As I Descended, by Robin Talley → Start Date: October 10, 2016

[Vicki]

Everyone is welcome to join Trisha and me!

[Katie]

I have been reading this one (slowly, due to college), and it's been good so far. I hope you guys like it.

[Vicki]

Thanks, Katie.

[Trisha, lives on coffee]

Thank you Katie!!

I'm hoping we'll love it! :D

looks like there are 22 chapters

I'll be back after 5 (after I finish another book :D)

[Vicki]

Ok I'll do the same.

[Trisha, lives on coffee]

Just kidding :D
looks like the book is broke out in acts.
I plan to come back after each one.

Act 1 is just four chapters

Maria(view spoiler)[ she's got a lot on her plate - fighting to stay even with a girl who cheats her way through
also with all the ghosts. I wonder why she's not telling anyone what the board/ouija said... (hide spoiler)]

Mateo(view spoiler)[ he seems sweet although kind of....snobby? or maybe...bitter? I'm not sure where to categorize him but he doesn't seem too bad - not as bad as others in the room with them (hide spoiler)]

Lily(view spoiler)[ my heart breaks for her that she can't tell her mom and dad the truth.
but I don't think her idea for Delilah is fair. they should catch her like they did before - not drug her. (hide spoiler)]

Brandon(view spoiler)[ sucks that that was his 2nd warning and now he's just sitting downstairs while everyone else hangs out (hide spoiler)]

[Vicki]

Trisha wrote: "Just kidding :D
looks like the book is broke out in acts.
I plan to come back after each one.

Act 1 is just four chapters

Maria she's got a lot on her plate - fighting to stay even with a girl w..."

Okay, that makes more sense then.

[Vicki]

Act I and I am loving it! I had no idea this was a retelling of Macbeth!

Maria (view spoiler)[I'm worried that she will get the brunt of whatever from the board came because it was said that you can't leave the game "open" but they had to leave it open since the chandelier crashed on it and her name was what came up. I think there will be something perhaps between her and Delilah since they are neck-to-neck in their grades. (hide spoiler)]

Delilah (view spoiler)[might have been "in charge" forever but it can't continue through eternity. I think somehow Karma will visit her. What a spoiled little brat! (hide spoiler)]

Brandon (view spoiler)[I agree with you and he probably did the least of everyone. He's observant too. He noticed the cats coming in and thought maybe he had forgotten to lock the door or someone opened it, but then later he noticed something off again with the door. (hide spoiler)]

Lily (view spoiler)[ is supposed to be even smarter than Maria, so I wonder why she isn't up for valedictorian. Maybe they said why and I missed/forgot it. (hide spoiler)]

Their plan (view spoiler)[to drug or make sure Delilah uses oxy is SO wrong and I would think could implicate both of them should anything go wrong. I hope they don't. (hide spoiler)]

[Vicki]

Act 2

Supervising our volleyball games tonight so on phone but HAD to make a short comment!!

Lily (view spoiler)[is way off base!!! Giving Delilah LSD & LYING to Maria!!! Terrible!!!! She has no remorse and continues to make it worse! (hide spoiler)]

Maria (view spoiler)[ is an exemplary character to use to teach our youth why they should NEVER let someone coerce them to do something they don't want to do!!! Ugh! I feel bad for her to a small degree but she should never gone along with Lily! (hide spoiler)]

Brandon (view spoiler)[ definitely knows something is up with the whole situation. (hide spoiler)]

Delilah (view spoiler)[did NOT deserve that!!! If Lily & Maria get caught I'm assuming they'd be up on manslaughter if Delilah dies and something else serious if she lives for being complicit in drugging her. So awful!!! (hide spoiler)]

[Trisha, lives on coffee]

yay! I'm glad you like it too!!

Act 2

Lily(view spoiler)[ woah. what is wrong with this girl? she just really wanted revenge against Delilah as much as she wanted Maria to go to college with her. I knew there was something odd about that pill (hide spoiler)]

Maria(view spoiler)[ poor Maria. a girlfriend that won't claim her (and now she can say it was all in maria's head and that MARIA killed Delilah. yikes!) and now she's bullied her into hurting this other girl. (hide spoiler)]

Delilah(view spoiler)[ that was awful. sure, she made some pretty poor choices and didn't see how she was hurting Maria or anyone else
but she didn't deserve to jump out a window! (hide spoiler)]

Brandon(view spoiler)[ I wonder how long it's going to take him to connect Maria to doing something bad. I don't think very long (hide spoiler)]

wow this one is good so far!

[Vicki]

I'm so glad we both like it too! YAY!!

[Vicki]

Act 3

Maria (view spoiler)[I feel so bad for her but at the same time she shouldn't have done all that she did to Delilah and then adding fuel to the fire with Brandon. I'm a wee bit confused but she basically told Altagracia to do away with Brandon if she had to, right? That's why she said, "It was me." Did I read that all correctly? (hide spoiler)]

Lily (view spoiler)[is falling apart too. Her relationship with Maria will probably never be the same. They are totally different now that all this has happened. (hide spoiler)]

Brandon (view spoiler)[ is dead!! Ugh! AWFUL!!! I can't believe that Maria got to the point she did with her "best friend." At the end all that mattered to her was not getting caught. She didn't have a deep love for Brandon or she'd have never put him in harm's way. I feel terrible for him because he was nothing but a good friend. Even telling what he knew was because he was such a good person that he had to do what he knew was right. (hide spoiler)]

Homecoming (view spoiler)[was just awful! Poor Brandon's memory wasn't even sacred. Maria took even that from him by falling apart in front of everyone. Do you think she really saw Brandon's ghost or do you think it's just her guilt making her see him in her head? Nothing matters to her anymore except what I perceive to be her guilt. (hide spoiler)]

[Vicki]

Act 4 OMG

Maria (view spoiler)[ I am SO SO SAD that she actually said she could kill again...what's one more murder? Ugh! She has REALLY changed in all of this. Seeing and hearing all the various spirit things, Brandon's face, the fire, etc. I'd have been petrified! But she ended up handling it well. I fear what's going to happen in the end. (hide spoiler)]

Lily (view spoiler)[now she is hearing tons of ghosts and seeing things too, they've totally synced with her in her dreams. I feel like she and Maria both will have a lot to suffer from their wrong-doings. Lily started it all so possibly she'd get even worse. I think the ghosts/spirits/dream syncing are mentally/emotionally almost punishment enough but I don't think it'll end there. The scene where she had the razors in her hands and was holding on tight, her wrists were getting cut then the laughter and she looked in the mirror and it was her smiling. WTH? That was FREAKY! (hide spoiler)]

Mateo (view spoiler)[might do something to Maria or once he tells that will be the danger he is to her. (hide spoiler)]

Delilah (view spoiler)[I assume she's still in a coma? I want to know what's going on with her. (hide spoiler)]

[Vicki]

Finished and I really did like it a lot! I considered 5 stars.

Maria (view spoiler)[again I was so sad that she was willing to go to the depths that she did. I was concerned she was going to kill Mateo. I'm really glad that she reached out for his hand and it appeared that she knew that would be her demise, but she also finally realize that she deserved punishment. Her entire journey and her character changes truly upset me because there are Maria's in this world who would go to any length. (hide spoiler)]

Lily (view spoiler)[I also felt bad that she ended up killing herself, but how else could it have ended? She could've gotten caught, arrested, and imprisoned, or she could've been killed. But I think her killing herself exemplified how much she really did go crazy for all that they did and she was eventually eaten up with guilt or she knew it would end badly at someone else's hands. (hide spoiler)]

Mateo (view spoiler)[I didn't think it was right that he got the prize, but I guess it wouldn't have worked for Maria to get it either. I am glad that in the end he went to UVA, but why on earth did his dad kick him out? I'm glad that he has a new boyfriend and seems happy. He always just wanted to know the truth and get justice, so in the end I think he was a good character. (hide spoiler)]

Delilah (view spoiler)[was my surprise, at least to a degree. I think she wrapped up the moral of the story. When you get 2nd chances, make them count because not everyone does. I like that she also changed and she understood why Maria did what she did and was willing to forgive her. I love that! (hide spoiler)]

[Trisha, lives on coffee]

yay!! I'm so glad you liked it!

I just finished Act 3:

Brandon(view spoiler)[ I agree. surprised that he is gone! and all because Maria wished to keep her secret. awful (hide spoiler)]

homecoming(view spoiler)[ was awful, wasn't it? but grieving is so different for so many different people. I thought Mateo's anger was a little unfair
but I did think Maria's actions were awful (hide spoiler)]

Lily(view spoiler)[ she should have see what her need for vengeance would do to Maria. Lily just wanted to hurt Delilah for making fun of her (hide spoiler)]

[Trisha, lives on coffee]

Act 4

Lily(view spoiler)[ remember her dream about cutting her wrists. I think she may end up as a "suicide" or a "suicide attempt" even though it's the spirits driving her to do it (hide spoiler)]

Maria(view spoiler)[ wow, I could not imagine demanding from spirits to give me information I need. the girls has guts, that's for sure (hide spoiler)]

Mateo(view spoiler)[ maybe just his knowing is the danger or the rumors he's spreading. more than likely, it's just the spirits reinforcing what she already thinks (hide spoiler)]

it's getting(view spoiler)[ really intense with all the activity and the random sleeping and reality slipping for both Maria and Lily - it's hard to know what's real and what's not (hide spoiler)]

[Trisha, lives on coffee]

I'm done too!

Lily & Maria(view spoiler)[ I agree. it was sad how this all went down but once they made the decision with Delilah, that all sent it rolling. once Maria became unhinged and then Lily - I don't know that there was another end to this or not (hide spoiler)]

so...(view spoiler)[ do you think the grounds were really haunted?
or was it all in maria and Lily's head? (hide spoiler)]

Mateo(view spoiler)[ I was surprised he still got the prize but I don't think that was a bad thing. after being kicked out (his dad sucks) I think it was the only way to get him support and a means to continue his education (hide spoiler)]

Delilah(view spoiler)[ I like that she wasn't such a bad person. she really is a villain to us through Lily and Maria
but in the end, we know she's not such a bad person and realizes that highschool is such a weird place and that who we were there doesn't define us. I'm glad she's trying to be a better person too (hide spoiler)]

[Vicki]

YAY!!! I am SO GLAD you loved it too!! Loved your comments! I guess we both pretty much agreed on the characters and even being unsure of what was real and what wasn't. I thought that was just my own confusion. LOL

I did not catch or predict (view spoiler)[Lily's suicide. You are so good at doing that!! (hide spoiler)]

Your question was my question too. But with all of the reality of things happening like (view spoiler)[the chandelier falling and the cat coming in when the door was locked and BRANDON (I think) noticed that, I do think the house was haunted IF you believe in that spiritual realm. (hide spoiler)]