Allison Ann’s Comments (group member since Oct 19, 2014)

Allison Ann’s comments from the Nothing But Reading Challenges group.

Day 6 - Discussion Questions, 11/21/19
Chapters 32 - End

24. Ellery keeps coming up with somewhat plausible theories, but is getting shut down in chapter 32 since another theory was proven false. Still, her mind is always working. Do you think she's showing intelligence with some of her theories or do you think she's reaching too far and just making a fool of herself playing detective?
I think she is just playing detective at this point. She's thinking about things, but she jumps to conclusions so quickly and changes her mind so often. At least she mainly told the police brother about what she discovered.

25. Do you think Declan is being fair to Malcolm in the apartment getting so upset? What do you think about them making up later; was this all realistic?
Family drama, annoying but a minor upset.

26. Were you surprised about who the killer turned out to be? Was this a good twist and well done for a mystery, or were you not satisfied?
Good twist, bravo.

27. Do you think the mother had something going on with the killer in her past, based on the last line that he whispered in Ellery's ear?
I think the "we went on a couple of dates but I was too boring for her" was a massive understatement. Peter clearly had a thing for Sadie, but he was just a teenager for his first murder, and not a powerful man yet.

28. Overall, what do you think of the book? Would you read more of the author?
I thought it was pretty good, especially for YA. AND THERE WAS NO LOVE TRIANGLE!!! Might be the best YA ever written actually. :D

Day 3: Chapters 12-19

11. So we've heard from Sadie again! (every time I hear her name she reminds me of Sadie by Courtney Summers and I have to keep reminding myself: wrong book sis)
I wonder if substance abuse is the only thing she struggles with, or if there's more to her. She feels a bit off to me... Is she hiding something, or is that just who she is? Do you think she knows or at least has an idea of what happened to her sister? Why does she not want to talk about Sarah at all, and why did she leave Echo Ridge? Would you have left?... Is she even still at the institute?
I'm assuming there is some guilt in there. Teenage twin girls, one very popular, one the good girl. Maybe she played a trick on her sister before she disappeared?

12. Even though Sadie has hardly ever been back to Echo Ridge, I have a feeling Ellery and Ezra's dad might be from there. Do you think we have met the twins' father by now? Could it be Vance, or Peter, or somebody else completely? (I actually have a theory, and it's neither of the guys I just mentioned lol)
No theories yet, but I assume that papa is going to be in Echo Ridge. Do we know how old Sadie was when she had them? Could she have left town pregnant?

13. Viv has been acting very strangely towards Ellery. What is her problem? Do you think she's jealous of Ellery for getting nominated for Prom Queen, or that she has kind of gotten into their friend group without even trying?
I think Viv is the quintessential "not quite so popular as her friends" girl and she's jealous. But I also think she's mad because Queen Bee made Ellery nominated for some reason and that means Viv didn't get the spot.

14. I can't stop thinking about what happened in the past. First Sarah went missing, then years later Lacey vanished and had been found dead shortly after. Do you think Sarah shared the same fate, or is she still out there somewhere? Are their cases related? And then Mr. Bowman has been killed in a hit and run - what a nice introduction to town our twins had here. Do you think this is connected to everything else that's been going on in town, with Daisy and Declan being back, etc.?
I think the girls were killed (I just assume Sarah is dead and not found) by the same person. Just don't know who it is yet. And the hit and run might be the same, or a completely different cover up.

15. Just like Viv, Brooke has been acting weirdly as well, but I don't think it has anything to do with Ellery. She seemed worn down when El sat with the girls at lunch, and Mr. Bowman's death seemed to get to her way more than to her peers. Do you think she had anything to do with the hit and run, or maybe was involved with the late teacher? Is this why she was so agitated at the party? Where do you think she vanished to when she slept over at Katrin's the week before but was gone for at least 20 minutes?
Brooke is definitely feeling guilty, so I assume she is the hit and run driver or covering up for her friend. I think the disappearance during the sleepover is supposed to make us suspect Malcolm, but I just don't think he's involved.

DQ Day 2: Chapters 6-11

6. It's taken me a bit to understand what's happening in town currently and in the past. Has anyone else struggled or have you caught on well? Do you think the author has set the scene well, or are there improvements/other ways you think would work better?
The switching of perspectives has been a little confusing, but not too terrible for me to understand. I do sometimes get a little mixed up in which generation each person belongs.

7. We meet Declan Kelly in this chapter, Malcolm's brother. What are your impressions on him? Do you think he murdered Lacey? Or has anything to do with Sarah's (Sadie's twin) disappearance? The hit and run of Mr Bowman or the threats around town? If not, who do you think is responsible for all of them, or any of them? Do you have any theories so far on the connections of the occurrences? I feel like there's so many suspects and Sadie is definitely hiding something.
At this point I had no idea who was guilty of what, but I was enjoying the mystery.

8. The Homecoming Court announcements: Did it surprise you that Ellery was nominated for Queen? Why do you think she was 'chosen' as a potential Queen? It's kind of ominous to the Homecoming, isn't it? I feel like Homecoming is where things will go crazy. What do you guys predict will happen?
She was definitely nominated for some nefarious reason, but the book is keeping me guessing at this point.

9. As an Australian, I don't understand the craze around Homecoming. We have Formals which is similar to Homecoming but no one is chosen as a Queen or King. Did you go to a Homecoming in High School, or something similar? What was it like? I went without a boy (too cool for boys back then) and went with one of my girl friends. We had a blast! My aunty actually helped me design my dress and made it for me. It was actually my first introduction on how to dress feminine and like it!
Canadian, we don't really do Homecoming either, certain formal dances of course, but I don't remember any voting for anyone during my teen years.

10. It seems like Daisy has been through a lot... Her breakdown in the car and shutting herself in her room. What do you think is going on with her? Do you think she's finally dealing with Lacey's death or do you think something else is going on with her?
Totally baffled at this point.

DQs Day 1
Chapters 1 to 5

1.) Why are you participating in this BOM? Just for extra Tower Teams points? Because you were interested in/going to read this book anyway? Have you read other words by this author?
Mainly for points, however, this is the only BOM so far that I might have read without the prompt. I'm not a huge fan of YA, but I love Mystery. First book by the author too.

2.) I'm loving Ellery's true crime obsession. Pre-child I used to have the Discovery ID channel (true crime, all the time) on a lot as background. Though I'm thinking this is foreshadowing of not good things to come. What do you think? Have you read any of the crime books mentioned so far?
I have read several of the true crime books although mainly in my 20s. I don't think it was ever an obsession with me, but I have always enjoyed figuring out mysteries.

3.) Characters, first impressions. What do you think of Ellery & Ezra? Sadie, and the fact they refer to her by her first name and not 'Mom'? Malcom & Katrin? Familial relations seems to be a central theme to this book and specifically sibling relationships. There's been several twin references and references to other sibling relationships (Declan, Daisy, Lacey's siblings, etc). Do you think these types of ties will play into the main story line?
Apparently no only children in Echo Ridge. :D

4.) This book is set in a small town and that type of atmosphere has been highlighted strongly during the set-up of the story. However, it isn't really the bucolic small town setting being highlighted by the author, but the everyone is in everyone else's business and will judge the crap out of your entire family if given the chance. What do you think of small towns? Would you like to live in one (or do you already)?
I live in a truly small town, we have fewer than 200 people year round. I can literally name every person who lives here. :D
I don't consider a place with several thousand people and it's own amusement park a small town. Echo Ridge reminds me of the kind of town I had to go to for high school. And I wouldn't live there if you paid me. My town I love.

5.) I loved the epitaph of Mr. Bowman's tombstone.
"Tell me and I forget
Teach me and I may remember
Involve me and I learn"
What did you think about it? Do you agree with the statement? And why do you think there has been such a focus on a seemingly sad, but random hit and run?
Beautiful and true. I'm assuming the hit and run was perpetuated by an important person in town. Who will maybe kill to save their reputation?

Short - 400 vs 900. :D

It actually makes more sense to use the shorter books for the ladder and just read the longer books for the points, so I'm good with #5 and maybe one higher one. :D

You go ahead with the #2 book Rebecca and I'll just read longer books for the later numbers. :D

We are awesome!

I have 947 pages that I could be done by Monday night (late probably) or 1600 pages that would probably be Tuesday night. Both longer than my #3 book. I'm happy to read any of them.

Alysa wrote: "@Jessi, if you're around, do you wanna do a #2 or that #3 I think you mentioned at some point? If the latter is long, when would you finish?
We could also skip a number, esp since some higher ones ..."

I am happy to give up the #3 if someone else wants it. I can read longer books that aren't series to be honest. I do have long #2 books, but I don't want to slow us down too much by reading them.

M wrote: "I know I can read a ton next week. my stay-cation isn't really about relaxing. It is me being a clumsy oaf and re-breaking my ankle. so, reading time galore."

Poor M. I thank the gods every day that I apparently have heavy duty, sturdy bones. I trip over cats and dogs constantly, I fall down stairs, I fall up stairs, I trip over imaginary lines. and don't get me started on how often I wipe out on the ice. :D

Hi team. I've been at a craft sale all day. It was pretty quiet this afternoon, so I got a good chunk of my BOM read. :D Should finish tonight (enjoying it so far), don't know if I'll get the questions done before next week though. I'll have my other long book done tomorrow before deadline.

As for next week. Most of my long books are not series, or I'm only at #2. I can read a #5 though for 1500 pages. And I do have a #3 for not quite 800 pages. And I can read any other number we need, it just won't be a long book.

This one sounds like quite the challenge. Are we going to try and plan this a little or just continue our system of everything just working out. :D

Added a couple of books to the spreadsheet. Two more on the go. Wish I could audiobook. :D

No worries. Just got the shelf call for another team challenge, so I'll be reading a Dresden Files book. Not quite as long as Rutherfurd, but over 500 pages at least. :D

Sounds good Kerri.

I removed a book from the list for this week. I'll replace it with something eventually, just getting a little maxed out on Historical Fiction.

I read the paperback. I don't know why a duplicate shows up sometimes for no reason. So annoying.
I'll get it fixed.

Ozana wrote: ""Succession"book ..what is that?."

Hi Ozana. SUCCESSION was the word that my book was used for in last week's Bingo.

This week we are doing a SPELL-IT-OUT challenge. So for the books you read, we need the first letter of the title, the author's name, the series name (if there is one) and the character's names. I think the captains can get all the info from the book page, except maybe all the characters. So if you can post the character names when you finish a book, that would probably be really helpful.

So, bake sale season is almost upon me. :) And I'm always looking for new ideas for Christmas baking. Anyone have any favourites they can suggest.

Falco!