Slouch Witch (The Lazy Girl's Guide to Magic #1)[June 3, 2023]

[Yanique, Thread Master]

This is a Buddy Read for Slouch Witch by Helen Harper starting June 3, 2023.


Happy Reading!

[Nirkatze]

Thank you!

[Choko]

In!!!!

[Ann-Marie]

Are you guys starting this tomorrow or will it be delayed? I want to read it and I am trying to figure out what to start with first, the beginning of each month is a lot lol

[Choko]

We can delay it for whenever you can start:)

[Nirkatze]

I'm down for delaying. Do we even want to think about moving to July? June is getting pretty cramped.

[Ann-Marie]

I am good starting this as soon as I (finally....eventually.....hopefully) finish Locklands which will be tomorrow in a perfect world lol

[Nirkatze]

LOL I still need to start Locklands... hoping for today, I hear you in a perfect world...

I'll be along whenever y'all are, or soon after...

[Choko]

This is light, so hopefully we can have that break from all the bleak stuff we have been reading...

[Ann-Marie]

Just finished Locklands so I am hoping this will be the polar opposite, will start tomorrow lol

[Choko]

I'll join you:)

[Nirkatze]

I just finished Wandering Inn and jumped right into this, and it totally is the funny light and fun story I needed to ease the way out of WI... at least so far--chapter 3...

Really enjoying the snarky protagonist. (view spoiler)[I like how unapologetically self-assured she is. I was already enjoying it with how she took out the mugger in the taxi... but then she gets bound to a stick-up-the-ass witch working for The Man, and I'm really enjoying (and looking forward to) her completely ruining his day... probably with a romance involved (I hope).

The scene when she was caught staring at his ass, and then turned around to let him look at hers if he wanted made me laugh so hard.... (hide spoiler)]

[Nirkatze]

Adeptus Exemptus Winter. LOL Say that 3 times fast.

[Ann-Marie]

Nirkatze wrote: "Adeptus Exemptus Winter. LOL Say that 3 times fast."

lol you go first

I am enjoying this so far, a welcome change for sure.

[Laura]

Hi ladies.👋
I need a fun and light story too. Grabbing a copy of this book and butting in.

I promise I'll behave and be back with some comments a bit later tonight.😘

You don't mind right?😅

[Choko]

The more the merrier!:)))

Adeptus Exemptus Winter is all starch, and she is, as the title goes, a Slouch Witch:)))

Yes, light and fluffy, this is exactly what we needed!!!

[Timelord Iain, Tech Support]

I'm gonna join this, give it a chance... picked it up on Hoopla, has access to most of the series...

[Nirkatze]

YAY more people!!!!!

Up to Chapter 6, and really enjoying it... I have to say, I really identify with Ivy... I'd be doing much the same if someone (view spoiler)[barged into my life and started trying to make me exercise, do work I didn't want to, and butt into my personal time.... if I had access to magic, that is.

And I love how some of Winter's inspirational threats keep getting turned on him, like when he said "If you don't stop xxxx I'll follow you into the shower" and Ivy was like "You can come now if you want" and totally defused him. And I enjoy how she uses following his "orders" as another way to get on his nerves, always calling him "Adeptus Exemptus Winter" etc.... she reminds me of bamboo in a storm, or water--adapting to her situation without breaking and always staying herself...

Would like that asshat who cheated off of her work to get his comeuppance. (hide spoiler)]

Unless there's some sort of left-turn, I think I'll definitely want to do the rest of the series. ^^

[Timelord Iain, Tech Support]

The first thing I noticed, reading the blurb, is that the acronym for the magic organization she gets drafted into is HOME...

[Ann-Marie]

I am in Chapter 16 and enjoying it very much. (view spoiler)[I agree Ivy is being a whole lot more agreeable that I would be in this situation. I like the characters, you just know Winter is going to come around and they will fall in luuuuurve. The familiars are pretty terrific also. Can't wait for the cheater to get his, you just know that will happen as well especially since Winter knows she got screwed over. I think I will likely finish today! (hide spoiler)]

[Ann-Marie]

Nirkatze wrote: "Unless there's some sort of left-turn, I think I'll definitely want to do the rest of the series. ^^ "

agreed!

[Ann-Marie]

Timelord Iain wrote: "The first thing I noticed, reading the blurb, is that the acronym for the magic organization she gets drafted into is HOME..."

Hopefully it becomes her home

[Timelord Iain, Tech Support]

I laughed so hard when the cat told the Adeptus to "PET... BITCH..." even knowing it lacks a full vocabulary...

[Choko]

Hahaha!!! Me too!!! I am laughing just thinking about it:))) Love how totally rude and cat-like the cat is!!!!

[Timelord Iain, Tech Support]

The book is proving really good... the only possible TSTL plot element is the people in the house-sitting apartment... and in general, the MC is proving to be rather intelligent and misunderstood...

[Timelord Iain, Tech Support]

Finished... and... OMG... THAT WAS AWESOME... LOLOLOL... (view spoiler)[Brutus can speak in full sentences!!!!!!... just when I was thinking how eloquent his one word phrases were... Groot-esque... (hide spoiler)]

I kinda just want to binge this series right now...

[Ann-Marie]

I just finished as well and I loved it! (view spoiler)[I loved that Brutus can speak in full sentences too! I was not mad at who did it ultimately and I like where Ivy & Rafe left off for the next book. It was just what I needed <3 (hide spoiler)]

I want to continue right away too and not just because I am a dumbass and borrowed book 3 on Hoopla instead of book 1 so I wasted a borrow this month possibly.....

[Timelord Iain, Tech Support]

If this author has other series, I'm definitely open to checking them out as well... I've gotten so used to cozy paranormal mysteries being heavy on TSTL tendencies, that it makes me wary of the genre in general...

[Nirkatze]

LOL So looking forward to finishing today with those notes waiting for me.... taking some eye read time right now.

I also find the magic system interesting. A combination of runes and herbs, some sort of "traditional" witch-style cauldron magic and the runes make me think of Norse.

Too me a while to figure out what TSTL was... Too Stupid To Live, right?

One thing I'm curious about and hoping it gets explained--this is happening in London, right? Or Oxford? And in the audiobook, all the supporting characters have British accents, but the MC sounds pure CA-esque American... does that get explained?

[Ann-Marie]

Nirkatze wrote: "LOL So looking forward to finishing today with those notes waiting for me.... taking some eye read time right now.

I also find the magic system interesting. A combination of runes and herbs, some ..."

Yes, too stupid to live, one of my favorite insults <3

And no the accent was never addressed, I think a few times the narrator used a slight British accent with Ivy but was like like eff that most of the time. I kind of bothered me for a minute but I just put it out of my mind and went with it lol

[Timelord Iain, Tech Support]

not really... just bad/lazy narrator, unwilling to do an entire book in a fake british accent, I think... I honestly didn't mind too much... but then, I've listened to so many audiobooks, that the accent wasn't much of a concern to me, as long as I enjoyed the story and wasn't bugged by other narrator things...

and yea... sorry I didn't explain TSTL... I mention the term alot, when talking about cozy mysteries, and kinda just assumed...

I only have a handful of hard nos in my reading: love triangles and angst that are common in YA novels to avoid sexytimes... TSTL heroines in mysteries that make you want to slap some sense into them... excessive foreshadowing (I've abandoned several series over this, but somehow given Suneater a pass)... and just general behaviour that makes me cringe (more nebulous... I'm not a fan of cringe comedy / plotlines tho)...

[Choko]

Up to Ch. 6 myself and ditto on identifying with Ivy! Pretty much exactly when it comes to her attitude towards exercise and not giving in to someone else trying to tell you how to live your life, even if they are right:))) But as Ann-Marie said, I wish I could be as cool and in control of my temper as she is, because it's obviously working for her, but my patience would have me blowing up way before she ever does...

[Choko]

Yay! Everyone enjoyed it! I did good with recommending this *petting myself on the back*.... I very rarely recommend things, but I really wanted to read this one. I am glad it worked out.

[Ann-Marie]

Choko wrote: "Yay! Everyone enjoyed it! I did good with recommending this *petting myself on the back*.... I very rarely recommend things, but I really wanted to read this one. I am glad it worked out."

You get all the props! <3

[Choko]

I just finished and not much to comment, but I really enjoyed it:)) I think I might have the "Lazy Genius Syndrome"... Hahaha! I wish I was a genius:)))

This was fun! Are we going to make other threads, or are we continuing here, whenever we do?

[Timelord Iain, Tech Support]

Most of my comments about the story revolve around how well-structured it was, how much the 2 MCs proved to complement one another, and how none of the narrative elements felt stupid...

I'm kinda sad how there's only 3 books, and nothing seems connected to this trilogy...

Guess I'll have to check out her London & Scotland series at some point...

[Timelord Iain, Tech Support]

Choko wrote: "I just finished and not much to comment, but I really enjoyed it:)) I think I might have the "Lazy Genius Syndrome"... Hahaha! I wish I was a genius:)))

This was fun! Are we going to make other t..."

Lazy Genius Syndrome sounds like my school years... I got away with very little studying in school, and it honestly didn't change much in college, as much as I was warned it would...

Some of my general education courses that didn't care about attendance, I got away with skipping the whole semester, and just showing up on test days, after a marathon 1-2 days doing practice tests for extra credit...

Some of that feels like it's definitely atrophied over the years, as I've settled into the Slouch part of the MC's story :D

[Choko]

Exactly the same for me! I missed most of my attendance at school and college, and I always had above 3.8 average... But because I was bored, I did a ton of side reading and never had issues with my education... In college, the first year my colleagues got me to write all their essays, so at least I had a challenge to write with different voices for a while:) Now, apart from work, I am also completely immersed in my Slouch state of life:))))

[Nirkatze]

LOL So fun hearing about y'all's Lazy Genius cycles. I can't say that I've had one... unless you count the horrible work/life balance anyone working with a school system has... I don't really know how to deal with myself in the slouch of summer when life goes from gogogogogogo to STOP.

Finished yesterday--loved the ending! I laughed so hard.

I'd be most interested in continuing the series in proper threads, 1-a-month... at least for now, with June being so full...

[Nirkatze]

Timelord Iain wrote: "not really... just bad/lazy narrator, unwilling to do an entire book in a fake british accent, I think... I honestly didn't mind too much... but then, I've listened to so many audiobooks, that the ..."

At first I was thinking, why didn't they just use a British narrator then? And then I was thinking, well, if they used an American one too lazy to do a British accent the whole time, then she's kind of meta-ish getting into the role, isn't she? I thought the narrator did a great job otherwise though... and it was funny, the few times she used a British accent for Ivy, was when she was mimicking someone else...

[Timelord Iain, Tech Support]

Nirkatze wrote: "Timelord Iain wrote: "not really... just bad/lazy narrator, unwilling to do an entire book in a fake british accent, I think... I honestly didn't mind too much... but then, I've listened to so many..."

I laughed so hard at this meta-analysis :D

[Charlie]

Starting this tonight, hope I love it!

[Timelord Iain, Tech Support]

you better ;)

[Ann-Marie]

Nirkatze wrote: "Timelord Iain wrote: "not really... just bad/lazy narrator, unwilling to do an entire book in a fake british accent, I think... I honestly didn't mind too much... but then, I've listened to so many..."

lol that is what I will think going forward

[Choko]

Great way of thinking about it, Nirkatze! Although, I always think when American narrators are chosen for British books, it usually has to do with where they are trying to sell the books. I have a ton of acquaintances who wouldn't touch an audiobook, because the ones they had tried were with a British narrator and they didn't have the patience for the accents... I am sure the sellers are aware of this, so they try to get narrators according to the targeted market. This is why there are so many versions of books in both, which is kind of funny, because it is the same language after all:)))

[Timelord Iain, Tech Support]

Choko wrote: "Great way of thinking about it, Nirkatze! Although, I always think when American narrators are chosen for British books, it usually has to do with where they are trying to sell the books. I have a ..."

When there are multiple versions, I prefer the better version whichever it may be, I'm not accent-biased... some narrators fit the characters better, or you get attached to their voice decisions... it's why I hate when authors keep changing narrators within a single POV series...

[Choko]

Me too. I have no issues with accents at all.

Who is going to request the next two threads?

[Nirkatze]

This was your great idea Choko, how about you go ahead and put the threads in, if you want?

3rd of the month again? And do Sparkle Witch short story with the last one?

Also, you should totally put Iain down as your second. ^_~

[Choko]

Hahaha! OK, I will:)))

You know, Adeptus Exemptus Winter has a good point - when things come easy to you like that, you are not used to real challenges and tend to let true opportunities pass by... Not always a good thing...

[Timelord Iain, Tech Support]

Nirkatze wrote: "This was your great idea Choko, how about you go ahead and put the threads in, if you want?

3rd of the month again? And do Sparkle Witch short story with the last one?

Also, you should totally pu..."

Just remember to write (fake) Iain, and not (real) Iain :D