Lauri’s Comments (group member since Jan 23, 2016)

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

DQs Day Three - 18 Jun
"There came a day in laste summer..."
"Angrboda agreed." 62%

11. I love how the myths surrounding Loki are casually mixed into this book. I'm a fan of Norse mythology, though I don't know a ton about it. Do you know or enjoy Norse mythology? Do you like how the author is incorporating it into her book?
I am a fan of ALL mythology in general. I feel as if westerners don’t know much about the Hindu, Norse, African, Native American or Asian belief/ stories systems. We usually just concentrate on the Greek and Roman pantheons. I am enjoying this telling, but get confused by the name & personality changes in characters. What we need to remember is that what would motivate humans doesn’t necessarily faze the gods!

12. "Was I wrong to not tell them the world may not accept the the way they are?" This is Angrboda's question after not only Loki's other wife, but Loki himself, refers to their children as monsters. How would you answer her question? Was she right to try and protect and hide them from the Nine Worlds? Should she have gone about it in a different manner?
It’s a mother’s nature to always protect her children, but these children weren’t normal. Angrboda did them a grave disservice by not explaining, at least in the most fundamental way, what they are, what could happen to them.

13. What an ending to Part One! Did you see what was to come? Did you already know the myths before or were you completely surprised? If you already knew the myth, did you like the author's interpretation of events? Were you as angry at the world as I was reading all that happened to Angrboda and her children, cause I was ready to fight!
I was really not that surprised. I do know the myths & the author’s interpretation was good. I know the fickle whims of the gods, but was angry anyway — especially at Loki & Gerd!

14. It seems that Angrboda's dreams can now transport her into other's thoughts. Do you think this is a one-off event because of how much stress she was under? If not, how do you think she'll use this skill from now on?
I believe this is a new skill set borne of desperation and anxiety. I think that she will use it to her best advantage from now on. Sometimes it’s good to know what others are plotting!

15. So Angrboda has a new voice in her head. Who do you think the voice belongs to? Do you think it's connected to Angrboda's seeming inability to die? Do you think it's a friend or a foe?
I think it may be one of the Norns. It’s both a curse and a gift. Angrboda doesn’t have any real friends right now. She would do well to be cautious of even Skadi.

DQs Day 2 — "He stayed with her as the days ..." to "... given her daughter a new obsession" - 40%

6. After Angrboda performs seid for the first time again, she starts having dreams where she hears someone calling to and beckoning her. Angrboda doesn't believe it to be Odin at first, but her suspicion changes over time. Who do you think it could be?
I'm thinking it's Odin or maybe his wife, but it could be anybody!

7. Shadi reappears in this section, having left her husband behind. Do you think he'll come back into the story later? Why do you think she chose a husband as recompense in the first place?
I think she chose a husband for appearance's sake & status. I really think she's a lesbian with strong feelings for Angrboda...

8. Hel was born with "dead" legs (or dead flesh on fully functioning legs? I'm honestly a little confused by it) and when she over exerts herself she starts turning blue. Angrboda attributes this to when she tried to save her daughter — but I'm not so sure. Do you have any theories on what the cause could be? Is it as simple as Angrboda believes, or do you think it's something bigger to be revealed later on?
Maybe Hel actually isn't alive at all. Isn't she queen of the underworld in the Norse pantheon?

9. There have been several mentions of a witch who birthed a race of wolves who chase the sun and moon so far in the story — and now Angrboda has given birth to a wolf. Do you think she is the Old one the stories reference? Or, if not, do you think we will meet that character later on?
I think that she is an Old One. Her memory is deliberately sketchy about the past. How else could someone be killed and still come back?

10. Angrboda decides not to tell Loki about his and his family's involvement in her vision of the beginning of the end. What do you think of her decision? Do you think she made the right choice in not telling him?
Yes, she made a good decision. Loki is very selfish & unpredictable. You never know how he'll react to anything. Certainly not in a normal, human way. She's trying to protect the children. The snake totally creeps me out!

Eldarwen wrote: "Lauri wrote: "I have absolutely NO idea what’s going on anymore, but I have been reading constantly. To quote Vinnie Barbarino, “I’m soooo confused!”"

One thing: don't forget to finish up the June..."

I know. I will -- kicking and screaming ALL the way!

Completion Post!
Killer Librarian
Mary Lou Kirwin
Finished 7/10/22
Page count: 308

Completion Post!
Address to Die For
Mary Feliz
Finished 7/10/22
Page count: 252

I have absolutely NO idea what’s going on anymore, but I have been reading constantly. To quote Vinnie Barbarino, “I’m soooo confused!”

Completion post!
A Catered Fourth of July
Isis Crawford
Finished 7/7/22
Page count: 320
It is set in New York, USA… has recipes, picnics AND a cute pig named Hilda… no points for food on the cover, huh?

Eldarwen wrote: "Tone wrote: "I had a feeling the book would be like that which is why I haven’t started it yet… but I better start soon if I’m going to finish it before the 16th (?) 😂"

Yes, 16th :-)
I'm glad I'm ..."
I'm not really feeling it either! I bet we aren't the only ones. BUT I shall persist!!

DQs Day 1
Beginning to "... a promise she knew that she couldn't keep."

1.) What attracted you to this book? BOM points? That COVER? Because of the Norse Retelling angle to the story? Any expectations you'd like to share?
It was really for the BOM points, but I’ll read just about anything with ‘witch’ in the title. I also love any type of mythology & have since elementary school. No expectations to speak of, but I have high hopes!

2.) What did you think of Angrboda's first meeting with Loki? I mean he brought her heart back in his knapsack basically because he was bored. But he was so charming, I'm not sure I'd care either. Though it didn't hurt I kept picturing him as Tom Hiddleston. LOL
Not a big Hiddleston fan, but he was the only one to be nice to her at all. And he did bring her her heart.

3.) Thoughts on Skadi? Why do you think she helped Angrboda in the first place? And to such an extent? If Skadi was male, how different do you think that interaction would of been?
Skadi. I’m assuming she’s very lonely and possibly a lesbian or maybe bisexual. I could see a real relationship form between the two. If she was male, she probably would’ve paid court to her & possibly proposed and/or just had casual sex with Angrboda.

4.) The quote from Skadi, "Time doesn't matter unless you are keeping track of it." Resonated with me. What do you think of this? Do you agree with the statement?
True dat. Time is liquid. I only keep track because I have to for work. ;)

5.) Loki's reaction to the pregnancy was, let's go with interesting. What type of father are you expecting him to be? Do you think he will be a functioning part of the child's life?
I think he’ll be an absentee father. Good luck getting any sort of child support out of him! He only cares about himself. It’s been proven over & over in all his stories. I can’t see him acting any differently this time.

Sammy wrote: "Lauri wrote: "Completion post!
Under the Dome
Stephen King
Finished 7/2/22
Page count: 1072 Whoohoo!
Use this wherever it fits best! One of the MCs, Rusty, is a dad…


..."

The TV was good, I thought, but, as always, the book is SO much better! If it wasn’t Stephen King no way would network television tackle space aliens, necrophilia, meth labs masquerading as Christian radio…. They covered over the more disgusting elements. I alternated between laughing out loud, shaking my head and covering my mouth in abject horror!

Completion post!
Under the Dome
Stephen King
Finished 7/2/22
Page count: 1072 Whoohoo!
Use this wherever it fits best! One of the MCs, Rusty, is a dad…

Hey, when is our monster deadline? I’m still working on our 2nd BOM The Witch's Heart & it has Skadi — an archer character…
Also I’m only about 150 pages away from finishing Under the Dome which has 1000+ pages if that works for anything…

Completion post!
Under a Painted Sky
Stacey Lee
Finished 6/29/22
Page count: 374

Not too sure if it fits anything in our monster mini…

Completion Post!
Leave No Scone Unturned
Denise Swanson
Finished 6/26/22
Page count: 344
Monster mini - T104 Fig in text (pg. 27 “…fig and Parmesan cheesecake…”)

Completion post!
The Book of Cold Cases
Simone St. James
The Book of Cold Cases
Finished 6/26/22
Page count: 352
June BOM
See my DQ answers in messages #247, 250, 260, 267 & 279
(Still can’t do a link to save my life!)

DQs Day 5 Chapters 39-48
9. Beth's relationship with Lily is extremely important to the story, obviously but Shea also has an older sister? What do you think the point of having both main characters have sisters? Do you think it's a purposeful connection the author made?
I do. I think it’s so you could compare the normal relationship Shea has with Esther to the manipulative, twisted relationship between Beth & Lily.

20. Why do you think Lily always kept the house the way it was decades ago? Was it just a way to torment her sister or do you think there's something more to it then that?
I think that spirits are stuck where they were when they died. They don’t do well with change. The author mentioned several times that Beth tried to throw things away, break things and even run away — but things just moved right back to the way they were. I think Beth just gave up. Much easier to just stay sedated.

21. Shea was almost murdered by Lily because she went to Beth's mansion while she was away. Do you think Beth knew her sister would try and kill Shea?
I think she hoped that Lily would just reveal the truth. She kept saying that Lily liked Shea. She needed Shea to be alive in order to leak the truth.

22. How did you like the ending? Did any of the reveals surprise you? Did the conclusion for the characters feel satisfying to you?
I thought the ending was a little abrupt, but all in all I liked it. I thought Beth should have hung on a little bit longer to develop that bizarre relationship. I did appreciate her paying for all Shea’s medical bills and orchestrating her rise to fame. I’m glad she & Michael are together. I would love to hear more about the two of them!

OMG! Can’t we just stick with the monsters? Color me ultra confused now!
Can I just continue reading as usual? Someone can tell me what to do, and I will do it…
Yikes!

DQs Day 4 - Chapters 30 - 34
In this section, we see Beth really open up in the interview and describe two different Christmas flashbacks. The first, when Beth was 14, Lily was bruised and had been clearly abused by her foster family. We also (at least according to Beth) see the beginnings of Lily as a serial killer. Do you feel any sympathy for Lily? Do you agree with Beth that Beth could have stopped her?
I have sympathy for any abandoned and/or abused child. But Lily is a sociopath, obviously. I really don’t think Beth could have done a damn thing to stop her!

16. What did you think of the interview with the lawyer Ransom Wells? Why do you think he and Beth never told the police about Lily, even after the murders?
I think Ransom is quite protective of Beth, perhaps because of Mariana. He’s the only fatherly figure in her life, really. If they were to tell the police about Lily, both their lives would be forfeit.

17. Beth gets a wonderful shopping trip with her mom that immediately gets ruined when they return home and Lily is there. Lily is clearly the favorite. Why do you think that is?
I think Mariana felt a great deal of guilt for giving Lily up for adoption and for what subsequently became of her. It was very unfortunate that Mariana should have made that comment about loving Lily in Beth’s hearing. Their whole family dynamic is totally messed up!

18. Can Shea trust Michael? He seems almost too good to be true.
Michael seems to be a good guy. I dearly hope he is what he seems to be.

I’ve got fig in text with Leave No Scone Unturned

DQs Day 3: Chapters 20-29

10. Beth's house has seemed important from the beginning of the story and there have been a lot of descriptions of the "Frankenstein ugly" house. During one of Shea's interviews Beth told her to go upstairs and see her childhood bedroom and then she said, "Not all of the answers you want so desperately are going to come from me. Some of them are going to come from this house." What do you think Shea learned from the house when she perused Beth's room?
Not everything is immediately visible or is what it seems at first glance. I think that Beth knows that people won’t believe her if she tries to tell them about her house. She invites Shea in to experience it all for herself. There seems to be an entity inhabiting the house and it’s not at all benign.

11. We now have a better insight into the note that was left at the murder scene that said, in part, Am I bitter or am I sweet? In this section we got a lot of details about how this "bitter/sweet" was played out in the house with Mariana and the two girls. Lily also told Beth that everything was her fault and she could have stopped it. What do you think the note will reveal about the murderer and how do you think Beth could've stopped it or could she have?
I really have no idea what to think at this point! While Lily was experiencing the seamier side of life, Beth was more sheltered. All she knew was what she saw from her parents’ and Lily’s behaviors. Nothing good or ‘normal’ at all.

12. Julian's treatment of Lily is rather atrocious, especially considering how young she is when she first visits them. Why do you think he hates her so much and who do you suspect Lily's father is? (I have only read through chapter 29 for my questions, so I don't even know if that is revealed. Just curious what others are thinking about the situation.)
I don’t really know how any adult could be so horrible to a young child. Whatever happened was not Lily’s fault! Im guessing that he felt tricked into marrying Mariana & that he had received ‘damaged goods.’ I am hoping that it doesn’t turn out to be something heinous like incest or rape.

13. Lily told Beth she wanted a lot of things, including the house. Beth told Lily she hated the house to which Lily said, "That's because you don't understand it...It's an abomination that shouldn't exist...It's exactly like me." What do you think she meant by this?
That’s exactly why I’m afraid there’s something awful to be revealed. I don’t care for that abomination remark. A young girl doesn’t just come up with a word like that all by herself. She had to have heard it somewhere…

14. Lily appears to have more power in the relationship between her and Beth, but based on Beth's current day ability to manipulate others, do you think Lily really is the more powerful one in their relationship? Why or why not?
I think Beth learned her manipulative behaviors directly from Lily. Beth seems to naturally choose the path of least resistance. Otherwise she would have taken off years ago. There’s some reason holding her back. I haven’t a clue as to what that is yet!