The Procrastinators Book Club discussion

Welcome to the Overgrowth Buddy Read Discussion thread! This thread officially opens on July 6th and anyone can join at any time. Please keep in mind that spoilers are allowed in this thread but only up to the group's current reading place. Do not spoil the book if you've read further than the group. Any extra days can be used to catch up!

Each day we will be reading by chapters or page numbers. Page numbers are an approximation based on the hardcover or paperback that is the default on Goodreads. The suggested Buddy Read discussion schedule is as follows:

Week of 07/06
6th: Start- chapter 2

Week of 07/07
7th: chapters 3-5
8th: chapters 6-7
9th: chapters 8-9
10th: chapters 10-12
11th: chapters 13-15
12th: chapters 16-18
13th: chapters 19-end


PARTICIPANTS
~ Sophie
~ Katie

I think this is the first book by Seanan McGuire/Mira Grant I've ever read that is in first person. I'm sure some of her other zillions of books must be, but this is the first one I've actually read.

I'm really enjoying it so far! I did not read yesterday, so I got caught up on yesterday's and today's chapters this afternoon. I think most of it so far has been set-up but now we're really getting into the meat of the story.

(view spoiler)[Like, government capture and experimentation? Hello??? This is sick. That must be where the true horror part comes in. (hide spoiler)]

I only ended up starting today, but I’ve managed to catch up.

Is Mira Grant a pen name? This is pretty much my first foray into sci-fi so I’m going in pretty blind on all fronts.

Chapters 1-8

I’m confused, is Anastasia conscious of the alien? Is she the alien? I know she’s mentioned her claims to be a compulsion, but I’m not 100% sure.

I really felt for Anastasia and how isolated she has been her entire life due to this ‘compulsion’.

I understand the back and forth when it comes to whether people believe Anastasia is an alien or not, and that there would be skepticism in real life, however on the page it’s quickly becoming tedious. I hope we move on from this is she isn’t she narrative soon.

Reading from Anastasia’s perspective feels like I’m reading from a neurodivergent characters perspective, so that makes the reading experience smoother.

I think Anastasia KNOWS it is an immutable characteristic of herself. I think it's a little bit of a metaphor/mirror for her boyfriend. He KNOWS he is a man, no matter what his biology says.

Yes, Mira Grant is Seanan McGuire's horror pen name :) Into the Drowning Deep is her other big sci-fi horror and it's AWESOME.

It's been a couple days so hopefully you've gotten to the part where it picks up. I do agree it was starting to get a liiiitle tiresome but I think it was perfectly timed for stuff to really kick off.

Chapters 9-15

I'm really unsure on this one, part of me thinks sci-fi just isn't a genre for me. I quite enjoy the subcategory of feminist dystopias, but sci-fi books that are more alien/robot/adventure centered just may not be my vibe.

The comparison you made between Anastasia and Graham is the perfect explanation.

I did find that the back and forth as to whether Anastasia was alien or not quickly became tedious. I understand that there would be a lot of skepticism in real life and would likely be worse in real life, however, when it's written on a page, it's too repetitive.

I am going to push through and finish, but it's unlikely that I'm going to pick up anything similar in the future. I'm definitely glad I picked it up though, you don't know if you don't try.

This just became available for me. Are you still discussing it? Or did you already finish?

@Sarah-Vanessa

I’ve just finished, but I’m happy to pop back now again to discuss

Final thoughts….

(view spoiler)[ 2 stars ✨

I’m going to start off by saying that this is not my usual genre. I’ve been branching out into sci-fi a little and needless to say, it’s not going well. Please note my disclaimer.

Is it bad to say that I found this reading experience painful past the 15% mark? Should I have dnf’d? Yes and yes.

Despite the main character being 35, this read very YA, and I found the plot to be very weak.

I liked the exploration of identity and it’s scary to me that the whole alien invasion doesn’t feel very far off. (hide spoiler)]

@Sarah-Vanessa, I just finished as well but I would love to hear your thoughts! I'll put my final conclusions in a spoiler tag like Sophie did so you can look when you're done.

(view spoiler)[I haven't fully decided on my rating yet but I think it'll probably end up being a 3? The chunk I read today, the last 100 pages or so, was definitely my favorite of the whole thing. It had more action than the rest and was much more exciting.

I agree that the rest was just so slow-paced. It felt like most of the book was just waiting for the other shoe to drop. I also didn't really buy into the messaging. "Humanity should just choose peace, and we wouldn't hurt you!" Okay??? Seanan McGuire/Mira Grant usually has interesting moral/philosophical conversations in her books, but this just didn't feel like it held much weight. I also wanted it to be wayyyy scarier. There were a couple of moments with the blood and gore where I was like, "Okay nowwwww we're getting somewhere," but that momentum never really picked up.

I'm a bit disappointed because I read Into the Drowning Deep earlier this year and it is easily one of my favorite books of the year. It's sci-fi horror based on Earth science and biology, so it might be more up your alley, Sophie. It is still a bit slow-paced, but in my opinion that time is well-used to establish a good sense of the characters and setting. I also read Dead Silence recently and enjoyed it! It's another sci-fi horror with a paranormal/ghost element. It was much more fast-paced and spooky.

For regular sci-fi without the horror element, Illuminae is a classic. It is YA, and it's been a hot minute since I've read it, but I think it would mostly hold up. It's mixed media, there's all kinds of fun spacey elements without feeling bogged down by the science part, and if you're an audiobook person, the audiobook is full cast with lots of fun sound effects as well :)

I feel like I'm also pretty new to sci-fi and dipping my toe in, but I'm going to keep trying. Sad this one wasn't really a hit for me. (hide spoiler)]

Up to chapter 8
Finally started this one and liking it so far…
I really felt sorry for Stasia, the way she was treated and people looked at her, as well as her feeling to constantly be the weirdo, just for being different. I definitely see the metaphor/mirror of her and her boyfriend. There’s similarity in the story.

It must be terrible to nit belong in either place. On earth she’s a weirdo, which feels lonely and disconnected and her hime she doesn’t know ut and still has to find out about it.

I‘m curious to find out, what is going to happen when the invasion is taking place. A part of me still wants to believe that she’ll chose to help her friends.

Alright I finished and here are my thoughts…
In general Sci-Fi is one of my least favorite genres to read. Mainly because I‘m no fan of space, Alien and/or robot themed things. Still wanted to try this book.

It’s a 3 star for me, but only because of the friendship part. Without that it would be a 2 star. The friendship and bond between Anastasia and her friends/boyfriend are the most beautiful thing. I really enjoyed that. And it honestly touched me. Besides that the book sadly was very long winded. It started promising maybe up to chapter 9, up to chapter 18 it was often slow paced and sort of boring to read, except a few situations not that much happened. I expected way more action, which we get a little bit at the end.
Also the explanation how humans could have avoided the invasion really didn’t work for me. That was too simple.