Study Buddies discussion

This was a pretty quick read, but not lacking in complexity. I really enjoyed the book.

Juliet Marillier did a fine job of fleshing out all of the characters in subtle ways. I was quickly visualizing them in my head as I progressed through the book. Even minor characters felt far more real to me than in many other books I have read lately. Quite impressive in itself, but more so being a book geared to younger folks.

I also really liked the person Jena is. Juliet managed to avoid mimicking the strong, young female character that I read time-and-time again. Jena is not a clone of an ideal; she is truly her own strong, young female.

BTW - was it alright for me to start the topic???? hope so.

Mawgojzeta-I don't see why not. :)

Marillier is one of my favorite writers and she really knows how to get me to attach to her characters as a reader. I root for them the entire time...

I really enjoyed Jena's character, for many of the reasons you've already suggested.

Yet in the spirit of discussion :) I wanted to mention something that kind of nagged at me. Tell me what you think.

Jena and her sisters have grown up hearing fairy tales about the exact place they visit every full moon. Jena knows that they are full of tricksters and that there is always a price that must be paid.
So why does it take Jena forever to realize/accept what has been in front of her the entire time?

I realize that Jena's story has to be fairytale-like as well and that those are some of the conventions with these types of stories, but didn't it seem a little strange that Jena couldn't accept Gogu's transformation?

I was certain quite early on the situation surrounding Gogu (trying to do this with no spoilers for people still reading the book). I decided her age had quite a bit to do with her inability to see the truth and her behavior once she did.

I try to think back to when I was her age. I was terribly intelligent, yet made many mistakes and also FAILED to notice a lot things going on around me. I also reacted unreasonably to many things, as much as I wanted to claim to be a more logical type of person.

Good points, her voice was very mature throughout the novel. How did you like Cezar? I like that Marillier's "villains" aren't so stereotypical. Half the time I even agreed with some of his actions with regard to taking care of Jena. Yet on the other hand the entire time there's a sinister sort of feeling when it comes to him that plays out in the end.

Hope I didn't spoil it for anyone, I thought that this was the thread I could talk about those sort of things, sorry. :\

Cezar creeped me out!

No apologies, if someone really wants to avoid spoilers, they can start their own thread. Or I'll make one, it doesn't matter :)

I loved the sort of "fractured fairytale" story--a little bit of The Frog Prince mishmashed with The Twelve Dancing Princesses.

Those who have read through, who is your favorite sister and why? (I feel a poll coming on... here it is!)

I think Jena was my favorite sister for her dedication to her family and her levelheadedness. She's followed closely though by Paula (fellow bibliophile that she was), who I guess I'll be reading more about soon. :)

Has anyone here read Marillier's Sevenwaters series? If so, did Tati remind you exactly of Niamh? I really thought she did, everything from her beauty to her seemingly ill-fated love!

I just finished the book. I really fell in love with the characters. I am already reading Cybele's Secret.

I really liked this book, however I thought the author was a little long winded in her detail and stories and the ending was ok. I must say that her second book was AMAZING! the Author did a fabulous job on that book...so keep reading.

This contains SPOILERS:

I liked the book overall. I did have a bit of a hard time getting in to it, but I think that was just because of the book I had read right before it.

Jena would drive me nuts at times. I could understand that she didn't know exactly how do deal with her cousin, but I had a hard time with how she just stood there at times. There were also many times when she wasn't levelheaded at all, which makes her more of a normal person, but I found myself saying "What are you doing? Grr...."

That's why I picked Paula for my favorite sister. She seemed to always be levelheaded. She said that they needed to get Tati home, she helped out with Sorrow, noticed when the other two sisters were struggling and seemed to take over a bit when Jena was all sorts of distracted.

Tati drove me nuts. If you love someone and they love you why would you let yourself almost die. I mean at least wait until you've found out if you're going to see them again. Honestly, what would Sorrow have done if he did all that work and came back to find her dead--it's just silly to me. Maybe I'm too practical though. She just irked me--I wanted to shake sense into her.

Cazer was a good villain. And I thought that Marillier did a good job at painting the scenes. I could see her characters. I will admit that while I knew that Gogu was something special and figured he was the man in the vision--I was surprised to find out who he really was. In hind sight, I see how Marillier prepared the reader for it, but I must have been blind that day because I didn't see it coming.

Overall, I liked the book. It was a good read. And I also like that while all the characters were happy in the end, everything wasn't completely nice and neat. Tati went off with Sorrow and the sisters lost their passage way into the Other Kingdom.