Shadowlands (Shadowlands #1) by Kate Brian → Start Date: August 21st, 2014

[Jacquelyn, thebrunettebooknerd]

I also didn't read the synopsis so I was totally caught off guard! It starts off with a BANG!

[Jacquelyn, thebrunettebooknerd]

This is revealed on page 18 so I am sure you both can read it but just in case:

(view spoiler)[You know how they said Mr. Nell was actually Roger Krauss? That is making this even creepier for me because there is a Mr. Krauss at my school! AHHH! (hide spoiler)]

[Jacquelyn, thebrunettebooknerd]

I also just reached Familiar Feeling I totally agree with you Trisha!

Mr. Nell (view spoiler)[He is FREAKY! The little short chapters about him are freaking me out! (hide spoiler)]

Nightmare (view spoiler)[I totally thought that was true! I couldn't read fast enough!! I was legitimately scared and I have to admit, I looked behind me a few times just to make sure no one was there. (hide spoiler)]

Tone, Mood, and Pacing (view spoiler)[I love the tone and mood of this book! Definitely is creepy and I like that!! I also really enjoy the pacing! It is nice and quick but we haven't hit any information dumps so far! (hide spoiler)]

Darcy (view spoiler)[She is really annoying. Stop worrying about your phone and your parties and your jeans and worry about keeping your sister alive!! (hide spoiler)]

Juniper Landing (view spoiler)[Soo weird!! I really am intrigued as to who those people staring were. Did they know her and she just didn't recognize or maybe do you think they are working with Nell??! (hide spoiler)]

This book is great so far!!

[Jacquelyn, thebrunettebooknerd]

I just noticed something! In the beginning of the book, Nell says she has beautiful blonde hair. Is the girl on the cover supposed to be Rory?? If so, that annoys me!

Unless it (her hair color) changes for some reason?

[Trisha, lives on coffee]

okay I stopped at Run (around 155 pages)
I'll read more tomorrow

okay no seriously....what's (view spoiler)[ up with this town?? (hide spoiler)]

ahhahah!! i'm going to try to break this down

clue 1 (view spoiler)[ Bracelets. leather straps. some newer some older. what are these things? what do they signify and why are they wearing them (hide spoiler)]

clue 2 (view spoiler)[ Rory. WHY WHY WHY is everyone obsessed with Rory?? What is really going on here? it's almost like they can read her mind (hide spoiler)] and doubly weird (view spoiler)[ that everyone seems to be trying REALLY HARD to make Rory happy....why?? (hide spoiler)]

clue 3 (view spoiler)[ um...the bar. what did Krista mean when she said "we gotta keep up app..." sounds like she was going to say keep up appearances....what are they trying to "keep up" and who is it they are showing it to???

and when she first met Rory. Was it just me or did you all cringe when she said something about how beautiful Rory's hair was *shudders* ugh.... (hide spoiler)]

clue 4 (view spoiler)[ all the kids work at the bar? am I just getting this guy's age wrong but if he's hanging out with high school girls.......
but he's served Darcy a beer???!!! WHA??? (hide spoiler)]

clue 5 (view spoiler)[ no internet, no newspapers...no outside contact. What kind of police detail just sends them off into the great unknown and hopes they are protected. there is no way the police just sent them off. How weird is that??? They didn't send them with a police officer who has a GUN and is trained to PROTECT them?? they've been there for days and no FBI agent is going to make sure they made it okay?? or at all?? nice security detail.... (hide spoiler)]

it almost feels like (view spoiler)[ they are in purgatory or.....something. Some kind of halfway ....maybe that car accident really happened and they all died and this is Rory's mind??? I don't know. this is all so weird so far!! But this theory has to be wrong because there are 2 other books....but I can't figure out what's really going on here.... (hide spoiler)]

and my only annoyance(view spoiler)[ their is a crazy guy after Rory and THEY ARE SNEAKING OUT OF THE HOUSE?!?!? SERIOULSY!? I want to scream at both of these girls
they are just roaming town and their dad isn't watching them at all??? (hide spoiler)]

I really am loving this so far! I'm so curious to see what happens next!!

[Trisha, lives on coffee]

Jacquelyn wrote: "I just noticed something! In the beginning of the book, Nell says she has beautiful blonde hair. Is the girl on the cover supposed to be Rory?? If so, that annoys me!

Unless it (her hair color) ..."

OMG okay, I thought the same thing and just thought I was remembering wrong.....YES! so who is on the COVER??

did you notice book 2 (don't go read the synopsis. avoid it!!) but look THERE'S a blond!!

[Trisha, lives on coffee]

and what is with the birds on these books.

lol book 1 has black birds.
book 2 has whites ones...hmmmmm

I wonder if it's ANOTHER clue?!?! LOL I love mysteries! can you tell :D

[Trisha, lives on coffee]

Jacquelyn wrote: "This is revealed on page 18 so I am sure you both can read it but just in case:

[spoilers removed]"

OMG You'll never be able to look at him the same again!!!

wasn't that freaky?!?! :O

[Vicki]

Jacquelyn wrote: "This is revealed on page 18 so I am sure you both can read it but just in case:

[spoilers removed]"

Hahaha! Muahahah!! (How do you spell that? LOL)

You never know, Jacque, this could be partly non-fiction. LOL

When do you start school, and will you have him? LOL If you do, refuse! LOL

[Vicki]

OMG I'll never catch up tonight! My students' vocab papers prevailed and I have been grading all night. But I'll be reading soon. :o)

[Vicki]

I finished through pg. 80 as well and OMG!!! This book was about to give me a freaking heart attack! I'm at home all alone, windows open, back patio door open with a screen that doesn't lock to let the breeze in. I had NO idea this book was about this and this good of a mystery!

Nell (view spoiler)[ I am SO FREAKED by this guy!! OMG! I couldn't believe it when he got in to Rory's room and left that rose. Ugh and ewwwww! Then when he was dressed as a cop and using a cop car but the FBI didn't see him or anything. WTH? (hide spoiler)]

Darcy (view spoiler)[Yes! She is a self-centered, egotistical little brat! Where are her jeans??? LOL I wondered if for some reason the creep got them. (hide spoiler)]

Dream (view spoiler)[ OMG Jacque, I laughed out loud when you said you thought it was real (so did I!) and that you looked behind you. LOL Busted me up because I felt that unease, too. LOL That is what a GREAT mystery does to you! (hide spoiler)]

Juniper Landing (view spoiler)[ Right? What the heck is up with those people? For some reason I don't think they were just "looking" at the newcomers, but I don't know or even have a guess who they are as of yet. But other than that the town sounded so quaint and like a cool place...I don't believe it though. (hide spoiler)]

And Jacque, I agree with you about the pacing and everything in that spoiler>

[Vicki]

Trisha wrote: "okay, I'm....UGH There are no chapter numbers
I hate that...

so I'm about 80 pages in on the Hardcover edition
I stopped at Familiar Feeling

Okay, so this is clearly another case of me LOVING th..."

Honestly, I hadn't thought of her dream as being (view spoiler)[ a vision, but that is certainly feasible. (hide spoiler)]

[Jacquelyn, thebrunettebooknerd]

It seems like we are all loving this one! :D

Trisha, about the covers, that is so weird!!! I am so intrigued! The birds being different colors.. OMG! I cannot wait to find out!

[Jacquelyn, thebrunettebooknerd]

OMG. Finding out his name was Krauss freaked me out! I don't think I will have him but if I see him in the hallway, I AM OUT! LOL

[Jacquelyn, thebrunettebooknerd]

I agree with all of your spoilers, Vicki! :D LOL. I couldn't help myself. It was dark outside and everyone in my family was asleep so I was all alone and actually getting scared to find out it was all (view spoiler)[a nightmare! LOL. (hide spoiler)] But I am glad you thought the same thing!

[Jacquelyn, thebrunettebooknerd]

I also just got to Run which is on page 154 of the hardcover edition.

This is so (view spoiler)[WEIRD! SO strange! Juniper Landing is so weird and I totally agree with you Trisha, why would they send them there and have no one check on them or make sure they are safe or whatever?? They should have sent someone with them or at least sent someone to check on them!! (hide spoiler)]

The bar (view spoiler)[I didn't notice that Trisha but since you've said it I got it! When Krista said "We'e gotta keep up our app" I didn't really understand what that meant but that is definitely a big clue to who these people are! (hide spoiler)]

WHYWHYWHY (view spoiler)[Are they sneaking out?!!?!?!? Rory almost gets killed and they are just sneaking out. At least Rory has some common sense in telling her sister not to go but she ends up going anyway!! (hide spoiler)]

Dad (view spoiler)[We haven't heard about the dad in quite a bit.. (hide spoiler)]

The bracelets (view spoiler)[I am dying to know what they represent!! (hide spoiler)]

"The Long and Winding Road" (view spoiler)[ I think it is so weird when Rory hears that song! Even the name of the song is really really creepy! (hide spoiler)]

I absolutely cannot wait to read more!!! This is SO GOOD! :D

[Vicki]

OMG you're KILLING me!!!! Lol

But my classes are reading New York Times article on Alex and Derek King who murdered their father by beating him with a baseball bat when they were 13 & 14 years old! We're talking about juveniles tried as adults.

[Jacquelyn, thebrunettebooknerd]

LOL! Hope the day flies by so you can read! :D

Ooh, that sounds interesting though! Are they into it?

[Vicki]

Oh yeah!!! Lol

[Jacquelyn, thebrunettebooknerd]

I am done!

This was amazing!! I loved it so much and cannot wait to read book 2! :D

THAT ENDING OMG (view spoiler)[WHAT?!?! OMG!!!!!!!!!! I loved it but I can kind of see how people wouldn't. What did you guys think?! (hide spoiler)]

[Trisha, lives on coffee]

okay I stopped at Answers

which seems like the worst chapter to stop at ever! LOL

I have a guess (view spoiler)[ are they like...a coven of witches??
and...they need Rory to complete them? like The Secret Circle: The Initiation and The Captive Part I??

huh.... (hide spoiler)]

and I think that's my final guess. I'm totally stumped...

[Trisha, lives on coffee]

and I'm done

Okay, yeah (view spoiler)[ I can totally get behind that.
Just like I thought

a form of purgatory.

but they think Rory is a lifer - like the other ones

I wonder what that means and why?
and now "keeping up appearances" is totally dead on

AND why a whole town of people would watch the "new" people arrive.

(hide spoiler)] Ingenious. I seriously loved this one

PLEASE tell me you guys want to read book 2 ASAP!! :D

[Vicki]

Seriously, do you really have to ask? LOL You KNOW I do and I'm SURE Jacquelyn does, too! LOL

Let's do it!

[Vicki]

Trisha wrote: "okay I stopped at Run (around 155 pages)
I'll read more tomorrow

okay no seriously....what's [spoilers removed]

ahhahah!! i'm going to try to break this down

clue 1 [spoilers removed]

clue 2 [..."

Oh my gosh, I totally agree! The girls (view spoiler)[ are stupid! LOL I'd be hiding under the bed all day and night, but going out and walking home alone in the fog? Heck NO! (hide spoiler)]

Juniper Landing is the most (view spoiler)[secluded/isolated little town ever. I also wondered why there was no newspaper other than the local one, no way to reach the outside basically except by ferry and (forgot the other way lol) one more way. Strange! (hide spoiler)]

What's up with Tristan? I just left off where he was (view spoiler)[ watching her from the blue house but hadn't he told her he lived in the one across from her? (hide spoiler)]

All the kids in JL (view spoiler)[ definitely seem too quick to want to impress and/or be with the sisters. I was also like, "WTH? Serving them alcohol and in a bar? Oh, heck no! (hide spoiler)]

I have a really bad feeling that (view spoiler)[ Nell is already there, and I keep wondering if he somehow managed to get the family moved to this place because he was pretending to be a cop, too. Although that might have been just at the scene of the "crime." But I feel like these people are ALL after Rory, like they are all under Nell's spell. LOL (hide spoiler)]

I love all of your clues, Trisha! You'd make a great detective! I wondered about the (view spoiler)[ bracelets as well. That was just too strange. I think Nell is a wizard. LOL (hide spoiler)] JK


I have to go read more! LOL

[Vicki]

I was just now able to read your spoiler in #71, Trisha, and that is exactly what i was wondering. But I am still wondering how they all (view spoiler)[connect to Nell or if they do. (hide spoiler)]

I just finished the chapter where it was saying that (view spoiler)[ he goes after broken girls and Rory's friend was the most broken of all. I'm thinking he's maybe going to go after Olive? I hope not! (hide spoiler)]

This is too freaking good and even the tiny chapters that are about the killer are freaky!!!

Oh, and what about the (view spoiler)[guitar player and the strap in Tristan's house? What about that Olive plays guitar and Tristan JUST took her out into the fog. Now I'm wondering if Tristan is maybe who the narrator is talking about and if he's a different killer or works with Nell like in the Jasper Dent series. LOL (hide spoiler)] OMG I just don't know!

Off to read the chapter called "Ditched." What next???

[Vicki]

Oh crap!!! (view spoiler)[ Olive didn't show up for breakfast! Oh crap! (hide spoiler)]

[Vicki]

Finished!

Trisha, I know that you said that Rory (view spoiler)[ might be dead, but HOW did you reach that conclusion? I had no idea! And if they were all dead, then why Nell and why the secrets? Did her and her dad and sister all really die in that car wreck? (hide spoiler)]

I hope a lot of my questions are answered in the next book or two because honestly, I was confused by the end. I thought it was an amazing book though. I am just trying to figure it all out at 1:15 AM on a work night when I have to get up in 4 1/2 hours. LOL

[Jacquelyn, thebrunettebooknerd]

YAY! 5 stars from all of us?! WOOHOO!

I couldn't believe that ending!! I want to know more!!

Definitely. Keeping up appearances make so much more sense now and why they always want new people.

This one was so great!

I already have book 2 ordered from the library!!! :D

[Vicki]

Awesome! I didn't get finished till after 1:00, so I was too tired to order the book last night. Lol I'll get on it today.

[Jacquelyn, thebrunettebooknerd]

lol! :D Great!

[Trisha, lives on coffee]

Vicki wrote: "Finished!

Trisha, I know that you said that Rory [spoilers removed].."

Because...(view spoiler)[ I jumped there...based on...it felt like a holding pattern. small sleepy town

and I couldn't think of any other place that would be like that than Purgatory
and then everyone watching them, keeping up "appearances" and honestly - it was the fact that dad just was not keeping up with them and they were wandering
and then the cops not being present and all that

Yes, I think they actually died in the car wreck OR
they died when the flowers were found on the bed and Nell actually killed them.....
because the cops "sent them" to this town totally unprotected and unguarded (before the car wreck). It makes me think those first people were there to tell them where to go and not tip them off where they were really going...but that they were actually dead when they got home to pack....... (hide spoiler)]

I can't wait for book 2 :) Are we ready to schedule it???

[Vicki]

I'm ready to schedule! :o) When??

[Jacquelyn, thebrunettebooknerd]

I am also ready! My book is in transit and I will definitely have it by Monday but maybe Saturday.

[Jacquelyn, thebrunettebooknerd]

So when are we reading book 2? :)

[Vicki]

I'm DYING to read it and I picked up my book yesterday, so...Trisha? Is tomorrow or Tuesday good for you girls?

[Jacquelyn, thebrunettebooknerd]

Tomorrow is good for me!

[Vicki]

Okay, then we wait and see what Trisha has to say. I'm SURE she has nothing else to read! LOL

[Jacquelyn, thebrunettebooknerd]

LOL! Right?

[Vicki]

Actually she and I are starting Unbreakable today and I just realized it's almost 500 pages! Lol

[Jacquelyn, thebrunettebooknerd]

Oh my!!!! Maybe it's not the best to start book 2 tomorrow then?

[Vicki]

Well, I'm always behind and you and I were supposed to start yesterday, or is that the one we postponed? LOL I forgot to change the one we decided to do later.

Maybe Tuesday would be a better start date for us, if Trisha agrees.

[Jacquelyn, thebrunettebooknerd]

That is the one we are moving to mid-September.

I agree. :) Let's see what Trisha says!

[Vicki]

Okay :)

[Trisha, lives on coffee]

oh man, sorry guys. I didn't know I missed all this chatting.

You know me, pick a day I'm there
I already have book 2!! Just pick a day! :D

[Trisha, lives on coffee]

lol or did I miss it?
did we pick a day?
I'm so behind. ...............

[Jacquelyn, thebrunettebooknerd]

Well we were thinking of starting yesterday but we were wanting your confirmation first. :) Do you want to pick a day?

[Trisha, lives on coffee]

I'm open.
I could start today

Is there a day that works best for you?
or for Vicki

[Jacquelyn, thebrunettebooknerd]

I could start today or tomorrow! :D

[Vicki]

I just got home from work and a SHORT little nap! LOL

If you want to start today or tomorrow, that's fine with me. I won't get very far tonight probably and tomorrow is hubby's day off (and football night) so let's do it!

I do remember that this book is a pretty quick read.

You two tell me: tonight or tomorrow start?

[Jacquelyn, thebrunettebooknerd]

Yes, book one was a very quick read.

I personally would say tomorrow but whatever is good with me. :)