Elusion by Claudia Gabel → Start Date: August 7, 2014

[Rachel]

Join me and Lieniitte reading Elusion starting the 7th August :)

[(Liene)]

I can't wait! This has gotten mixed reviews, but the plot sounds very intriguing so I can't pass up reading it and I just got it a couple of weeks ago so this is perfect! :)

[Rachel]

Yeah I know, I was in two mind whether to read it or not but decided to just give it a go! Besides, the cover is so pretty that I couldn't resist :)

[Mandiann]

I will join you ladies. I will be listening to the audiobook of this.

[Rachel]

Great :)

[Vicki]

What a beautiful cover!

[Suzy]

Im in for this one. its on my list

[Adriana]

I'll join you :)

[Rachel]

Great! Looking forward to read this with you all :)

[Trisha, lives on coffee]

looks like I'm in too! I wasn't sure if I could get the book in time but it looks like I can :)

[Trisha, lives on coffee]

WOOHOO! I picked this up from the library today!
I can't wait to start tomorrow!!
I have some books to catch up on and then I'll start this one!

[Mandiann]

Wow is it 8/7 tomorrow? Hmm...I will be a few days behind on this one.

[(Liene)]

I started Obsidian last night, I just have about 150 pages left and then I'll be starting this one! :)

[Suzy]

starting it now. I love listening to audio books at work. It starts off well. Its nice when a book captures your attention right away

[Rachel]

I will be starting tonight but I think I'll be quite slow with this read, got a couple of other books to read at the moment too :) really looking forward to starting it though!

[Suzy]

I'm about half way done and I think that this is a pretty awesome book so far. I like the premise of humans living in a world were we cant go outside most days without a filter and that there isn't much beautiful nature left in the world because it kind of seems like we are heading that way.

I love the character building, (view spoiler)[ like with her mom barley getting out of bed and leaving all of her dads things where he left them before he died. its realistic grief and it hit home for me when Regan thought that she wished her mom would stop referring to her dad in the present tense and that it was hard to cope with losing them both. For me that was an honest thought of a grieving child. (hide spoiler)]

I like Patrick's character and I think (view spoiler)[ its pretty obvious that he likes Regan from the beginning. I'm torn on whether I think she will end up with him or Josh.(view spoiler)[

Chapter 6 (view spoiler)[ I am intrigued by Josh's sister and the people who have gotten around Elusions safety protocols and about what's happening with her father. I don't think he is alive but you never know, and that the other people found the 50 20 message as well makes me wonder whats building (hide spoiler)]

I will probably finish today (hide spoiler)] (hide spoiler)]

[Trisha, lives on coffee]

I'm only about 3 chapter in but I'll read more soon

Dad (view spoiler)[ I'm so sad what happened to her dad. but I wonder if we're going to find out about it not being an accident (hide spoiler)]

world (view spoiler)[ yes, imagine not being able to go out.
she goes out without her face cover and...she starts wheezing. ugh (hide spoiler)]

Patrick (view spoiler)[ he seems sweet but I wonder if someone sabotaged her dad in order to get Patrick into this role.....it does seem like he expanded on something really cool that her dad made (hide spoiler)]

[Rachel]

I'm about half way through at the moment but enjoying it, off to work now so hopefully will get some more reading done later :)

[(Liene)]

I read about 4 chapters, had some errands to do, and during that time I got sucked in to an audio book I was listening to, made it hard to snap out of it and return to this one, but I will in an hour or so, since it was quite nice the first few chapters :)

[Mandiann]

I am at chapter two. The Elusion program reminds me of the program the people of Reverie (in ) have access to.

[Rachel]

Yeah I thought that too!

[Trisha, lives on coffee]

YES! i totally agree Mandiann! I was thinking the same thing!
Okay, I'm 10 chapters in (about 200 pages)

Patrick (view spoiler)[ I knew he was hiding something
I hate that he's lying to her.... I know he's trying to "protect" her but it totally reminds me of someone who would beat you up to teach you a lesson. Ya know, hurt you in order to keep you "safe"! (hide spoiler)]

Josh (view spoiler)[ meh. I'm not totally impressed with them hooking up. I'm not sure where he came from and I'm not 100% on his sister excuse. I feel like there's more here.....rather convenient he popped into Patrick's life at this moment (hide spoiler)]

Regan (view spoiler)[ meh. I'm kind of...unimpressed with her. she's neither interesting nor seems to have a strong personality. she just seems like she gets drug along on each person's interest
she never really got into her dad's stuff
or Patricks
and she doesn't really know what she's doing for Josh - she just seems to blindly follow....I hope to see a little more from her other than shoving Avery (hide spoiler)]

book (view spoiler)[ I can't help but think there's more to these books. I wish she'd actually search them for the clues that are probably there AND UGH!! there was a photo of the cabin discussed in the book. JEEZ there must be something there!!! I can't believe she didn't search it! (hide spoiler)]

it's interesting so far but I"m not loving it
I hope to finish it tomorrow

[Rachel]

I finished this last night, I really enjoyed this so I gave it 4 stars :) I'm guessing that there will be a sequel, so that would be good.

(view spoiler)[ the ending was pretty good, with her dad being alive and everything, and Nora too, and this community they seem to have behind the firewall. I was glad it wasn't Patrick who locked them in that escape - I have a feeling it is going to be his mum. I didn't love Regan but she grew on me as the book progressed, it was the same with Josh too, I didn't love their relationship but the plot in the story was really good so the romance just added to it for me :) (hide spoiler)]

[Trisha, lives on coffee]

I'm done too! :)

Ending (view spoiler)[ yeah, it was interesting, but I hate that it just set it up for a sequel. but at least it got us to this point. I'd actually read book 2 just to see where this goes. Etheraworld should be interesting.
but why did they have aftershocks and wake up in there if they are still in Elusion (hide spoiler)]

Dad (view spoiler)[ I'm glad he's still alive (hide spoiler)]

Avery (view spoiler)[ I wonder if she will ultimately be the one to help get them out (hide spoiler)]

Carolyn (view spoiler)[ was that Patrick's mom's name?
anyway, I figured she did it too. I'm glad it wasn't Patrick, but clearly he hasn't been a saint in any of this either (hide spoiler)]

Bryce (view spoiler)[ I don't remember him. did we ever meet him. bleh. he sucks (hide spoiler)]

Nora (view spoiler)[ Yay! I"m glad they found her!! (hide spoiler)]

[(Liene)]

10 chapters in

Nora (view spoiler)[ I think she probably went missing just the way Regan's dad did. Probably alive but trapped in the Elusion system somewhere. (hide spoiler)]

Dad (view spoiler)[ as I mentioned, I think he is alive but got trapped. Thought that since the moment they mentioned an empty grave. (hide spoiler)]


Elusion (view spoiler)[ I don't know who is doing what but I think Patrick knows so much more about it, and Regan's dad was a victim somehow in his own invention. It's just changed so much and dad said to g find him. So he is in there somewhere. (hide spoiler)]

I agree with Trisha, I am completely (view spoiler)[ unimpressed by both Josh and Regan. Also by Patrick. Actually I'm not fond of any of the characters really. (hide spoiler)]

I don't find Elusion, the escape to be interesting really. Maybe this is because I just read Ready Player One and the virtual world in that was much more awesome than this, but this doesn't seem appealing, especially because (view spoiler)[ you seem to be turned into a brainless follower of who knows what when you enter Elusion. (hide spoiler)]

5020 (view spoiler)[ i think that is a code to log into an escape like 4 digit code she used with patrick (hide spoiler)]

[Trisha, lives on coffee]

oooh, I haven't read Ready Player One...
it's good??? I'll have to bump it up the list :)

[Mandiann]

Lieniitte wrote: "10 chapters in

Nora [spoilers removed]

Dad [spoilers removed]


Elusion [spoilers removed]

I agree with Trisha, I am completely [spoilers removed]

I don't find Elusion, the escape to be in..."

I am also 10 chapters in.

5020 (view spoiler)[ oooh!! Good point! I didn't think about that. (hide spoiler)]

I love reading everyone's thoughts. I agree that I would like to see more world and character building.

Dad (view spoiler)[ I also believe he is still alive (hide spoiler)]

[(Liene)]

Trisha, yes, Ready Player One was really good! I will try to quickly compare it to Elusion. There aren't really any spoilers in here for either book, but I'll put it under one so it doesn't look so long in the thread, as it is mainly about a different book :D

(view spoiler)[ I rated Ready Player One just 3 stars but that's because a few specific things he mentioned bugged me and there was a lot of info dumping in the first few chapters, but it's so worth it to continue through it, and it all makes sense later and that book is amazing and is the reason I couldn't start Elusion on time. I just couldn't stop listening to Ready Player One. Elusion I will probably rate 2 stars, though compared to Ready Player One I would give Elusion much less.
I feel bad about saying it, but.. well.. yeah.

I do advise the audio book if possible. The narrator is fantastic! It's actually a person who is even mentioned in the book narrating it - Will Wheaton. Even the info dumping parts about a certain person in the book in the beginning made me think that if ALL biographies were narrated this way, I, and others, would read them often and with real interest :D And that is saying a lot for a narrator.

The whole world that Ernest Cline created there... the way the puzzle pieces fit together.. wow.

There are some similarities to Elusion, but only in the sense that the real world is deteriorating and people spend a lot of time in the virtual world and it is addicting. But it's enough to make me compare these two books and Ready Player One is like having the best ice cream sundae ever for breakfast and not gaining an ounce of weight from it instead of eating plain unsweetened oatmeal.

Okay, maybe the exaggeration is a bit too big, but at the moment, that's how I feel. I am almost done with Elusion, only like 10 pages left :D
Again though, my experience of Ready Player One was intensified by a LOT because of the narrator in the audio version. One of the few books so far that I like MUCH better in the audio form.

Oh, and I didn't enjoy the romance aspect of either book much, but in Elusion it was completely lacking of any emotion. At least in Ready Player One it is obvious that it is NOT what the book is about, so it was done ok :) (hide spoiler)]

Wow, I feel terrible after writing that, but I'm just being honest. I really think that book ruined my Elusion reading experience :D

[(Liene)]

Ok, so I finished too!

End (view spoiler)[ yaay. I was thinking if Dad wouldn't be alive in the virtual world somewhere, I wouldn't want to continue this series, but now I am intrigued to see how it pans out! (hide spoiler)]

Bryce (view spoiler)[ Trisha, yes, he was the guy who was with Patrick when Regan was in his office getting the info and he was the one who wrote the letter th Regan's dad about there being a problem in the program in the first place, so I wasn't suspecting him at all! (hide spoiler)]

Regan (view spoiler)[ I still haven't connected and probably won't, but I do hope they are able to set things right in book 2 and I like Regan's relationship with her dad. That seems genuine to me. (hide spoiler)]

Patrick (view spoiler)[ It's good that he wasn't actually the bad guy, even so I don't like him much. He did lie to her after all. I don't like Josh much either. Oh well. :D (hide spoiler)]

Overall (view spoiler)[ I think oftentimes the book was just all over the place. It was jumping from plot line to plot line so fast sometimes, yet at other times a description of 1 thing happening would last for 3 pages. When looking back at the book, nothing much happened in more than 370 pages. She went to a party, went into Elusion, hung out with Josh, got data from the office computer, was trapped in Elusion and that's it. End of the book. I can't really understand how so little happened when it took me so long to read it.. (hide spoiler)]
So I will be continuing, but I agree with Trisha, I just want to see what happens next.

I hope the execution of the story is improved in the next book :)

[Trisha, lives on coffee]

Lieniitte wrote: "Trisha, yes, Ready Player One was really good! I will try to quickly compare it to Elusion. There aren't really any spoilers in here for either book, but I'll put it under one so it doesn't look so..."

lol! I Love it! thank you for the comparison!
I just requested the audio from my library. Once I finish my current audio, I'll be all over it! Thank you! I can't wait!

[(Liene)]

Cool! I'm glad I could be of some help :)

[Suzy]

I really liked this book. I found it a quick easy read with great descriptions of the worlds they went into. I did find the plots and story line a bit jumbled, but I feel like it was done because we are following Regan and she is just figuring things out and doesn't have all the pieces. I hope that in book 2 as things fall into place something big happens.

Dad (view spoiler)[ I'm glad he is alive and Im wondering how Regan and Josh and the others will get out of Elusion, back to their bodies and what will become of Patrick and the company. (hide spoiler)]

Regan (view spoiler)[ I liked her, I felt like she was depicted as a 16-17 year old who has lost her father and has found out this horrible secret about the her fathers legacy (hide spoiler)]

Josh had to grow on me (view spoiler)[ My first thought was 'heres the stereo-typical 'guy that saves the girl plot' and that is probably going to happen but his and regans relationship is growing on me. (hide spoiler)]

Overall not the best book ever, but I liked it. I listened to the audio book, which has a good reader so that may have effected how I feel about the book.

[Mandiann]

Yes, the reader is really good overall but I hate her voice for Patrick.

[Mandiann]

I finished! I liked the ending a lot, I though it was very strong and full of action. If only the middle of the book had been a little bit more faced paced I may have given it a four instead of a three, but I felt it moved a little slowly at times.

[Trisha, lives on coffee]

yay Mandiann! I'm glad you liked it!! So do you think you'll be reading book 2 then?

Do we all think we are?? (I'm just curious) :)

[Trisha, lives on coffee]

wow, the cover to book 2 is really pretty :D

[Mandiann]

Yes, I will join for book two.

[Rachel]

Yeah I'd definitely read book 2 when it comes out :)