Transformation [Jun 4, 2019]

[Choko]

I know, I didn't sleep in order to read it. it is entrancing! I can't wait to see what you guys think by the end...

[Daniel]

My kid is graduating this weekend and it has really put a kink in my reading time..🤨😂😂

[Laura]

Daniel wrote: "My kid is graduating this weekend and it has really put a kink in my reading time..🤨😂😂"

Congratulations D!!!
That is worth setting a book aside! Even a great one!! :)

[Laura]

Is everyone willing to go on with the series? Should we fix the BR for the next book after 3 weeks and go on with 1 book a month? Or do you guys prefer to start Flesh and Spirit first?

What dates should I set?

[RuinEleint]

I will be following this series anyway, so if there's a Buddy Read, I will be in it.

I also want to do Flesh and Spirit as I really love Berg's writing.

How about a book from each series per month?

[Laura]

Arkadeb wrote: "I will be following this series anyway, so if there's a Buddy Read, I will be in it.

I also want to do Flesh and Spirit as I really love Berg's writing.

How about a book from each series per mo..."

That would be great for me.
If everyone's fine with this suggestion we could fix it like that.

[Laura]

Chapter 11 - I agree with you Veronica on (view spoiler)[the beating. Aleksander behaved like a monster that time and I still didn't forgive him either. But I do get the 50 lashes. He couldn't have acted any other way without tipping the demon about Seyonne, or hinting that he knows about the cursed gift.
Punishment was a must and it had to be severe by all appearances. But he did send the healer with potions and he did instruct the slave master to hit for show not pain.
I do not believe he had any other way of getting out of the pickle. (hide spoiler)]

[Laura]

In chapter 10

I got so angry at Aleksander again and was so disgusted by him because (view spoiler)[that poor musician! And I felt so sorry for the man when Syonne explained how his future will be. It was so unjust and I wanted to trash the prissy prince for it. (hide spoiler)]

And then he (view spoiler)[goes and checks the shoes and the tatoos and the "ivory baubles" to make sure this second guy is not so poor and ...
"What say, Seyonne? May I trash him without your dissaproval?" (hide spoiler)]
And I burst out laughing!!

I hated the guy at first and now I still dislike him, but still I burst out laughing!!

I wonder why he cares about (view spoiler)[Seyonne's oppinion. Maybe because Seyonne is the only one who ever spoke to him truthfully, without the ass-licking everyone generally offers and without any gain or interest?
Why is it that Seyonne can make a difference and reach him when no one else seems to?
I am intrigued. (hide spoiler)]

It is brilliant how the story is slowly but surely making me change the way I see Aleksander. Subtly and without knowing at what moment exactly I started to warm up to him. All of a sudden I realise I don't find him that bad anymore.

[RuinEleint]

Laura wrote: "Chapter 11 - I agree with you Veronica on the beating. .."

I saw that episode as an example of the constraints on royalty (view spoiler)[ He is a prince, Seyonne is a slave, but he can't not have him beaten. The ritual trappings that surround power often end up nullifying it to a large extent (hide spoiler)]

[Laura]

Arkadeb wrote: "Laura wrote: "Chapter 11 - I agree with you Veronica on the beating. .."

I saw that episode as an example of the constraints on royalty [spoilers removed]"

I agree. (view spoiler)[Punishment had to be given even because of that! But I do believe he didn't want to tip the Khelid off either. (hide spoiler)]

[Veronica]

Arkadeb wrote: "I will be following this series anyway, so if there's a Buddy Read, I will be in it.

I also want to do Flesh and Spirit as I really love Berg's writing.

How about a book from each series per mo..."

A book a month sounds good to me too.

[Veronica]

Laura wrote: "It is brilliant how the story is slowly but surely making me change the way I see Aleksander. Subtly and without knowing at what moment exactly I started to warm up to him. All of a sudden I realise I don't find him that bad anymore. "

Same here. It's the mark of good writing IMO when an author can so subtly shift your perception of character over time so that you're almost not even aware of it...not until that moment when you realize, "Hey, I kind of like this guy! When did that happen??". lol

[Veronica]

Choko wrote: "Ooo, I am sorry! I kind of assumed everyone here has read that series... So sorry!

I am up to Ch 25 and I am with Alex [spoilers removed]"

I just finished chapter 25 too (view spoiler)[and poor Seyonne. What a heartbreaking revelation for him, to know that the two people he loved most in all the world betrayed him. (hide spoiler)]

[Choko]

Yeah... Poor guy, he really has all the reasons in the world to just give up and stop trying, but it speaks oh his strength of spirit that he keeps going on and still fighting for his principles...

[RuinEleint]

Choko wrote: "Yeah... Poor guy, he really has all the reasons in the world to just give up and stop trying, but it speaks oh his strength of spirit that he keeps going on and still fighting for his principles..."

Exactly, at that point it's quite legitimate to wonder what was even holding him up?

[Veronica]

Yeah, I'd have been curled up in a fetal position somewhere, lol.

I really like Catrin!

Chapter 27 (view spoiler)[and Rhys can go to hell. Ysanne has to know about him. (hide spoiler)] Grrr!

[Jenna, I'd be free if not for Temper & Edgewalker]

Moved to Berg folder.

[Laura]

Thank you Jenna. :)

[Jenna, I'd be free if not for Temper & Edgewalker]

Laura wrote: "Thank you Jenna. :)"

You're welcome :) Will set up the rest shortly.

[Laura]

Jenna wrote: "Laura wrote: "Thank you Jenna. :)"

You're welcome :) Will set up the rest shortly."

Thanks again. :))

[Laura]

We got the Q&A set up now. Jenna fixed it for us here:

https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...

or if the above link doesn't work, then
here

I'm still not sure how to post these things. (*gah*)

So please go ahead and post a little comment there everyone. :)

[Laura]

I'm in the middle of chapter 18 and must admit I didn't see that coming.
(view spoiler)[First that the Khelid would try to spirit Aleksander away and house a nice little demon inside him. OH!! That's what they were planning!!!

Second - that the prince would end up turning into a beast. What?! was my reaction. That was awesome by the way.

and third - that I actually like the guy!!!
He is, as Lydia said, impossible, cruel, thoughtless, stubborn, prideful, foolish and insulting. He is a bully that deserves a trashing several times over! And still I like him!! When the heck did that happen?! (hide spoiler)]

[Veronica]

Laura wrote: "I'm in the middle of chapter 18 and must admit I didn't see that coming.."

A very nefarious plot, to be sure.

[Veronica]

I finished yesterday and really, really enjoyed it. (view spoiler)[The character arc for Aleksander was brilliantly done. If someone had told me that I'd grow to like and care for him by the end of the book - considering how horrible he was at the start - I'd have thought they were crazy.

I loved Seyonne too. For all that he'd endured in his life, he never lost his ability to show empathy and sympathy. That he could even show sadness over the death of Rhys after all that he had done - hell he even went a step further and accepted his part in not seeing what his friend had needed back when they were kids. He's a better person than me because I was like "die Rhys, just die", lol.

The Ysanne reveal was a somewhat a surprise though I was starting to guess that not all was at it seemed based on Galadon's last words. I wish the story had allowed for readers to get to know her better but maybe in the next books. I'm glad anyway for Seyonne that he'll get a second chance with her.

I wish we had gotten more of Lydia too...and more of her reuniting with Aleksander after his own personal transformation into the kind of man who can be worthy of her. (hide spoiler)]

And the very last line of the book gave me all the feels...(view spoiler)[and the fact that it was Aleksander, with his awkward, childlike scrawl that brought those feels about is amazing.

"It is yours.
A."

(hide spoiler)]

It's also nice that it can pretty much be read as a self-contained story so you don't have to continue with the rest of the trilogy if you don't want to. I most definitely will, though, I just mean that it's nice that there's no glaring cliffhanger ending.

[⚘ Itz Lia the Bibliophile ⚘]

Cool

[Choko]

Yay! Once again,va very successful BR - a book we all liked:-)

[Laura]

I still have a few chapters to finish since I didn't get time to read at all today, but yes, until now I loved it. And I am also looking forward to Flesh and Spirit this month.
Should we start it on the 25th?

[Laura]

Finished this a couple of days back but got to write the review only today. Here it is:

https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

And now I'm looking forward to the next books.