MaryEllen’s Comments (group member since Jun 05, 2018)

MaryEllen’s comments from the Come Buddy Read with M.E. group.

You're welcome! It was a fun book to do a buddy read on. :)

I don't know when I'll get to Vengeful but maybe we can buddy read this one to. Maybe next year you'll be out of your reading funk.

Have a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year! :)

Batman wrote: "So far I’ve read to chapter 3. It’s a bit difficult with having a full house of people can’t really get to read in peace, but so far I like where it’s going. The mix up of sisters, I get what you m..."

Hey Aaron, how's the reading going? Have you passed chapter 3 yet? :D

Are you guys reading this section yet? I just finished and, boy, was it good! This is probably a book I could have read in one sitting because it keeps getting more interesting as the story continues.

Okay --- S P O I L E R T I M E ---

What do you all think about the death of that happened in this section? I still don't want to mention who died in case you read this before you finished this section of the book. I was so sad that we had to experience a death with a sister that we read about and knew. It's different with Eulalie because she was dead already when the story started, but to read about this death was sad.

Ah, so sorry you are in a reading funk! But I'm glad you liked the book.

Yes, now that you mentioned it, there was a lot of violence in the book. I was to caught up in the story to really notice that. Mostly that last battle. I was wondering how Victor was going to defeat Eli - I was trying to think of ways he could kill him without him regenerating himself. I was pleasantly surprised at the way Victor chose to stop Eli with the set-up.

Also, at the end of the book did you get the feeling the next book is going to deal with Sydney and her feelings about her sister's death? It seemed she wanted revenge on the killer - not knowing who the killer really was. I don't know what the second book is about, but it feels (from reading the ending of this book) like Sydney is going to be a major player in book 2.

And I also liked Dominic and thought his power was interesting although I felt bad that he had to endure constant pain all the time. I'm glad Victor's gift has allowed him to escape it.

Overall, I truly enjoyed reading this book and loved the adventure it took me on. I'm looking forward to continuing with Vengeful although I heard it's not nearly as good as this first book.

I started the second part and *** S P O I L E R - B E L O W ***
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I liked the twist with the magical doorway! Now that there's this passage to another place, I can't wait to see what this new doorway brings! I'm looking forward to see how they use the door or if it becomes something they continually use.

And I'm still trying to figure out who I think the bad guy is. I feel really bad for Edgar when he talked with the sisters about him being there when Eulalie died. I wonder what the shadow was that he saw. I really have no idea who the "murder" is or if this is a magical curse of some kind. Guess I'll have to keep reading to find out! :D

Comments and questions for section 2 of our read-a-long.

I finished this portion of the read-a-long last night. I'm really enjoying the mystery surrounding the sisters, but I haven't figured out what's going on yet. And since there are so many sisters, I am still a bit confused by all of them, LOL. I have the main ones down though: Camille, Verity, and the twins...plus Annaleigh. ;) Oh and of course Eulalie and Elizabeth.

I'm still trying to see if I like the step Mom. She'll do something nice but then she'll say something that makes me wonder if she has a hidden motive. So, as of yet, I haven't warmed up to her.

Anyway, I'm looking forward to reading the next portion.

Let me know what you all think! :D

Okay, I'm on page 75...so if you haven't read that far, do not read my below comment. I don't want to spoil you.
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** S P O I L E R **
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Okay, I just have to say that I cannot believe this is turning into a horror story, LOL. I just finished reading the part where Verity shares the drawings she did of her dead sisters and warns that they are roaming about the house. Very scary! I wonder if we are going to see them (their ghosts) interact with any of the sisters or family members. Story has taken an eerie turn!

Batman wrote: "I’ll start tonight. Been under the weather to do anything. But I’ll get on track."

Yay! Can't wait to hear what you think. :D

Reading Plan:

Week 1 (December 1st - 7th) read chapters 1 to 11 (pages 1-103)
Week 2 (December 8th- 14th) read chapters 12 to 20 (pages 104-204)
Week 3 (December 15th- 21st) read chapters 21 to 30 (pages 205-309)
Week 4 (December 22nd - 28th) read chapters 31 to end (pages 310-400)

Let me know if you have any feedback regarding our reading schedule.

I'm looking forward to hearing your thoughts on this book! :)

Hi All - this is the opening thread to our read-a-long! Comment your thoughts on chapters 1-11 here!

Okay, so I've started this book and so far I do have to say it took a bit to get into the story. Although it opened during an interesting time, there were a LOT of characters! So far I like the mystery surrounding the family's "curse" and can't wait to get more into the meat of the story.

I finished the book last night!! I really liked this story. I'll go into more details once I know you've finished it so I don't spoil anything. Can't wait to hear your thoughts. :D

Yay! Glad you are back! Yes, I'll start this book tomorrow... which is 3 minutes away! ;)

Just a reminder that I'll be reading this book in December (which is just days away!) and I'm excited to have you join me! I've heard good things about this book and can't wait to dive in!

I'll be breaking down this book for discussion in this group later this week but for now, if you will be joining this buddy read - please use this thread to introduce yourself and share your excitement. :D

So I've started the second part of the book and I'm really enjoying the story! I'm glad this section is giving more history on Serena. :D

Okay I just finished chapter 36 and I can't wait to continue to the next portion of the book.

1 thing I'm curious about is Sydney's sister - what is her ability? I wonder why Eli is keeping her sister around...she must have a useful gift.

Also, when I was reading the part where Victor wanted to send Eli a message, I was like, he better not bring back (oh! I forgot the girlfriends name) but I thought he better not bring her back to life! Haha, I thought that might be what he was thinking of doing. I thought, but she's been dead for 10 years! LOL But as we discovered, he had other plans.

Overall, I like this story. I'm wondering how Victor plans to defeat Eli...since Eli is self healing. I hope it's not something morbid. You know how he mentioned Eli couldn't heal until the knife was out of his wound - well, I hope he doesn't wound him and keep him in that "hurt" state. Maybe he can stab him in the heart and keep the knife in place so the heart never heals...hmmmm.

What are you thought so far?

At first I thought Eli stopping Victor's NDE didn't work and that he had powers he didn't know about, but then as the story progressed I realized he, in fact, didn't. I kept waiting for something to happen and then finally accepted he was still a normal person, LOL. Then I finally hit the part of the story where he actually experiences the NDE and I'm like, Oh! Have you gotten to that part yet?

Eli is a mystery to me. I'm trying to figure him out. I'm curious to find out what he is hiding (besides his EO). He seems very aloof. I wonder if he has an alternative motive.

I've already started reading chapter 21 - I think I've read a few chapters in but I'm not sure which chapter I'm on (since the book isn't with me - it's at home) but the story keeps getting better and better! So much going on with all the characters and I can't wait to see how Sydney fits in - besides her death experiences, I wonder what EO she has. Hmmmm.

I've reach our threshold already for the this week because it's that good! I've stopped on page 101 which was hard because I'm really liking the suspense the story is weaving and I want to find out what Eli did that was so horrible!

Checking in to see how you are doing and if you are finding it as enjoyable as I am.

Have you gotten to the park where Eli discovered his EO ability? Curious to know what you think about that. And also want too know what you think about Victor's obsession with one upping Eli on all things science/life. He's a very intense character!

Okay, so that first chapter really drew me into the story. What a setting with Victor and Sydney in Merit Cemetery. It makes me wonder why they are at the graveyard and what Victory has planned.

Going into chapter 2 which was 10 years earlier kind of made me a little bummed because I didn't want to change timelines, but then I read it and that chapter hooked me as well, LOL. So I think I'm fine following 2 timelines.

Anyway, I'm only on page 36 but I think I'm going to like this story!

Hi - here's our discussion thread for Part 2. Chapters broken down below.

Chapters 1-19 (up to page 282) - Read from 11/23-11/29
Chapters 20-36 (to end of book) - Read from 11/30-12/06

Let's keep the discussion going for Part 2 in this section; along with our closing thoughts on the ending.