Week One - Chapters 1-5

[Rachel]

This is the place to discuss anything that occurs in chapters 1-5.

[Kathleen]

I blew through the first five chapters during a particularly slow day at work last week. My initial reaction is that this is the type of book I would have really enjoyed when I was younger. It was totally my thing then. I'm a little more wary now but interested to see where it goes.

[Raechel]

It is a really easy read, but I find myself annoyed with the main character at this point. I tend to really hate when female characters are weak, to me she seems to be hanging her life on her friend Mal. Here's hoping that she finds her voice and comes into her own now that she has been separated.

[Kathleen]

Raechel wrote: "It is a really easy read, but I find myself annoyed with the main character at this point. I tend to really hate when female characters are weak, to me she seems to be hanging her life on her frien..."

This is similar to the reaction I had. I was very glad when they were separated at the end of this first part because up until that point I felt that we learned much more about her relationship with Mal than we did about Alina herself.

In some ways I feel that that may be part of the story. Alina herself doesn't seem to know who she is without Mal who has been by her side since they were children. He's such a large part of her life. I would have been very interested to see what happened had he actually died because that would be a much harder break and would push Alina more in what I think could have been very interesting ways.

[[deleted user]]

I just finished chapter 5 while reading on the train. Normally I like Russian-inspired fantasy stories but this one seems to just have taken Russian vocabulary and none of the culture/folklore (unless volcra are based on something?).

[Kathleen]

Amanda wrote: Normally I like Russian-inspired fantasy stories but this one seems to just have taken Russian vocabulary and none of the culture/folklore

Yes! This is something that early on made me raise an eye-brow. It's another thing I was giving the book more time to see if it developed into something more.

[Grayson]

Finally caught up on this tonight!

I agree with most of the above comments. I was hoping this wouldn't turn into another "girl dependent on boy" story so I was much more involved after Alina and Mal got separated pretty early on. I hope she gets developed more than just saying "You're crazy" at everybody and not having much else of a voice. Interested to see where the story goes!

I really liked Chapter 2 with the suspenseful journey and the horrific attack!

[Erica ☘️]

I'm liking the book so far. It will be interesting to find out more about the mysterious Darkling and see how Alina and he interact as time passes.

[Kathleen]

I read a bit farther because I was stuck in a waiting room, but so far the Darkling is making me roll my eyes and say "obvious romantic endgame is obvious." Have I read too much YA?