Lisa - (Aussie Girl)’s Comments (group member since Sep 26, 2012)

Lisa - (Aussie Girl)’s comments from the Nothing But Reading Challenges group.

They are beautiful. I usually spend a couple of minutes gazing at them.

Back from cooking dinner.. but now my husband wants to watch a Christmas movie together. Lovely.. but I'm looking forward to getting back to Gabe and the Gang. Later my pretty.

Pg 417 - OH MY GOD.... even bigger revelation. And annoyingly I've got to go and cook dinner...

And can I just say how amazing the illustrations are in this series. They really enhance the reading experience.

Oh my.. more revelations. This is getting sooooo good!

Up to pg 315... ooh,ooh, ooh.. big revelation here.

Judith wrote: "You can put that request on your sign up and Cat will do her best to honor it if you get selected"

Great. Thank U.

Hi Mods, if I'm lucky enough to get DQ's - can I request Day 1 or Day 2. Thanks a bunch.

No problem ladies.

I'll just re-order a few things. Hopefully if I get picked I can request Day 1 or 2, so I can start, do the DQ's then go back to it.

Chapter 5 - The Damsel of Lionsmouth

There's a paragraph on pg 58 that had me literally LOL for 5 minutes.

That's what I love about JK's writing, it's high fantasy but he lightens the drama with humour and makes the characters feel so real.

Hey Lexi,

Can we swap around the request for the DQ's for the BOM. If you are able. can I go backup for the DQ's as I don't think I'll be able to get to it by next week. Got a bit of grandparenting to do. Thanks.

I feel your pain!

That’s so bad, I hope you get a resolution soon. Where could it be! Hopefully in transit and not in some thief’s grubby hands!

Ok.. I'm going in... Can't hold out anymore.

Back with thoughts spoiler tags in place for Part 1 in a day or two.

Jenny (friend)
8537 books | 291 friends
see comment historyDQs Day 7: to 86% (start: "Back in Buenos Aires, I wrote up my article..." end: "He felt he had denounced his father.")

31. Enriquez leads off the section titled “Black flowers growing in the sky,” with a quote from Emily Dickinson: “One need not be a Chamber—to be haunted.” What do you think this quote means? How does it relate to the novel?

Perfect quote for this novel. People don't need supernatural events to haunt them, everyday life can do that quite easily - as per the circumstances going on in Argentina through the novel>

32. How did you feel about Gasper’s choices. Did you understand why he acted the way he did? Did it change how you see him?

After his childhood he was handling things the best way he knew how. Those nasty women got their just desserts, I didn't feel too sad for them at all. I hope it gave Gaspar some closure of the circumstances way out of his control.

33. If you could ask any character from this section what they were thinking, who would it be and what would you want to know?

34. We are getting close to the end. What are you hoping will happen next — and is there anything you’re worried about for the characters?

I've finished the book. I found it a bit of a trial to get through by the end to be honest, way too long and confusing but it did have a satisfactory conclusion.

35. Enríquez has mentioned in interviews that one of her major Gothic influences for this novel was Wuthering Heights. How do you see elements of that novel echoed and revised in this one? Why do you think she might have selected Wuthering Heights as a reference?

Wuthering Heights is my favourite classic novel of all time. Wow, I didn't think about parallels but there are some. Especially how the supernatural gothic elements cross over with the real life themes.

New Monster is up -

Aoyin - backtracking to Asian.

LISA'S POSTS FOR BOOK TOKENS

DAY 1 - https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...
DAY 2 - https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...
DAY 3 - https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...
DAY 4 - https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...
DAY 5 - https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...
DAY 6 - https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...
DAY 7 - https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...

DQ'S DAY 6

26. Just backtracking for a moment, I'm really intrigued about Adela disappearing in the "haunted house" What do you really think happened to her arm and will this event play into what happens later in the story?

27. We're half way through, are you enjoying the novel? Learning anything about an awful time in history? Did you know much about the situation in Argentina at this time? Are you finding it a fascinating insight into a chilling political era, a creepy horror novel or a combination of both? How do the two genres/themes/storylines interact to enhance your understanding of what actually happened?

28. The author paints a depressing visceral picture of The Other Place. I also note this section involves a lot of hallucinogenic drugs which seemed to be a big part of the swinging 60's! So to my way thinking much of what is depicted on the page is portrayed as a drug trip to emphasise the horror of what really is going on? What do you think.. am I way off or on the right track?

29. And what about the character of Eddie? Do you think his descent into madness and death is an important part of the plot going forward?

30. And now we move into Section 5 and a complete change of pace! How do you react to the clinical explanations of the killing, death and destruction after the largely supernatural explanations for what has been happening? (And are provided with the truth about Adela) How is the author using the supernatural/horror themes of the book to shine a light on the political situation in Argentina at this time?

Lexi wrote: "Lisa - (Aussie Girl) wrote: "Is 8 tags enough for the Grimdark category?"

Yes"

Okay, I'll move my book to this genre as I think it's harder to find than High Fantasy.

Is 8 tags enough for the Grimdark category?

Day 6 questions are incoming in about 2-3 hours.

DQs Day 5 ~ to 61%
start: "He was sitting on the front stoop..."
end: "Just then, that was all I needed to hear."

21. Did you grow up with a haunted house in your neighborhood? Did you dare knock on the door, or go inside if it was unoccupied? Did you see strange body parts and see ghosts and lose your senses like the kids did?

Nuh, no haunted houses in suburbia in Sydney, Australia. But I am a lover of old graveyards and we have a couple with graves from the 1800's that are definitely creepy.

22. Did you expect Juan to actually succumb to his illness? How do you think Gaspar is going to deal with this?

It was a pretty ordinary end when you think of all that could have magically happened over his years as a medium. As per Gaspar I think the question is will he find out about his destiny and embrace it or turn away from it... or try and destroy the Order for good.

23. We are given a new POV, and a jump back in time. What do you think of Rosario?

She's a strong lady. Interesting to put this flashback here, it does give more context and depth to the story.

24. What do you think about the relationship between Juan and Rosalia so far?

They're a match made in Heaven.. or The Darkness if you believe in such stuff. Seriously, they seem to complement each other, and will be a formidable team.

25. We get some more history of The Order, and a glimpse into how they try to get their power. What do you think of Mercedes' actions with her daughter and those children?

I enjoyed the backstory.. these are some seriously messed up people! Mercedes is awful, an example of what ambition, arrogance and greed can result in.

I’ll be finishing my last book for this round this morning, in about 3 hours… if I don’t get any annoying real life distractions. 🤣