April Buddy Read - Complicate Me (Chan, Hanne)

[Chan]

Aww....Matt's mom is so awesome. I wish she were real

[Chan]

Hanne...i so want to slap Monica. Who does she think she is??? She's a Goldigger.

[Chan]

chpater 15

Oh dear. A horrible, horrible bet. I do not see good things coming from this.

I'm also a little peeved that Tati would react that way to Grace going to grad school. Be upset about Grace throwing away an amazing opportunity, but address it later. Not right after Grace just announced her big news.

[Chan]

Soooo....i'm not really understanding why they are mad at each other. Grace is really blowing this out of proportion. It makes no sense and seems totally lame. Then they don't talk to each other for weeks.

Also, Grace is really giving off mixed signals. "i don't want to be serious" "This is just fun" "Let's keep it casual" but her actions are saying something totally different.

Didn't she ask for the annulment and Matt asked to stay married? He gives her what she wants, then uses it as him not really loving her. AND she throws it in his face when they finally talk. I had to go back and remind myself that she requested for annulment. Grace is throwing me for a loop here.

[Hanne]

I'm only at chapter 14 so far. I couldn't stop reading last night, but I couldn't read today :( I'll check your messages later and answer better 😉 But I want to say that I'm loving the story and the characters!

[Chan]

I finished already. I'll let you lead the discussion :o)

[Hanne]

Chan wrote: "I finished already. I'll let you lead the discussion :o)"

Just tell me if you loved it lol

[Hanne]

Long post ahead lol

I just finished chapter 15, so I'm going to ignore your last message because I don't want a spoiler lol

I'm also not a fan of back and forth, I checked it and didn't see it.

Yes, Grace's financial situation is extreme! She does everything she can to help her family, knowing that her dad will probably buy a lot of beer with it.. She sacrifies a lot for them. I do like it that the author writes about all these free meals Grace comes up with. She address it and not just mentions that she's poor. I find it a little odd she doesn't work, besides going to school. It seems like she's a natural with her cello, so does she really needs all those hours studying?

That name, Pornsake, made me laugh. I thought it was a nickname, but it was his real name xD I also feared a little for a love triangle, but I was happy that Grace wanted Matt. I'm not sure what to think about Pornsake's action of buying her a bow.. I didn't trust that. At this point, I'm afraid she will end up with Pornsake one way.

Matt is so sweet with Grace. He would do anything for her, even contacting his dad for some money. I didn't hate his dad when he appeared, but I'm not a fan of Matt's brother and Monica. I think Monica still wants Matt, but she chose for money. That gold digger. Let's take turn slapping her ;) Yes, his mom was amazing. I'm glad he had her and how kind she is to Grace. Grace needs (and deserves) more love in her life.

That bet.. I don't trust it.. One bit.. I think Grace is going to find out and be upset that Matt wants to get married for that bet and not because he genuinely loves her.. I was also not happy with Tati's reaction. But I think she's going to miss her best friend and she believes that grad school is not the best choice for her.

[Hanne]

Some things I wanted to add :)

So far, I'm loving Matt and Grace, individually and together. I can't think of one thing that could ruin what they have. I'm a little afraid to know what happened between them.. But I also want to know what will bring them back together in the present lol. I think it will be the thing Matt wrote, because why otherwise end the first movement with that?

I'm loving the author's writing. It's real, emotional. There are enough details about feelings, situations and New York.

[Hanne]

I'm about to start the third movement.

I don't understand why Grace is so mad about being married to Matt or why they didn't talk for so long. They are so close, why let something like this ruin your awesome friendship???

I'm not too happy about Matt making Grace drunk to get married and not calling Grace for so long while he does call his mom. I'm curious about the reason Matt has for that. He really hurt Grace :/ I understand Grace's decision to join Dan, but that makes it totally impossible to reach her..

[Hanne]

Ms. Porter.. Not liking that name at all lol

[Hanne]

I couldn't stop reading last night and I needed to finish reading before I went to sleep, so I read until 3 am lol. I then thought some about the book, because the third movements was unexpected and emotional. I loved the story! I hope you did too!?

You were right in message 48!! I understand Matt's reaction to Grace's secret and that he needed that time. I hate Liz so so so much! I can't understand how you can keep something like that. Grace's life wasn't easy those last 15 years. I felt bad for her. I'm glad that it was clear that Grace never loved Dan like she loved/loves Matt. Grace and Matt belong together. I was happy that they reunited quite easily and how the book ended

[Chan]

LOL! You're too funny. Okay. So, I didn't love it. But what I did enjoy was that I was invested in a story and that I had emotional responses to some things. I have been numb for too long.

I, too, wanted to rip Liz's hair out. She was a true meanie! And that kid! ASH is... Her personality!!! The perfect blend of Matt and Grace and her own independence.

Part of my problem was I felt emotionally confused sometimes. I felt like the author would work hard to elicit a certain emotion, but then would abruptly switch gears and then not explain. I remember asking myself, what should I be feeling right now? What caused such a drastic change?

Also, Grace's family played such a major part, but we never got to meet them. And they kind of dropped out of the story. I would say Grace's family had more of an impact on their lives, than Matt's family. Grace's extreme financial situation governed the majority of the actions for almost half of the book.

Then there is the whole unbelievable "I couldn't find you" thing. If you are having his child and the letters are not working, go to his home. Go to his job. Contact his colleagues, supervisors, etc. He's semi-famous and he was winning awards. Grace could have taken his infant daughter to him. I understand Matt not finding Grace, but I didn't understand why Grace couldn't go to the doorstop of the address she was sending letters.

[Chan]

A few more things that I forgot to address.

Porter- I didn't like it either, but would Pornsake be better LOL

Marriage - I was also bummed that Grace reacted that way to their marriage. I was expecting her to be shocked, but not to completely push him away and then ignore him. That was a bummer.

Not calling Grace - I was upset that Matt didn't call Grace too, but once he explained about the collect calling and he didn't have money, I got it.

[Hanne]

I'm sorry you didn't love it :( How many stars would you give Before We Were Strangers?

Ash was amazing! She is the perfect blend of her parents. She was so mature about the whole situation.

I didn't feel that the author switched gears about the emotions.. Do you have an example? Maybe I understand better what you mean then :)

I must agree with several things, but I never thought of them like that before lol, like
1) Grace's family. The financial situation Grace was in was because of them, and that had an effect on a lot of things they did in the second movement. But I think Grace was done with her family after the letter Grace's mom wrote. Grace was still financially struggling, so she couldn't afford a trip to visit her sisters. Maybe they could have mentioned more in the third movements, but I won't say that I missed them then lol because I wanted that focus on Matt and Grace.
2) Grace could have indeed tried harder to find Matt. Matt not finding Grace made more sense indeed. But I just thought that Grace thought that Matt just didn't want anything to do with her and stopped trying. She also lived far from Matt and Matt traveled a lot, and Grace was travelling and just had Ash. But she indeed should have tried harder about something so important.

Lol, Pornsake. I still can't believe an author named a character that and that he became important to one of the characters.

I completely agree with the last two things you said ;)

[Chan]

You responded! I missed it.

Please don't apologize. Seriously, I enjoyed it. I was actually engaged and I couldn't be more happy about that. I've been feeling numb while reading lately.

I agree, Ash was amazing. She became my favorite character after she was introduced to us. She still had a young playful personality and she was very mature. The author did a great job with Ash. Perfect!

An example...Hmm...let's see. Gosh, I have to try and remember one. I think Monica might be an example. We were made to hate her, but at some point she changed and I have no idea when and why. The author never mentions Monica maturing or that she changed for the better. It was just that we (the readers) were to accept things were different and abruptly begin liking Monica. This was a difficult shift because she did some major crappy stuff, so an explanation of when the change happened and why would have been helpful for me.

Oh and I'll probably give 3 stars.

[Chan]

Now I'm going to check our other buddy read thread to see if you responded there too. It seems that it's not showing in my update feed.

[Hanne]

I don't post it on my update feed, you'll need to check your notifications for my posts lol

I'm happy to hear that, but I just wished that you loved it as much as I did.. You gave it the same rating as Complicate Me, and I went from 2 stars to 5 stars lol. I'm writing my review now.

Indeed, the author did a perfect job with Ash.

I understand what you mean. Sometimes a change is too fast and unexpected. I would never like Monica lol. I would need so much more time of her being nice for me to like her. I believe Monica changed when she discovered what Liz did to Grace and Matt when she kept Ash from Matt. She must think that Grace is a strong woman for raising Ash and making a career on her own