Shut Up & Read discussion

We will be starting Monday!

It's only $1.99 on Amazon if you don't have it:
http://www.amazon.com/Freak-Nature-IF...

There are 28 chapters, so 6 a day?

I should be able to do.

6 a day is good. :)

I'm not very far in yet, but a couple of ideas/questions that very possibly could be answered later. They just popped into my head and I didn't want to forget them.
1) So far (chapter 1 still) this has a very Cinder quality to it.

2) If she were a 'science project' why would they let her keep her human name? I would think they would name her something like Subject X or C3PO in order to remove her humanity.

I agree with you on that it has a Cinder like quality to it except Kaitlyn is experiencing some adult feelings. I think it will be interesting to see where the story goes with that. Kaitlyn have feelings she doesn't understand or memories she can place. It makes me think of someone with memory lost due to accident or illness. That would be a terrible thing to feel things but not be able to understand them or place them. As to her name, I assuming they want her to blend in with humans therefore she has a human name.

Lucas is an interesting character. He is attracted to Kaitlyn but has to hide the attraction much like Kaitlyn does.

Does he like her for the person she use to be or what he helped to create?

Quess is a start 14 yr old. I am glad Kaitlyn has Quess to really interact with.

Interesting so far. Not great. I'm sure more will happen as we are still in the set-up phase of the story.

I got the feeling Lucas didn't know her before...so I think he is just attracted to her for what he knows about her now, what he helped create.

Leigh wrote: "As to her name, I assuming they want her to blend in with humans therefore she has a human name..."

That makes sense.

Did you both get this from NG? There are many grammatical/spelling errors and I was wondering if the purchased copy reads better. I won't count off for it in my rating since mine is an ARC from NG.

He is obsessed with who she was before the accident. He stalked her Facebook page and the memorial page her friends have set up for her. I think he may have a problem. Lol

I find the writing a little juvenile.

Leigh wrote: "I find the writing a little juvenile."

Lol, I was thinking the same thing. I had thought about saying that but skipped it. Except the word I was thinking of was simplistic.

Stalking a supposed to be dead girl is pretty creepy.

I think the way she was writing style portrays things to be and Kaitlyn's thoughts, especially about Lucas, clash.

Sheri wrote: "Leigh wrote: "I find the writing a little juvenile."

Lol, I was thinking the same thing. I had thought about saying that but skipped it. Except the word I was thinking of was simplistic.

Stal..."

I like your term better. The cute robot graphics are probably why I said juvenile rather than simplistic. It is as if the writing style and subject matter don't match.

I am not saying I don't like the story or the writing. I just think the subject matter is a little more advanced than the writing style.

Right. I think it's really too early to tell much about liking or disliking the story, but I definitely agree with you about the writing.

We have already had more discussion on this buddy read than last one. Lol

Lol :)

Can you imagine if they created some way for humans not to have to eat? I would save so much money every month not having to buy food for my family! I would definitely miss it, though...especially chocolate.

Sheri wrote: "Lol :)

Can you imagine if they created some way for humans not to have to eat? I would save so much money every month not having to buy food for my family! I would definitely miss it, though...e..."

We would all have shapely bodies. More money for books. Lol
I wouldn't want to give up the taste of chocolate.

I read tomorrow's section because I don't think I'll have time to read tomorrow.

I like the story, but it's not great. I think a lot of it has to do with the writing like we discussed above. I think with some tweaks and upgrades (pun intended) it could be a lot better.

From chapters 6-12 - (view spoiler)[I didn't like how easily she trusted Lucas. I know she has a crush on him or whatever, but he just asked her a simple question and she spilled everything. She knows he is the one who has been programming her, so why would she trust him with her secrets so readily?

Also...the FB thing. They found a guy on Facebook with a description? Really? Most of the time you can't find people on there with a name search, let alone a picture. She would have to go through every single profile in the entire United States (or at least those five or six states that had been named) and look at every single one. (hide spoiler)]

Woah, this place is hopping.

I ...
I am not impressed so far. I think the writing is juvenile, as you two noted. I think it's at times quite contradictory and that it took like a PAGE to set up the forbidden love plot, which made me roll my eyes a tad.
I get irritated when a book is divided into alternate PoV without purpose. I guess that we get a little bit more about Kaitlyn because we find out about the Facebook posts, but mostly I feel that it's just so we can have the two of them pine over each other.
I don't feel like this is really about humanity or what it is to be human or have feelings or anything like that. It certainly could be, but it's all being shoved neatly into an infatuation/love plot. I didn't like Cinder as much as ...well, anyone, but I think that Cinder at least had some complexity.
I was really annoyed with the first three chapters, especially. I felt like the author was telling me the same thing, over and over and over and over and over and over again. I'm just gonna make sure you got it. Did you get it? Here it is again! Right? Wow, it's so amazing, did you catch it?
She's not supposed to have feelings. Her humanity is gone! gasp!
(She still feels. shhhh... don't tell.) X's 217.

---

As for the Lucas infatuation ... it's a little bizarre. He's attracted to her human form, her past joviality (cause he's a creepy facebook stalker), and her robot intellect. I don't hate him as a character in and of himself, but I could write a looooon paper about the type of man who is attracted to someone based on those points, and it would /not/ be flattering.

Also, I agree with Sheri. Her keeping the name Kaitlyn is ridiculous. If a human name were required, it would be assigned. It would likely change from mission to mission, and it would certainly not be the name from her past life.

Also, I am curious how her body was donated to science BEFORE it was a body. She wasn't dead yet. What. the. heck?
That means that if they performed procedures to save her ... as they did ... she never died, and therefore ... they have no right to her body.
Yes?

Lol, I knew you would have a lot to say about this. I was wondering about the body science donation thing, too. Does she have parents? She was only 17, and yes she can check donate on her driver's license but still her parents would have the final say...

I agree with you about the over and over and over again. It continues at least through chapter 12 as well.

Wow! Alyssia, you can back with a bang! Totally, on the same page with you. I am not a fan of repetitive dialogue. Nothing is said about her parents. Maybe they were in the accident with her. Dr. Harrison definitely took liberties he shouldn't have. I'm afraid it doesn't get better. I am almost finished today's reading. I am still stuck on the fact that the writing style and subject matter don't match. It is an adult Scifi spy thriller trapped in a pre-teen body. How does that work? It is not for me.

Leigh wrote: " It is an adult Scifi spy thriller trapped in a pre-teen body."

Lol, good description :)

today was nuts.
there was a shooting at purdue and the town is kind of ... weird. i don't have energy to post.

but. i thought you guys might find this interesting:
https://www.humblebundle.com/
there's an audio book package right now.

ttys.

Wow I read about that in the news. Scary. Were you in class when it happened?

I'm so sorry Alyssia.

12-18: The first few chapters of a book and your first impression of it sets up the whole rest of the reading experience. Because I wasn't impressed with the first few chapters, I think I'm unconsciously looking for things that I don't like now. I need to say that I don't absolutely hate it. I do like the storyline and the concept, and I think it has the potential to be a good book, I just think it could have been executed better. I can't get the word 'juvenile' out of my head.

So...I am really not sure what to think of Lucas. He doesn't have much personality, even though we get his POV. I'm with Alyssia that I don't like the switching just for the switching. If we were getting something out of hearing his side of the story it would be different, but the only thing we really get is his guilt. But, his guilt doesn't keep him from doing what he knows is wrong. And, he's very indecisive. He thinks one thing, then does another, then switches and does what he was thinking. Confusing? I think so.

Neither of you answered me above (I think there were too many posts and it got lost!)...did you both get this from NG? Just curious because of all the spelling/grammar issues I've seen. But, there are also quite a few editing issues I've seen, i.e., timeline discrepancies, inconsistencies in the story. This might be where I am just picking at it to find things wrong because I'm not enthralled with the story. In a book I was in love with I might not have even noticed these things...

(view spoiler)[First, why would she need an iPhone for maps? Aren't there maps in her head? She's used them before so I don't get the point of the phone.

Lucas says "By the time I made it to college, I wasn't such an awkward disaster." But didn't he get his Master's degree at 17? So he was, what 12 or 13 when he went to college. At 12 he wasn't an awkward disaster? (hide spoiler)]

I think that's it for now :)

Sheri, I received my copy for Christmas.

I am with you on the Facebook thing. It doesn't make sense. Quess must have used facial recognition software like the FBI use on TV. lol Then used the name that came up on a Facebook search.

I do get that Kaitlyn wants to trust Lucas because she has "feelings" for him. Can she really trust him? No. He is so indecisive. He knows what he is doing but does it any way. Maybe he actually thinks he is helping her, protecting her?

I haven't read today but will later.

Lucas does mention in today's reading that (view spoiler)[ he was doing what he thought was best for her, but he really didn't have many options (hide spoiler)], so I think you're right that he is really trying to protect her.

Once you fall off a cliff you are really out of options. Lucas started down this road not thinking of the repercussions. Now he is between a rock and a hard place.

Final thoughts? First, I only rated this 2 stars, but that doesn't necessarily mean I didn't like it…it was ok. I really think the story itself was good, it just was not executed well. My main complaint was the simplistic writing. I think if it would have been marketed as a middle-grade book, it would have been perfect (minus the sex scene), but it is marketed as Young Adult, for which I expect a little more. The story was interesting and entertaining in the aspect that it made me curious as to how things were going to end. However, I'm not curious enough to read any more. I had read another book by this author a while ago (I had forgotten about it!) and the writing style is very similar, meaning that throughout her writing career, or at least over the last 2-1/2 years, she has not evolved her writing at all.

I just finished. I will say I liked it a little more at the end. I don't know if the writing got better or I just grew accustomed to it.

To me Harrison took it to well when Lucas told him everything. Where to Quess go?

What are we reading next week?

Leigh wrote: "To me Harrison took it to well when Lucas told him everything."

I was thinking the same thing.

Do you ladies want to go back to the Psy series now?

Sounds good to me if Alyssia up for it.

I'm up for it.

I didn't get to today's section, but I've read through yesterday. I haven't read your posts, but I will come back tomorrow (promise) and post final thoughts.

I had a really bad reaction to the shooting, embarrassingly bad in some ways, and I am trying to pick myself back up out of that. Today was mostly ok. I am excited to go back to the Psy books.

I can't even imagine what it must have been like. It would have been hard to go back to school.

I'm so sorry Alyssia! I'm glad it is getting better.

Hey ladies, the last Cat and Bones comes out Tuesday. Would you want to read that next week and start the Psy series after that?

I pre-ordered my copy. I am ready to read some Cat and Bones.

I also preordered . OMG! I hope they blow me away!

Leigh wrote: "I also preordered . OMG! I hope they blow me away!"

I haven't ordered them yet, but I'm definitely reading them when they come out!

Heck yes. I also preordered it

Am I the only one who didn't? I'll go do that now then :)

I had 3 credits on Audible so I used them wisely.

So are we reading Up From the Grave Monday?

Sounds like a plan. Did you guys know this is going to be their last book?
http://jeanienefrost.com/2013/08/the-...

And one more Vlad. I can't wait for that one.

But oh my God, not until December. That's a long time!

Even though I love Cat and Bones, I think it is time for the series to end. That's a long wait for more Vlad, hopefully he will pop up in this C&B book.