Uppercase Box Book Discussions discussion

Please feel free to post your own questions or comments!

To get us started:

-What did you think about the dialect in the story?
-Henry’s note to Kate warns: “Gold makes monsters of men” . Do you agree?
-What did you think about the twist in the book? Did you like how it was handled?
-How did you like the story overall?

-What did you think about the dialect in the story?
~Oh my gosh, it bothered me so much!!! I kept mentally correcting the characters while they were speaking. :/
-Henry’s note to Kate warns: “Gold makes monsters of men” . Do you agree?
~I think it can but that the individual is ultimately responsible for their actions.
-What did you think about the twist in the book? Did you like how it was handled?
~I felt like it came out of left field and was rushed so that the story could end.
-How did you like the story overall?
~I had pretty high expectations for this book when I first went into it because I'm a fan of westerns and it has gotten a lot of hype from the book blog/tube/twitter community. The cover is absolutely gorgeous but it's the best thing about the book. I was really disappointed with the story itself. The writing is excellent but the characters annoyed me. Overall, I thought it was decent but I'm not a fan. 3/5 stars

What did you think about the dialect in the story?
It bothered me a lot, but props to the author for writing it. It was a nice authentic touch.
Henry’s note to Kate warns: “Gold makes monsters of men” . Do you agree?
I think it can. But ultimately, it depends on each person.
What did you think about the twist in the book? Did you like how it was handled?
Really weird. I thought it could have been really awesome, but it was thrown in at the very last minute (with like three chapters left) and rushed in one chapter. Could ave been better.
How did you like the story overall?
Pretty good. I found the characters believable, and I like that the romance was there, but more subtle.
3.5/5 stars

What did you think about the dialect in the story?
~The dialect was difficult to get into if I only read a chapter or 2 at a time. But the days I was able to read a longer stretch of the book, I got into it and the dialect flowed and I didn't notice it. Probably also helps that I enjoy watching Westerns, so I am use to the speech patterns a bit.

Henry’s note to Kate warns: “Gold makes monsters of men” . Do you agree?
~I think it is not just gold, but any monitary or desired item that can make monsters of men. And it is not necessarily the item, but the value placed on it that drives a person to become a monster. It is the single minded focus put on it and how that person then forsakes everything else in favor of it. Everyone I think does it to some extent. It is just how far that person goes into the "dark mine" and can they come out of it at the end OK. Look at Kate and Jesse vs "The Ghost Shooter" and Waylan Rose and his riders. All had different desires they were pursuing. 2 make it out of those quests solid people, and the other 2....well you read the book, they can be described as the monsters.

What did you think about the twist in the book? Did you like how it was handled?
~Like other people said, it felt really rushed. As the reader I wasn't sure what to think because I was not able to fully digest what factors drove it.

How did you like the story overall?
~Pretty good story. Liked that the basis came from real myths, makes it fun for the reader to go learn more about the subject if they wanted. The main characters were strong and I cared about what happened to them. And the landscape of the story was vivid and beautiful. I can already see the sweeping shots of the movie, Brought to mind images of the the Wayne, Eastwood, and other Westerns that I love. The kind where the environment is just as much of a character as the people. When a writer can do that in a book just through words I immediately have a great appreciation for it.
3/5 stars

-What did you think about the dialect in the story?
I absolutely adored it! I really felt like I was transported into the Wild West every single time I picked this book up! The dialect and the world building both played an excellent role in this.

-Henry’s note to Kate warns: “Gold makes monsters of men” . Do you agree?
Absolutely, I agree! I know that the author is not only referencing gold, but money or materialistic items in general. There is so much more to life than that. And as we have seen many times in this book, sometimes it actually cost them their lives to gain riches.

-What did you think about the twist in the book? Did you like how it was handled?
I felt the story would have been fine without it, but it didn't spoil the book for me in any way. Frankly, the part where (view spoiler)[ the Rose Riders hanged Will really gutted me emotionally! That for me was a twist in itself! (hide spoiler)] The end twist though I felt neutral about. I didn't like it, nor did I dislike it.

-How did you like the story overall?
I loved it. It was definitely a surprise to me, as this is not a book I would have picked up on my own. I actually thought that I was not going to like this one at all. I had very low expectations for it. I loved Kate's ferocity and character. I also loved the feel of being transported in time and place. The slow building relationships were definitely a thumbs up for me too! So happy this was in our box this month. I would not have picked it up otherwise!

5/5 stars XD

What did you think about the dialect in the story?
I actually quite enjoyed the dialect. I think I've read enough books now that having new dialects and different ways of speaking is really exciting and adds a lot of value and character to the story and plot.

Henry’s note to Kate warns: “Gold makes monsters of men” . Do you agree?
I definitely agree. I feel the author was referring to many different things though. It is definitely a metaphor for any materialistic, monetary thing, even just having power can make monsters of men. It definitely depends on the person, their values, and what they are willing to sacrifice for this power or thing.

What did you think about the twist in the book? Did you like how it was handled?
I definitely did not expect the twist. It was interesting how it came about. The foreshadowing was so subtle! It was a bit rushed, but it really drove home the theme of gold making monsters of men/women. I liked that the ghost shooter actually had a connection to the main character, it would seem odd if there wasn't.

How did you like the story overall?
I really enjoyed the story! It's been on my TBR since I found out about it, because I really enjoyed Erin Bowman's Taken Trilogy. It was really refreshing to read something different for once. I tend to go for the YA fantasy and high fantasy books. It spiced up my reading :) I loved the character development and really enjoyed the flow and writing of this novel. The one inconsistent thing was the fact that the Colton brothers left Kate. It seemed a bit odd, but it definitely drove the plot forward. You could see the development that this was going to take place, but I really didn't want it to happen.
I gave this book a 5/5 stars :)

To be honest this would've been a book that I would've overlooked and not given a chance to find this treasure of a story. I really enjoyed and found myself wondering where the story would go next. I enjoyed the dialect and had me thinking about western movies and the Lone Ranger.

I do agree with Henry's note to Kate and now looking back it all makes sense and I honestly was thinking that Jesses or even Wayne would be the ones to betray Kate not the person that it turned out to be in the end.

Overall I was surprised with how much I enjoyed it!

Amberley wrote: "Overall I did enjoy this story, the only issue I had was when the boys left Kate behind. I felt like this didn't fit in with the characters/plot. I could easily have seen the brothers deciding to j..."
I completely agree with all of this. I was surprised when the boys left Kate and didn't think that it fit with everything else we had read to that point with the characters. I also agree with what you said about Kate, but I didn't realize it until now that she did have a great unapologetic attitude as being one of her weaknesses/ strengths. I found her to be very different from a lot of other YA main characters in this aspect.

I'm 70 pages in. The dialect doesn't bother me. That's how people talked at this point in history. I feel like it makes it more authentic.

I find it really interesting that Kate is from Prescott because that is where I live. I like it when books talk about areas that I am familiar with. It makes it more interesting to me.