Rated YA-MA discussion

It's crazy to thing such a little thing can change so much.

Just put the book down after reading the Boat House part. (view spoiler)[ I can't believe her raped her. That is all. (hide spoiler)]

It was hard to read.

I'm so mad I almost threw my kindle across the room! (almost)
As much as I hate what happened, this is just fuel to my reading appetite. I will hopefully finish it by tomorrow.

It was a very gritty scene, but I agree it made me want to keep reading to find out what happened next.

Carina wrote: "Just put the book down after reading the Boat House part. [spoilers removed]"

Yeah, it was shocking... I had to take a break at that point.

I'm just curious now to see how she'll feel about the end.

I dont even know what I felt at the end...too many feelings!!

Katy, it took me a few days to really get this book out of my head.

I keep thinking about (view spoiler)[ how traumatized poor Micha must be after everything that happened. Even if she did go to a good home. (hide spoiler)] Haha I act like they are real :P

I'm very nevous about the ending now...

How far are you now, Carina?

When are we going to read T &A?

I smiled at the (view spoiler)[went to a good home comment. It made me think of a puppy. So cute. (hide spoiler)]

I'm 78% done(I got dragged along on an errands quest with my mom today, so I had no time to read during the day.) I am REALLY crossing my fingers that I'll be done tomorrow.
You have no idea how bad I feel about T&A. How about as soon as I finish this book, I'll let you know so I you can tell me if you're ready or if I need to wait for you to finish something you're reading.

Honey, I didn't ask that to make you feel bad. Please don't in anyway. I was fine with having to put it off. Start it whenever you want. I thought you were also reading it with another friend.

I can always catch up :)

Joan was gonna join in too, but she's going on her trip, and she said we could read it without her.
I am just a horrible Buddy reads person lately.

No you're not. At least you remember. I forget all the time. I'm just grateful my buddy read friends will nudge me when they know i've forgotten.

You're too good to me Leea!

I made it to 84% and I have VERY mixed feelings. I am also very confused as to (view spoiler)[whom the murderer will turn out to be. It is either gonna be totally predictable, or gonna shock me for not seeing it coming at all! (hide spoiler)]

Stacia ~ mistress of mediocrity wrote: "I smiled at the [spoilers removed]"

LOL. It does sound like that now that I think about it :P

Carina, this book is full of mixed feelings haha!

Finished.
I loved it. I hated it. I'm so glad I read it.
Is it weird that (view spoiler)[ I guessed Abel to be the murderer? Before that BoatHouse scene, I was all over Bertil being the killer and stalker. But after what Abel did, I started seeing the clues much more clearly.
His reasons, the way he gave Anna clues in the story. I still kept an open mind to the rest of the characters/suspects, but Abel was my prime suspect.
Yes, I was angry at him, I pittied him, I felt bad for the horrible life he got, but does that really excuse him for everything he did? Even if in his mind it was a tiny bit excusable cause he was doing it for Micha. I personally don't think so.

But who really surprised me here, was Anna. Her mentality and coping mechanism was the total oposite of what I would have expected anyone to have in that sittuation. She infuriated me, and I know she's a fictional character, but man I was hoping to have a tiny glimpse or mention of her getting some therapy or professional help, in that last chapter. (hide spoiler)]

I'm still all confussed with my scrambled emotions. Hopefully I'll have clearer head tomorrow to write a brief review.

I'm starting this today. Already I kind of like the musical tone to the words.

The writing style was one of the things I enjoyed most aboout the book. I was beautiful.



You know what I just realized?? I actually finished the group read on time! Yay!!

Carina, I actually guessed that (view spoiler)[Abel was the murderer, too. I did have a brief moment when I thought it was Bertil, because he's super creepy, but then I felt it was too obvious, since was SOOOO creepy. I also had the feeling that he didn't actually kill his mom. (hide spoiler)]

spoilers spoilers, haha. I'm only about 10% into it, so not far, but the descriptions are beautiful. Like, you can almost taste the world... does that make sense? It's very vivid.

The writing style was probably the biggest draw for me. I've read so many books lately where the writing felt very sloppy/pedestrian and Storyteller made me feel like I was being cocooned into the story. This is pretty impressive, considering the book is translated from the German version and we don't know how many subtle details might have been changed in the process.

That's what I keep thinking too, like was this just happenstance that it sounds so beautiful? Normally translations are choppy. I'm on chapter 4.

I found this book haunting and terrible and honest and great all at the same time. These are all going to be major spoilers:

Teacher (view spoiler)[ - I absolutely think that the teacher was his real father or he at least believed it was possible that he was. Why else would he be following him around and all that? What I can't understand is why he didn't step in sooner. I guess the book was only set in about two months of a time frame, but as soon Michelle didn't seem to be returning, he should have stepped in.... (hide spoiler)]

Boathouse (view spoiler)[ - Holy crap I can't believe that turned into a rape scene!! He did say that he couldn't do it without violence, but he should have immediately stopped when she realized what he meant and started saying no. As to why she goes back to him, I think her reasonable/unreasonable sides explained that. Sometimes you are so overwhelmed with emotion and all of the "good" things about a person that you blindly overlook and make excuses for the person you "love". Personally, I wouldn't do that...but I can understand the feeling of wanting to. if that makes sense (hide spoiler)]

The ending (view spoiler)[ - I was 100% ignoring all of the clues from the fairytale because I didn't want to believe it. I wanted Bertal to be framing him and I had it set in my heart that that's what I wanted it to be so I still had a minor shock when the truth came out. I was like NOOOOOO!! But, yeah I knew it. I understand why he did what he did at the end too, I don't think he could continue on the way he was. (hide spoiler)]

All in all I really liked this book. The issues some people have with Anna, I didn't have. I wouldn't make some of the choices she made, but I felt like I understood why she did.

Sorry I missed your comment Tawna. Didn't mean to ignore your contribution to the discussion there, I just didn't happen to see it!

Your thoughts about the ending are very similar to what I was thinking. (view spoiler)[I think in my heart, I was hoping that it would be something else, even though the clues were there all along. (hide spoiler)]

Another good point about the teacher. It looks like it could go either way based on both sides of the argument. I guess it's something we'll never know...

Stacia ~ mistress of mediocrity wrote: "Sorry I missed your comment Tawna. Didn't mean to ignore your contribution to the discussion there, I just didn't happen to see it!

Your thoughts about the ending are very similar to what I was th..."

Oh no worries, you got back pretty fast seeing how I only posted yesterday. This is the first book I've had the pleasure of reading in this group and I really enjoyed it. Excited to be a part :)

I'm happy to see your participation! It's always more fun to read a book when you have people to discuss it with.

I totally agree. No one that I know is even close to liking books as much as I do and can't read as fast. So since finding Goodreads this year I have been in book reading and discussion heaven!!

I finished! My review is here if anyone wants to check it out.

I haven't gone through these two pages yet, I'm off to do that now. Overall I thought it was a good book, I liked it. I had problems with Anna too, so I'll be interested in going to see what everyone else says, though I have a feeling my thoughts are different from others. I tend to be a reader who gets frustrated with the girls and more understand the boys.

I'll say that I knew (view spoiler)[that it was Abel (hide spoiler)] all along. But that's okay. Some of my favorite books out there, I knew what would happen before the end. I think that with books like this, it's more about the telling than it is about the reveal.

I had a different opinion about the boathouse, (view spoiler)[Not in that what Abel did wasn't wrong, just that he was trying to stop her. He did not want to have sex with her! He wasn't playing coy or flirting. Abel was very clearly saying 'stop no' and Anna was pushing him and pushing him all because he had an erection and how 'that must mean he really means yes'. It was crap. I felt horrible for what happened. But for me, I guess it was more of a horror for the both of them. Especially once I found out what happened to him with his step-dad and then selling himself afterwards. I mean, it's just as likely that Anna's own forcefulness fueled Abels violence BECAUSE of his own rapes. I mean, when they had sex in the end she made a point of being gentle, not being too aggressive. She even makes a point to say that she could sense Abels fear. He was sooooo very damaged. Does he deserve punishment for what he did, absolutely. But the whole scene really made me uncomfortable (hide spoiler)]

Stacia, about the end, (view spoiler)[I think it just showed the extent of the damage inside him. He didn't see 'jail' as a way out. He wanted OUT. As in, the big out, lol. He knew that Misha would have that better life, and that gave him what he needed to just bow out of the 'tale', in essence (hide spoiler)].

Sorry I never responded to you here, Wendy but we ended up talking about it on your review anyway.

Moving this to the realistic fiction folder. The discussion will remain open for anyone to comment in.

Great point about a Abel's pov on the boat scene Wendy. I did think about it a little but not as deeply as I should have.

Thanks. I guess I focused on it because before (view spoiler)[he raped her, before I knew that would happen, I was already upset by Anna's actions. If he had just run off I would have already been mad at her for doing that when he was so clearly distressed. So what he did, while it was TERRIBLE, it didn't negate her own actions for me. Let's say she had done what she did, and instead of his flipping it around on her he just shut down and she had her way with him, though he clearly covered his face and said 'no stop', that is still rape. Just because there was no violence, she still ignored his words. Do you think we would have been as angry at her (hide spoiler)]?

It is a sad double standard.

Wow, you make a really good point Wendy!

I'm a little late to the party on this one because it was all checked out at both the libraries I use. I finally got a copy and just started it. I'm trying to stay as spoiler-free as possible, so I haven't read any comments. So far I like it and I like the way it is put together.

No problem. We'll be here when you're finished.

I had to up my stars because I can't stop thinking about it, so I'll be ready to chat too!

I finished today. Holy Cow! I knew early on that this book was going to break my heart and I wasn’t wrong! I wasn’t sure how, of course, but I knew it would. I have read all other comments. I’m just going to go ahead and put everything in spoiler tags because it’s easier.

(view spoiler)[ I, too, thought the murderer was Bertil until the very end. Very, very end. I didn’t want to believe that Abel was the murderer. I hardly batted an eye about the drug dealing, honestly. And it made even more sense one I knew Michelle committed suicide—at that point, I really do understand Abel thinking he doesn’t have a choice. I did think it was sweet that when Anna bought drugs, he sold her children’s Tylenol—it showed that he knew the people he was dealing to would have gotten drugs somewhere else but Anna was not a user and he knew it. The rape I had a much harder time with. I don’t forgive him for it, and some of me is upset at Anna for going back to him. But at the same time, I understand that she loves him to a point that she is well beyond rational. I’m not saying it’s healthy, but it makes sense for Anna. I also completely see Wendy’s point about Abel saying no several times and Anna pushing the sex to happen. Doesn’t forgive it, of course, but does shed some more light on it.

I assumed from the beginning that Michele was dead, though honestly, she was the one person I figured Able might have killed. I didn’t really consider suicide from her.

I didn’t dwell too much on the relationship with Mr. Knaape. If I had to pick one of the options the rest of you have mentioned, I guess I’d go with father, but I just see him as a teacher who saw a kid he wanted to help and in my head left it at that. It also occurs to me that Abel might have hoped for it. He made the off-hand comment that Michelle had an affair with an older teacher and I wondered if that was wishful thinking on his part.

Once I got to the end, I was not surprised at all by Abel’s suicide. Reminded me of Forbidden. (view spoiler)[ Like Lochan, I think Abel figured it was the only chance for Micah. Maybe even for Anna. (hide spoiler)] (hide spoiler)]

I loved, loved, LOVED the fairytale. That’s really what made the book for me. Otherwise, it’s just a sad story with maybe some touching parts about how far a brother will go to protect his sister. But the fairytale added a whole other dimension and realism and way for Anna to fall for Abel. When I first read the description many months ago, it was the fact that the main character made up a fairytale for his sister that made me want to read this.

Not gonna tag this, since the scene is pretty close to the start.

Abel selling the fake drugs to Anna was sweet. It showed that he was not completely detached from the dangers of what he was doing. Some people might have completely turned it off in that situation.

I also like that it was a little while before we knew that. Meaning, we didn't learn it in the next scene or anything. He waited until he knew her a little bit to reveal his "deception."

Very very good review. it's very similar to how I felt.

(view spoiler)[I also can't forgive Abel for what he did. I understood what Anna meant when she said 'I can't forgive him, but I can move on'. I just felt bad that he was that damaged. I'm sitting here trying to think of how to explain how I felt in that scene and the closest I can come up with is an abused dog. Say someone finds a dog that has been abused, and they're walking up to it, and the dog is growling and crouching and his ears are laid back, but they keep walking. eventually the dog will snap and attack them. And while I'm like, 'whoooo scary dog, it should probably be put down', I'm also like 'poor dog was so beaten and obviously had no idea to react, and that person should also have stopped walking towards it. *shrug*, not to say Abel should have been put down, lmfao. Just that I found some of the responsibility lay on Anna too.

Reminds me of a Law & Order SVU case, hahaha (hide spoiler)].

Very weird thing just happened. I finished like an hour ago, on my lunch break. I just had a patron call (I work in a public library) looking for just one book: The Storyteller. How crazy is that?!

Wendy, I think I understand exactly what you mean. And I can totally see that, both for Abel and for Anna. The dog is a good analogy.

That's so weird! Did you go "Are you part of YA-MA?!" That's a really crazy coincedence.

She was clearly a teenager. I told her I knew it was checked out, but also that I had it, had just
finished it, and would check it in so she could come get it this afternoon. I'm hoping she comes in while I'm still here; that's just such an odd coincedence!

It's cool, lol. In that way whree you feel like your kindred spirits, lol. I always get like that when someone's reading a book I read.