Amanda’s Comments (group member since Mar 13, 2022)

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

In for DQs, District 12 :)

I'll sign up for DQs for District 12!

@Beth I've highlighted With Courage and Cloth because it says it's mpg picture books so we have to verify the wordcount (or the audio has to be 3+ hours but this one is not). Do you have a verified word count for it?

Caly ☯ Crazy Book Lady wrote: "Hi there,

I finished my book and I gave it a shot at adding it to the spreadsheet myself, so if someone can check please that I did it ri..."

Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow looks great! The link is perfect how it is. If you wanted less info (like no author/GR), you could type out the title and then at the top of the spreadsheet click insert>link; and then paste in the link into the bottom box. But what you're doing is perfect.

For Bone Horses, we just have hidden the lines that have already been moved to the official spreadsheet :)

I just finished and I think I'm the only one here who felt quite blah about the whole thing. I see people complaining about the narrator, and I did listen to the book so thought that was why, but I listened to the edition narrated by Tatiana Maslany and that doesn't seem to be who people complain about lol. I felt zero attachment to any of the characters. I did enjoy the worldbuilding, and like others I think there's a lot to extrapolate regarding the world we live in and how the Capitol treats the people. I'm still going to pick up book 2 and hopefully I can just connect to the characters a tiny bit more. Maybe I'll read instead of audio

Laura wrote: "Don’t worry. As long as we’re not 16 - 18, no one expects us to do anything!"

I knew being old would come in handy!

Erin *Proud Book Hoarder* wrote: "Amanda wrote: "Katniss pointing out that she is glad she doesn't snore otherwise she'd be dead made me realize I would not have much of a chance in any of the run and hide for a long time dystopian..."

LOL my brain always is like, "this is the one reason I can't do this", when I also do not have any of the necessary skills.

Katniss pointing out that she is glad she doesn't snore otherwise she'd be dead made me realize I would not have much of a chance in any of the run and hide for a long time dystopian worlds lol! I'm glad the games have finally started, I've had some trouble getting into this one.

stuti wrote: "I didnt read Vengeful, it might have been a misclick to set my name to that. I think it might have been Janines or the person below the book 😭"

Lol, I thought it was interesting since Jackie read it for a different challenge we're in! I'll fix it :)

@StutiCould you add Vengeful to your shelf?

@Leanne Could you make The Lace Widow as finished and add to your shelf?

Thanks!

I think it's okay, I don't love it, but I'm enjoying it well enough. I'm thinking I'll probably land on 3 stars

Day 3: Chapters 19-27

11. The fantasy genre is known for its world building. How do you feel about the world building in this book? How does it compare to other fantasy novels you’ve read?
The worldbuilding isn't super complex, but I think overall it has fit with the whole "thrown right into the action, figure it out" theme that has been present since the beginning.

12. In this section we meet Cade’s former teacher Hazidan. What do you think of her character? Did you ever have a favorite teacher and were they similar to Hazidan in any way?
I like her. I think you can definitely see that there's a lot of messed up history between them,but that she is trying to make amends. I also liked that she seems to think Cade isn't as bad as he thinks he is.

13. Chapter 25: Friends in Low Places had a pretty big reveal about the Celestials plans and how they’ve been herding Cade this whole time. How did you feel about this twist?
It didn't feel super twisty to me. It just felt like the next step in the plot

14. At this point I think we have the whole team together: Is one of them your favorite?
I still really like Cade. Maybe it's just since we're only in his head.

Bonus for audiobook listeners: How are you liking the audiobook? Would you recommend it?
I was already a Joe Jameson fan so I knew I'd love it. Definitely recommend doing the audio if you're planning on reading.

This is my first time reading and I haven't seen the movie. I'm about 20% in and so far it's still most of the stuff I've already known just from being a human in the world when this was popular 😂. Like others have said though I am finding the treatment of poverty to be pretty interesting. I don't think I would've caught it had I read when I was younger.

I find it a little slow going at this point, but I know that's just the worldbuilding.

Day 2 DQs
Ch 9 to 18

6.) Did Galass turning into a blood mage and Fidick being the cause of Lucian's death (I assume that's what the black cloud that left the tent did) surprise you? Or were you expecting their bit in the story to be over and just a footnote about Cade's character?
I definitely was expecting them to be more than a footnote, but this was not the way I thought it would go! I actually think there is much more to the story, and wouldn't be surprised if Galass actually has the biggest role of the story

7.) We learn about more magic types and there's pretty much any type of magic you can dream up. What type of magic you like to have or what animal would you like an affinity with?
I liked the (....oh no I meant to write down what it was called as I'm listening to audio and cannot remember the actual name) weather magic. I was always a fan of X-Men's Storm.

8.) Is anyone else's favorite character Mr. Bones? Just me? mkay.
...I think I'm the only one that Cade is growing on me lol.

9.) At this point I think it's clear Cade is a fallen Glorian of some sort, likely a Justicar. Do others agree with my guess here or do you have other thoughts?
I honestly have not been putting much together. I'm listening to the audio, so I'm definitely just along for the ride!

10.) Assuming my guess in Q9 is right, why do you think Cade got the heave ho from the Glorians?
Cade seems a little renegade/lone ranger. I would think he went off and did things how he wanted to.

MN Lisa wrote: "Insiyah wrote: "Lisa - can you check the page count and link for Fen?"

The Kindle version is 400 pages. updated spreadsheet. @Amanda You should probably update page count for this (and Hunt)."

Oh good point! I did read that one. Thanks Lisa :)

Kirsten wrote: "Insiyah wrote: "Amanda wrote: "NOOO I made it all through Uno without forgetting one. I am ashamed lol. I have fixed it."

😂😂😂"

I don’t think it counts if it’s the first one, Amanda. 😉

Also, that..."

I felt the same about Echo. I didn't love it, but it had the bones of something I'd really like and I'm intrigued

DQs Day 1

1. The book has the MPG Dark Fantasy. Do you like this genre in general? If so, do you have any favourite authors or books?

I'm just a fan of fantasy in general, so there are times when that includes Dark Fantasy! I do like my books to be a little more on the romantasy side of fantasy, so sometimes that makes it a little more tricky to get the "dark" side.

Picture a wizard. Go ahead, close your eyes. There he is, see? Skinny old guy with a long straggly beard. No doubt he's wearing iridescent silk robes that couldn't protect his frail body from a light breeze. The hat's a must, too, right? Big, floppy thing, covered in esoteric symbols that would instantly show every other mage where this one gets his magic?

2. The book starts with the quote above. Is this your mental image of a wizard, too? Or something different? :)
I've read quite a few books with Wizards so I think it really changes based on what I've most recently read!

3. And the author lands us in the middle of a siege (ideal for the Book Games, right? ;) with 2 of the main characters Cade Ombra and Corrigan Blight. Cade is narrating what is happening and offering us his views on good and evil, the part they are playing and how they "win" this particular siege.
Do you think it's a strong start to the book? Has it got you intrigued?
I do like the "you're in the action" starts to books and I always love a morally gray character so I'm intrigued enough.


4. As an extra incentive & entertainment, the Ascendant Lucien offers young girls and boys (sublimes) to the wanderists after the siege. We get introduced to Fiddick and Galass and learn that Cade decided to kill Lucien. We can actually start putting some pieces of Cade's character together. What do you think about him at this point?
I still don't really have strong feelings about Cade. I definitely think he is way more complex than the good v. evil topic he brings up,

5. Some demonic highlights to this introductory part: Tenebris the demon, with whom Cade as an "infernalist" mage trades with to get his spells.
What were your impressions of Tenebris? How do you find the "religious/magical" system of the Infernals and the Celestines?
I...didn't completely pick up on all this? Lol. I guess I'm still a little lost, but I did like Tenebris.

Janeylou wrote: "Amanda wrote: "Janeylou wrote: "From what i can make out we need to pick 3 books that have been read by any of us ( im presuming during this challenge) and then the other team has to get 3 people t..."

We have to read our own 3 books before we send them over and they have to read their own 3 books before they send them to us

Beth and Insiyah, please pop in if you think my explanation is incorrect lol

Janeylou wrote: "From what i can make out we need to pick 3 books that have been read by any of us ( im presuming during this challenge) and then the other team has to get 3 people to then read them as well , and v..."

So I don't think there's any additional reading of what the other team reads. Here's how I read it:

As the supplying team, you get to choose three books to just send on over. Those books are now part of the other teams resources. It can be random books or books that we know will help them in some way.

As the receiving team, you receive three books from the other team. You can choose how to use them, but once that choice is made, it's locked in. (all the how to log on the spreadsheet you can ignore). So really its just can be used as: Mini, Resource Piles, or Protecting Supply.

It's just getting an extra 3 books (and losing 3 books) and I think the fun/strategy is if you're going to work with your partner team, or if you're gonna go rogue and send whatever you want, knowing they can do the same.