Off the Books discussion

As Meat Loves SaltHi all!!

Thank you so much for joining my little group - I'm thrilled to have you here!

For those of you who want to join me in reading the book we have chosen for December/January (it will possibly go over both months just because people are particularly busy around this period!), we are currently reading As Meat Loves Salt, by Maria McCann.

I have not personally read this book before now, but I'm about a hundred pages in and already there are TWs for r*pe & sexual assault. If this affects you in any way, feel free to bow out from reading this one!

However, we would LOVE to know what books you're reading! I'll start another discussion for that ASAP.

Please let me know if you're going to be reading along with us for this month's book!!

i'll be starting AMLS tomorrow! i'm a little hesitant about the r*pe TWs though. How have you been finding it so far?

Hello!
Eh- I couldn't find an introduction thread or something of that sort..so..sorry :P

I just joined this group. I was specifically looking for new and tiny groups because every group that I'm in only looks to gather loads of members and has around 5 of them active, which defeats the purpose of a group really.

I'm hoping this group is interactive and that we at least know 80% of the members here :'D

Looking forward to that.

As for the book this thread is about- Haven't heard of it. Will try getting a copy of it :)

Hi - I'll be reading along!

It's so good to have you all joining us! I didn't have an introduction thread, so maybe I'll make one ASAP!

Sarah wrote: "i'll be starting AMLS tomorrow! i'm a little hesitant about the r*pe TWs though. How have you been finding it so far?"

I always hate it as a plot point, but to be honest when it happened it wasn't completely unexpected. It's within the first 100 pages (if I remember correctly) and from what you already come to understand of the character, he definitely seems like the type. He's remorseful afterwards, but only because he thinks he's ruined his marriage, not because of what he's actually done, and he never actually apologises to his wife for it.

If you were able to read Captive Prince, I think you should be alright with this, though! But don't take my word on it. You're free to stop reading/not read at all if you think it would be a bad idea for you. :)

Will definitely give this a go!! I'm exam-loaded until 8th Jan but will undoubtedly zoom through it after that.

I was reading the little excerpt that goodreads offers and about halfway in I knew (despite the TWs and a few spoiler-free reviews) that I HAD to read this book tbh. I'll be a little late to the game since I haven't gotten my hands on a copy yet, but I'll be reading along!

I'm up to page 150, for reference, and there are no spoilers here -

FERRIS IS SO CUTE. He is just so lovely and pure and I adore him!! He's definitely my favourite character so far; I've spent the majority of my time reading the book side-eyeing Jacob so hard and wishing someone would punch him in the face.

I FINISHED THIS MORNING AND I CANNOT WAIT TO DISCUSS IT WITH YOU GUYS WHEN YOU'RE ALL DONE

I FINISHED THIS MORNING AND I CANNOT WAIT TO DISCUSS IT WITH YOU GUYS WHEN YOU'RE ALL DONE

I JUST FINISHED TOO....... Not to give anything away but I've never felt such visceral pain during/after reading a book, my god

After reading those last two comments I can't wait to finish it! I'm a little less than half way.

YAY Amanda!! You can do it!! We are here waiting for you at the finish line, tear streaked and exhausted haha

I'm nearly halfway through! I had to take a break and read something light after a couple of scenes, but I should be finished by the end of the week now!

I'm like 2/3 of the way through and I have to say I'm not really buying it... maybe because Jacob needs a therapist more than a romance... Maybe by the end I'll be dying like y'all haha what a goal

I'm right there with you Nicole. I won't give my final thoughts till I'm done but meh...not good so far

i just finished and am personally mostly left with "..." as a reaction -- but def looking forward to discussion!

( do you think there's perhaps a better platform than goodreads for discussion? i.e. with a better reply feature, etc. )

meh...i have to say i wasn't so in love with this book. Personally, I felt like it dragged on and really had no conflict/resolution. I was able to skips lots of different parts of the book and feel like I didn't miss anything. The ending was intense which I liked but I didn't buy into the characters or the plot, if there was one really. I don't think I will be re-reading this one again but I love the fact that I got a chance to read a book that I wouldn't have otherwise picked. I'm curious to hear anyone else's thoughts

I think it's so good that everyone has quite polar opposite opinions!! I really, really loved this book. It was a lot darker than everything I usually read but I was really sucked in to the characters and the story. If I wasn't reading it, I was thinking about it.

The end of the book really affected me, which is why I cried, and I felt really drained (I call this a book hangover, same thing happened when I finished Tartt's 'The Secret History') when I closed the book for the last time (in a good way)!!

Yeah, it's interesting!! It definitely isn't a book I am going to be able to pick again anytime soon as it affected me so deeply, but that's why I loved it. I found that I had to get through it as quickly as possible, becasue when I wasn't reading it all I could do was think about it. It's also interesting that not everyone got invested in the characters, becasue a couple of them pulled at my heartstrings so much is was almost unbearable at times.

I also read like 350 pages of it in one day while my brother was in hospital because it was so intense and engrossing for me that it let me take my mind off things.

But dark cruel tales and unreliable narrators and political upheaval and war happen to be my cup of tea I guess!! Can't wait to discuss the ending lmao

I looove the "book hangover." That is by far the best descriptive term for that feeling. I'm going to use that from now on lol

I feel for ya (even if I didn't get the same from amls) -- book hangovers are generally harder than tv/movie ones bc there's so much less fic out there to make you feel better ! Although idk that there could ever be fix it fic for Jacob and Ferris anyway lol

Ah, i've finally finished! I have many things to say (though they may no longer be of interest), but i'm sleepy so I may write a bit about it tomorrow night!

Soooo, now that you guys have read it, can someone tell me if this has a happy (-ish, I'll take -ish (see Song of Achilles)) ending? I can't set myself up for heartbreak again. I just read a 70k fic thinking it was going to end happily and instead it tore my heart out in the worst way. I need to be prepared for these things.

It definitely does not!! Do not read if you want a happy ending my love

Betty, what are the plans for the end-of-the-book discussion thread? I have a few things that I want to discuss that are major spoilers and I don't want to accidentally say something that I shouldn't to someone who may not have finished the book yet!

Is there going to be a separate thread? Or are we going to discuss it at the end of the month?

You are a clever duck indeed, Kinsey!!

Good point!!! I'm curious to hear what everyone has to say regarding the book

I was going to read along but there's apparently only one copy in my county library system so i didn't get a hold of it. :/ i'll steer clear of the discussion thread for that one and work on finding Feb's book instead :)