buddy Read: https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...

Spells:

H, J, R, Draco, Lucius, Albus, Lockhart, Ginny, Wood, Fred, Ernie, Percy, Molly, Tom

Classes:

Care of magical creatures: white feathers (Hedwig on cover)
Charms: Levitation (flying car on cover)
Defense Against the Dark Arts: book has a basilisk in it (book 1), could be paired with a book with "rooster" in the title as the sound is fatal

My cover of has the flying car on the cover so that seems a good fit for Levitation Charm potentially. Maybe paired with a book that has a car driving normally on the ground?

Elena wrote: "(view spoiler)[I thought it was an interesting coincidence that Louise has same exact symptoms that Adele used to have (night terrors and sleepwalking) (hide spoiler)]"

(view spoiler)[I picked up on this too very early on. Its not a common thing you see in books, so to have two characters experiencing major sleep issues feels like there has to be a connection. (hide spoiler)]

Teddie wrote: "(view spoiler)[Seeing David through Adele’s eyes seems so drastically different from who he seems to be to Louise. (hide spoiler)]"

(view spoiler)[Very true. Also, the way that Louise sees Adele (beautiful, put together, perfect-looking marriage) is completely different to how Adele is coming to seem based on her own POV chapters. (hide spoiler)]

Jammin Jenny wrote: "Yes I agree. I had forgotten that the centaurs helped Harry out in the forest. Was that in the movie? I can't remember. I'm planning on doing a movie-thon when I'm done with all the books."

I think I might do this too. I liked but didn't love the first 3 movies. The fourth movie always made me mad because of how much important stuff was left out that I was never able to continue on with the rest of the movies and ended up giving up on them.

I haven't started my re-read of this one yet. Just finished book 2 and going to read a few books before getting to book 3, but regarding Trewlawny (view spoiler)[ I always considered her seeing the Grim to be Sirius Black in his dog form and I thought I remembered all her predictions in this book to come true in some way, although usually not the way she interprets them. I'll be reading her scenes with this in mind. (hide spoiler)]

Finished the book last night

(view spoiler)[I re-read these a ton as a kid but as an adult Dumbledore's reactions puzzle me more. Why is he giving Harry such free rein when he knows something is going on? He gives him a few hints about loyalty and Fawkes, but it seems like he is kind of letting Harry become a better wizard in these earlier books by letting him try himself against these difficult situations. I would love to get into that man's mind and see what goes on in there. (hide spoiler)]

Emelie wrote: "(view spoiler)[ it gets me so mad how Malfoy tells Ginny, a little girl, a child, that her tattered book is all her father could afford for her. It's one thing for Lucius to act like that against Arthur, but a little kid! (hide spoiler)]"

(view spoiler)[I KNOW! Like he's obviously a horrible person and this really illustrates it here. If two adults or two children of a similar age/size get into an argument or fight, it's completely different to a grown man spitefully insulting a little girl in public. What a complete waste of space he is. (hide spoiler)]

Im going to be starting a book that's in the 500-page range soon.

This is probably my least favourite of the series so it's been taking me a little longer to get through it.

All these references to the Vanishing cabinet is making me anxious to get further into the series. I've only read books 5, 6 and 7 maybe twice so there's a lot I don't remember.