December M/M Buddy Read: A Red-Tainted Silence

[Jane (PS), Moderator]

I'm approaching halfway (no, no - not really counting down those pages!!). I find the book very easy to read, but each time I pick it up I'm also worried about what the next 'abuse' will be... *sigh*

[Jane (PS), Moderator]

OMG!!

I was lying in bed this morning thinking:

*Do I live in a near perfect world and am I therefore naive?
*Can a person subconsciously set themselves up to be a victim?

I have just finished Part 1. I just cannot fathom the set of circumstances, occurrences and outcomes from the last hour of reading last night!

[Jane (PS), Moderator]

Jane (PS) wrote: "Brandon is blaming himself needlessly for every misadventure so far... 'I should have been there, etc etc etc...' So he clearly expects himself to be omnipotent... However I'm justing ploughing ..."

Awww... I feel really bad now for my comments at the beginning of the read :( Poor Brandon! very mild spoiler: (view spoiler)[He should have spoken out about all that abuse - just shocking, but clearly thought he had taken the only route possible... (hide spoiler)] ...I'm up to p400 (or thereabouts).

[D.G.]

I've stopped reading this for a while (the audiobook I was listening consumed me) but now I'm back.

Sorry that I'm getting tired though is that they are rehashing everything that happened in the past but without new info.

For instance, I read the part where Brandon (view spoiler)[masturbates and when he's done, Nick shows up and he realizes what Brandon was up to. (hide spoiler)]

Then in the present, there's a conversation that rehashes all this. What's the point of that?

On the other hand, I thought the attitude of Brandon's dad was terrible. He had reason to be upset but (view spoiler)[throwing the son out of the ouse when he's physically and psychologically weak was terrible. I know there are worse dads out there but regardless. (hide spoiler)]

[Jane (PS), Moderator]

It only really starts to come together about half way, maybe a bit further on - near the end of Part A. I have now banned myself from reading it at night because I can't get to sleep if it is top of mind. ...I've got 100 pages to go, but they have to be read in daylight. LOL!

[D.G.]

I've completely stalled on the book. It reached the point where I preferred to do dishes than read it so I decided to switch to something else for a few days and see how that goes. Once I finished the book I'm reading now, I'll try to get back to it.

[Penney]

I'm having a bit of a hard time too. But I'm not sure if it's the book or the fact that I can't seem to string together more than 20 mins of reading time. December is sooooo busy.

[Jane (PS), Moderator]

I've stalled too, but mainly because of my self-imposed ban... And the days are too lovely to sit inside; and I have all the Xmas shopping and wrapping to take up my time; and the Secret Santas are in play everywhere; and and and... ;)

[Penney]

...and, and, and... T'is the season!

[Shell]

Half way through the book. There are parts I like, and parts I skim over. I'm getting tired of the "past" part of the story and want to read more of the "now" part. It does feel like it goes on and on though...not in good ways.

[Jane (PS), Moderator]

LOL! We're all procrastinating!!! I'm going to commit to finish this by Thursday... (I have to - my other books are piling up :)

Shell - I was like you are at about halfway - just waiting for it to go somewhere. But watch out - when it moves, it goes with a *bang*... And then you need your teddy-bear and someone to take your mind off the story so you can get to sleep at night ;)

...Or maybe I'm just a wimp? :)

[Penney]

You're scaring me Jane.

[D.G.]

Yes, you're scaring me too, Jane! LOL!

I'm all over the place. Yesterday I started my 4th book. I don't know what's going on!!!

[Shell]

Jane (PS) wrote: "LOL! We're all procrastinating!!! I'm going to commit to finish this by Thursday... (I have to - my other books are piling up :)

Shell - I was like you are at about halfway - just waiting for it ..."

I dunno if that's making me want to read or want to put it aside Jane. LOL. I'll keep plodding away though. I'm finding too many other things that I want to read as well. I think I gotta stop looking at other peoples shelves. :)

[Jane (PS), Moderator]

Penney & DG wrote: "You're scaring me Jane."

LOL! I think I'm just a wimp! My parents couldn't read me The Story about Ping when I was little without a lot of fuss on my part! I hated the scary bits :)

But ARTS is not scary to READ - I just couldn't stop thinking about it after I read it...

[Penney]

I finally made it to part 2! Wow, things are really picking up. I still don't have much time to read tho :(

[D.G.]

I'm back on the horse so to speak.

I really can't take Nicholas.

[Tuğçe]

I was avoiding the thread since I have been reading really slow but I guess everyone is having some kind of difficulty to get through the book.

[Dee]

i feel bad that I rec'd this...I loved it when I read it... :(

[D.G.]

Oh Dee. Don't feel bad!

The story is very good but for my taste I think it just needed a bit of editing to make the plot a bit tighter but besides that, I'm in a weird space reading wise at the moment. I don't seem to be able to concentrate on anything!

[Jane (PS), Moderator]

Dee wrote: "i feel bad that I rec'd this...I loved it when I read it... :("

No, no, no - I'm really glad I'm reading it. It has really made me appreciate how lucky I am - even if these set of circumstances are ridiculously improbable (I think? I hope!) :)

I just have to make sure I'm not thinking about it later in the evening! ;)

[Penney]

I just don't have the time needed to invest in it. I was just reading for 30 mins or so, but once again, I gotta go...

[Jane (PS), Moderator]

Penney wrote: "I just don't have the time needed to invest in it. I was just reading for 30 mins or so, but once again, I gotta go..."

LOL - bad time of year to finish books without a doubt!

[D.G.]

I'm officially stopping this book. I'm not dnfing it (I have the intention of finishing it one of these days) but I'm just not into it at the moment.

Hopefully I have better luck with NEH next month.

[Penney]

I'm dying to know who's behind all this. I have my suspects but I'm not really sure yet.

[[deleted user]]

D.G. ~Shameless Hussy~ wrote: "I'm officially stopping this book. I'm not dnfing it (I have the intention of finishing it one of these days) but I'm just not into it at the moment.

Hopefully I have better luck with NEH next month."


What is next month's read going to be?

[Dee]

IIRC - Nothing Ever Happens

[[deleted user]]

Oh that one's good!

[Jane (PS), Moderator]

I finished ARTS last night. I had picked the baddie from the beginning so it was nice to finally have it confirmed! I just wished he had suffered somewhat for his terrible actions!

It's Christmas day here, so I have to keep going - but I'll be back to further discuss this :)

[Penney]

Done! Jane, I'm with you about the baddie and it was my suspect as well. As usual this month, I gotta keep moving, but I'll be back for the discussion.
Happy Holidays All!

[D.G.]

If the villain was the obvious suspect, then I know who it was!

My library happens to have NEH and I'm #1 on the waiting list. Hopefully I'll get it soon so we can schedule the buddy read. ;)

[Tuğçe]

I have finished the book yesterday and I wasn't really surprised with the attacker's identity... I don't know what to say about this book, I actually liked Brandon and most of the characters in the book and when I read it, I was ok with it but something kept me away from the book constantly, I hesitated to continue to read, I don't know whether it was my mood or the books. And some of the things they faced was a little too much eye-roll worthy I have to admit.
I am hoping to participate in the next buddy read too :) this was really fun.

[Dee]

are we still on for Nothing Ever Happens?

[Jane (PS), Moderator]

I'm in! And I think I've already purchased it... (Hmmm - better go check that...)

[Dee]

I have it, I rec'd it to my pickee for this month, but I don't think she's going to read it, and i have it slotted into another challenge

[Tuğçe]

i am in i will buy it today as i have a new years resolution of reading the few hundred books i already have not buying new ones.

[Jane (PS), Moderator]

LOL Eimeriina! Good luck with that resolution!!!

[Vi]

DG recommended NEH for my PIFM. I'll join in too. My first M/M!!

[Vi]

Yeah, Nida. Good Luck with that!!

Btw, there is a running challenge here at RRRC - the Count off Challenge. You can't buy books during the period of challenge. It's a good opportunity to reduce your TBR pile. I could only manage once before I had withdrawal issues.

[Jane (PS), Moderator]

Vi wrote: "DG recommended NEH for my PIFM. I'll join in too. My first M/M!!"

Great to have you join us Vi! :)

[Shell]

I finished ARTS yesterday and I've mixed feelings about it. I was more into the "present" side of the story than the past, and I liked Nicholas more than Brandon. I'm one that usually lovest angst in a story, but that was over the top. I'm interested in reading the next book in the author's series, but not for a while. I think I've over done it in challenges and stuffets LOL

[[deleted user]]

The next book isn't nearly as high-octane angst as this one was, I really enjoyed it.