Reading 1001 discussion

2. Discuss the plot:
• Is it engaging—do you find the story interesting?
• Is this a plot-driven book—a fast-paced page-turner?
• Does the plot unfold slowly with a focus on character?
• Were you surprised by complications, twists & turns?
• Did you find the plot predictable, even formulaic?

It definitely unfolded fast for all the remaining characters. And with respect to Bao-Yu, his parting was just as extraordinary as his birth, jade included. Was it predictable? Not entirely, as there were a few unexpected silver linings towards the end (hey, Bao-Chai will still Bao-Yu's child; the Jia family is not completely ruined).

As Patrick said this moved fast to tie up the previous volumes.

I was expecting Bao-Yu to return to the shadowland and that he would reunite with Lin.

I found the unexpected silver linings unsatisfying and even formulaic. And given how slow the plot was to develop over the previous four books, this seemed to race along.

There were so many loose ends tied up. It was a bit much of a coincidence that Aroma ends up married to Bao-Yu's friend, Jiang Yu-Han, the actor known as Bijou. Bao-Yu had seen him briefly in The Debt of tears which led nowhere. I was hoping that Caltrop would find out about her birth. She has a few months of presumed happiness with the reformed Xue Pan before dying in childbirth. I thought it was a bit of a let down that her father, the mysterious monk who appeared to Yu-Cun twice earlier in the story, knew of her whereabouts the whole time!
I actually quite enjoyed the dream sequence when Bao-Yu finds himself in Heaven. It sounded so much like a real dream that I could cope with the supernatural aspects of it with equanimity. In all, I thoroughly enjoyed the whole book and this final volume ramped my rating up to five stars.