Crazy for Young Adult Books discussion

Please join Vicki and me as we read this book :)

Thanks for making the thread, Kiki. This one should be good!

I would like to join :)

Great, welcome Pragati! :)

I'd love to join! I've been meaning to read this book for a while

Welcome Emily :) Just realized it's only a couple of days to go before we can start!

I'm going to try to start this tomorrow but I'm hoping to finish one other book first. Don't have a lot of it left to read so I'm hopeful :)

Just started reading. Thought about commenting every 10th chapter (the book has 44 chapters if I remember correctly).

Finished chapter 10 and here are some of my thoughts.

The story so far (view spoiler)[ has been interesting. It's a bit different from the fantasy books I've been reading lately so it's a nice change. It's also a refreshing change that the main character is married from the very beginning of the book. (hide spoiler)]

I had a little hard time (view spoiler)[ getting my mind around the setting of the story during the first 20 pages or so. That's because I understand nothing about mining and the machines and vehicles described in the book :D It did not really bother me, though, because the story is fast paced and gripping. The society feels detailed and well planned, too. (hide spoiler)]

I'm glad (view spoiler)[ Darrow is now committed to the rebels but it was a pity that Eo had to die for him to find that spark to fight the system. However, in a way, I can understand his hesitation because he does not really have a reason to question the reality he lives in and even if he did question it, war does not always solve things. Sometimes, as Darrow puts it, it might feel better to live on one's knees than to die standing. (hide spoiler)]

I'm looking forward to seeing (view spoiler)[ what will become of Darrow's mission. (hide spoiler)]

The Webbery - (view spoiler)[ I'm so afraid of spiders that reading the parts about the Webbery really creep me out! :D (hide spoiler)]

I'm sorry but this week has been teacher prep days, in-service, and today the students began so I've been super busy. I'll try getting some reading done this weekend if not tonight. I'm so behind on all my buddy reads right now.

Don't worry about it, I am too! I'm going to start this book tomorrow

That helps a little! Lol

Yeah don't worry :) You read when it suits you!

Thanks, Kiki. Being back to school teaching and having to ALWAYS do new things due to our district putting so much on us every day it seems, I get so busy that it's virtually impossible to keep up with my recreational reading. Ugh...but I am retiring at the end of this school year so then I'll have plenty of time to read! Woo hoo!

I totally get you. I'm quite busy with work right now, too. It's great you already have plans for what you'll do after you retire :D

Chapter 20. I have been making slow progress with this because I've had some other buddy reads and books from library I've been trying to finish first. I'm happy to finally have time for this book as well.

Mostly these last 10 chapters (view spoiler)[ were about transforming Darrow into a gold. I'm glad he insisted on keeping his name instead of becoming Caius. It would have taken some time to get my head around the new name. I also think that having his real name will help Darrow remember who he really is. (hide spoiler)]

The passage (view spoiler)[ was cruel and I hated that Darrow had to kill Julian. I liked Julian and I also like Cassius so I'd like Darrow and Cassius to remain friends. However, I have a feeling they might end up as enemies once Cassius finds out Darrow killed his bother. (hide spoiler)]

From now on (view spoiler)[ it seems it's going to be war against the other houses. It'll be interesting to see how that'll play out. I hope Darrow will remain the kind of person he is fighting for his cause and for Eo and not turn too much into a gold. (hide spoiler)]

Has anybody else started yet?

Yes, I've actually finished (sorry I've been away for a while so I wasn't able to post on goodreads). The following comment will only address things up to chapter 20 so only view the spoiler if you've gotten to there.

(view spoiler)[This is the part where I really started to get into the book. It strikes me as a kind of hunger games like situation which I got really into. The part where he was being transformed into a gold was interesting but got kind of old for me after a while. The beginning was really slow for me for some reason, until Eo died I was reading like a chapter or less in each sitting, I just couldn't get through it. (hide spoiler)]

Oh, don't worry Emily. Can't always been around the computer :) I agree with you (view spoiler)[ with the part where Darrow was transformed into a gold and like you I think the institute is where this story really gets interesting. I've still got some way to go but I hope I'll like the rest of the story as well. (hide spoiler)]

I reached chapter 30.

As I said in my previous comment (view spoiler)[ the institute is where the story really got interesting. However, I feel like it took quite long for the house Mars to unite and to start fighting other houses. (hide spoiler)]

Titus (view spoiler)[ a red! I really didn't see that one coming! (hide spoiler)]

Sevro - (view spoiler)[ At firts I didn't like him but he's growing on me. He's an interesting character and I'd like to know about his past. (hide spoiler)]

I guess (view spoiler)[ the final battle will be between Darrow and Jackal. (hide spoiler)].

The story is a nice combination of (view spoiler)[ action, strategy and personal relations with some interesting character development. I can't stop thinking this book would make a nice video game :) (hide spoiler)]

I finished so here are still some of my thoughts.

I especially liked (view spoiler)[ Darrow's wolf/slave army. It was interesting to see how Darrow developed and learned from his mistakes. Sadly Cassius was not able to do the same so he and Darrow seem to remain enemies. (hide spoiler)]

I didn't like the part (view spoiler)[ where they overtook Olympus. The story would have been good enough with the students fighting each other. Taking down the proctors was unnecessary, in my opinion. Darrow would have had more than enough time to rebel against authorities in the following books. (hide spoiler)]

I knew there was something shady (view spoiler)[ about Mustang but I didn't guess she was Jackal's twin. I just don't get why she kept it a secret if she didn't have any intentions of betraying Darrow. (hide spoiler)]

I was sad to see (view spoiler)[ Pax die. I relly came to like him even though he only had a small part in the story. (hide spoiler)]