Judith’s Comments (group member since Apr 15, 2015)

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

Melindam wrote: "BTW, I don't remember Emily being so conveniently clumsy in Book 1. Impractical and non-athletic, yes, but not tripping over her own feet all the time."

Yes, I agree. I think Emily needs different boots or something as she seems to be doing an awful lot of tripping and falling this go'round.

I figured if we are going to travel around the world via books, we might as well be comfortable.

hehe!

Also, love the excitement everyone

DQs - Day 2
5. We have the identity of the ribboned visitor. Did you guess this? What do you think of another anti-social scholar character, but gender switched?
I had guessed it was that scholar or he was on my short list of potentials after we learned a bit about the ribbon system.

6. Would you use the ribbon system if you were in this area, or do you have a modification?
I would probably modify it in some way. It seems overly complicated like Mel said and if my husband ever needed to mind me via ribbons it 100% wouldn't work. He's very colorblind even with special glasses for it and wouldn't be able to tell half the colors apart.

7. Do you like Rose more after his talk with Emily. Do you think he was being honest or manipulative?
I'm going with honest for now, but he's still getting the side-eye for awhile. Something still seems a bit off but I might be a bit overly suspicious.

8. Fox fae appear to be vicious. Do you have any thoughts on what Wendell meant when healing Rose? How do you think this will affect Emily and her view on fae?
I think she'll file it away into her pile of fae facts to ponder at appropriate moments but I don't think it will have a large impact on her views.

DQs - Day 1

1) Emily is back! What are your first impressions of her this time around? Can you see any changes in her compared to Book1?
She seems more settled/secure in herself. I'm guessing partly due to her experiences in book 1 and now she has more job security with her tenure position. Emily is not also as socially isolated.

2) Apparently Emily is still stalling on giving an answer to Wendell's marriage proposal. Do you think she'll say yes at the end of the book or will this stay unresolved?
Not sure when it will be resolved but yes, I think they'll end up married. I think she wants to marry him but has some legit reservations about marrying Fae royalty.

3) We meet some other characters of the Faculty in Cambridge. What do you think of Farris Rose getting in the picture and establishing himself as part of the field research team? Do you think he'll be an asset or a hindrance?
I'm hoping an asset and I'm hoping some entertaining group dynamics. There is certainly an advantage to Rose for the trip to be a success so he'll at least try to be helpful. But he may be a bit of a pompous ass to Emily, but maybe he'll be on his best behaviour.

4) And finally: Ariadne, Emily's niece joins the team as student. Do you think Wendell was honest with Emily about why he didn't want Ariadne to join them? Was it as simple as what he said or may there be an ulterior motive?
Well, I think he was honest about his reasons for not wanting Ariadne to come. But whether those were Wendell's only reasons for not wanting her along, I don't really know.

Bonus Q: If you had to survive in Emily’s world, what role would you play? Scholar? Adventurer? Faerie trickster?
Bonus Bonus Q: Give yourself a whimsical job title, like “Moss Mapping Cartographer, Third Class or Senior Fae Liaison” ... 🤭
Scholar probably studying the economics of Fae cultures.

Lexi wrote: " DQS Day 4: Ch 75 to end (pg 289 to end)

10. How did you like the ending? Do you try to guess as you go or do you like to be surprised?

11. This has clearly been set up as a series. Would you r..."

I will admit it took an embarrassingly long period of time to realize the cat was sitting on the barrel of the gun.

Judith's BOM Tracking

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/...

DQS Day 4: Ch 75 to end (pg 289 to end)

10. How did you like the ending? Do you try to guess as you go or do you like to be surprised?
It was a little bit chaotic but still fun. I threw in the towel about trying to be serious about figuring it out who did what about halfway through the book.

11. This has clearly been set up as a series. Would you read more in the series or others by the author (if you have not already)?
Yes and I have The Thursday Murder Club lying around somewhere to read at some point.

12. Did you like the last line? Did you see if coming with the running joke about book titles throughout?
I thought it was funny and a good name for an investigative firm that wants to specialize in solving cold cases. Not sure how profitable that will be. Though not sure money is really an issue with this crowd.
I didn't think much of the running gag with book titles throughout the book because of one of the MCs being an author.

Bonus: Do you think it made sense to put a cat on the cover? What would you have put in the cover that is more relevent to the story.
I expected a bit more hijinks from Trouble with the cat being on the cover. As for more appropriate items. Maybe a smart phone, plane, and booze? Pile of money?

Ch 48 to Ch 74 (pg 192 to 288)

7. Oh man so many side characters are getting thrown at us. Who stands out the most to you and why?
Eddie I think? And I'm with Rosie on I think he's looking to kill her for Vasiliy to carry out the original hit that put her and Amy together in the first place.

8. Have you been to St. Lucia? How was it? And random but have you tried chat GPT yet?
No, I've never been. I'm more of a mountains or cold weather person that a tropical beach person. Though I've gone to Dom Rep for a vacation before. I've not done much with any AI as I've not really had the need to do so.

9. So close, I wanna know your predictions.
Well, looks like my original thoughts on Jeff were true and he still very much in the land of the living. I don't know, maybe back to Susan? Or Felicity is not the clueless person she's pretending to be? At this point I'm just enjoying the hijinks and am along for the ride.

DQs Day 2
Ch 23 to Ch 47 (pg 95 to 191)

4.) Do you think Jeff is really dead? And do you have any guesses as to who 'Joe Blow' might be?
I thought initially he was alive but the longer it goes on with him popping back up the less sure I am of this thought. Once it was clear this was an inside job, my first thought was Susan. But no longer confident in that either. I'm wondering if it's a character we haven't met? Henk seems too obvious.

5.) The quote "you can live with unhappiness, but bitterness will kill you" stuck out to me as a bit profound in a mix of silly hijinks. Do you agree with the statement?
Calling it profound is a bit of an overstatement but I couldn't think of a different word to use. But in general I do agree and there is a big difference between being unhappy and being bitter. Bitterness is poison and never leads to anything good.

6.) Why do you think Amy was selected as the insurance policy on the murders with her blood being left at all the crime scenes?
I don't really know. Because she was a favorite of Jeff's? Connected in some way to Adam since he's in the financial world and these are money laundering people? I don't really know and am trying not to think too hard about anything and just enjoy the ride.

DQs Day 2
Ch 23 to Ch 47 (pg 95 to 191)

4.) Do you think Jeff is really dead? And do you have any guesses as to who 'Joe Blow' might be?

5.) The quote "you can live with unhappiness, but bitterness will kill you" stuck out to me as a bit profound in a mix of silly hijinks. Do you agree with the statement?

6.) Why do you think Amy was selected as the insurance policy on the murders with her blood being left at all the crime scenes?

DQs Day 1: Ch1 to Ch 22 (pg 1 to 94)

1. Have you read any books by Richard Osman before? If so, did it effect your expectations for this one? Either way, what did you expect going into this book?
No, but I know he's popular and has the Thursday Murder Club series I've been meaning to start reading (along with 100s of other books. LOL). I was expecting a fun caper with interesting family dynamics and so far it's delivering.

2. What do you think of the writing style with the short chapters and some even in journal style? Do you have any preference on longer versus shorter versus no chapters?
I think it works, especially with the multiple POVs. James Patterson has a similar writing style for chapter length and it works there too. Book reads faster as well (all that white space!)

3. We have now met who I assume are the main characters – Amy, Rosie & Steve. Do you have a favorite so far? What do you think of Steve and Amy's relationship? Do you think we will ever "meet" Adam on page?
I like all of them so far. I think Amy and Steve's relationship is nice. I don't know what to think about Adam. At this point in the story I'm not sure I care either way as he doesn't really seem like a real character so not invested in him much.

Bonus: Do you think the cat will be important to the plot or just on the cover like oh so many books recently?
I wouldn't mind some feline hijinks at some point

Great Big Beautiful Life by Emily Henry

Two writers compete for the chance to tell the larger-than-life story of a woman with more than a couple of plot twists up her sleeve in this dazzling and sweeping new novel from Emily Henry.

Alice Scott is an eternal optimist still dreaming of her big writing break. Hayden Anderson is a Pulitzer-prize winning human thundercloud. And they’re both on balmy Little Crescent Island for the same reason: To write the biography of a woman no one has seen in years--or at least to meet with the octogenarian who claims to be the Margaret Ives. Tragic heiress, former tabloid princess, and daughter of one of the most storied (and scandalous) families of the 20th Century.

When Margaret invites them both for a one-month trial period, after which she’ll choose the person who’ll tell her story, there are three things keeping Alice’s head in the game.

One: Alice genuinely likes people, which means people usually like Alice—and she has a whole month to win the legendary woman over.

Two: She’s ready for this job and the chance to impress her perennially unimpressed family with a Serious Publication

Three: Hayden Anderson, who should have no reason to be concerned about losing this book, is glowering at her in a shaken-to-the core way that suggests he sees her as competition.

But the problem is, Margaret is only giving each of them pieces of her story. Pieces they can’t swap to put together because of an ironclad NDA and an inconvenient yearning pulsing between them every time they’re in the same room.

And it’s becoming abundantly clear that their story—just like the tale Margaret’s spinning—could be a mystery, tragedy, or love ballad…depending on who’s telling it.

Sisters of the Lost Nation by Nick Medina

A young Native girl's hunt for answers about the women mysteriously disappearing from her tribe's reservation lead her to delve into the myths and stories of her people, all while being haunted herself, in this atmospheric and stunningly poignant debut.

Anna Horn is always looking over her shoulder. For the bullies who torment her, for the entitled visitors at the reservation's casino...and for the nameless, disembodied entity that stalks her every step--an ancient tribal myth come-to-life, one that's intent on devouring her whole.

With strange and sinister happenings occurring around the casino, Anna starts to suspect that not all the horrors on the reservation are old. As girls begin to go missing and the tribe scrambles to find answers, Anna struggles with her place on the rez, desperately searching for the key she's sure lies in the legends of her tribe's past.

When Anna's own little sister also disappears, she'll do anything to bring Grace home. But the demons plaguing the reservation--both ancient and new--are strong, and sometimes, it's the stories that never get told that are the most important.

Part gripping thriller and part mythological horror, author Nick Medina spins an incisive and timely novel of life as an outcast, the cost of forgetting tradition, and the courage it takes to become who you were always meant to be.

I have one for that old prompt and it works for a V for UNO. It keeps getting bumped for other tasks. Hopefully I’ll get it done in April.

I’m in for DQs

I’m in for DQs

Judith's BOM Tracking

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/...

DQs Day 5
Ch 28 - End

18.) In case anyone had any doubt that we've been reading not only historical fantasy but an Action Adventure novel, things have ramped up even more: Amina's deal with the peris, the flight with Khayzur, the council of pirates, the new friendship (?) with Magnun... And now Amina has gained supernatural strength and sight! What do you think about all these developments? What did you like (or dislike) most about all these elaborate plot elements introduced between the Peri island and the final showdown on Socotra?
It was kind of a lot to happen in a fairly short period of time. In adventure/fantasy novels it's always a bit like that I think as everything leads up to a final battle. But I wish there was more development from her changes from the island to the final battle.
Overall though, it was fine.

19.) We finally found out the full story of what happened to Asif. Do you think Amina is culpable for Asif's fate, as she believes she is?
No, I think he made his own choices but I understand her guilt. He was her friend/found family and he's dead, she's not. Most of us would carry some form of guilt simply because we'd be wishing so hard we could of changed the outcome.

20.) It seems like the author wrapped things up fairly well, while neatly setting up for further installments. Will you read more in this world? Any particular teases or loose ends that most interest you?
Yes, I will read the next book. I'm enjoying this story and looking forward to her hunting down the next Transgression.

21.) Did you read the "Author's Note and Further Reading" -- and if yes, are you interested in any of the books she cites or recommends?
I skimmed it but appreciate her suggestions. A lot of them sounded interesting and this is a part of the world I don't know much about in the grand scheme of things.

Bonus question: Dunya / Jamal ! Did anyone see that coming?! Thoughts?
That was an awesome fun twist I didn't see coming. It explains though why she was willing to let them record this particular story.

DQs Day 4
Ch 20 to 27

14.) The Moon of Saba certainly has a complicated tale. Do you think the author did this to highlight in a different way how the past is not always what we think? And the true story is often very different from what is recorded in the history books?
I love this and find this part of learning about history and myths to be really fascinating. It's one of the things I love about Michael Sullivan's related series that take place 1,000 years apart. As the reader (if you've read all of them) you know what really happened and then learning how religions and myths evolved over time and are based on things flat our wrong is just really interesting to me.

15.) Now that we know more about Raksh, what do you think about him? Has your opinion changed over the course of the story? Do you think he'll find out he's a father?
He's hilarious and I can understand how he basically charmed his way through everybody. I'm surprised Amina hasn't slipped up already and revealed their daughter. I'm assuming he'll find out by the end.

16.) Amina's first conversation with Dunya was certainly illuminating. Was she what you expected? In her shoes do you think you would of pulled a runner with Falco?
Some of her story was unexpected but explained more why she was so willing to pull a runner. I probably would of done the same in her position.

17.) Anyone else trying to figure out how Amina survived in the ocean with no potable water for 2 weeks? Also, anyone else want to go to the magical island?
I know she drank turtle blood or whatever but 2 weeks seems a bit long for that. And I obviously want to vacay on that island, seems like a happening place

DQs Day 4
Ch 20 to 27

14.) The Moon of Saba certainly has a complicated tale. Do you think the author did this to highlight in a different way how the past is not always what we think? And the true story is often very different from what is recorded in the history books?

15.) Now that we know more about Raksh, what do you think about him? Has your opinion changed over the course of the story? Do you think he'll find out he's a father?

16.) Amina's first conversation with Dunya was certainly illuminating. Was she what you expected? In her shoes do you think you would of pulled a runner with Falco?

17.) Anyone else trying to figure out how Amina survived in the ocean with no potable water for 2 weeks? Also, anyone else want to go to the magical island?