Fair Game Buddy Read

[D.G.]

Josie, Lady Jaye and I will be buddy reading Fair Game for this week's shelf. Everybody feel free to join us!

[Josie]

Yay!!! It's like a game within a game... gameception...

I wonder what will be the most read book by the end of Bingo?

[D.G.]

That would be an interesting thing to find out. :)

[Steph, Serious series addict]

Enjoy! This is a fantastic book!

[Lady Jaye]

Heh. I'll start later this afternoon.

[D.G.]

I started today. And the book started with a bang! I'm so worried for them both.

I'm also liking to see how humans are taking the whole werewolf business, which we didn't see much about in the Mercy Thompson series.

[D.G.]

I'm about the third along and I have to say this is the scariest book yet.

I saw from your comment LJ that you thought Anna was wrong but I immediately felt that she was right to be worried for Charles. I thought Bran wouldn't be so mad if he didn't know she was right.

[Josie]

I loved Anna for her protectiveness! It was like the roles from the first book were reversed - Charles being emotionally/mentally vulnerable and Anna being his strength. I loved that she worried because at the end of the day, Charles is her primary concern, just as (view spoiler)[Charles realises that Anna is his number one priority and to go back to being "justice" (hide spoiler)].

Oh I've finished by the way :/ ... I kind of got really into it. Patricia Briggs is awesome, I love how well she combines plot and character relationships. Often in books, you follow how they meet and get together and then BAM! Happy ever after. I mean authors are missing a trick here! Look at Kate and Curran, Eve and Roarke. How interesting are the relationships? The issues they need to work out and how they go on hunts together etc. Charles and Anna were together prectically the whole book and I never got tired of them once. All their interactions are brilliant and there's still chemistry, it's just much deeper.

(view spoiler)[
Wow, maximum respect for Beauclaire! I loved it! Talk about a statement. I love when people don't take crap and found myself liking the bit basically saying "if we are not recognized as citizens, why follow the laws" or whatever. In so many books, there's pages and pages of politics and putting up with this or that, and you always want someone to just stand up and say screw this. And he did! It's going to make for some interesting stuff in the coming books. (hide spoiler)]

[Lady Jaye]

DG, I am a bit farther along. The politics of it is much more complicated than I had anticipated. I still think the way Anna worded it is wrong. I agreed with Asil's analysis the most, I think. But she does have a valid point.

Josie - what is wrong with Kate and Curran? #blasphemy. :D

I am going to try to give a push and finish by tomorrow night. But I have a review book that must be done tonight, so.... adios, people, until then.

[D.G.]

Something that I think Briggs should have clarified when Anna was talking to Bran is that this has been going on for a a year and that's why Anna was so worried about it so it's not as if she's whining the first time it happened. I think that's probably the impression you got LJ.

Immediately when she brought it up, I started to feel really anxious because I knew Charles was in danger. As I said, if Bran thought she was overreacting, he wouldn't have been so mad. He knew he was sacrificing his son for the good of the wolves and he didn't want anybody to remind him of that.

I loved this book because it has brought to the front how really dangerous these supes are. In most books, you always think that it would be cool to live in that world. Not so much in this one.

[Josie]

@Lady Jaye: Lol no! I don't think I made it very clear bu I meant that they were an example of a good couple! That their relationship is as interesting now as it was when they were... flirting :P
I was just making a point that not many series actually have a couple that are properly together, like Kate and Curran. I guess authors are worried that the reader will become bored with them.

I agree with you DG, Charles was pretty much at breaking point. Imagine from Anna's POV, her husband/mate doesn't touch her, hasn't been singing/playing music, rejects her company and wolf and has also closed off their bond. You couldn't just stand by and let it happen.
Anna has been getting stronger with each book and I thought that she made quite a leap from Hunting Ground, almost too big of one.
But then I thought that this was due, partly to the amount of time that has passed, but also it's kind of like Charles' issues have pushed Anna to be stronger. Like she has to fight for him which is different to her fighting for herself. I see it as Anna championing him and she either lays down and lets the ghosts get him or she has to stand up and fight for their bond.
With Bran, well in Hunting Ground, she was already showing some teeth, with hanging up on him and once again, defending Charles.

[D.G.]

I agree with you Josie....it seems as if Anna made a big leap in this book...she was a lot more assertive but again, some time had passed.

And I was a bit surprised at her personality which seems a bit sunnier than in the past. But maybe the real her hadn't had time to really shine because she had the other issues.

[Josie]

Yeah, this is what I like about this couple. Charles is not dominating her (even though he's a dominant wolf) or wrapping her in cotton wool - he's teaching her to be strong herself and I respect that. It is probably the reason why she's so much more confident and happy :)