Because You Love to Hate Me by Multiple Authors → Start Date: July 16, 2017

[Sarah | Kerosene.Lit]

Feel free to join me and Esther for our buddy read of Because You Love to Hate Me!

[P.O.G]

yes :)

[Sarah | Kerosene.Lit]

I'm so excited for this. I have such high hopes, so it better live up to my expectations. :P

[P.O.G]

Hahaha me too! I'm not that expectant tho I'm just curious because it's either going to be awesome or not

[Sarah | Kerosene.Lit]

The Blood of Imuriv

(view spoiler)[Uhhhh 2 stars? I didn't like this. I found it quite boring. As a villain, I found Rhone to be pretty one-dimensional. I mean, obviously it's a short story, so there's only so much you can elaborate on with his character, but the whole jealously towards his sister wasn't anything exciting. At first, I thought it was going to be a twist and have the sister be the evil one. I would have preferred that :P. (hide spoiler)]

[P.O.G]

I'm starting hopefully today

[Sarah | Kerosene.Lit]

No problem!

[Sarah | Kerosene.Lit]

Jack

(view spoiler)[I liked this one. I'd say 3 stars. To be honest, though, I thought the giant was a boy until about half way. Lol oops. I clearly missed something while reading. The entire time I was reading, I was unsure how this was going to be a villain story, but that ending was clever. I liked that their relationship was developing into a friendship, but in the end, the giant chose her duty to her family, whether it was morally right or not. (hide spoiler)]

[Sarah | Kerosene.Lit]

Gwen and Art and Lance

(view spoiler)[Oh my gosh, Esther, this book is not going well for me so far lol. I didn't like this one at all. I think it was the text message format that ruined it for me. In general, though, I didn't like the story, and for some reason having the King Arthur references felt a little cheesy. And it didn't feel like a villain story at all? (hide spoiler)]

[Sarah | Kerosene.Lit]

Shirley & Jim

(view spoiler)[Once again, I'm disappointed. This one started off great for me, but I thought the ending was a little lackluster. I think I expected truly vile villains going into these short stories, and they're all just meh for me. (hide spoiler)]

[Sarah | Kerosene.Lit]

The Blessing of Little Wants

(view spoiler)[So, Sigrid herself was the villain and she killed a fragment of her imagination? Lol I'm confused. (hide spoiler)]

[P.O.G]

Wow you read fast, I started it but I don't really get the book yet I guess. I'm struggling to get into the flow. Also I'm a slow reader because I have a few other books I'm busy with too

[Sarah | Kerosene.Lit]

That's ok! Take however long you need. I'll always come back and check what you've posted :)

[Sarah | Kerosene.Lit]

The Sea Witch

(view spoiler)[Yay! Finally one that I really enjoyed. For me, this one actually seemed to be a complete story with an actual plot from beginning to end. (hide spoiler)]

Beautiful Venom

(view spoiler)[Absolutely amazing. This is my favourite story so far. It was interesting how she incorporated rape culture in a fantasy setting. Mei Fend was completely victimized and punished for something that she had no control over, which resulted in her having to live in torment for eternity. I loved this Medusa twist! (hide spoiler)]

Death Knell

(view spoiler)[I loved this one as well. It was really clever how the story came full circle in the end. I thought it was going to end with Death killing Grace. Although I should have seen it coming, this ending was so much better. It's like the circle of life, except it's the circle of death lol! This is the first time I've read anything by Victoria Schwab, and I really like her writing. (hide spoiler)]

[Maddie]

I just heard about this book....... Seems so exciting!!

[Sarah | Kerosene.Lit]

Maddison wrote: "I just heard about this book....... Seems so exciting!!"

I didn't enjoy the first few stories as much as I thought I would, but it's really starting to pick up now :)

[Maddie]

Especially as I watch Catriona and Samantha! How did they come up with this cool idea?

Is it any good?

[Sarah | Kerosene.Lit]

Samantha is one of my favourites to watch! Sadly, though, I didn't like the story her paired author came up with, which sucks because Samantha's idea was really fun (King Arthur meets Hades and Persephone). After each story, it lists the idea the booktuber came up with for their author, and there's a little piece written from the booktuber about their thoughts on the story. Some stories are meh, some are ok, and some are amazing. I guess that's what always happens with short story collections :P.

[Maddie]

Of course Hades and Persephone. No surprises there :p

But how cool is that!? I didn't realise they mixed myths up.

[P.O.G]

Sarah Louise wrote: "Maddison wrote: "I just heard about this book....... Seems so exciting!!"

I didn't enjoy the first few stories as much as I thought I would, but it's really starting to pick up now :)"

Omg! I thought it was just me. It's just so boring and dry. I'm trying really hard to get into it but nothing. I'm so happy to hear you had the same experience

[Sarah | Kerosene.Lit]

Maddison wrote: "Of course Hades and Persephone. No surprises there :p

But how cool is that!? I didn't realise they mixed myths up."

Hahahaha I know, right? I wasn't surprised at all to see Hades and Persephone.

[Sarah | Kerosene.Lit]

Esther wrote: "Sarah Louise wrote: "Maddison wrote: "I just heard about this book....... Seems so exciting!!"

I didn't enjoy the first few stories as much as I thought I would, but it's really starting to pick u..."

Have you got to Marissa Meyer's story yet? That's when I find it starts to get really good!

[Maddie]

Well I hope when I get it it makes me more pleased than it made you :p

[Sarah | Kerosene.Lit]

Esther, how far along are you now? I've been so busy this weekend, I haven't been able to read much, but according to my Kobo I have about an hour left :)

[P.O.G]

Sarah Louise wrote: "Esther, how far along are you now? I've been so busy this weekend, I haven't been able to read much, but according to my Kobo I have about an hour left :)"

I haven't have much time either. not even with the other challenges I have, but I'm hoping on getting some readin time today and tmr. I'm at the first story tho, I feel bad cause ur so fast :(

[Sarah | Kerosene.Lit]

I finished :D! Don't worry about taking your time. It's no problem at all.

[Katriann]

I just started this book today and decided to jump in on this buddy read. Hopefully it's okay. :)

The Blood of Imuriv:
I agree with Sarah Louise (view spoiler)[ that the story would have been more interesting if the sister had been the evil one. I get that Rhone was jealous of his sister but somehow his jealousy didn't seem like a strong enough motivation for him to kill her. I mean, obviously he had anger management issues but the ending just felt too sudden somehow. (hide spoiler)]

Jack:
I'm not sure (view spoiler)[ I actually liked the giant as a character that much. I guess I found her character a little boring. Or at least I did until she decided to sacrifice Jack in order to please her family and to better lead her people. I did like the ending. I didn't really see it coming so it was nice to be surprised. (hide spoiler)]

[Sarah | Kerosene.Lit]

Katriann, I agree. I think The Blood of Imuriv would be better if it was an actual full length book.

[Maddie]

I've got this book coming at the library hopefully soon.

[Katriann]

Maddison, hopefully you'll get the book soon. Then you can join the buddy read. :)

Gwen and Art and Lance:

This one (view spoiler)[ was a fast read but sometimes I forgot to check who was texting who and got a little confused. I didn't really like Gwen's character. She was annoying and lied all the time. She was just using everyone to gain whatever she wanted. Lance seemed like an okay boy. Or at least I found him more interesting than Art. (hide spoiler)]

Shirley & Jim:

I agree with Sarah Louise. (view spoiler)[ The ending was kind of boring. I expected Jim to be the villain in this story but I expected him to do something... I don't know... bigger and more interesting than release some files and emails. Also the ending sounded like there should be a sequel about Shirley tracking down Jim, which is a little weird in a short story. (hide spoiler)]

[Maddie]

Yeah I hope so!

[Katriann]

The Blessing of Little Wants:

I found this one (view spoiler)[ a bit confusing. It took me a while to understand what happened in the end. Anyway, I totally expected Thomas to be the villain who somehow lured Sigrid to that island. Clearly, I was wrong about that. :D (hide spoiler)]

The Sea Witch:

This one was quite (view spoiler)[ interesting. Nerit made some pretty bad decisions in the story but somehow it's hard to blame her or to see her as the villain. It wasn't her fault that everyone treated her badly. Well, maybe she didn't have to look down on her friends or try to use a love potion to make Lorindel fall in love with her, but it definitely wasn't her fault that Samuel wanted to sell her to a circus. I feel like most people just treated her rather unfairly (hide spoiler)]

[P.O.G]

To be honest the cristine part was pretty funny

(view spoiler)[ I think I might need a double vaccine tho, not only I have all the characteristics she mentioned but I'm a double portion of them. I don't see red but black, I have an extremely hard and terrifying laugh, I'm not capable of unholding a grudge, I can't wait for the government to approve 'the purge' I already have a list of people I would visit on that day and I don't like The Beatles..... I might have a problem guys😩 (hide spoiler)]

[Sarah | Kerosene.Lit]

I agree, Katriann. The Blessing of Little Wants (view spoiler)[was really confusing, but I did like her writing overall. It's weird, though. I clicked on the author's name and this book is the only thing listed? I wonder who she is? Or why she was picked? (hide spoiler)]

[Katriann]

@Esther, hahaha you'd better hurry and get the vaccine! :D I don't like Beatles but that's probably the only thing on the list that applies to me.

@Sarah Louise, yes I don't know why she was picked. Maybe she's working on her first novel or something and was picked because the publisher or the editor wanted to include her in the project.

[Katriann]

Beautiful Venom:

I liked this one a lot. (view spoiler)[ Mei Feng was definitely not to blame for what happened to her. I think she was punished unfairly. She was basically punished for being raped while the rapist received no punishment at all. The story effectively reminds the reader that too often the victims of rape are blamed for what happens to them. I think it's great that Cindy Pon decided to talk about rape in her story. It's important to write about topics like that in YA literature. I think YA authors should not shy away from difficult topics. I also love how the author combined Greek mythology and Imperial China. (hide spoiler)]

Death Knell:

I really liked (view spoiler)[ the writing style in this one. It was an interesting story too. Like Sarah Louise, I expected Death to kill Grace. Definitely didn't expect Grace to become the next Death. That was a clever way to end the story. (hide spoiler)]

[Katriann]

Marigold:

I found this story (view spoiler)[ pretty good. I liked the twist in the end where it turned out Marigold wasn't the nice and quiet servant Isaac thought her to be. I suspected George wanted Isaac to marry Marigold so that he could benefit from the marriage as well. However, I never realized he had forced Marigold to pretend she's in love with Isaac. (hide spoiler)]

You, You, It's All About You:

I really liked this one. (view spoiler)[ I found Slate pretty creepy, to be honest. That mask she wore made me think she had psychological problems. Also the way she kept calling herself god was quite disturbing. I don't agree with all of Slate's actions and decisions but I can understand, why she would like to feel powerful after being beaten and bullied as a child. (hide spoiler)]

[Sarah | Kerosene.Lit]

I just realized that I didn't update for the last few stories. Oops!

We seem to be having most of the same thoughts, Katriann! I really liked You, You, It's All About You. (view spoiler)[I'm usually iffy about second person perspective, but I really liked it here. This one and Beautiful Venom were my two favourites and the only ones I gave 5 stars to. (hide spoiler)]

[Katriann]

Okay, I finished the book yesterday.

Julian Breaks Every Rule:

I had several (view spoiler)[ theories about this story. Throughout the story I was never sure whether or not Julian killed all those people. I thought that maybe the deaths were just coincidences or then Julian really had some strange powers. Or maybe he didn't have any special powers. Maybe he just killed all those people and then made up stories about their deaths to feel less guilty. Anyway, whatever the case, I couldn't really see Julian as evil. He seemed like such a harmless teenage boy. :D (hide spoiler)]

Indigo and Shade:

I think this story was an (view spoiler)[ okay read, but it was a bit too easy to guess that Indigo was the beast. The end was a bit of a surprise though. I didn't expect Shade to end up living in the woods waiting for the next beast to appear. (hide spoiler)]

Sera

This was (view spoiler)[ an interesting story. It made me think of all those horror movies with possessed creepy children. Sera was clearly not your typical little girl but I think her mother didn't treat her right. I guess she was afraid of Sera but it was still awful how she did nothing when Callie tried to kill Sera. (hide spoiler)]

[Sarah | Kerosene.Lit]

Ha! I totally know what you mean. (view spoiler)[At first I thought that maybe Julian was imagining killing all these people. It was never clear if he actually did. I really liked this one, though. It had a weird humor to it. (hide spoiler)]

Indigo and Shade (view spoiler)[I thought Shade turned into the beast in the end, and now he's waiting in the woods to eventually turn someone else. I have such a terrible memory. Maybe I'm thinking of the wrong story? lol (hide spoiler)]

[Katriann]

Oh yeah, that's probably what happened. (view spoiler)[ Now when you mentioned it I think it was actually said in the end that Shade turned into the beast. (hide spoiler)]