Wuthering Wednesday (4)…Ch. 27 to End

The Book Club of Two Presents:

Welcome! We’ve got an extra-special Book Club of Two this month. We’ve decided to be all literary and take on a re-read of Wuthering Heights. A book that I disliked the first 2 times around and RachelKiwi enjoyed but found it wasn’t her favorite.

What makes this re-read even more special (besides the classic content) is that we’re joined by another childhood friend, LindszerWest. LindszerWest doesn’t have a blog so I’ll be posting her responses. But you may be asking yourself why we allowed her into this exclusive club for the re-read…Well, I’ll explain…

LindszerWest is not only a lifelong reader, she is a nook owning, bad-boy lover who saw the post announcing Wuthering Wednesdays and just had to jump in! Seriously, she was blasting my Facebook page with Heathcliff quotes *very fangirl*.

And while I’m making all these exceptions…I’ve decided to be nice to everyone for this re-read and instead of posting embarrassing pictures of awkward high school years I’m including pictures of us on our most beautiful day…Our wedding days 😉

But before we jump to the Q&A in honor of our last Wuthering Wednesday I’m including a poem written by another HS friend’s husband. Apparently Jackie Baker’s man has some serious literary chops…Just look at this bad-boy of a poem!

I’ll tell you a tale of events long ago
Where faces of marriage and death did show.
This is a story of life on the range,
And begins with a tenant in Threshold Grange.

Visiting the owner of the place where he stays,
Mr. Lockwood visits Heathcliff on two different days.
He sees the lady of the house as quite rude,
And the way he is treated by the servants is crude.

He travels back to his home in the midst of a storm,
To find his house very cheery and warm.
And as he eats some food for his belly,
He listens to the tale of Heathcliff by Nelly.

It starts when Mr. Earnshaw goes into town,
and returns to show all just what he has found.
It’s an orphan boy of the gypsy variety,
And Catherine and Hindley want none of his society.

Mr. Earnshaw dies and Hindley chances,
To return with a wife by the name of Frances.
Hindley hates Heathcliff, but much to dismay,
The little gypsy simply won’t go away.

Hindley and Frances soon have a son,
But Hindley’s love for him is zero to none.
Poor little Hareton, though heir in name,
When Hindley is drunk, beating him is a game.

Heathcliff and Catherine go out to play,
And they are gone for most of the day.
Heathcliff then returns to the house all alone,
Because the Linton’s dog thought Cathy was a bone.

Catherine comes back to the Heights like a lady,
And Heathcliff believes that something is shady.
He hears Cathy say that he is low in caste,
So he turns and runs away with great haste.

Linton and Cathy’s love is so strange,
And soon they get married and live in the Grange.
Heathcliff returns to Wuthering Heights,
And causes Linton and Cathy many fights.

Edgar Linton’s sister is Isabella,
And she thinks that Heathcliff is a mighty fine fella.
She runs off with him and they soon do marry,
But she quickly finds out that he is quite scary.

Linton and Cathy had a small child,
And to say there were problems is putting it mild.
Catherine died shortly after giving birth,
And she was laid to rest in the earth.

Catherine was dead and Edgar was sad,
And Heathcliff’s appearance caused him to be mad.
Of Edgar’s love for Cathy Heathcliff did not care,
And when no one was looking he replaced lockets of hair.

Isabella left her husband and moved away,
But she soon had Heathcliff’s child one day.
Linton she called him to raise Heathcliff’s spite,
And Heathcliff did not like him try as he might.

One day young Catherine went out on her own,
Which was something her father did not condone.
She discovered young Hareton who was robbed of his wealth,
And with him young Linton in very poor health.

She visits Linton often and writes to him too,
And guess what? she marries, that’s right, you know who!
But her father is dying and she is not there,
And Heathcliff knows that she is his heir.

Edgar dies before his will he can change,
And that gives Heathcliff control of the Grange.
Now Nelly Dean’s story is finally through,
But more of the story lies in wait for you.

Lockwood decides to find a new home,
And so throughout London he does roam.
When he comes back to pay his rent,
He finds to the Heights, Nelly has been sent.

Hareton and Catherine are happily wed,
Now that Heathcliff is finally dead.
Lockwood hears about it from Nelly Dean,
And he hides from the lovers, not wanting to be seen.

They all lived happily and had a good time,
And thus comes the ending of this rhyme.
Now that my tale has come to an end,
I thank you for reading, now goodbye my friend.

Without Further Ado…The Questions…

TheLibrarian Answers

RachelKiwi’s Questions

The moors play a major role. Could this book have taken place elsewhere? The South of France, Jamaica, the rolling hills of Western Pennsylvania?

I think the point is that the book needs to take place somewhere secluded. I’m thinking the hills of West Virginia would be a good place. Lots of inbreeding and crazy mountain people…Sounds about right, No? lol. But I think what really makes the book click is the mystery of the moors. You need a Celtic place for the magic to happen…

In Chapter 34 Nelly wonders if Heathcliff is not human after all, but a supernatural creature: “Is he a ghoul, or a vampire?” Do you think there is evidence in the text that Heathcliff may indeed be something other than human?

I think the point is that Heathcliff is very human. He operates on base human instinct. Think about it…he’s led by passion, by jealousy, by revenge. A paranormal creature isn’t directed by such human emotions.

Also, I think the fact that Heathcliff holds such hope for ghosts proves how human he is. He’s so tied to his humanity that he needs the paranormal to exist for Catherine to come back to him. I don’t think he holds much stock in the reality of a heaven or hell. He only wishes to live an afterlife on earth with his lost love.

P.S. This all sounds so romantic till you remember what an arse this guy was…

There’s a new movie version of WH in the works and the casting director wants you. What character would you want to play?

Hmm…I’d like to have the acting chops to play Catherine (1). How fun would it be to boss all those guys around, and you’d get to go crazy and die in your lovers’ [both of them!] arms? *Sigh* The power you’d get to feel, even vicariously. But I’d probably get cast as Isabella. The small side character with two total scenes of import…then I’d die off stage, lol.

TheLibrarian’s Questions

1. We’ve oft discussed Nelly Dean. In this section of our read Zillah, the housekeeper of the Heights, gives us her take on the role of a servant in a household: “…it was no concern of mine either to advise or complain, and I always refused to meddle.” (329, Barnes and Noble Classic ed.)

Do you think Bronte is giving us her opinion of how Nelly Dean handles a household? And/or Why set Zillah up as a perfect opposite to our narrator Nelly?

I think Zillah is perhaps meant to be the sanest character on the moors. Completely uninvolved; seemingly not intelligent enough to take in the whole of the situation. I think it was also important to see how far gone Catherine (2) was. That she really was being mean…and that it was in a lot of ways unnecessary. There was such terror in the marriage situation between her and Linton I think Nelly and the reader would have forgiven her everything. Zillah paints a different and reliable picture of a mean girl. This paves the way for the pay off in the final chapters of the book.

1.5 Bonus Question: If it was you tending house on the Heights…Would you meddle, or not?

Duh, except I would have made a few different choices. And maybe not given up on all of those children so easily…

2. Looking at all of the couples in this book; after reading all of the crazy in this book…Do you still believe that Love redeems? Does it make up for the rest of their lives?

To be honest before this read I would have said that love could redeem all. Isn’t that why people like Wuthering Heights? The passion and undying love of the characters? It’s def. not because of their personalities. Each is annoying in their own very personal way…

I think this is my biggest problem in actually “enjoying” the book. I don’t think that their love redeems the lives they lead. It doesn’t make up for all of their actions in life. Sure, as we answer some of these questions it seems romantic out of context…or when analytically broken down. But in reality…during the read…I just don’t feel it. Love does not redeem for me.

3. Final answer…Reflect on your re-read of this classic…What changed? Notice something new? How do you currently feel about the Heights?

So finally, in like, chapter 32 I was finally sucked in. I found myself much more involved in the second generation on the Heights. I think I connected with them better. In this read I couldn’t stand Linton…seriously, I was like how is Catherine falling for this?! I would have punched him out myself.

I’m sorry to say that my final verdict is still: Not Loving It. Sorry Hareton and Heacliff…your bad boy antics just didn’t cut it for me.

LindzerWest Answers

RachelKiwi’s Questions

The moors play a major role. Could this book have taken place elsewhere? The South of France, Jamaica, the rolling hills of Western Pennsylvania?

The only other conceivable place for this book’s setting would be the steppes of Siberia or Alaska. Except then they wouldn’t be able to flit back and forth between the houses, so that might be out. Having lived in England for more than a year, I can confidently say that there is no more dark and gloomy place than northern England in the winter. Beautiful, yes — but gloomy!

In Chapter 34 Nelly wonders if Heathcliff is not human after all, but a supernatural creature: “Is he a ghoul, or a vampire?” Do you think there is evidence in the text that Heathcliff may indeed be something other than human?

He’s certainly very nonhuman in Chapter 34, with his blood-shot eyes,  ghostly paleness, glittering, restless eyes and moanings and groanings. Bronte reinforces it with her frequent mentions of goblins, ghosts, unearthly visions and vampires — and his “soul’s bliss kills my body, but does not satisfy itself…?!” She’s tapping into some heady vampire visions here.

There’s a new movie version of WH in the works and the casting director wants you. What character would you want to play?

ANYBODY but Nelly Dean! She lives through it all, and unlike the others, is sane enough that she can’t retreat into madness. Horrible. No, but really, I’d probably want to play Cathy Linton. She has a little dalliance into willful disobedience, has some brief unhappiness to give her perspective, then ends up with the now-refined-but-still-smoldering former bad-boy Hareton. Not such a bad end!

TheLibrarian’s Questions

1. We’ve oft discussed Nelly Dean. In this section of our read Zillah, the housekeeper of the Heights, gives us her take on the role of a servant in a household: “…it was no concern of mine either to advise or complain, and I always refused to meddle.” (329, Barnes and Noble Classic ed.)

Do you think Bronte is giving us her opinion of how Nelly Dean handles a household? And/or Why set Zillah up as a perfect opposite to our narrator Nelly?

I think Bronte loves Nelly’s meddling because it proves she’s actually human as opposed to the robotic Zillah, who is totally detached (unless she’s grumbling about something). It’s a lot easier to care about all of Nelly’s crazy charges when we see them through her eyes too, whereas I found myself less sympathetic when I heard from Zillah.

1.5 Bonus Question: If it was you tending house on the Heights…Would you meddle, or not?

Yes!! Of course! It’d be hard to resist at least dipping a toe in that sea of crazy.

2. Looking at all of the couples in this book; after reading all of the crazy in this book…Do you still believe that Love redeems? Does it make up for the rest of their lives?

Well, in the case of the majority of the characters, love actually causes all of the strife, with very little (dare I say ANY?) happiness to compensate. I even doubt that Hareton and Cathy will be truly happy for long, and while Lockwood rhapsodizes about how serene Catherine and Heathcliff’s graves are, knowing that Heathcliff has long dreamed of being buried next to Catherine with an open casket makes it feel more morbid than romantic. At the same time, I’d argue that passion redeems — there’s never any doubt of anyone’s feelings, whether lusty or bent on revenge, and that is very romantic…not exactly fodder for a pleasant life, but certainly romantic.

3. Final answer…Reflect on your re-read of this classic…What changed? Notice something new? How do you currently feel about the Heights?

I don’t think I’d ever read it with Emily Bronte’s elderly spinsterdom in mind. She writes some amazingly passionate scenes filled with incredibly juicy language, whether it’s describing some character’s derangement, or his/her passion. Definitely turns the elderly spinster stereotype on its head! And the Heights still scares me to death. In fact, I think it scares me even more than in previous readings.

Remember to Check Out RachelKiwi’s blog for her thoughts…she’s always much funnier 😉

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Everything We Ever Wanted by Sara Shepard

Summary from Barnes and Noble:

A recently widowed mother of two, Sylvie Bates-McAllister finds her life upended by a late-night phone call from the headmaster of the prestigious private school founded by her grandfather where her adopted son Scott teaches. Allegations of Scott’s involvement in a hazing scandal cause a ripple effect, throwing the entire family into chaos. For Charles, Sylvie’s biological son, it dredges up a ghost from the past who is suddenly painfully present. For his wife Joanna, it forces her to reevaluate everything she’s hoped for in the golden Bates-McAllisters. And for Scott, it illuminates harsh truths about a world he has never truly felt himself a part of.

But for all the Bates-McAllisters, the call exposes a tangled web of secrets that ties the family together: the mystery of the school hazing, the event that tore Charles and Scott apart the night of their high school awards ceremony, and the intended recipient of a certain bracelet. The quest to unravel the truth takes the family on individual journeys across state lines, into hospitals, through the Pennsylvania woods, and face-to-face with the long-dormant question: what if the life you always planned for and dreamed of isn’t what you want after all?

Review

This book exhausted me. So many troubled stories intertwined. Not troubled like drug abuse, or alcoholism, or literally crazy…Troubled like, letting a misunderstanding, or letting a misperception of a person haunt you for life.

Seriously, the Bates-McAllister family is living entombed in the Great-Grandfather’s house. Like not one piece of silverware has changed in two generations. The mother, Sylvie is driven to maintain the life of her beloved Grandfather to the point of stifling growth in her own family. Her husband James died amongst a secret that may or may not have ruined their marriage [yet we stare at the key that could reveal all for THE ENTIRE BOOK]. Son Charles grew up with a lack of self-esteem complex that again, may have been solved had he looked around and gained insight. He marries Joanna who had previously been weirdly obsessed with the family and desires/despises the idea of being a Stepford wife. Finally, we have Scott the half black adopted child, who may simultaneously be the most perceptive character of the novel…or the most messed up…jury is still out.

I can’t even dredge up the enthusiasm to break down the multitude of intertwined themes and issues. About halfway through the book I was reading simply to attain an ending. Waiting for someone to confront someone else. Anyone else.

Honestly, I respect Shepard’s desire to portray real lives in this novel. I think she was going for an inner-workings-of-a-family thing. It didn’t really work for me…And I’ll tell you why:

1. This is about a WASP-type family. The coolness between characters, while potentially accurate…also caused most of their trouble. I found myself amazed that a family could grow up together and yet be so distant to each other. What mother knows so little about her children?
2. Nobody talked. Again WASP-accurate, but alienating. Once you know all the secrets behind the twists and turns you’ll be railing against the book too! Geeze, if only someone had broken, if only someone had let a secret drop in a moment of anger, or understanding. How many years of life this family could have had!
3. The end, for me, was too little too late. Sure, everyone figures it out. Heck, the back cover gives that away. You know they’ll all learn from their mistakes…move down an unexpected, but happier path in life. But again, I have to reiterate: Too little, too late. I just don’t believe everyone’s neurosis were cleaned up in such short order that late in life. Nope. I don’t.

Ultimately, I don’t mind struggling with a family. This book was talking about the minutia that drives all of our lives. All of our decisions. The book looked at how we view and interact with the world. The book was about a bunch of uptight people too self-involved to give it all up and have a little fun. Where was the vallium? The pill they give for Social Anxiety Disorder? I think Shepard took it too far. Allowed her characters to become too intense about such small issues. They weren’t fully fleshed out. Each simply represented their problem…and that was about it.

Rating: 2/5 While logically I get it, and commend the effort…it just wasn’t all that enjoyable to get through…

*Received for review via Once Upon A Twilight…Thanks!*

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Deadly Cool (Deadly Cool #1) by Gemma Halliday

BookTalk

Hartley is having a bad day. First, she finds a condom in her boyfriends locker. While icky under any situation…Hartley isn’t going quite that far with Josh and she doesn’t want to think about the rumors involving the guy she loves and the current president of the Hoover High School Chastity Club.

Nope.

That condom must be part of a reproductive science project.

Yep. If Hartley repeats that enough she’ll believe it…

While this travesty would be enough to ruin anybody’s week, in a misguided attempt to confront her boyfriend – via breaking into his house through a window – Hartley and her best friend Sam instead stumbles upon the body of said Hoover High School Chastity Club President…freshly strangled with iPod ear-buds.

Hartley is convinced that Josh isn’t a murderer [a cheater, yes, cold-blooded killer, no] Plus, she’s obviously not one to let things go. Thus, Hartley embarks on a crime solving spree. Not that she’s really any good at it…the girl can’t lie to save her life. But with a little luck and a very cute high school journalist Hartley may get her man yet…

Review

First off, loved her name: Hartley. So fun, loved that she wasn’t a natural Nancy Drew. And that while possessing healthy confidence in her body she was still a little aware of her bigger butt. Totally bonded with her over that. So often girls in YA are either totally comfortable with their bodies or slightly neurotic. It was great to see one that was just…normal.

Loved the romantic interest! Chase was really cute and had Hartley all tied up in knots from the beginning. I’m really looking forward to seeing how they move on with the relationship in future books. But I must say…it’s more of a tease than a spoiler…that scene under the bed…take it off! lol I totally would have let him keep stripping. Yes, this is wrong of me, No, my teenage self would have stopped him too…but my adult self was distracted by the abs! Oh *sigh* the abs on the muscular literary guy with great hair…as much of a work of fiction as the ability to choke someone with iPod ear-buds.

Ahh, then we have the asshole-ish ex-boyfriend. Hartley, poor thing, didn’t see it coming. Josh ended up being not such a bad guy in the end. Just a high school relationship run its course…ending in a bit of major drama. Love that Hartley had natural reactions to it…but didn’t go too far into revenge or back into his arms. Lets move on to the tall, dark, and handsome newspaper guy 😉

What really got me was the Hoover High School Chastity Club. Those girls managed to be the perfect mean girls. Body obsessed, perfectly dressed, and obsessed with a good girl image. You know anyone who openly berates people for not taking a chastity pledge is headed for a pretty big fall from grace.

I’m not going any further with plot or spoilers. The whole thing was a mystery anyway I’ll just end by saying: Totally didn’t see the killer coming. And, dang, that person was crazy!

Rating: 4/5 a fun mystery with a really cute guy (who I swear is over 18 so it’s ok for me to say that!)

*Book received [by accident! whoo hoo!!] via Me, MyShelf and I Book Tours…Thanks!

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Wuthering Wednesdays (3)…Ch. 18-26

The Book Club of Two Presents:

Welcome! We’ve got an extra-special Book Club of Two this month. We’ve decided to be all literary and take on a re-read of Wuthering Heights. A book that I disliked the first 2 times around and RachelKiwi enjoyed but found it wasn’t her favorite.

Now we’re breaking it down 8 chapters at a time and asking all the tough questions like “Why is Lockwood such an idiot?!” Yep. The good stuff.

What makes this re-read even more special (besides the classic content) is that we’re joined by another childhood friend, LindszerWest. LindszerWest doesn’t have a blog so I’ll be posting her responses. But you may be asking yourself why we allowed her into this exclusive club for the re-read…Well, I’ll explain…

LindszerWest is not only a lifelong reader, she is a nook owning, bad-boy lover who saw the post announcing Wuthering Wednesdays and just had to jump in! Seriously, she was blasting my Facebook page with Heathcliff quotes *very fangirl*.

And while I’m making all these exceptions…I’ve decided to be nice to everyone for this re-read and instead of posting embarrassing pictures of awkward high school years I’m including pictures of us on our most beautiful day…Our wedding days 😉

TheLibrarian Answers

RachelKiwi’s Questions

My crush has shifted to Hareton. Compare and contrast Heathcliff and Hareton.

I think Hareton is slightly more mild as compared to Heathcliff. He doesn’t have the history of rejection that Heathcliff had. I think (for better or worse) the knowledge that Hareton is born to a family with a name and a history hold Hareton back from becoming as strictly hurtful as Heathcliff.

Reflecting back on something The Librarian commented on in Week One: Nelly does interfere a little bit in the story. Does this make you trust her less? Should we blame her? Or was she justified in her occasional meddling?

Well, if we are to believe Nelly was as close to everything as she claims to be I don’t think she can help but meddle a bit…both in the past story and in the current retelling. Nelly has her own motivations and her own bias. Her love of Catherine (2), the softness she sees in the girl stems more from raising the girl rather than a clear view of Catherine’s actual nature.

Still if we are to trust anyone on the moors she’s our best bet. She seems to have found a weakness on all sides at one point or another. Not a great narrator…but it’s a wacky story anyway. What fun would it be if our narrator was trustworthy? That person would have escaped the moors long ago.

Is Cathy Linton Catherine Earnshaw all over again?

She’s pretty darn close. Though she seems to have had a better childhood so I suppose we can’t judge her fully. Catherine (2) was never allowed to run wild as Catherine (1) was.

TheLibrarian’s Questions

Linton

Which characters from the previous generation is Linton most like?

Ok, how the heck did we get Linton from the past generation. I suppose, as insinuated by his name, he got a lot of Linton in him. But seriously, every other character had a backbone…passion…something. Linton is just a wimp.

What differences does Linton have from the previous generations?

Uhm, his wimpy-ness. He just isn’t as motivated by passion as they were.

What part does Linton play in the present?

He gives everyone someone to use against one another. And honestly Bronte wouldn’t have been happy without her little love triangle. Linton just isn’t as attractive as Edgar was in the generation previous.

Catherine (2)

Which characters from the previous generation is Catherine (2) most like?

Of all the children Catherine (2) is most a combination of her parents. I think she seems more like Catherine, but Nelly would have us believe that she maintains a softness from her father. Something in me finds this suspect…I think Nelly is feeding us a little bit of a line through her lens of having raised Catherine (2) and the fact that she disliked Catherine (1).

But I think at this point I may be getting a bit cynical 😉

What differences does Catherine (2) have from the previous generations?

Perhaps it was raising her in isolation. But Catherine is simply more temperate in all things. She’s willing to re-evaluate her relationships. She’s not as carried off by passion…for better or worse. She’s suspect of marriage in general. Catherine is the most realistic of characters out on the moors. I think she could have broken away from it all; had she been set in another book. But the moors takes no prisoners. You know Catherine (2) is heading toward some twisted stuff…it’s not going to end well…

What part does Catherine (2) play in the present?

She’s the center of the love triangle. Literally the center of everyone’s eyes. True this makes her a bit of a pawn…but I think because she’s so much like her mother it torments Heathcliff a bit. And you know that man deserves a bit of torture…Catherine (1) did promise to haunt him from the grave. Little did Heathcliff know it would be her living daughter. Not that this will save Catherine (2). Nope, it’s just firmly cementing her as a tool for Heathcliff.

Hareton

Which characters from the previous generation is Hareton most like?

Heathcliff! Seriously, even Heathcliff agrees that he actually likes Hareton. If only Hareton wasn’t a person Heathcliff had set out to ruin…

How the heck Bronte had Hindley and Frances produce this one is beyond me…Makes the least sense of all the children.

What differences does Hareton have from the previous generations?

Really, had he been an orphan he seriously would have been Heathcliff word for word. I suppose having the history of a family…having been raised with a father [not well obviously…don’t we all remember the baby dangling incident…] gave Hareton the pride that Heathcliff was missing. Where Heathcliff was driven by anger based on revenge, Hareton is driven by anger based on pride.

What part does Hareton play in the present?

He’s the hottie! And he’s apparently Heathcliff’s child via strangers…weird. And Heathcliff will ruin him too, just ’cause.

Bonus: Could anyone in this new generation live a happy life? Who would you bet on and why?

For sure Catherine (2) but really no one is making it out of the moors. Lets be honest, to even think of any of these characters living happy is a false hope…makes me kinda sad…

LindzerWest Answers

RachelKiwi’s Questions

My crush has shifted to Hareton. Compare and contrast Heathcliff and Hareton.

Ah, Hareton. Like Heathcliff, he’s disowned and forced to work in the fields, but he has it much worse as he SHOULD rightfully be the master of Wuthering Heights. As a result of the abuse he receives from Heathcliff and the teasing he gets from Cathy and Linton, he’s every bit as sullen as Heathcliff was as a boy. However, he seems to have a more charitable spirit, as we know that he never touches Linton no matter how much he provokes him, and Hareton also does his best to improve himself in the only ways he knows how. So yes, Hareton and Heathcliff are both disowned, disenfranchised souls, but Hareton doesn’t seem to carry the same evil intentions for his oppressors as Heathcliff does.

Reflecting back on something The Librarian commented on in Week One: Nelly does interfere a little bit in the story. Does this make you trust her less? Should we blame her? Or was she justified in her occasional meddling?

Nelly meddles a lot in the story, as she often comes out looking like a saint in the retelling (and appears to be the voice of reason throughout). If I’d nurses such a succession of loonies though, I’d probably spiff up my own supposed virtues in the retelling too…

Is Cathy Linton Catherine Earnshaw all over again?

Yes and no. Unlike Catherine Earnshaw, Cathy Linton actually has some compassion for others and selflessly nurses both her father and Nelly Dean while they are ill. She says “I fret about nothing on earth except papa’s illness” and wishes to make Linton happy — but she is like her mother in that most of these actions serve her too — her kindness in looking after Edgar and Nelly is partly prompted by her fear of what would happen to her if they died, and she nurses Linton because she considers him a pretty little pet and amusing to her. And the scene where she teases Hareton for his ignorance is pure Catherine Earnshaw.

TheLibrarian’s Questions

Linton

Which characters from the previous generation is Linton most like?

Edgar Linton, in his Milquetoast-esque, wimpy demeanor. I can’t see any of Heathcliff in him at all, except for the one time he flies into a passion at Hareton.

What differences does Linton have from the previous generations?

Unlike the previous generation, he doesn’t have the capacity for long-term revenge – maybe because he knows he’s not long for the world.

What part does Linton play in the present?

Basically, he’s a pawn for Heathcliff’s ongoing revenge, and serves only to keep the two households at war.

Catherine (2)

Which characters from the previous generation is Catherine (2) most like?

She is like her mother in that most of her actions toward others are motivated by her own losses and gains, but she has her father’s mildness. She reminds me of Isabella in many ways.

What differences does Catherine (2) have from the previous generations?

She seems as though she’s the most adaptable to the real world – had Heathcliff not engineered a relationship between Catherine and Linton, she probably would have married some nice man from the village and been mostly happy.

What part does Catherine (2) play in the present?

Unfortunately, she’s a pawn, just like Linton. The two of them serve as the connectors between the two ill-fated households.

Hareton

Which characters from the previous generation is Hareton most like?

He’s Heathcliff in his anger and Catherine Earnshaw in his pride. Seriously, did someone switch the bassinets?

What differences does Hareton have from the previous generations?

Although he can be angry and sullen, Hareton doesn’t seem to have the same capacity for lifelong grudges.

What part does Hareton play in the present?

He serves as a daily reminder to Heathcliff of what he COULD have had in a son — “I’d have loved the lad had he been someone else” — but I think he has another role to play as well.

Bonus: Could anyone in this new generation live a happy life? Who would you bet on and why?

I think they’re all too thoroughly addled by the moors by now, but see my answer about Catherine Linton, above. I think she’s normal/boring enough to pass in normal society, and could have married out of the insanity.

Remember to Check Out RachelKiwi’s blog for her thoughts…she’s always much funnier 😉 

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The Start-Up (The Start Up #1) by Sadie Hayes

BookTalk

Amelia and Adam Dori are in for the time of their lives. Newly enrolled at Stanford University, the school is the perfect fit for Techno-Geek coder Amelia and economically driven Adam. They’ve sought out this new start for their lives after a childhood involving the foster care system and Juvie. So Stanford, in sunny California, seems to be the saving grace for these previously troubled Midwesterners.

But Amelia proves to be too smart to hide for too long. Almost simultaneously revealed for her amazing computer coding ability and for hacking into the biggest computer deal Silicone Valley has ever seen set Amelia up for the biggest rise…or biggest fall of her life.

Becoming inextricably entwined with the Bristol family the Dori twins are going to find out real quick if they have the wits to navigate the shiny billionaires of Silicone Valley and the dark underbelly the world of technology creates…

Review

Ahh! I hate/love books like this. Ones that end with a *gasp*. They’re not lying when they tell you this book is “The Social Network meets Gossip Girl”. It’s deliciously good. And now I’m going to list the reasons why…

1. College Loving that this book takes place in college. Not that I don’t enjoy reading about the plight of the high school student, but I’m excited to be entering the world of college…where hook-ups and drinking abound…without the fear of high school ramifications. I’m ready for my teens to be a little more adult. The fact that they’re attractive and super smart is a major bonus.

2. Tech-Geeks So very cool. I couldn’t write more than simple HTML code if I tried. Throw in the word algorithm and you left me miles behind. But to watch Amelia type away like some crazy-genius of a computer geek is very fun. The power this slight girl holds in the books is awesome. Add to this she’s all moral and ethical. Like the going green movement of the tech-world…she’s like a hippie-code-geek. And something tells me her morality vs. love for her brother are going to cause more than a few gut wrenching decisions.

3. Rich People Ahh, what would a Gossip-Girl-like novel be without the powerful elite. But we don’t delve into the overdone Manhattan crowd, nor those preppy New Englanders, we’ve even set aside the Orange County and their housewives. Turn your eyes to Silicon Valley’s corporate sugar daddies and their overly spoiled children.

It was so cool to see a different crowd, with different financial motivations and barely an ounce of family money. The greed is so very different in the land of computers. But no need to worry, there’s still a ton of name dropping, mansion owning, finery to feed the voyeuristic need. Guilty Pleasure Abounds! lol

4. The Twins Amelia and Adam Dori are going to cause a lot of trouble. She’s too smart and he’s too driven. They’ve come to this book with a past involving prison time…and their status as orphans only adds to the mystery. Hayes has given herself some plot leeway by keeping their past from the reader. It allows them to simultaneously be the victim as well as the villain. And again…these two are going to tug at the heart! You like them both, but they’re coming from such different viewpoints…not too hard to see where they’ll clash.

This read was a breath of fresh air. A brand new viewpoint on our favorite type of YA guilty pleasure.

Rating: 4/5 Head to Silicon Valley for the latest in YA soap-opera, you won’t be disappointed. 

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TGIF (16)…Giving Thanks

TGIF is hosted by Ginger at Greads. It’s about answering/asking our readers a random book related question. The question posted by Ginger today is…

Giving Thanks: Which books are you most thankful for receiving from other bloggers, friends, family members, or publishers?

To be honest, I don’t receive a ton of physical books from people. Maybe I read too much/too fast…You’d reallly think more people would be giving me books, lol. Usually just lots of gift cards. Which is fine by me 😉 But over the years I have received a few books and book suggestions that have been some of my favorite reads…

Persuasion from my Aunt Janine

I wasn’t a huge Jane Austen fan back in the day. I didn’t even begin to enjoy her books till my 3rd time through Mansfield Park…yep, Fanny the wet rag got to me. Obviously stymied by the worst of Austen’s books I wasn’t too keen to try my new-found appreciation elsewhere in her writing. That is until my Aunt Janine gave me Persuasion…and I found myself bored and *shockingly* without a book. I plucked this one off the shelf and never looked back. The way he writes that love letter…While She’s In The Room!!! Damn, Austen really did know what she was doing. So a big THANKS to my Aunt Janine for saving Austen for me 😉

The Red Tent from my Aunt Patty

This book came as a part of a themed Christmas gift. The adults in my family trade names and then buy a single gift for their person at Christmas. Oh, and did I mention that gift has to fall under each year’s “theme”. Yep, we’ve done things like Sweaters and Socks, Relaxation, and Fits in a Shoe Box. Where does my book fit in do you ask? Why the year we did Rest and Relaxation. I’d seen the title in bookstores. But it’s one of those books where the summary on the back isn’t the most intriguing. But I gave it a shot, and the whole thing was finished before I was back on the plane to Boston [where I lived at the time]. Such an amazing story of women! About the lives of women the histories of men forget. If you haven’t done this one yet, trust me, pick it up. This is a story that stays with you.

Outlander from RachelKiwi

RachelKiwi can be pushy. How else do you explain the fact that she got me to read several THOUSAND pages of this series. She just went and shoved Jamie Fraser in my face and I was lost. Easily one of my favorite series ever. There are many more books RachelKiwi and I have shared…but this one hit me hard. Ignore the slightly sci-fi time-travel portion of this novel. Trust me, it’s really all about the love and all about that tragic Scottish History. Plus, Men. In. Kilts. need I say more…

I’ll end my Giving Thanks with a few shout outs to bloggers who have reviewed/suggested books I’ve loved:

Ashley @ Into the Hall of Books for pointing me in the direction of The Night Huntress. Love Cat and Bones. My new favorite paranormal romance!

Jess @ Gone With The Words for mentioning The Forest of Hands and Teeth in a Halloween TGIF Post. The name intrigued me enough to check out the series. Blown away by the trilogy…one of my favorite reads of the year.

Amy @ Bookgoonie for encouraging me to do the Iron Fey series. Loved it! Especially the final book *sigh* Gotta love a man who will go to the Ends of the Earth for the woman he loves…

So how about you? To whom do you Give Thanks for recommending a book you’ve loved?

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One Foot in the Grave (Night Huntress #2) by Jeaniene Frost

BookTalk

Four years ago Cat left Bones…the man who taught her everything she knows about vampires and vampire hunting. Also, the only man she’s ever loved.

Now Cat is leading a special team of government agents in the war against the paranormal miscreants of the world…and she’s stumbled upon one of the most powerful: Ian, the man who also happens to be Bone’s sire. Cat’s good but she’s not that good, and while Cat leaves Ian alive and un-dead she also happened to kill one of Ian’s oldest and most revered servants. Setting off a chain of events that will leave members of her team dead…and undead…

But the heart of our story isn’t about working relationships, or friends…it’s about Bones finding his way back into Cat’s life after four very long years. And back into her heart…forever…

Review

I love this series. I was a little thrown by the premise of this installment taking place so long after the first. Four years is a long time and I was worried that it would hinder the romantic progression of Bones coming back into Cat’s life. Really, I should have feared not.

Bones is almost instantly back in Cat’s life. Not back in her bed from the get-go, but back as a fellow vampire fighter and trainer. Though, the love doesn’t follow far behind.

I loved getting to know Cat’s team. The men are rough and tough and it was interesting to see them at a point where Cat had a new member. It showed the testaments she needed to make to gain trust from the men, but also assured the reader that she was accepted as their leader as well as a friend. Watching the final team member slowly integrate and trust Cat was almost like watching a relationship develop…Gave you the new relationship feeling that was missing from Cat and Bones. Mostly because Cat and Bones aren’t new.

Nope, Cat and Bones come to this book with previous expectations. High Expectations. And this book does deliver. The relationship is strong and still growing. Frost allows her characters to grow without changing who they are at their base. The repartee between the two is still strong as is the heat of their love. A little jealousy is thrown in (on both sides) to add a little spice.

Readers who enjoyed the first book will find the same Cat and Bones, just a little older, and a little stronger. Like fine wine they’re only getting better with age.

Rating: 4/5 Well done second installment with actual character growth!

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Wuthering Wednesday (2)…Ch. 9-17

The Book Club of Two Presents:

Welcome! We’ve got an extra-special Book Club of Two this month. We’ve decided to be all literary and take on a re-read of Wuthering Heights. A book that I disliked the first 2 times around and RachelKiwi enjoyed but found it wasn’t her favorite.

Now we’re breaking it down 8 chapters at a time and asking all the tough questions like “Why is Lockwood such an idiot?!” Yep. The good stuff.

What makes this re-read even more special (besides the classic content) is that we’re joined by another childhood friend, LindszerWest. LindszerWest doesn’t have a blog so I’ll be posting her responses. But you may be asking yourself why we allowed her into this exclusive club for the re-read…Well, I’ll explain…

LindszerWest is not only a lifelong reader, she is a nook owning, bad-boy lover who saw the post announcing Wuthering Wednesdays and just had to jump in! Seriously, she was blasting my Facebook page with Heathcliff quotes *very fangirl*.

And while I’m making all these exceptions…I’ve decided to be nice to everyone for this re-read and instead of posting embarrassing pictures of awkward high school years I’m including pictures of us on our most beautiful day…Our wedding days 😉

TheLibrarian Answers

RachelKiwi Asks:

1. In Chapter 11, Catherine accuses Heathcliff that his “bliss lies…in inflicting misery.” Has she hit the nail on the head? At this point, Heathcliff is hell-bent on exacting his revenge, but imagine that the Lintons had never shown up… do you think he and Catherine could have settled in for a happy-ever-after? Is Heathcliff even capable of true contentment?

I couldn’t get over how many times Heathcliff and Catherine’s words mimicked Satan in/and Paradise Lost. Seriously, was I the only one reading the footnotes?! *I do love me some footnotes. I think Cathy is being nothing but honest when she tells Nelly that she could never marry Heathcliff because he was below her station. Even rich, Heathcliff wouldn’t have been an option. I think the base natures of both were too “wicked” to allow for happiness. Passion yes, contentment no.

2. The occupants of Wuthering Heights and Thrushcross Grange live in almost total seclusion. Why has Bronte so secluded them?

Because they’re bat-shit crazy! Cray-Cray to the max!!

Honestly thought about leaving those two lines as my answer, lol. I think Bronte was going for gothic…and nothing is creepier than seclusion on the moors. Also, the characters are extremes. When we see them existing in their own secluded world they make sense. To bring in a large society would make Catherine and Heathcliff one dimensional: Crazy. To see them in a world centered and created around them we see the passion, the longing, the impossibility of their love.

Also, because you know no polite society of the day would accept them. One outburst and they’d be blacklisted!

3. The Librarian doesn’t seem to be able to get it through her head that I LIKED Wuthering Heights the first time around.  😉 But I did, I swear it! At this point, pick a stance—love, hatred, ambivalence—and give a three point argument to back up your opinion.

I’m not picking a stance yet! lol And I back down…RachelKiwi did enjoy it. I’ll explain why I’m torn:

1. These characters go to extremes. They’re all practically manic-depressive! Swinging from loving to hatred within the same sentence. I’ll admit this is intriguing during this re-read…but sometimes it pulls me out of the moment. Too much Too fast.
2. The speeches of passion have me at hello. My heart aches during these [rare] moments for the lovers that I know will never connect in this lifetime. (See Page 125 for Catherine’s famous “I am Heathcliff” line.)
3. The description of Wuthering Heights. I’ve never liked how sparse the whole house comes off. Seriously, is it the middle ages?! Why are we cooking, eating, and entertaining guests all in the same big room? It’s always thrown me off…I have no idea why.

The Librarian Asks:

1. Women and illness. So often in this book women are called ill when in reality they’re just really emotional. But then, sometimes there seem to be real symptoms of sickness such as the Lintons getting sick and dying from Cathy’s fever…What’s up with that? Just a viewpoint of weak women’s constitutions of the time or is Bronte saying something more?

Toward the beginning of the novel I’m inclined to say that it’s a figment of the times. We’ve all done The Yellow Wallpaper…we get it. High emotion in women was unacceptable and often times carried off as an illness. Drain her of blood instead…the weaker the woman the less fuss you get.

But I think Bronte is using this medical belief for more than its face value. Catherine’s periods of ‘illness’ often shed the most light on her character and her love of Heathcliff. She lets it all fly during her periods of delirium. These psychotic breaks also serve to ante up the creepy factor as Catherine begins to imagine her own death. But, I think ultimately it’s meant to show how Catherine was never meant for this world…to live a full life. She has such a tenuous grasp and removing her from Wuthering Heights and Heathcliff serves only to kill her.

2. Oh the things people say! Heathcliff and Cathy speak their minds in this book…Airing all thoughts without reservation. For Example, that horrible scene with Isabelle clawing her way out of the parlor. Why is everyone so harsh in this book? Does it work? Or is it too much? Thoughts…

I’m one to err on the side of Too Much! But, that’s probably one of my bigger problems with the book. It’s all too much. Too manic for my taste. After scenes where Heathcliff and Catherine say such mean things to people…physically harm them. I always wonder why anyone would choose to live life like that. Why everyone didn’t just run screaming from the Heights.

3. Why we love. In our opening chapter tonight Catherine gives her famous speech ending in “I am Heathcliff”. Previous to that final statement she gives both shallow reasons for loving Linton and magically deep reasons for loving Heathcliff. Please provide your thoughts on this famous section and add your own reasons for loving your husband…

1. The Hug. The first hug my husband gave me was at age 16. It was the strongest embrace I’d ever felt. Protected and supported all at once. A man who can hug like that is something special…and the hugs have never lost their intensity.
2. He makes me fix my own toilet. Yep, I offered up a fair-maiden type rescue in the form of a constantly running toilet. What did my knight in shining armor do? Instructed me to pull off the tank lid and stick my hand in.  While I was less than thrilled at this development at the time (it was my first apartment! And that toilet was OLD!) I’ve come to love that my Mr. Librarian fully expects me to be a partner, 50/50, in our relationship. Gender stereotypes rarely show their head in our marriage. I’ve come to appreciate my husbands view…I only feel stronger for knowing how to fix my own problems.
3. He brings me flowers. He lights candles and puts our food out on decorative plates. No, my man isn’t the least bit metro (well maybe a little, he does love an eclectic wardrobe 😉 ) What he is, is observant of what makes me happy. He could care less about flowers and properly placed candles…and I know for a fact he’s never bought a decorative dip set (we now own close to 10!…I have a problem, lol). But he watches me, what I like, what I do…and without being asked does these things for me. *sigh* Makes me feel like a very lucky and loved woman.

LindzerWest Answers

RachelKiwi Asks:

1. In Chapter 11, Catherine accuses Heathcliff that his “bliss lies…in inflicting misery.” Has she hit the nail on the head? At this point, Heathcliff is hell-bent on exacting his revenge, but imagine that the Lintons had never shown up… do you think he and Catherine could have settled in for a happy-ever-after? Is Heathcliff even capable of true contentment?

That’s true, insofar as he can inflict misery on anyone connected with taking his beloved Cathy away from him. At the same time, I don’t think Cathy and Heathcliff could have been truly content without torturing each other. They’re both so strong-willed and passionate that they’re irresistibly drawn to each other, yet their own individual vanities (which we see far before they grow up and start to love each other) prevent a true happily-ever-after. A partnership would require compromise and selflessness — and neither one of them has an ounce of that!

2. The occupants of Wuthering Heights and Thrushcross Grange live in almost total seclusion. Why has Bronte so secluded them?

That’s actually one of the things I love about Wuthering Heights — all of its characters slowly drive each other mad while shut up on the moors somewhere in northern England! And I’m tempted to think that Bronte doesn’t put them in context with the rest of society because they ARE so crazy. It seems much more believable without a contrasting image of “normal” life.

3. The Librarian doesn’t seem to be able to get it through her head that I LIKED Wuthering Heights the first time around.  😉 But I did, I swear it! At this point, pick a stance—love, hatred, ambivalence—and give a three point argument to back up your opinion.

1. Most people think anything by a Bronte is bound to be about love-sick maidens who talk about frocks and might go for a picnic or two with some equally dressed-up young dandy. But so far we’ve had near-murder, lunacy, borderline bodice-ripping, elopement, a savage beating, child neglect and ghosts. What’s boring about that?
2. The language. Bronte doesn’t mince words during arguments, and she also doesn’t fall prey to flowerly, long-winded sentences. The novel is very much plot-driven, thus avoiding some of the yawn-inducing paragraphs of her peers of this period.
3. The passion. Every character in these pages flies into a rage at some point (maybe with the exception of Nelly Dean). Some, like Cathy and Heathcliff, rage constantly, while the passions expressed by the Lintons are much less occasional (but no less noteworthy). And while I enjoy a good teeth-gnashing, nothing can compare with the last scene between Cathy and Heathcliff. A few key words from that passage: appeal; desperate; his eyes, wide and wet, flashed fiercely; heaved convulsively; held asunder; made a spring; locked in an embrace; insensible; flung; gnashed and foamed like a mad dog; greedy jealousy. Whew!

The Librarian Asks:

1. Women and illness. So often in this book women are called ill when in reality they’re just really emotional. But then, sometimes there seem to be real symptoms of sickness such as the Lintons getting sick and dying from Cathy’s fever…What’s up with that? Just a viewpoint of weak women’s constitutions of the time or is Bronte saying something more?

In this case, I think Bronte sets us up to discount the symptoms of Cathy’s fever — we’ve watched countless incidents of women who are passionately emotional, notphysically ill, so that when Catherine falls into her final swoon, we think it’s just emotion and figure she’s being overly dramatic. And in infecting the Lintons with Cathy’s fever, Bronte underscores the power emotion/love can hold over physical well-being. (And gives new definition to the term “lovesick!”)

2. Oh the things people say! Heathcliff and Cathy speak their minds in this book…Airing all thoughts without reservation. For Example, that horrible scene with Isabelle clawing her way out of the parlor. Why is everyone so harsh in this book? Does it work? Or is it too much? Thoughts…

It can be difficult to like ANY of the characters as they’re all so cruel to each other, but it really serves to dramatize the moments when Heathcliff and Cathy express their love for each other – talk about passion! The same sparks that fly when they’re being horrible to each other come out when they’re admitting how madly in love they are.

3. Why we love. In our opening chapter tonight Catherine gives her famous speech ending in “I am Heathcliff”. Previous to that final statement she gives both shallow reasons for loving Linton and magically deep reasons for loving Heathcliff. Please provide your thoughts on this famous section and add your own reasons for loving your husband…

Talk about marrying for the wrong reasons! And I can’t help but feel sorry for Linton here — to be likened to the changeable foliage in the woods while her love for Heathcliff is compared to  “the eternal rocks beneath: a source of little visible delight, but necessary.” I love how she likens her relationship to Heathcliff to rocks and the universe and eternity, while Linton is reduced to a leaf pile. And the moment I realized that Mr. West would be my rock throughout the changing of the seasons and would inspire and support me — and that I was willing to do the same for him — I totally fell in love. That’s where Heathcliff and Cathy go wrong — they love passionately, but they can’t figure out how to make the OTHER person happy!

Remember to Check Out RachelKiwi’s blog for her thoughts…she’s always much funnier 😉

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TheLibrarian Interviews…J.D. Thompson

Meet J.D. Thompson

Author Bio:

J.D. Thompson is a photographer by day and closet writer by night. She views writing in much of the same manner in which she views art: it’s all about creation. J.D. has a love for words in general and is fascinated by the way a few simple sentences combined with one’s imagination can build a whole new universe on a single sheet of paper. In 2003 she attended the University of Moncton, where she majored in Visual Arts Studies and minored in English Literature. She is currently living a quaint rural town in the chilly northern peak of New-Brunswick, with her husband and young daughter. Silver and Stone is her first completed novel.

If you stopped by the blog yesterday you saw my take on Silver and Stone a debut novel by J.D. Thompson. You’ll also note that I sooo enjoyed the book! Seriously, the ending to that novel had my shaking my head…”This can’t be over yet! I just figured it all out!!!”

Of course I think it’s totally unfair that I have to wait any amount of time before continuing on with the story…I want my angels and werewolves now! And I thought asking J.D. some questions would be my sneaky way to gain a little insight on the next installment in the Bloodlines Series…Nope…her answers only served to make me more ravenous for the second book!

*sigh*

Guess I’ll have to wait for Blood and Champagne like everyone else…Here are J.D.’s answers though. To get you excited too!

Without Further Ado…The Questions

1. Describe Silver and Stone in 10 words or less:

A story of destined love, no matter the cost.

2. What is your writing process? Any quirky habits we should know about?

I drink coffee. Like, a hell of a lot of it. I’m sure it’s totally unhealthy and I should probably switch to decaf but it’s an addiction. I also prefer writing in the dark, which I blame adult ADHD for. It seems like when the lights are on there are too many distractions!

3. Does music play a big part in the writing of your books? If so did you have a playlist for Silver and Stone?

Music plays a huge part in my writing. Much to my husband’s annoyance, I often replay the same track list over and over while writing a particular chapter or section. My playlist varied with Silver and Stone, though I will say that from chapter 21 on a few recurring songs were Gravity by Sara Bareilles and Stay by Hurts. Also, any time that I think of Theo, the song If It Kills Me by Jason Mraz comes to mind. *Check out the bottom of the post for videos of all songs mentioned!

4. This book seemed to take a lot of different paranormal characters and place them together in a whole new way…Where did you find your inspiration for these legends?

I had been thinking of Lucas’s kind for some time now and how interesting it would be to see them take the limelight. I remember years ago seeing the X-Men 3 trailer when a very shirtless Angel spreads his wings and jumps out a window. I guess there was something in that clip that resonated with me, because that image just kept creeping into my mind when I was thinking of Silver and Stone. As for Alexis, I knew I needed to have her be forbidden to Lucas. So I found a way to use her kind in a new way to my advantage.

5. If you had to be a paranormal being which would you be?

For the simple reason that I need a very limited amount of sleep, I will say vampire. The similarities stop there though. I assure you, I don’t drink blood or sparkle or sleep in a coffin or anything.

6. You leave the reader (and Lexi!) in the dark for so much of this novel…Was that a conscious decision? Or is that just how the story played out?

It was a very conscious decision. Since it’s a three book series, I knew early on that I wanted the suspense and mystery to last. I also wanted the reader to discover information as Alexis did, and not before. Even at the end of Silver and Stone, many questions are left unanswered. Some secrets will remain hidden until the very end of the last instalment Feathers and Lace.

7. Ultimately this is a story about love…Do you have a love story yourself? If so, do tell…If not give us the dream man 😉

I do have a love story, though it’s not nearly as romantic as Alexis and Lucas. I met my husband on Facebook, a detail I hate to fess up to since I’m an avid non-believer in online dating. The worst part is we lived in the same microscopic town our whole lives and had never run into each other until our late 20s!

8. I LOVED the best friends in this story…do they stay on for other novels? Or will they fade into the background as more ‘heavenly’ pursuits are explored?

The best friends are there to stay. One in particular will be playing a key role in the next two novels which will send Alexis on an emotional rollercoaster to say the least.

9. Fashion was such a big part of Weatherford Prep…What’s your go to style? And now…the fantasy outfit, what would you have worn to the ball? {inspiration pictures please!}

My go to style is black. Yes, I know – black is not a style. But 90% of my wardrobe is black, and what is not is mostly grey. Just to clarify, I’m not gothic or depressed. I just tend to navigate to darker palettes. I’m big on accessories though, and that’s usually where I will bring in color. I have a deep love for purses and shoes, and own more than I like to admit. Also, since I live in an area where winter dominates all, I have becoming an expert at layering. As for the ball, I have to say that the angel gown is right up my alley. The costume was loosely based on Drew Barrymoore’s gown worn in Ever After.

10. Give me one teaser for Blood and Champagne…Pretty Please!

I can’t give too much away, but I will say that Blood and Champagne is a game changer. Alexis will be forced to make major decisions that will not only impact her life but the life of others around her. I also must confess that not everyone will make it out of the Bloodlines Series alive, though I won’t be too specific on the who and when.

The Playlist…Video Style

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Silver and Stone (Bloodlines #1) by J. D. Thompson

BookTalk

High School can be its own little version of Hell. Anyone on the fringes of its society pay the price in blatant stares, whispers, and humiliation. You’ve never seen torture until you’ve seen the gossip mill of a high-end private school.

Alexis Bardolph never had to worry about the Hell part of High School. She was one of the Queen Bees of Weatherford Preparatory. In line to be Valedictorian, girlfriend of the hottest lacrosse player, and friends with equally beautiful and popular cheerleaders Alexis had it all.

Until her mom got sick…

Until her mom came after her with a gun…

Until Alexis killed her own mother…

Now, self-defense or not, matricide is looked down upon by most societies…High Schools included. Alexis’s senior year finds her haunted by nightmares, sleepwalking in the early hours, and seeing fleeting visions of a woman who is most likely a ghost…or hallucination…or out to kill Alexis as well. Alexis is still standing only because her best friends are holding her up. Did I forget to mention that the boyfriend high-tailed it out after the killing? Yep. And now he’s dating the evil cheerleader.

When life couldn’t get worse in walks the most beautiful boy Alexis has ever seen. And he has eyes only for her. All is not what it seems…And the man who appears to be Alexis’s saving grace could also be the death of her…

Review

I found this book to be so enjoyably written. Snarky comments, witty observations. Alexis is a girl in the mires of a whole lot of, shall we say, shit. Right off the bat Alexis is dealing with the fact that she killed her mother, her sister has turned against her, and her father has abandoned her; choosing to practically live at the office rather than interact with his children. Add to all of this the heinous nightmares Alexis is living with and I don’t know how she’s getting through a day! Bless her best friends. They’re a tad shallow but their loyalty and love for their friend runs deep. I loved how they defended Alexis like warriors…well, warriors wearing Gucci and Louboutins, lol.

I have mixed emotions about the start to this book. As I’ve already mentioned I very much enjoyed the characters and the voice of the protagonist. But as much as I was enjoying it, it took me a little while to get into the story. We’re presented with a huge case of insta-love right from the start. Lucas, the mysterious and hot new neighbor, comes on strong. I’m pretty sure they start making out on their second or third meeting! I’m warning you now. There’s not a lot of rationalization for the insta-love…you won’t really understand the reasons until the end of the book. Which is why, in retrospect, I kinda like that I had to wait for all of the info to be revealed.

The driving force of this plot doesn’t come out until the final scenes of the book. Then, all the pieces of the puzzle slam into place with a bang and lots of action scenes. Honestly I was thinking things like “No Way!” and “How did I not see that coming?!” and “Boy was I wrong about that”. The concept for the book is not new, it’s a conglomeration of the Passion books and the Shiver-type books. But instead of feeling stale, or like a repeat. It’s almost as if having done these other novels first only served to confuse my guesses…I was totally expecting a different ending!

After having the blindfold of the first 2/3rds of the book removed I’m itching for the next book in the series! That last third simultaneously opened up lots of knowledge and lots of questions. If you’re looking for a paranormal (minus vampires) you’ve found a very nice option with this book.

Rating: 3.7/5 Action packed ending has me wanting more from this series! 

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