David Estes Fans and YA Book Lovers Unite! discussion

On a side note, does anyone believe in reincarnation? Just curious :)

I'm at 72% now and (view spoiler)[ they finally kissed! Although in a twisted way I was hoping she was dirty dancing and kissing someone else, that would have been a better twist! (hide spoiler)]

I'm getting the whiny brat vibe too and reading on Nook. I haven't hit that part that pulls me in yet. I just haven't been into fantasy lately for some reason. It's good, story is unique... just not feeling it yet. Jen, how do you put it? Something about peanut butter? That's my mood. ;-)

I'm at 27%.

Aww really? I think I'd been missing fantasy, because I'm really into the world and feel of it (view spoiler)[ with the dragons and Sylphs and such (hide spoiler)]

87%, hope to finish before bed :) (view spoiler)[ Didn't see that coming!! By that I mean Sam getting put in prison! Good to see Ana finally taking things into her own hands and getting away from Li. And I really like the twist with her ending up in the temple, but I still don't get the big picture, hoping to get some clarity before the end! (hide spoiler)]

I'm sorry, Karen! I was also really in the mood for a fantasy and to get lost in the this world again! David, you will get some clarity and learn a few immediate things, but a lot more comes in the next book! And assume even more will in the third book, there were still an awful lot of questions left!


Finished my reread, loved it as always! The end is definitely the best for me!

And LOL David (view spoiler)[Dirty Dancing with someone else! HA! That would have been funny! (hide spoiler)]

And I do believe in reincarnation :)

Whiny brat - a little less on Kindle but more immature at this point.

45% in and (view spoiler)[Oh great. We're going to have one of those "I'm noble and her teacher so I don't want to get involved with her even though she lives in my house and I am attracted to her and I love her." Please. There has got to be a better way to build tension. It's just so obvious. (hide spoiler)]

Reincarnation? No. We are eternal and will continue on? Yes. Just not in another body here on earth. But this is a fascinating concept in the story - I really like the idea of the history and the graveyards, etc. I really like how she's bringing in the concept of people who have known each other for thousands of years.

Peanut butter? When you don't know what you're hungry for, peanut butter and jelly will work every time. Something about the salty and sweet together.

I'm hooked at this point. I don't mind the mix of the fantasy with the real-world aspects, and the social structure reminds me of something out of a Star Trek:TNG episode.

I just finished, and I'm not sure what I think yet. It got pretty good around 80%, but it was still kind of weird.

LOL mixed reviews on this one! I'm still stuck at 87% as I got a massive headache last night and couldn't finish. But should finish tonight :)

Ha Jenny, that's what I would've done!

I personally don't believe in reincarnation, but I wouldn't strike it from the realm of possibility. It's just crazy weird (but so cool) when some kids come out of the womb with almost instant talent in things that should take years to master...could be an indication of reincarnation!

David wrote: "LOL mixed reviews on this one! I'm still stuck at 87% as I got a massive headache last night and couldn't finish. But should finish tonight :)

Ha Jenny, that's what I would've done!

I personally..."

LOL that's what you would have in done real life, or you would have written that in? HA!

Its weird, I've just always kind of believed in reincarnation, for some reason it just makes sense to me. Just kind of a weird feeling I get about it. *shrugs*

I think I'm just in a weird mood right now. Haven't really read much the last couple of days. I was binge reading over the weekend and maybe I just needed a little break, plus my same ole song and dance... putting in 13 hour work days so far this week. I'm getting annoyed w/myself for that same old tune. Geez... I just wanna retire already!! Hahahahaa...

I was listening to Finnikan of the Rock while getting ready for a meeting tonight and without warning, it pulled me in so maybe my fantasy dryspell just wore off. I'll find out when I start reading in a bit!! ;-)

Don't force it, Karen, if you aren't really enjoying it. Just come back to later :)

My reading slump FINALLY broke. ANd I credit it to great buddy reads :)

Reincarnation, hhmmmm... not really. But I have another bizarre story.

I dated a guy who, unbeknownst to me when we started dating and after I got attached, let me know that he was an Eck (a specific religion that is very heavy into reincarnation). I found this out when he told me he didn't know me in a past life and believed I was a "new soul". 8 months later he broke my heart out of the blue when he told me that he was breaking up with me because his soul didn't know my soul.

Sooooooo maybe this book is just dredging up unresolved issues for me! ;-P

WHAT AN ARSE!!!

Sorry. Couldn't help it. So what, even if he did believe it and it was true, couldn't his soul get to know yours? What an idiot!!

Oh my gosh, too crazy!!! That is seriously related to this story! I wonder if something similar happened to Jodi Meadows to inspire this book LOL!!!

I finished! I really liked it!! Look forward to reading the sequel :) I really liked some of the twists at the end, although I totally should have seen (view spoiler)[ Menehem making an entrance and being involved. I would have liked to have learned more about Jalan and how exactly he can be poisoned to prevent reincarnation and how in the heck he makes the walls throb. For a while I thought Jalan was like a giant and they were actually living on him, like he was the city, but that doesn't feel right anymore. Hmm really want to know the rest of the story! I give props to the author for creating a hook for the second book :) (view spoiler)[ (hide spoiler)] (hide spoiler)]

WOOT!! (view spoiler)[ You will learn more about Janan in Asunder! Menehem was such a creep! (hide spoiler)]

Glad you liked it!

Karen wrote: "Reincarnation, hhmmmm... not really. But I have another bizarre story.

I dated a guy who, unbeknownst to me when we started dating and after I got attached, let me know that he was an Eck (a sp..."

Seriously? His soul didn't know your soul? Perhaps that was because he was an (view spoiler)[ @$$-soul? (hide spoiler)]? What a jerk!

I hope you told him (after your broken heart mended, of course) that apparently he has NO soul. Some people are just ridiculous. I mean, "A" for creativity on the reasons-for-a-breakup front. On the other hand, I have to say - as I often do - you gotta be kidding me!

David I'm so sorry to hear about your migraine. I've been expecting one with all his cold weather+snow=air pressure increases and decreases, but none so far. They are miserable. Praying you feel better!

I've been listening to These Broken Stars (whoa, whatta book!) while doing stuff, so I'm still at 51%. Hopefully I'll get a good chunk read this morning, because of course, I'm hooked. You know me, it's the romance. . . ; )

HA! Jen, your spoiler comment made me laugh! He was a total idiotic, he missed out on one of the best souls on the planet!!

Lots of romantic angst in this book, Jen! Also in These Broken Stars for that matter, but the romance was more believable for me in that one!

Bwahahahahaa Jen!! That was priceless. I'm obviously WAY over it. Once I licked my wounds, I realized that I was MUCHO better off without him. Dude, if you're just not that into me, say it! Your soul didn't know my soul... Pffttt... Be a man, you weanie. ;-P

It's been about 13 years I think so I don't even remember that time in my life. This book jogged that memory. So, maybe Jodi DID have something similar happen. We'll have to ask her.

HAHAHA Jen!!! That was hysterical, very clever and witty :) And I'm feeling much better, working on my new book and getting some reading in :) But thank you!!

Karen wrote: "Bwahahahahaa Jen!! That was priceless. I'm obviously WAY over it. Once I licked my wounds, I realized that I was MUCHO better off without him. Dude, if you're just not that into me, say it! Your..."

HAHAHA!!! He was a MAJOR WEANIE!! Great question for Jodi, by the way! I really do wonder where she came up with the idea for this book, its so unique!

Happy you're feeling better, David! And super happy you're writing away! ;)

That is a good question for Jodi. This world building is really good. I know there are holes, but I'm assuming they're filled in with the next book. I don't know why but it doesn't strike me the same way as Defiance did, which had a great story but total absence of world building.

With this one, there is a lot that is just assumed by reference - basically cave men thru the current day. The whole (view spoiler)[temple being alive thing (hide spoiler)] does explain the reincarnation. But it doesn't feel like a plot hole there - rather, just something that will be explained in the future. This story reads like a first installment, not a stand-alone.

Oh. I finished it last night. Nice romance, interesting story.

Ana: (view spoiler)[ Still not sure if I like this chick. She's seriously immature. I realise that it's her upbringing, but Sam is a saint for putting up with her. That whole conversation in the alley after the masquerade was off-putting to me - "I'll let you make it up to me." What? Girl, get over yourself! I wish Meadows had made her a bit more sympathetic, rather than making Li more sympathetic with the whole "she's a warrior" explanation. There was the mention by Sam about how Ana has to overcome her upbringing, but I wish there had been more. I might have liked her better. (hide spoiler)]

Sam: (view spoiler)[There is nothing worse than a great guy putting up with an immature brat. He is certainly patient, to his credit. And I like the way Meadows has interwoven his own insecurities with his experience over thousands of years. That little peek he gave us into what it feels like to die was really good! He's already dimensional and it's only the first book. (hide spoiler)]

The romance: (view spoiler)[Nicely done, especially with the masquerade ball. But totally predictable. Can you do a romance and not make it predictable without stringing people along? That has got to be one of the most difficult things to write well. (hide spoiler)]

Overall: (view spoiler)[I'm definitely continuing with this series. The world building alone is enough to pull me in. Now we have the whole who's-going-to-come-back-and-kill-who thing going on. That's pretty much genius! Nice spin on reincarnation. The possibilities are endless. (hide spoiler)]

I'd say 3.75 stars, rounded up to 4. Anyone else finished? Thoughts?

P.S. David, we saw last night that the temps were hovering around 111f this week at the Australian Open. Holy cow! Are you both wilting away in that heat?

Awesome Jen, we'll have to read the sequel together soon, too! I agree with everything you said.

I'm in Sydney, it's been 90-100 here, which is plenty hot enough but still not quite to the level that Melbourne is. Poor players!

I'm planning on reading Asunder before I read Infinite so I'm nice and fresh for the final book! Its been almost a year since I've read Asunder.

That is super hot! But I would totally trade you right now! Snowstorm today, and horrible winds! Cold! I'm soooo ready for spring!

Oh hey, I didn't know there was a buddy read of this going on - although it looks like everyone is done! I'll be interested to read everyone's comments after I finish. I started it a few days ago and am about 50% in (revisions to book 3 of my trilogy are killing my reading time!). I have a suspicion that Ana is (view spoiler)[Jaran. (hide spoiler)]

On a side note, does anyone believe in reincarnation? Just curious :)

*raises a hand* But I would never break up with anyone because I didn't recognize their soul! Good grief.

I'm still working on this one too, Zoe! My reading time for the week was slaughtered. I'm back, at least for a couple days!!

(view spoiler)[Ana just found out who Sam really is! Nice twist! (hide spoiler)]

I'm finally getting pulled in now. I think I just had too much going on in my brain and I needed to get my "reincarnation" story out of my system. Now I'm going in with an open mind. ;)

Zoe wrote: "Oh hey, I didn't know there was a buddy read of this going on - although it looks like everyone is done! I'll be interested to read everyone's comments after I finish. I started it a few days ago a..."

Ahh welcome to the buddy read Zoe, great to have you, as always :) Your spoiler made me gasp, I never thought of that!

Karen wrote: "I'm still working on this one too, Zoe! My reading time for the week was slaughtered. I'm back, at least for a couple days!!

[spoilers removed]

I'm finally getting pulled in now. I think I just..."

OK good, I hope you end up liking it, I was pretty surprised how much I enjoyed it. And I did like that twist, there were a few good ones toward the end :)

Finished this one tonight. I'm not sure about it at this point. There were a lot of things I liked about it, like the complexities of a society where everyone is essentially thousands of years old. And Sam is great. Ana's whininess bugged me a bit, but I think maybe the author was just trying to get across how young she was compared to everyone else? I was a bit disappointed by the end, though. (view spoiler)[One of the most interesting things about this book to me was the mystery of who Ana is and why she exists - if she really is just a mistake, a side effect of Menehem's experiments, that's kind of a letdown. But then, I may just be feeling grumpy because of the whole Menehem thing - I'm really sick of the trope of the amoral scientist-type heedlessly causing terrible things to happen in the pursuit of knowledge. Anti-intellectualism is one of my pet peeves in fiction - just ask my husband, he gets to hear me rant at the TV, lol! I didn't like that trope in Divergent, and I don't like it here. But I do like how Veronica Roth gave a different perspective on it in Allegiant - I'm hoping there's more here than meets the eye, too. (hide spoiler)]

I'm going to read the next one, though - there was enough that I liked that I'm willing to keep going despite not really being happy with the ending. Hopefully the story will go in new and interesting directions from here :)

And you're right, Jen - the world does have a TNG feel to it! That's a good way to describe it.

Zoe -- This book only gives you part of the story. You find out so much more in the next book that gives deeper meaning to all of it! So you will probably like the next one!

And Ana really improves in the next one as well, she's still coming into her own. She has a fantastic story arc development as a character.

Cool, Zoe, I agree with you about the mad-scientist thing but I'm hoping there's more to it :)

Jenny, thanks for letting us know, sounds like there's so much more to come!

Anyone else reading Asunder? I started it today.

Not yet, but I will reread it soon--have some others I need to get through first :)

I finished Asunder, and liked it a lot better than the first book. It was a bit slow to get going, but once it did... wow. Lots of action, lots of revelations. I'm reading the novella now, and then on to book 3.

Finished... I finally got to read all the spoilers! David, at first I did think (view spoiler)[Ana was dancing with someone else... In fact I was hoping it was whoever was following her. I was even disappointed that it was Sam! Hahahaha...

I have so many odd theories going through my head on this world and Janan! I ended up liking this and look forward to the next book to see if any of them play out. I.e., is Janan an alien? Is he like a zookeeper and the world is a zoo for other aliens? Yeah, I know... Wild theory, but I just read a short story by Hugh Howey wring in Kurt Vonnegut's world. So apparently that story is haunting me a bit. Hahahah... (hide spoiler)]

I also want to learn more about this world! The ending happened just as it really got interesting! :)

Zoe wrote: "I finished Asunder, and liked it a lot better than the first book. It was a bit slow to get going, but once it did... wow. Lots of action, lots of revelations. I'm reading the novella now, and then..."

Oh good! We're reading Asunder now for a buddy read :)

Karen wrote: "Finished... I finally got to read all the spoilers! David, at first I did think Ana was dancing with someone else... In fact I was hoping it was whoever was following her. I was even disappointed ..."

Awesome! Yeah, is it weird that we wished she was (view spoiler)[ dancing with someone else? Haha, we wanted her to be creeped out rather than happy, does that make us sick? LOL!! LOve your theory Karen! (hide spoiler)]

You are SICK people!! LOL j/k I thought you suggestion would have actually made for a good laugh! But apparently, not what Jodi was going for!

LOL!!