Geri’s Comments

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

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

Hi! Can we get a thread for ? Start date February 2. Thank you! 🙂

I’ll join. I’ve seen the movie many years ago. Never read the book. The reading schedule looks doable. I’m considering buying the book. Otherwise, I’ll have to keep borrowing from overdrive. Not sure...

2021 New Releases Challenge
Level: Four to Score

January
1 The Wife Upstairs 1/12
2 The Perfect Guests 1/15
3 The Push 1/24
4 Waiting for the Night Song 1/19


February
1 The Survivors 2/5
2 Finlay Donovan Is Killing It 2/9
3 Good Neighbors 2/10
4 The Sanatorium 2/12


March
1 Her Dark Lies 3/16
2 Every Last Fear 3/11
3 The Girls Are All So Nice Here 3/15
4 Too Good to Be True 3/8


April
1 Back in the Burbs 4/13
2 Mother May I 4/11
3 The Good Sister 4/20
4 Early Morning Riser 4/29


May
1 The Newcomer 5/18
2 The Secret Bridesmaid 5/10
3 People We Meet on Vacation 5/11
4 The Last Thing He Told Me 5/19


June
1 The Box in the Woods 6/16
2 Girl One 6/8
3 Malibu Rising 6/7
4 One Last Stop 6/11


July
1 The Stranger in the Mirror 7/8
2 The Comfort of Monsters 7/18
3 The Wonder Test 7/12
4 The Therapist 7/14


August
1 The Turnout 8/7
2 Dark Roads 8/9
3 The Dead and the Dark 8/10
4 We Are the Brennans 8/12


September
1 Apples Never Fall 9/18
2 A Slow Fire Burning 9/4
3 The Hawthorne Legacy 9/14
4 Fault Lines 9/21


October
1 Rock Paper Scissors 10/4
2 The Santa Suit 10/18
3 No One Will Miss Her 10/17
4 Last Girl Ghosted 10/12


November
1 The Brightest Star in Paris 11/2
2 Indigo Ridge 11/7
3 The Fastest Way To Fall 11/8
4 Heard It in a Love Song 11/13


December
1 A History of Wild Places 12/13
2 The Love Con 12/20
3 O Beautiful 12/1
4 Everything We Didn't Say 12/3

Creature Feature
Oct. 1 - Nov 30 2020
Level: Bats
Option 3

1 Frostbitten | MPG Werewolves 10/3
2 The Tiger’s Ambush | MPG Paranormal 10/22
3 A Deadly Education | MPG Paranormal 10/30
4 Three Dark Crowns | MPG Magic 10/6
5 Frost Line | MPG Paranormal 10/9
6 Crush | MPG Paranormal 10/21
7 The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue | MPG Paranormal 10/28
8 Crystal Cove | MPG Witches 10/18



9 Shadows | MPG Witches 10/19
10 A Stitch in Time | MPG Ghosts 10/24
11 Saved by Blood | MPG Vampires/Fae 10/14
12 Cursed Prince | MPG Fae 11/20
13 Smoke Bitten | MPG Vampite/Werewolves/Fae 11/18
14 The Hollow Ones | MPG Paranormal 11/26
15 Survivor Song | MPG Zombies 11/25
16 Midnight Sun | MPG Vampires 11/13

Team Read Hot Chilis has a problem on the storefront tab. Past 80 meals the fields aren’t being filled in. Thank you!

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/...

Moderators of NBRC wrote: "

Done!"

Thank you!

DQ Set 5: Ch 20 - End

19. Cordelia and James end up in the Shadow Realm and are under attack by a Mandecore (sp?) on the bidding of Belial (sp?). Cordelia is able to strike once with the sword, but then is caught up in the vines. James calls on his power from his demon heritage to save them both. What do you think his use of this power will do to him in the long run? Will he suffer from it, or want more of it?

I’m not sure. But I’ll be interested to find out.

20. The Harrondales find out they are descendants of a Prince of Hell, Belial. They all have different reactions. What would you do if you found out you were a descendant of someone/something evil?

At first, I know I’d freak. LOL But after the shock, I’d probably have to embrace any advantage that gave me.

21. When they are with the enclave and James is being accused of starting the fire, Cordelia steps up to cover for James. By doing this she is putting herself in harms way in terms of future prospects. James proposes to Cordelia, but says he doesn't love her...but we know she loves him. What do you think about going into a marriage with unrequited love? Or do you think it is unrequited?

Oh, James is falling for Cordelia. His feelings for Grace were manufactured by the bracelet. The marriage between James and Cordelia will be real in upcoming books.

22. "Perhaps life was not like books. Perhaps life was never going to be like that." I love this quote. If your life could be like a book, what book would you choose?

Oh God! So many to choose from! I’d probably choose a romance. They always have a HEA.

23. In the Epilogue, we find that Tatiana seems to be working with the Prince of Hell. What do you think will happen in the next book in the series? Are you interested in continuing on with this series?

I really did enjoy the book. I liked all the action and adventure. Even with all the love triangles, I will continue with this series. Not sure about Tatiana. But it will be fun to find out!

Karen ⊰✿ wrote: "Thanks, Geri. Who is she replacing?"

Leslie Ann had to drop out.

Team Read Hot Chilis has a replacement player. Alicia will be joining us. What do we need to do to have her added to our team?

Team Read Hot Chilis has a replacement player now.

Oops! Sorry Bethany. Since you asked first, your team should get the first to respond.

If anyone wants to join as a replacement player for Team Read Hot Chilis, please let us know!

Team Read Hot Chilis also needs a team member. So if Alicia wants to play. You can join us Bethany. 🙂

Jessica wrote: " I felt exactly the same. I thought he'd be pretty must destinted to do anything she wished, with that bracelet. But maybe its power just isn't as strong as his love for his family, or just isn't strong enough for such requests as to run away like that "."

The next section cleared this up for me. It makes sense now why he was able to say no. 🙂

Karen . Looks like someone beat me to it ;) "

Team Read Hot Chilis still has a spreadsheet problem with line 46 in the kitchen tab. The possible customers section won’t fill in automatically. Thanks!

Was anyone else surprised James had the strength to say no to Grace? I thought the bracelet would make it hard for him to say no. It seemed inconsistent to me. Or did I miss something?

DQ Set 3: Chapters 10 - 15

9. What do you think of Grace's request for James to runaway and get married as mundanes? Was James right to say no? What do you think of her then turning around the next day and announcing her marriage to Charles? What do think Grace might be trying to achieve

I was surprised Grace proposed marriage to James. I was also surprised James said no, since he was under a spell with the bracelet. How did he have the strength to say no? But obviously Grace wants out of her house any way possible. That is why she is now engaged to Charles. Whether she knows that Charles has feelings for another man or not, I don’t think she cares.

10. The demons know who James is? More they do what he requests of them. What do you think of that? Do you think it is more than just the fact his grandfather was a demon?

No. It probably is related to having a relative that was a demon.

11. Ragnor only tells them the information about Gast because they are children and not yet Clave. He then explains he is scooting off to Capri? Does this seem strange to you ? or that maybe something more dangerous they should probably know?

Ragnor does seem shifty. I don’t know much about this character, though, not having read the other books.

12. "Ariadne does not care what I do. Her interests lie elsewhere" Charles & Alistair. Did this surprise you? And do you think Ariadne's interests ie in the direction of Anna?

It made sense why she would want to marry Charles. I’m not sure where her interests lie. It could be Anna.

13. Matthew appears to have a drinking problem? There also seems to be much more about him than meets the eye. Do you think he might be drinking to hide something? Is it me or he he seem also to be somewhat drawn to Cordelia?

I do think he is attracted to Cordelia. But I think Cordelia wants James. And now that he isn’t under Grace’s influence, the two may have a chance.

Matthew does seem tortured. I will have to check out the story the other poster mentioned.

DQ Set 2: Chapters 5 - Days Past, Paris 1900

6. Following the daylight attack, and the greenhouse scene, it's clear that there's a tension between the older generation and the younger. Will even makes the point that it's just like what he experienced as a young man, but doesn't seem able to fix the problem. What do you think about the politics of the Shadowhunters that we've seen so far? Does this strand work for you?

It adds needed conflict and interest. There always seems to be tension between younger and older generations. I expect it.

7. We see development in some of the characters over these chapters (Alistair becomes a bit more interesting in the final flashback; Cordelia comes out of her shell), but there are still a lot of unfleshed characters there (imo). Do you think the author can make all these characters "real"? Which character do you most want to find out more about? or just hang out with ;-P

I am interested to find out more about Jesse. Not sure how Lucie can have a relationship with a ghost? And will there be repercussions for using “illegal” magic to keep him alive? We probably won’t get all the characters fully fleshed out. Even though the book is long. :)

8. We find out more about Grace and James - have your opinions of this relationship changed during this section? Do you want to venture any predictions? James does his shadow walking thing a couple of times here. Is Jem right - is this a skill he should master or is it a dangerous curse?

My suspicions of Grace appear to be true. Why she has put a spell on him is a mystery. Her home was a bit gloomy and creepy to me. Can’t be fun living like that with a stern mother. Not sure how the spell will be broken. But I do think it will be by the end of the book.

And definitely, James should learn to use his shadow walking powers to the best he can.

9. The last section sheds some light on Alistair's hidden (or developing) personality - moving him from the simple bully from school to (maybe) someone more interesting. Do you have any thoughts on how Alistair will be important to the story?

Not sure how he will be important. But I do like that the author is letting us see his character grow. I do think a relationship is developing slowly between Alistair and Thomas.

DQ Set 1: Days 1 &2
Chapters 1 through 4

Have you read other Cassandra Clare novels or are you new to the Shadowhunter world? KWhat made you decide to take the plunge and read this BOM? Was it the beautiful cover, did it entice you? Not for nothing, the woman on the cover might want to adjust that sword grip in case she needs to use it.

I’ve read the Mortal Instruments Series. And really enjoyed it. So I thought I’d give this a try.

2) Quite a long cast of characters and POVs, sometimes I wonder why it was necessary. Though I have only read the Mortal Instruments series, so maybe it would be less overwhelming character roster if I'd read everything published prior to this book. Any current favorite characters? Any you are wary of already? I'm also afraid of multiple love triangles and possibly some sort of awful love polygon (number of sides to be determined). Thoughts on that?

I felt the same way about the number of characters to keep track of. I’m not sure I have a favorite character yet. Matthew may be interesting since he seems to ba a bit of a bad boy. But also charming and nice. And I am enjoying the jokes and humor between the MCs. I agree. It does look like love triangles may be developing.

3) Holy literary references! Clare uses quotes often at the beginning of sections or chapters, so that wasn't surprising to me. But there are little literary nuggets dropped randomly in conversations. Are you enjoying them? Are you seeing parallels in this story to Great Expectations (Clare has stated this series is a GE retelling)?

Oh, I didn’t know that about the retelling. Now that I know, I will pay more attention to the references. LOL

4) Are you liking the flashbacks? Do you think they add to the story and/or characters?

Yes, the flashbacks are giving me background in the character’s lives.

5) James seems to act very strange in Grace's presence and for all of their attraction and previous kissing, the kiss by the lake seemed to make James repulsed. Do you think this is tied to the demonic presence somehow? Do you think that silver bracelet causes Grace to have some sort of influence over James?

I am suspicious of Grace. The way James just left Cordelia on the dance floor was strange. And yes, I did notice he felt repulsed during their kiss. That was strange as well. Not sure it was due to the demonic presence. I’m definitely invested and want to read more!

Got it. It’s going to be a long one. 19 hours on audio. I will start it tomorrow, once I finish my current book.

Sorry. I forgot. I’ve got to get the book. 😁