Jackie’s Comments (group member since Jul 10, 2011)

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

Finished my last book.

I'll finish my last one on the spreadsheet.

Do we need any particular letters for this round?

I have a space opera book that I was planning to read next but I'll hold off until the new round. I like space opera so can probably read one or two more. Brown covers shouldn't be too hard, I hope.

Finished my last book for Round 2.

I'll finish an R book this morning. Also am reading another that I think I can finish in time.

I have one more book on the spreadsheet that I will finish. I may be able to get another one in before the deadline.

Here are my DQ links:


Day 1

Day 2

Day 3

Day 5 - 20 to End

17. This last part had some big reveals. Did you predict the identity of the Horned Man? What about the Hollow Sisters and how they came to be? Share your thoughts.
I had just figured out who he was right before the reveal. I felt all along that the girls weren't actually the Hollow sisters so that didn't surprise me. I had begun to suspect that Grey was responsible for some of the bad things.

18. What do you think about how Iris' relationships with her mother and with Grey ended up?
I liked how the relationships between Cate and Iris and Vivi ended. I loved that Cate accepted the girls the way she did. And I was proud that Iris refused to accept Grey's behavior.

19. Do you think Iris and Vivi will find any trace of Tyler? What did you think of that way to end the story?
Sounds like the author is leaving this open for another book perhaps.

20. What did you rate the book and why? What was your very favorite thing about it, and what is the thing you disliked the most?
I gave it 3.5 stars. I liked the mystery and the way the book progressed giving subtle hints along the way. The most distasteful was the bugs and rotten flowers and all the vomiting up of all the rotten things.

DAY 4 - CHAPTERS 15-19

13. Getting closer to the end now where all will be revealed. Does the character of Agnes Young and hearing the story of Tyler's near drowning shed any more light on the sister's story?
This halfway place between death and life makes sense. Evidently Grey found a way to go back and forth and this is why the man came after her. It appears that Grey figured out how to get the three sisters back originally and then used that knowledge to go back later.

14. I enjoyed reading the research Iris did into the masked man. Who do you think he is and what is his agenda regarding the three sisters?
I think the sisters weren't supposed to go back home and this man was trying to capture them to bring them back to the halfway place.

15. "Outside Edinburgh was steeped in predawn darkness. We headed toward Saint Giles' Cathedral...We walked, shivering through the Old Town's warren of narrow lanes.."
" The ruins of the chapel sat on a squat hill overlooking a small loch in Holyrood Park... The ruins were two stories tall; only the corner of the chapel remained now the walls tendered in rough stone in some century long passed. "
How does the setting in Edinburgh's Old Town contribute to the spookiness of the tale? Would the story work equally as well in a more modern city or urbanised area?
I think the setting does add to the spookiness and it wouldn't work as well in a more modern setting.

16. Finally Iris and Tyler make a break through entering the strange place through the doorway.
"The Halfway.
It's putrid. It's a slowly rotting canker somewhere between the realms of life and death."
Your first impressions of this place? Is the story following the path you expected and how does the language contribute to your feelings of The Halfway and what happens there?
This place reminds me of a movie that I saw years ago about a man who dies and tries to find his dead wife who was stuck in some kind of purgatory because she had taken her own life. Creepy.

Day 3: Chapters 11-15

9.Let’s talk about Cate. What could Grey have possibly said to her to make a mother hate her child? (If she is her child.) What do you think of Cate and Iris’ relationship?
I don't know but maybe either a threat to Cate or the other sisters or something about what really happened during their disappearance. I really doubt that the girls are Cate's daughters. I feel sorry for Cate but her relationship with Iris is not really healthy.

10. What do you think causes the sisters to have the power of suggestion, or the power of the kiss, or whatever you call it?
I'm still thinking that they are not really human and that this ability is due to that.

11. How do you feel about Grey's actions in the hospital and during the escape?
I think she did what she had to do to get herself and her sisters away.

12. The girl says “It is in me…In her…In you.” What is in them? And, may I say, yuck. This story seems very myth-laden. Has anyone recognized the myth yet, or do you think this is an original one? Are you enjoying the story so far? (Is anyone else having a flashback to the creepy video in season one of True Detective, or is it just me?)
I'm not sure about the myth angle. The flowers appear to represent death and rot. What this means, I have no idea. I'm enjoying the story more than I thought I would.

And, just out of curiosity, has anyone done a Google search on the flowers yet?

Day 2: Chapters 6-10

5. Grey leaves her sisters a note that reveals the creepy guy is really a very bad person...that she's in peril. She provides a key and sends them to a super creepy apartment...'The missing sister, the dead body, the burned apartment, the gunshot wound, the armful of stolen artifacts. Even harder: the man in the skull, the flowers growing rampant in all the soft parts of a corpse.' What is your conclusion so far?
My guess is that the girls were taken by the Fae and that these girls are changelings. That would account for their abilities and all the changes in their appearance.

6. Vivi and Iris find a diary from their father...his notes supporting the Vogue article with all kinds of rumors about the girls. What do you think about their father? Was he crazy? Are his girls dead?
I feel really sorry for their father. I think he was spot on about the girls.

7. What is with the flowers and vegetation found in the girls and around the girls? This organic, smelly stuff keeps showing up? What do you think is behind it?
I'm not sure what it means but I'm sure it's important.

8. Tyler shows up at the end of this section of our reading. There's an article referenced with mention of a disappearance. Someone else came back. What do you think is next? What will Tyler's role be...hero, bad guy, or is his appearance a cameo/distraction?
Very interesting about the disappearance and that she was connected to Grey. I think Tyler is a good guy and will play an important part in figuring out the mystery.

Day 1 - prologue - Chapter 5

1. What sort of stuff do you like in your horror books? Do you like the slow pacing here?
I think slow pacing is a good way to build up the suspense and the anticipation in horror. I'm not a big fan of horror but I think the pacing works here.

2. What do you think of the sister's and their relationship with each other?
It's weird but probably understandable considering the mystery of their past.

3. We are getting hints about the strangeness around the Hollow girls, and at what happened to them. What are your suspicions? Would you be like Cate with her daughters, and not push at the memories overtly or dig actively?
I think Cate knows more than she lets on and probably that is why she interacts with her daughters the way she does. Right now I have no idea what happened to the girls.

4. The descriptions (of Grey's clothing in particular!) is very atmospheric. Are you enjoying the descriptive language used?
For the most part, I'm enjoying the descriptions.

I finished my last book for this round.

Just curious why only 75% of our book points are being counted on our team spreadsheet.

Looks like our target book # on the spreadsheet is only half of what it should be and so we're being penalized 25%.

I can probably do one more.

I plan to finish all of mine. However, I think I'm going to change the BOM House of Hollows to Round 2 and add another book for a letter we need. Do we still need a bunch of I's? Or should I add another Q?

I was able to get House of Hollow from the library and plan to do the BOM.

I think I'm on target for my projected reading. I've started looking specifically for U's and Q's as well.

First up for me will be One Potato, Two Potato, Dead. Just a couple more hours to wait!

Judy wrote: "Jackie wrote: "Hello everyone!

I'm Jackie and I live in North Carolina. I'm retired from a career in Information Technology so I have plenty of time to indulge my reading habit. I read almost anyt..."

Yes, we were! Good to see you again.