"The Rook" Final Thoughts *Spoilers*

[Kim]

Now that you've finished what did you think?

[David Sven]

My review http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/...

I enjoyed it overall but it had a few flaws that almost ruined it for me. The lack of bewilderment of the new Myfanwy adjusting to her amnesia - And the letters, while good narration, made poor letters.
But the pace was good. The action was good. The book held my attention and I liked the ending.

Does anyone else think this is more young adult?

[Coralie]

I found the mispronunciation of her name a real turn-off. Every time her name was mentioned I hit a stumbling block with part of me wanting to pronounce it how she wanted it and the other half how I knew it should be pronounced. This was just as irritating as a misspelling or incorrect grammar. Perhaps this was why I preferred the first person sections - and I don't usually like first person narrative.

[colleen the convivial curmudgeon]

Could someone let me know how her name is *meant* to be pronounced, since it's different from how we're told it is in the book?

[Kim]

Colleen wrote: "Could someone let me know how her name is *meant* to be pronounced, since it's different from how we're told it is in the book?"

This has it pretty much right http://www.forvo.com/word/myfanwy/

[colleen the convivial curmudgeon]

Thanks. :>

[Michelle]

when she has a surprise meeting with (view spoiler)[her long-lost sister (hide spoiler)], myfanwy is greeted by name, so at that point the real pronunciation of her name is spelled out sort of phonetically in the text. i took it as an interesting little detail about how she'd been absorbed into the organization as a kiddo - they cared enough about her power to snap her up hastily, but they didn't care enough about her the individual to bother with the proper welsh pronunciation.

[Deanne]

Deanne wrote: "If you think Myfanwy a difficult weish name to decide how to pronounce there's Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwyll-llantysiliogogogoch a place in Wales, have to admit I can't, but I'm only an 1/8 welsh.

[Banner]

I thought this was a very imaginative story. I excused some of the annoying nuances to the lite hearteness of the story. I will certainly get the next one (how can there not be). I also think (as I read another good reader ) the letters from her past will not work in the sequel.

I'm think a kind of Dr. jekyll and mr hyde thing would be good. Or maybe we just say goodbye to the first Myfanwy?

[Gabi]

Is there anybody else doing this BR?

I started the book and like the basic idea. So far (about 14%) there is a lot of re-telling. I hope this changes soon, cause it gets a bit tedious.

[Raucous]

I was just thinking of starting it (it's on one of my challenges). I'd forgotten that there was a buddy read scheduled. Looks like I might be too late. Do I read too slowly? So many books...

[Gabi]

Raucous wrote: "I was just thinking of starting it (it's on one of my challenges). I'd forgotten that there was a buddy read scheduled. Looks like I might be too late. Do I read too slowly? So many books..."

😊 Never! There are just too many good books around, I start losing track of BRs, too. Necroposting is always an option. I'll keep an eye out for posts here.

[Raucous]

This is the first year that I'm joining group challenges and making more of an effort to follow BRs, so it won't be the last time I forget one for a book I'd planned to read. Thanks.

I persuaded my partner to read this as well so we're doing an offline BR. We're both still fairly early on and, yeah, the narrative hook that pulled me in at the beginning is getting a bit tedious for both of us as well. (view spoiler)[We're also a bit puzzled, given that there were initial instructions in all of Myfanwy's jackets, that the group trying to remove her hasn't been more successful. If they found the letters (so many copies!) they'd have known her backup name, the bank, the bank drawer numbers, and had keys for them. It seems odd that they wouldn't have just picked her up again after she registered in a hotel or would have at least cleaned out the bank drawers to cut off any further escape options. Maybe this will be clear later on? (hide spoiler)]

[Trike]

Raucous wrote: "We're also a bit puzzled, given that there were initial instructions in all of Myfanwy's jackets, that the group trying to remove her hasn't been more successful. If they found the letters (so many copies!)"

This being a Final Thoughts thread, you can openly post spoilers.

I found this book to be aggressively stupid. Nevermind the implausible supernatural stuff, which is fine, everything else is just dumb. I mean, she wakes up with amnesia and then has to do an advanced government job in upper management... you can’t just wing a job like that. That was just the tip of the idiot iceberg.

[HeyT]

I read this a year and a half ago and I'm still not over Gestalt and everything they've done.

[Gabi]

@Raucous: I read it as: her enemies never bothered with her private stuff and just were content to have her removed.
The letters were a bit tedious in the beginning for me as well, but be it I got accustomed to them or they fit better into the flow, I liked them later on.
And to counterbalance Trike's post: I enjoyed the book a lot and had a great time reading it.

[Raucous]

It wasn't clear to me what the spoiler protocol was on a thread that had been resurrected for a BR. Will do.

My partner was a higher level executive in various settings and I spent a lot of time working with them towards the end of my career. So we're both also really struggling with the concept of doing that job with amnesia. She's invested enough in seeing how it works out to continue on. I'm not there yet, but feel like I should give it more time given the generally positive reviews both here and elsewhere.

[MrsJoseph *grouchy*]

I feel yall on the executive work...but she had a damn good reason to make it work: they would have killed her and she couldn't run.

It's slightly plausible. I know someone who applied for and won a job that she had no qualifications for at all. It was a high level managerial position that she got by completely falsifying her resume (shes an amazing interviewer). After she got the job she pulled together 3-4 of her friends who basically helped her do her job for her. Projects, emails, papers, decisions, presentations, etc. Multiple times someone would complete a presentation for her and then have to explain to her what was going on. The next day she'd present.

IDK if she still has that job. My friend who was helping her was getting burned out.

[Raucous]

Wow. At some level you could perhaps argue that she was qualified based on being able to pull together that level of support (well, ignoring the lying part). It's a shame that she couldn't put her friends on the payroll.

It's the being able to drop into a position like this with no memory of it (not even where your office is located or how you used to behave) after being there for a decade that's mind boggling to me - especially in a secret organization like this one that seems to have a high level of justifiable paranoia built into the culture.