[Buddy Read] Succubus Blues *SPOILERS*

[L-D]

Christine and I are going to do this as a buddy read as part of our October Pick it for Me. I know there's another Georgia Kincaid thread with spoilers, but this will be for all the newbies to the series.

[Christine]

If you want to jump right in, I should be able to start it Sunday, Oct 2.

[L-D]

Okay cool! I'm in!

[Dee]

when you guys are done, there is also a spoiler thread here for the whole series! i just finished up book 6 (and the last book) earlier this month and loved it! this series is prob one of my favorite ones - I was a bit iffy after the first one but georgina grew on me

ETA - you might throw this link down in the Featured Author Challenge, because RM is the author for October and I think there are quite a few newbies reading SB

[L-D]

Ooh good tip. Sooo, um, should I move the thread? And if so, how do I do that?

[Dee]

don't move it - just post a link to it in that thread and invite people to join the discussion

[L-D]

Done! And thanks!

[Tuğçe]

i'd love to join, that's my FAC book this month. when are you starting, 2nd oct?

[L-D]

Yes - Christine and I are starting Oct 2 so if you're available at that time we can all start together. But if not, feel free to read at your own pace and post whenever you're ready.

[Tuğçe]

i am ok to start at that time, let me get my hands on the book :)

[Christine]

I'm really looking forward to this. Welcome, Tugce Nida. The more the merrier!

[Christine]

I'll be starting Succubus Blues on Sunday, but I'm having some computer issues and may not be able to get here to post any comments until sometime Monday. And I thought going Mac would prevent things like this!

[L-D]

That's perfect - I finished my Book of the Month read just now so I can start Succubus Blues tomorrow also!

[Mistral]

I'm in!!! :-)

[L-D]

Welcome Mistral! I'm 40% done with the book and I like the snarky banter between Georgina and her friends.

"I'd advise you do something that doesn't involve leaning more than twenty degrees in any one direction. Oh, and if somebody tries to get you to touch your elbows together behind your back, don't fall for it."

[Christine]

Hi Mistral.

Lan-Dinh, 40% done?! Wow. I've made it the whole way page 58. I agree about the dialogue between characters. But I find it interesting that, at least so far, all of her friends are male. I'm curious about both Seth and Roman and hope they pop up again.

[L-D]

You know, I didn't notice all her friends were male, but I guess it makes some sort of sense. I'm sure it's hard to keep female friends when you are so gorgeous and attract every male's eye.


"Jesus, Georgina, You're so fucking hot tonight, I could take you right now. Do you have any idea what you're doing to me in that outfit?"
"'Doing to you?' I'm not 'doing' anything. It's attitudes like that that result in women being veiled around the world, you know. It's blaming the victim."

Okay - so I JUST finished the book. I'll hold off on posting anything until other people finish too.

[Christine]

I stayed up too late reading last night and made it just over 200 pages through the book. I'll probably manage to finish it Tuesday night.

I have mixed feelings about Georgina. Love Seth. I liked Roman at first, but now I'm not so sure about him. And I really, really hope this isn't going to turn in to a love triangle. I hate love triangles that are drawn out book after book. But since I've still got a hundred pages to go, I could be wrong. I could go on, but I'll wait until we see where others are in the book.

[L-D]

Christine wrote: "I stayed up too late reading last night and made it just over 200 pages through the book. I'll probably manage to finish it Tuesday night.

I have mixed feelings about Georgina. Love Seth. I lik..."

Oh I TOTALLY hate love triangles too. Know exactly how you feel about mixed feelings with Georgina.

[Dee]

(view spoiler)[no love triangle...and that's all I'll say about that ;) (hide spoiler)]

[Christine]

The moment that most endeared Georgina to me was when she admitted that she only reads five pages of Seth's book a night, because she loves his writing so much she doesn't want it to be over too quickly. I understand where she's coming from (although I lack such self control). I liked this little quirkiness in her character and I liked that she actually seemed embarrassed to admit it in front of her friends and Seth.

[L-D]

Christine wrote: "The moment that most endeared Georgina to me was when she admitted that she only reads five pages of Seth's book a night, because she loves his writing so much she doesn't want it to be over too qu..."

I thought it was cute the way she put her foot in her mouth in front of Seth. Yes, it was pretty obvious to all the readers that the cute disheveled guy was going to turn out to be her author/hero, but it was cute how awkward she got after it.

[Christine]

Yeah. I like how meeting her writing hero has really thrown her for a loop. I adore Seth so far. As an introvert myself, I guess I can relate the most to him.
I liked Roman at first, I mean, how can I not like a guy who brings Mountain Dew (my only addiction, other than reading)? But after a while he started to seem just a little too slick for me. And he did one thing that made me not trust him. I'm curious to see what others think of it, but I'll wait to mention it until I know others have gotten to that part.

[L-D]

OMG - I'm drinking mountain dew right now! I KNEW there was a reason we were friends! Reading and Dew! Sooo - when are we allowed to REALLY discuss this? I want to know what made you finally not trust him. But I agree - he's really slick. But slick in a really hot way. :) Seth was just so awkward at first. I guess he's not my stereotypical hero. Like - it was so weird how he could only talk to her via email. Don't those kinds of guys still live in their mother's basements? And they can't DO anything, right? I'm glad he started loosening up a little bit, but it was a touch painful to witness.

[Dee]

Seth is a total beta hero

[Samantha]

I'm going to jump in.

[Dee]

took you long enough Sam! how long have I been telling you to read this!

[Samantha]

I know! I know! I'm finally joining in on the crazy :)

[Christine]

guess I can just relate to Seth. I'm usually pretty quite around new people, but once I warm up to you, look out! I get that it's more comfortable to formulate your thoughts in writing so you can make sure that you're really saying exactly what you want to say. Sometimes, when talking in person, you say things the wrong way, or they don't sound the way you wanted them to, or you can't think of the right words in time. But when you write it down you can think about it read over it fifty ways from Sunday and make sure (at least you think) it makes sense. And I always kind of like the geeky, shy guy over the slick, suave guy. Although, I suppose geeky, shy can be a put on as much as slick and suave.

[Christine]

Now here's a general question that came up early on for me: Why is Georgina the "teacher's pet" who Jerome is always lenient with when she's hardly the typical "good" succubus? She's not out corrupting good souls to rack up points for her side, so why is Jerome lenient with her?

[Christine]

And now I'm going to go read, or I'll never get this book finished....

[L-D]

OKAY - I can't take it any more time for SPOILERS

Christine wrote: "Now here's a general question that came up early on for me: Why is Georgina the "teacher's pet" who Jerome is always lenient with when she's hardly the typical "good" succubus? She's not out corr..."

Well, I think they did say at the end, (view spoiler)[when Georgina was agreeing to the new contract with Jerome in order to save Seth's memory of her, that she promised to seduce and turn innocents the way she did before. So she wasn't always a "good" succubus. I think she at one point was into her job wholeheartedly. I think it was mentioned at another point when she mentions that Hugh was in his prime and really liked his job whereas Georgina and Pete (sorry, am I getting these names right?) were a little more disgruntled. (hide spoiler)]

[Christine]

So, once again I stayed up too late and finished the book. It must have been that extra Mountain Dew yesterday.

You might be right about why she's teacher pet, but I also got the impression from what she said to him that he's never seen her at her best, so to speak. But then, maybe he realized her potential?

[Christine]

If we're getting in to spoilers, here's what made me question Roman. (view spoiler)[She went out with Roman and told him she wasn't drinking that night. He convinced her to have "just one" drink, and then another, and another and another. If he had just talked her into that first drink, because he really did think they were the best margaritas and town and had let it drop after that, I could have forgiven him. But when he kept pushing the alcohol, it really irritated me. Granted, she could have better stood her own ground, but he really should have respected her wishes. And then after their big blow up later, Seth was the one to follow her out and make sure she was okay. (hide spoiler)]

[Dee]

(view spoiler)[but you got to remember that roman and his sister were killing immortals and georgina was a potential victim, which is what I kind of got from his actions - not excusing them, but for me it worked in context of the storyline (hide spoiler)]

[Christine]

And here's another general question: I'm a little confused about just how her powers work. I get that she absorbs energy during sex and while kissing. But it seems she doesn't absorb energy during casual contact? At various times she's shaking people's hands, leaning her head on Doug's shoulder, holding Roman's hands. At one point she and Roman are out and she talks about their legs and arms touching and him stroking her face. I don't want to get explicit here, but at what point does "casual" contact become "sexual" contact in which she absorbs energy? What's casual contact between two people is foreplay between two other people. Or is she always absorbing just a little bit of energy from whomever she touches? I don't recall a detailed explanation other than she gets more energy from "good" souls. It may not have much bearing on the plot, but guess my mind just likes details.

[Christine]

Dee wrote: "[spoilers removed]"

Yeah, I get that and agree with you. I had earlier commented, before I finished the book, that I didn't trust Roman, so I was just explaining the first thing he did (other than being a little too slick for my taste) that made me not want to trust him. (Well, that was a long convoluted sentence!) (view spoiler)[So when it turned out he was the bad guy, I can't say I was the least bit surprised. (hide spoiler)]

[Dee]

but things do change in the latter books - re: roman...and that's all i'm going to say

re her touch - I think that the contact has to be maintained for a certain amount of time before she starts absorbing their life-force - but the time is never really mentioned...in later ones, there is a comment, like and then I starting feeling his lifeforce flow into me

[L-D]

I didn't add spoiler tags anymore because I guess there is a HUGE spoiler tag on this thread, right?

Christine wrote: "If we're getting in to spoilers, here's what made me question Roman. [spoilers removed]"


Funny - I saw that as more of a Georgina fault. Yes, he convinced her to have a margarita but she is the one that decided to have 2. And then he convinced her to have a mojito, but she is the one that kept turning it up. It's not like he roofied her, he basically offered her two drinks and she just kept slugging them down.

But I agree that he did seem a little too smooth at that point. Hmm - but I think that while I was reading it, I still liked him during that particular date. Good point though - why didn't he come out to take her home? Although she probably would've resisted going with him...

[Christine]

Lan-Dinh wrote: "Funny - I saw that as more of a Georgina fault."

When I read it, I wasn't sure if the author was trying to warm me about this guy, or it was just my own sensitivity. The way I remember it was she drank one, and then a second "appeared". And while they were dancing he ordered the mojitos, and by then she was sloshed enough to not care anymore. For me it showed a lack or respect on his part. Yeah, she coulda/shoulda turned down the drinks, but as Mr. Charismatic who insists he wants to get to know her better, he should have respected her wishes from the beginning.
This goes along with a discussion I had recently in another group about how different people can read the same book, or same scene and take totally different things away from it based on personal opinions and life experiences. I think it reflects well on the authors writing if it's open to such interpretation.

[Christine]

Shall we start critiquing Georgina now? She was so up and down and back and forth through the book. I must leave him alone. Why is he ignoring me? I won't do that. Oh, what's one little date to lead him on even more? Although, I did like that she acknowledged her own erratic behavior ('All these "parts of me" should be in therapy'.) And when Carter pointed out that for someone who doesn't want attention from good guys, she takes a form that is certain to get their attention. Do you read that as she secretly does like the attention, or she's actually trying to punish herself; drawing them in, so she can see what (she thinks) she can never have?
She's a centuries-old immortal being, shouldn't she have gotten some perspective by now? Or do you argue that since she became a succubus, she's cut herself off from certain human emotions and therefore couldn't gain perspective? Is the point of discovering Seth's feelings to help her start that process? She made one really bad choice in her marriage centuries ago and tried to correct it with yet another bad choice. But at least by the end of this book, she seemed to be starting to gain perspective. That even if Seth might hate her now, she'd rather he remember the time he did love her than have it wiped away as if it never existed. 'Tis better to have loved and lost than never to have loved at all.

[Christine]

Sometimes I think that I think way to much about some of these books.

[L-D]

I think her decision to have her husband's memory wiped was the only selfless decision I've seen in the book. He was so broken by her betrayal, that she knew eventually he would end up on the cliff and not be able to walk away. The only way she could think to take away his pain, was to completely remove the memory of him.

Her decision to do the same thing to Seth was 100% selfish. After returning to her husband decades later, she was devastated that he didn't recognize her and that she was just obliterated from his past. When it came to Seth, she just couldn't bear for it to happen again. I know if I were in her position, I would want Seth to remember me too. But she didn't do it because she thinks it's better for him to love her than never to have loved at all - I think she was thinking of herself, not him. Removing her from his memory would have allowed him to move on.

[Christine]

Lan-Dinh wrote: "I think her decision to have her husband's memory wiped was the only selfless decision I've seen in the book. He was so broken by her betrayal, that she knew eventually he would end up on the clif..."

I agree totally that she did it for selfish reasons and so far in the series she's quite egocentric. Even if she is wanting to punish herself and hates her life as a succubus, ultimately, it's all about poor Georgina.

But I guess I take the view that you can't really appreciate the good without having the bad. To remove a persons honest emotions, no matter how misguided, alters them in ways you can't understand. Had her husband's memory not been wiped, he may have jumped off that cliff and killed himself, which would have been his choice. OR he might also have found a way to move on and be better for it. As Carter says, we all have weak moments. It's how we come back from them that defines us.
In regards to Seth, at one point in the book it sounds as though his interactions with Georgina have, at least in part, been good for him: Brought him more out of his shell, encouraged him to try new things (like swing dancing). And really, why would him remembering what he felt for her be a bad thing? Yes she's a succubus, and they probably can't ever be together. And, I just remembered, he himself had said of a previous girlfriend that if he had it to do over, even knowing how it had ended, he would still date her again because he appreciated the time they did have together. So he's shown that he can appreciate the good moments even though things don't always work out in the end. Because of that, I don't think he would have wanted his mind wiped.
See, I think about these things way too much. When I think about a book this much, I either ending up hating it for all the flaws I find in it, or liking it more because of the complexities I would have otherwise missed. Or maybe I just need another Mountain Dew!

[Dee]

i loved all the complexities - when I am still thinking about a book a few days after I finish, I know its a good one - even if I hate some of the characters

[L-D]

I was a little indifferent to Seth because he was so awkward until that final kiss where his emotions and thoughts just come rushing up. To find out that he was taking those swing-dancing lessons on the sly? *sigh* what a total and utter sweetie-pie. And she STILL had to drag him into the classroom and then force him to dance. All his counting and sweating was adorable! I loved it when he shushed her so he could count. I definitely would not have wanted to wipe any of that from his memory if I had seen it either.

[Dee]

i'm also biased because i've read the whole series - so its hard for me to just isolate my thoughts to this book...lol!

[L-D]

Hey - so should we do a buddy read for the next book next month? I really enjoy the discussions!

[Christine]

Lan-Dinh wrote: "Hey - so should we do a buddy read for the next book next month? I really enjoy the discussions!"

I'm up for that. I'd really like to pursue this series, but thanks to my addiction to these darn challenges, I've got most of my books for this month already lined up. I want to see what happens with Seth. When/how does Roman return (I mean he's got to right?) And just what is Georgina like when she turns it on full power? Inquiring minds want to know.

[L-D]

Christine wrote: "Lan-Dinh wrote: "Hey - so should we do a buddy read for the next book next month? I really enjoy the discussions!"

I'm up for that. I'd really like to pursue this series, but thanks to my addict..."

I read book #1 in about 4 or 5 series last month for challenges and never got to book 2. So I think this is a good way to get through the series. I stopped doing challenges for that reason but I still ended up with 12 books to read for this month between pick it for mes and buddy reads. But so far I enjoy buddy reads much more than the challenges. I feel like those are more check the box reads whereas the buddy reads are more enjoyable with the interaction.