May 2018 - Characters Pretending to be Someone Else

[Sarah]

If the two chosen books are not to your liking, you can read another book that has a character who pretends do be someone else. Please let us know how the book that you are reading fits the theme. If it is a major plot point which is not mentioned in the synopsis, then please use spoiler tags.

In order to receive a badge you must:
1. have completed the book before or during May 2018.
2. discussed it in this thread. Discussion must be more than "I read the book and I liked it". Discussion requires something more substantial and analytical of what you read, for example, thoughts, opinions, impact it had on you, what was your favourite part, was it what you expected it to be like etc. You may also like to review the book and post a link to the review in this thread. Please refer to our group spoiler policy for further information.
3. Report that you have read AND discussed the book in the reporting thread (include a brief summary of what you thought of the book).

General Rules:
1. Please mark your spoilers with the spoiler tags along with mentioning what stage of the book you are at so other's don't get a nasty shock. Chapter numbers/titles are generally best as they are the same across all formats and editions. See our spoiler policy
2. The book may be combined with the Year Long Challenge, Topplers, and Monthly Challenges.

Happy reading!

[Cherie]

I just discovered that the book that I am reading for ancient Egypt will fit this theme. It is The Beacon at Alexandria. The girl in the story is going to Alexandria to study medicine. She is posing to pose as a eunuch.

edited: This is not a spoiler. It is posted in the book summary, which I never read before I started reading the story. clr

[Margo]

I loved the 2 chosen books but unfortunately I read them both too recently to be up for a reread. Have started The Memory Watcher. This book is about a woman who gave her baby up for adoption and later recognised that child on social media and adopts a false persona in order to become of her babies life. It promises to be a light and fluffy read but to touch on some pretty dark subjects. I was drawn to this book because issues around online privacy and data protection are very topical.

[Janice, Moderator]

It sounds interesting, Margo. Enjoy your read.

[Margo]

I finished The Memory Watcher on 4th May. Nice quick, light read. 3.5 stars.

The narration was pleasant. It switched between two female characters so the story had duel POV's which I always enjoy. The plot had many twists - none of which I didn't see coming but, hey, you don't really want too many shocks in a light read! The characters could have better developed but overall the story worked. I don't want to say too much in case I let something slip!

One of the major themes was technology and how it is used, in particular social media.

[Peggy]

I started I Shall Be Near to You today and managed to read all of one chapter. Still some days to go in May, so I should finish it in time.

[Cherie]

My library ebook has expired for the main group read, so I will have to go back to my alternate read, The Beacon at Alexandria.

edited 5/29 - I am probably not going to finish this one in time either, but I have 52 hours left before the end of the month.

[Peggy]

I'm about 1/3 in (I shall be near to you) and am enjoying it, but I had expected a bit more of it. I don't feel fully connected to the characters and I sometimes have trouble following the writing. I'm sure this is mostly me and not the book though.

[Peggy]

I finished I Shall Be Near to You. Overall it was an engaging read, and I liked the premise of a woman disguising as a man to fight in war. The book was pretty fast-paced, although I didn't care that much for the battle scenes (but unavoidable I suppose when you read a book about the civil war). I only picked this book up because May was coming to an end and I wanted to read something for the group read, but I wasn't in the completely right mood for it. I also never felt fully conected to the characters, so I ended up giving it 3.75 stars.

[Sarah]

Don't forget to report your read in the reporting thread in order to get a badge.

[Cherie]

I have tried to read like the wind, but the hard copy I am reading is 6x9 inches and the 376 pages are packed solid with text. I am on page 227, after reading almost 100 pages yesterday. I just can't do 149 pages before midnight tonight. It is a pretty good story too, but full of Latin and Greek names that I cannot even pronounce.

[Lynn]

Without actually really planning this, I ended up reading two books that fit the theme. One about a transgender child and one about a gender fluid teenager.


This is How It Always Is

5 Stars because while there were a couple of things that didn't sit right with me, overall I was utterly charmed.

Firstly the niggles. When the parents of the family met, it was love at first sight which I'm never really fan of but on top of that, they both had 'a feeling' even before they met. Cue my eyes rolling.

The writing style was also a bit excessive, with very long winded sentences. I have a feeling that if I was reading it might have bothered me more, but I actually listened to the audio version which helped and the narrator did a wonderful job.

The story is fiction but written by an author with a transgender child. Drawing from her own experiences, she tells a story of a family with 5 children and how they deal with the youngest of the children (Claude / Poppy) being transgender.

The family are amazing and are super supportive with Poppy, but it's the outside world that they struggle with. The issues are obviously complex and so are the family dynamics because of this, with both positive and negative decisions made by all them.

The story explores a lot of practical issues; decisions parents can / should make, and can't / shouldn't made for their children. There are so many obstacles that a transgender person has to overcome and watching this family decide what is for the best was both heartbreaking and heartwarming.

This was an emotional and thoughtful read, and the author told a beautiful story about what the power of a secret/lie does to the fabric of a family.



Cinderella Boy

5 Stars

A Cinderella retelling with a gender fluid protagonist. Sweet and charming but with a LOT more substance than what may be an expected 'fluffy' read.

There's a great cast of characters, with a good range of diversity. Watching Dex transform was wonderful to read. His deceit as Layla not so much but the confidence she gave him to bloom from a nervous, reclusive and closeted Declan to sassy and confident Dex was lovely. Carter also goes through a big transformation and both were wonderfully delivered.

This story isn't just a romance, it's about being true to yourself and standing for what you believe in. Definitely the best retelling I've read.