Karima’s Comments (group member since Aug 04, 2018)

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

Berenice wrote: "I’ve actually read up to Monday 🤦🏻‍♀️ it was a slow night at work and I agree the chapters feel a bit inconsistent some very small some too long for the content. I kind of feel like at this point w..."

I agree with you Berenice about the author commitment to depict social disparity and oppression and the abuse these people are living.

I really wanna know too where Inan's powers are coming from and like you said, there was no Revelation, nothing to give us little bit information, maybe there's a twist and she's waiting till the end of the book, I don't know

Rick wrote: "It definitely seems like it is going to be a romance. I am not happy about that."

neither i am, it's just to fast for me to accept it

and I saw that you spoke about Inan and his father and who is the real big bad, at this point in the book, I think Inan's father is the villain of the book and we didn't get to see a lot of him so far, he just gives orders to people and stay behind, that's not the type of villains that I like to read about, I want villains who do their villainy things by themselves, Inan's father has been a lazy villain but

Rick wrote: "I don't think it was just that he saw her memories. He also felt everything that she had felt; her fear, her sorrow, her love. It was the first time he saw them as humans and not monsters. In some ..."

Yeah, I think you're right, I'm just frustrated because I feel like she's using that change to pave the way for them to be romantically involved which absurd. we'll wait and see how their relationship evolve but I have a feeling it will be a romance.

I agree with you Rick about Inan jurney so far but I'm hugely dissapointed by his development as a character, it's so sloppy I can't believe it. I ca,'t believe that he just changed his ways because he saw Zélie's memories, like he didn't knw that's what happened in the raid before that, like he didn't see what he's father was doing when he gave the order to burn a whole freaking village down , like he didn't witness when he was part of the guards the cruelty the people has been enduring all this time, I guess the genocide and the torture and the enslavement wasn't enough for him to truly see the truth but just the story of Zélie's was? that's just not good storytelling right there and it reeks of laziness. i'm really salty about the whole freaking thing, like it's so ridiculous and the characters are indecisive it's giving me a whiplash, damn it.

I'm also frustrated by the uneven lengths of chapters, some of them are pretty long, others are pretty short, I don't knwo why, it's like the author prefer to write from Zélie's point of view more than Inan's or Amari's.

If you wanna read more than the chapters we decided Rick that's fine, But I right now I just went back to work so I don't have time to read more unfortunately or we can discuss what we read each two days, that way we'll have more to talk about,

I agree with you both about the battle in the arena, nothing make sense when you think about it. I think the fighting scenes are confusing and not well executed. these are the scene when we're supposed to be on the edge of our seats but I jut keep thinking, what the hell is going on?

I'm having problems with the characters because sometimes they lack consistency, it's like this book has these set of rules but doesn't bother to stick to any of them

frustrating, truly frustrating

I still didn't read the chapters for today but once I do, I'll update here guys, I can't wait t discuss the book further

Option 2- Read as many books from the "romance -related" tasks below: [ 13 books so far ]

❤Read a book tagged romance : Next Year in Havana and The Peer and the Puppet

❤Read a book with a heart on the cover

❤Read a book from the All Time Favorite Romance Novels List : Fangirl

❤Read a winner or nominee book from the Goodreads Choice Awards 2017 Best Romance List

❤Read a book from the Rita 2018 Award List

❤Romance as a verb means to "court or woo" . Read a book in which a character tries to win the heart of another.

❤Read a book in which two characters fall in love : Ash Princess and The Hero of Ages and The Dream Thieves and The Lonely Hearts Hotel and Daughter of Smoke & Bone and A Thousand Perfect Notes

❤Read a book in which you find "love " in the text

❤Read a book in which you find "attraction " in the text

❤Read a book in which a character makes a romantic gesture

❤Read a book with love in the title

❤Read a book with two characters holding hands

❤Read a book in which two characters go on a date

❤Read a book with two characters kissing on the cover : All Your Perfects

❤Read a book with flowers on the cover : Letters to the Lost and Blue Lily, Lily Blue

❤Read a book with two characters hugging on the cover

❤Pink is considered the most romantic color- Read a book with a pink cover.

❤Read a book with a HEA

❤Read a book by your favorite romance author : Beauty and the Mustache

❤Read a book with a couple on the cover

❤Read a book from this List

❤Read a book with kiss in the title

❤February 14 is Valentine's Day; known as the romantic holiday. Read a book that has " 14" in the page count. ( 114, 214, 314, etc)

❤Read a book with Cupid on the cover or read a book with Cupid as a character

Rick wrote: "I absolutely agree about the Inan and Zélie relationship. I DO NOT want to see that become romantic. It will feel disingenuous to what we are seeing with Inan internally.

I agree that Tzain is und..."

You're totally right, I want more of this badass Tzain. he's the best

Okay, let's talk about today chapters,

I enjoyed them more than I enjoyed the ones of yesterday and I think that the pace picked up again and things are happening in a more compelling way.

I don't know what to make of AMARI, she's inconsistent as a character, sometimes I like her and sometimes she frustrates me to no end. I thought she was trained greatly to be capable of defending herself in danger so why is she completely useless when they need her the most.

I liked Inan's chapters and I as genuinely surprised that his story-line took that direction, The death of Kaea is something I didn't see coming not this early in the book and not by the hands of Inan.

I don't know how the author will amanage to develop Inan and Zélie relationship but I'm hoping it won't be romantic cause that won't be convincing at all.

Zélie is still reckless and do things without thinking ahaead, she's clearly lead by her emotions the majority of times, I don't know if that's something good or bad, only time will tell

I think Tzain, Zélie brother is the most underrated character in the whole book even though he's the most conisstent one. he's levelheaded and thinks before he acts and he have this kindness that's completely refreshing.

I'm actually invested again in the story and I'm really curious about where the story is going next.

Berenice wrote: "I agree with both of you I felt like today’s chapters dragged on a little bit. I was hoping they would give further insight on the origin of Inan’s power.

Rick the scroll and the sunstone were pl..."

I too hope the story pick up too considering that the last chapters were more for exposition sake than advancing the plot, anyway, at least now, we have a sense of the direction the author is taking the story so we knew a little bit where the story is going next, I jst hope we'll get there without a lot of filler chapters.

Rick wrote: "Karima wrote: "Rick wrote: "Today's reading did not hook me as much as the last two days. I don't know what it was. I can't point to any one thing.

I did enjoy getting a little more background on ..."

absolutely, the fact that the book is a fantasy and it's YA and it has all these important topics to explore is something to applaud the author for. and it's the strongest thing the book has to offer so far.

Rick wrote: "Today's reading did not hook me as much as the last two days. I don't know what it was. I can't point to any one thing.

I did enjoy getting a little more background on the history / mythology of m..."

I know what you're talking about because I felt the same way and I think it has to do with the pacing of the book, I think it's not well balanced enough and at times the story loses momentum because the author needs to reveal a lot of information in a classic way.

I don't understand why is Zélie so special that she is the chosen one to save magic, it is something to do with her magic? because I can't help but fee that so of things were convenient and it was pure luck that she was the one who met Amari.

But I admire how the author is sticking to using this book to send a powerful massages about social injustice and discrimination by exploring the slavery of the diviners by the king and how they are treated horribly just because of the color of their hair and their doormat powers

Erica wrote: "I hope it's not to late to join in. I read it a couple if weeks, but would love to discuss it."

Of course, you can join us :)

So far the story is focusing on 4 characters and each one of them shows us through his character one side of the story, the fact that we have two sets of siblings is interesting, we have two characters from the monarchy who have different opinions about magic, funny how the one who's convinced that magic is evil ends up being a Magi himself

the other two characters are just common people, one of them is gifted, one of the is not but they're living all the same. but they behave differently, Zélie is more on the reckless and her brother is more careful. the way they lost their mother affected them but in completely different ways and I appreciate the fact that the author took her time to write characters with different insights.

Berenice wrote: "I think I mean out of all the people he could’ve conjured to his mind that night it was Zelie, why not his sister?

Karima I agree Inan’s chapters are very pivotal in this story line you can alread..."

I think there's some connection yet to be explored about Inan's and Zélie's magic, maybe he can only conjure people with magic

Berenice wrote: "I think that Inan’s maji goes back to the first chapter where Mama Agba is talking about the history of Orisha, remember she says there were 10 clans and over time they became the first kings and q..."

I think you had a solid point about Inan's magic, maybe he has magic in his blood but it's so faint that it didn't manifest so strongly

Rick wrote: "I've read today's chapters, so hold off on reading this until you have too. I don't want to inadvertently ruin anything for you.

I think it has become more clear that Zélie has at least part of he..."

I agree with you about Zélie's powers, she's like her mother but she's not yet in full control so I think we'll get to see her discover herself more in this book. But I also think there's possibility that she'll be even more powerful than her mother.

Inan chapters are for me really important, with Zélie's chapters we get to see the way those with potential of magic are treated and how they live their lives in fear. with Amari chapters we get to see one facade of those in power, she's sympathetic and her relationship with Binti highlights that she's different from her father but Inan chapters are the ones with more nuance, he knows that what's happening is horrible but he also believes that magic is something dangerous and it needs to be destroyed so he's torn more the other two characters who has clear motivations and goals.

I don't think we'll get to see the outcome in this book, after all this is the first one in a fantasy series and I think it's gonna be maybe the focus of the coming books.

as for their father, I like to knwo more about him, he's clearly the big bad of this book and for the villains to work out for me as a character, I need them to have motivations that somehow make a little sense or at least a complexity to their characters. For now I'm intrigued enough by him and I'd like to get to understand more the reasoning behind all the horrible things he's done.

I'm not saying that there's something that we'll make all the things that happened easy for me but villains always tend to think they're doing everything for the greater good, it is the case here? we'll have to wait and see.

About the connection between Inan and Zélie, do you think guys that somehow their powers are connected?

Rick wrote: "Karima wrote: "Rick wrote: "I am enjoying it so far too. It took a couple chapters to grab me, but by the end of chapter 7, the pace is feeling good.

I got worried early on, because in the first f..."

I totally agree with you, I think the Zélie as a main character will have to go through a journey maybe about discovering her powers and who she is and what she meant to do but i don't think it will be a smooth one at all

Rick wrote: "I am enjoying it so far too. It took a couple chapters to grab me, but by the end of chapter 7, the pace is feeling good.

I got worried early on, because in the first few sentences there was a for..."

I agree with you about the use of those words the author came up with. I was worried she'll be over using them but that wasn't problem because she was good at creating a clear context when things are well explained.

About the two incidents of sexual abuse, I think the author is trying to say that nothing in the world of people who has potential for magic is safe, not their home, not their lives, not their bodies.
The message she's trying to send is a powerful one and I think that even though this book is fantasy it still resonates with us who live in a real world where these things still happen.

Berenice wrote: "I love it so far and I agree I’m glad that she is showing everyone’s point of view. I also like the fact that she’s really descriptive with each character and that she’s making a point to show the ..."

yeah, I totally agree with you, I think she's going to be exploring the oppression they're living more in the rest of the book.

Hi guys , hope you had a great day
so today I managed to read the first 7 chapters of the book and it's so good so far.

I liked the fact that there are multiple point of views, that way we'll get to see a well rounded world from different perspectives. I 'm not sure yet about the direction the author is gonna take with the plot but I have some thoughts.
I can't wait to see what you thought about the book so far