Buddy Read: Jess, Heather, and Karly

[Jess ❈Harbinger of Blood-Soaked Rainbows❈]

Discussion up. I work a lot the next two days but will hopefully have time ro check in:)

[Heather ~*dread mushrooms*~]

I'm so glad someone actually thinks to make these threads because I never do! I read this before but I hope I'll appreciate it more this time. :)

[Jess ❈Harbinger of Blood-Soaked Rainbows❈]

I started reading the "Bloody Chamber" story last night but didn't get too far. Kelly Link did the introduction to my version and I really enjoyed what she had to say about Carter's writing style and how much her stories have influenced the "fairytale retelling" genre. I'm excited to get into these.

[Karlyflower *The Vampire Ninja, Luminescent Monster & Wendigo Nerd Goddess of Canada (according to The Hulk)*]

I haven't started yet because I have had just the worst luck of timing :/ .... I may have to read this one shortly after you guys... my life is a nightmare right now.

Sorry, sweeties.

[Heather ~*dread mushrooms*~]

No worries... I've only managed a couple pages myself!

[Heather ~*dread mushrooms*~]

GUYS. I'm still working on the first story. I guess it's good we're all busy right now??? heartheartheart

♥

[Karlyflower *The Vampire Ninja, Luminescent Monster & Wendigo Nerd Goddess of Canada (according to The Hulk)*]

I'm still trying to get through my other buddy-read :/.... I have just been having the worst time being able to read lately. It's awful!

♥ ♥ ♥

[Jess ❈Harbinger of Blood-Soaked Rainbows❈]

I just worked 16 hours straight yesterday. 4th of July weekend smacked me in the face. So I haven't read either. I'm off today but need to go in to work to do paperwork and the like, so we'll see what happens. No sweat girlies!

[Karlyflower *The Vampire Ninja, Luminescent Monster & Wendigo Nerd Goddess of Canada (according to The Hulk)*]

I just realised I don't even have this last night :'(.... I thought I got it on my Kobo.... but it's not there and not available there. I am officially the worst!

Oh jess, I feel you!! I had July 1 off (Canada day!) but I had to come into work anyways.

[Heather ~*dread mushrooms*~]

Okay, I've finished the first story, but I'm going to hold off till you guys have more time on your hands. I hope things calm down for you soon! ♥

[Mir]

Heather *Thermonuclear Bomb of Death* wrote: "I'm so glad someone actually thinks to make these threads because I never do! I read this before but I hope I'll appreciate it more this time. :)"

How do you make a buddy-read discussion thread?

[Heather ~*dread mushrooms*~]

I think you just go to the bottom of the book page and post a new topic. :)

[Jess ❈Harbinger of Blood-Soaked Rainbows❈]

I loved The Bloody Chamber! What an amazing writer Angela Carter was! Her descriptions and style are breathtaking.

I admit I never really heard the tale of Bluebeard before so I went into this one not knowing the outcome, and it was bloody fantastic. (view spoiler)[I actually kept thinking that the piano turner was going to end up being the sadistic murderer and her husband would save her. (hide spoiler)] But I liked the way it ended. Full of imagery!

[Jess ❈Harbinger of Blood-Soaked Rainbows❈]

I did not like The Courtship of Mr. Lyon as much. I think it lacked the emotion and the depth of characters that the first story had so much of. I'm about the start the second Beauty & The Beast retelling though so I will be interested in comparing the two.

[Heather ~*dread mushrooms*~]

I agree about The Bloody Chamber. Although I felt (view spoiler)[the piano tuner being her "lover" happened a bit too quickly (hide spoiler)] and I wish there'd been more reasoning behind the husband's actions.

[Mir]

Is there any version of Bluebeard where he makes sense?

[Jess ❈Harbinger of Blood-Soaked Rainbows❈]

I found the "instalove" thing a bit awkward also. I understand why he fell in love with her, but then all of a sudden, when she needed him, she fell in love with him too which felt forced. The hard thing about fairytales, and short stories for that matter, at least for me is that there isn't enough time to really give depth to the characters. I kept picturing the husband as Rumplestiltskin from OUAT.

(view spoiler)[I was ok with the husband being the way he was. Like Miriam said, Bluebeard in general was just a sadistic psycho and makes no sense. I got a lot of sense of his character just being obsessed with darkness and control, similar actually to Christian Grey. I thought the parallels between the wives' deaths and his paintings of martyrdoms was really interesting. I wish that the mother's character had been a little bit more fleshed out actually. (hide spoiler)] And also, do you know what time period the story was supposed to be set in? I kept thinking late 19th century, but it was ambiguous.

[Heather ~*dread mushrooms*~]

Yeah, total control freak, needing a woman who wouldn't "betray" him. Which was probably why her innocence attracted him.

They had phones, so you're probably right about the time period.

[Jess ❈Harbinger of Blood-Soaked Rainbows❈]

Yeah I kept thinking of Victorian Gothic....maybe turn of the century, but there were hints that made me think it could be more like twenties.....I dunno.

[Heather ~*dread mushrooms*~]

I just finished "Mr. Lyon." Not too deviant from other BatB retellings, but it could have been more interesting with a few more pages. Nothing really notable there, though, except the writing. I have no trouble picturing these stories!

I'll be starting "The Tiger's Bride" later tonight probably.

BTW I agree about short stories in general. I hardly ever love them because there's so little time to grab me, you know? So little time for development. I did really love that "Ballroom Blitz" one from tor, though.

[Jess ❈Harbinger of Blood-Soaked Rainbows❈]

I need to read that one!!! I am about halfway through The Tiger's Bride. Will finish it tonight.

That's exactly how I felt about "Mr. Lyon." I just felt like it was totally "been there, done that" except that he was a lion except for a wolf or bear which is usually the norm. But the 1946 French film version definitely has a feline/lion form for the Beast, so it's not totally original. I thought the ending was a total cop-out. It was never expanded or worked out, so it was like. {insert happily ever after here}

[Jess ❈Harbinger of Blood-Soaked Rainbows❈]

So I finished "The Tiger's Bride" and while I liked the twist at the end of that one, I felt like the writing went in circles and circles and the purple prose kind of covered up the fact that there wasn't much story.

I think I have a love/hate relationship with her writing. I think it's beautiful, and at times she has such a way with words, but I also think its way too heavy-handed at times and I don't get a real sense of her world-building. It is almost too heavy handed with symbolism and metaphor, and honestly, at times, I just want to read the story.

[Heather ~*dread mushrooms*~]

I would probably rather read these as full novels....I do love the writing but it's almost too much for the short length. I might check out some of her novels at some point.

I'm starting "Puss-in-Boots." NOT my favorite fairy tale, so we'll see how it goes.

[Jess ❈Harbinger of Blood-Soaked Rainbows❈]

Yeah I am starting Puss in Boots today also.

I agree that as full length novels, these would be better. I really did love "The Bloody Chamber" but the second two underwhelmed me.

[Heather ~*dread mushrooms*~]

For some reason BatB retellings have never impressed me much, unless they do something completely left field. I've read so much of the same old stuff, I guess. And apparently I'm hard to please when it comes to retellings, lol.

[Jess ❈Harbinger of Blood-Soaked Rainbows❈]

Yeah, I agree. The ending of "The Tiger's Bride" was kinda new, but I was honestly bored, and I felt like characters and ideas just weren't finished. Also, (view spoiler)[ Did you find the whole getting naked thing just a little bizarre? I didn't understand the Beast's OR Beauty's motivation for anything (hide spoiler)]

"The Courtship of Mr. Lyon" was just a regurgitation of the original, and I prefer the original, so.......

[Karlyflower *The Vampire Ninja, Luminescent Monster & Wendigo Nerd Goddess of Canada (according to The Hulk)*]

I'm sorry ladies :(.... I am having the worst luck time-wise right now! My life is a mess.

[Jess ❈Harbinger of Blood-Soaked Rainbows❈]

I've totally been there. I still haven't finished Jane Eyre.....so we're all good sweets:)

[Heather ~*dread mushrooms*~]

Karlyyyyyyy!!! We've missed you! :)

[Heather ~*dread mushrooms*~]

Jess ❈Harbinger of Blood-Soaked Rainbows❈ wrote: "Yeah, I agree. The ending of "The Tiger's Bride" was kinda new, but I was honestly bored, and I felt like characters and ideas just weren't finished. Also..."


It WAS quite bizarre. I like the idea; she just didn't go anywhere with it. It could have been sexy or perverse (in a good way).

[Jess ❈Harbinger of Blood-Soaked Rainbows❈]

YES! It was just one of those weird things that happened and I was like "Am I missing something here?" The style of this story reminded me of this tor short which I probably rated higher at the time than I would now. Too many things were left underdeveloped.

[Karlyflower *The Vampire Ninja, Luminescent Monster & Wendigo Nerd Goddess of Canada (according to The Hulk)*]

Oh heather..... I have missed you ladies more than you know!!

[Karlyflower *The Vampire Ninja, Luminescent Monster & Wendigo Nerd Goddess of Canada (according to The Hulk)*]

So I ordered it online and it's expected arrival is Tuesday. Hopefully I get it then.... sorry for being lame :/

[Heather ~*dread mushrooms*~]

Karly *The Vampire Ninja & Luminescent Monster* wrote: "So I ordered it online and it's expected arrival is Tuesday. Hopefully I get it then.... sorry for being lame :/"

Hopefully the postal service doesn't decide to go all wonky like with Ever After. But even if it does, we forgive you. ;)

Side note: I got my copy of The Mad Scientist's Daughter yesterday and it's so prettyyyy!!! I can't wait to read it.

[Heather ~*dread mushrooms*~]

I just finished "Puss-in-Boots." I didn't like the writing style on that one, and it's not my favorite story anyway, so meh.

But I remember really liking "The Erl-king," which is up next, so I'm hopeful!

[Karlyflower *The Vampire Ninja, Luminescent Monster & Wendigo Nerd Goddess of Canada (according to The Hulk)*]

Yes, hopefully not!! It really is pretty, I only got the e version though :(... because I was excited ;)

[Karlyflower *The Vampire Ninja, Luminescent Monster & Wendigo Nerd Goddess of Canada (according to The Hulk)*]

Okay so I ordered 'Bloody Chamber' yesterday and it said it would show up Tuesday.... I got it today. I still want to finish DT IV first, but I should be good to start Monday (possibly even Sunday)

[Jess ❈Harbinger of Blood-Soaked Rainbows❈]

I'm still on "Puss in Boots" Karly. I have not had a lot of reading time lately. So you're good.

[Karlyflower *The Vampire Ninja, Luminescent Monster & Wendigo Nerd Goddess of Canada (according to The Hulk)*]

I am looking forward to her version of 'The snow child', I didn't realise it was in there.

[Jess ❈Harbinger of Blood-Soaked Rainbows❈]

ME TOO!!

[Karlyflower *The Vampire Ninja, Luminescent Monster & Wendigo Nerd Goddess of Canada (according to The Hulk)*]

I'm excited to go camping tomorrow *squee*, I really need some time away! Hopefully I will get some reading time in :D

[Jess ❈Harbinger of Blood-Soaked Rainbows❈]

Have an amazing time my love! I will be working. And working. And working.

[Karlyflower *The Vampire Ninja, Luminescent Monster & Wendigo Nerd Goddess of Canada (according to The Hulk)*]

That's been the story of my life lately..... it'll be nice to get a break. I'm looking forward to some serious beachside time.

[Heather ~*dread mushrooms*~]

Karly *The Vampire Ninja & Luminescent Monster* wrote: "I am looking forward to her version of 'The snow child', I didn't realise it was in there."

Which one is it???

[Karlyflower *The Vampire Ninja, Luminescent Monster & Wendigo Nerd Goddess of Canada (according to The Hulk)*]

It's called 'the snow child', m'love! Page 91 in my copy, it's only a few pages long

[Heather ~*dread mushrooms*~]

Bahaha, I guess I didn't realize it was in there either/didn't look at the table of contents. That one should be up after "The Erl-king."

[Jess ❈Harbinger of Blood-Soaked Rainbows❈]

I think it is. I'm trying to sit by the pool tomorrow so I should get some reading done. One would hope.

[Karlyflower *The Vampire Ninja, Luminescent Monster & Wendigo Nerd Goddess of Canada (according to The Hulk)*]

Headed camping tomorrow,ladies. So I'm hoping likewise, Jess!

Hope you both have lovely weekends! Love ya xo

[Heather ~*dread mushrooms*~]

Well, Karly, I'm thinking "The Snow Child" might not be exactly what you were hoping for. :/

[Jess ❈Harbinger of Blood-Soaked Rainbows❈]

I got absolutely no reading done this weekend:( I've got to admit, I'm not in a reading place lately. It's horrible.