2025 Reading Challenge discussion

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The Chemist
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The Chemist
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Rather than putting dates for each section I've done it so that it takes into account that not everybody will necessarily have the book at the same time.
Week 1: 130
Week 2: 130
Week 3: 130
Week 4: 130


May you ladies, have better luck with it :) I'm looking forward to seeing what you think of it :)

She was the author that got me back into reading in 2009. While my tastes have changed since then, I still have a soft spot in my heart for her. I do like her connections between characters though. I seem to like her characters a lot. I was interested in this one to see how it is different (if at all) from her others.



So I'll tell my little story of how I got back into reading. Before kids, I was always reading a book but I probably didn't read as much as I do now (except for summer when I was a kid). I had gotten out of the habit of reading when the kids were little. I was too tired. I think I really only kept up with Nicholas Sparks and John Grisham when the kids were little. When my youngest was in kindergarten I was over at my friends house watching her kids and my kids and I picked up Twilight that she had on the coffee table. I started reading it and then kind of got absorbed and asked if I could take it home. Up until that point I hadn't read a YA as an adult. I was kind of snobby on it. But since then I figure a book is a book and I read whatever.
So I pretty much got back into reading after that. It was probably also my first fantasy book. Pretty much what I read up until that point was Nicholas Sparks, John Grisham, some crime/mystery and horror.


Thanks! I've read the first two chapters. I think I'm gonna like this one :)


What does everyone else think of it?

I'm around 10% and I agree with Joan in that I'm not as invested in the characters as I want to be but I'm hoping for that to change since I'm not that far into it yet. I will say that that for some reason all the italicized words are kind of bugging me. Does Meyer normally do that and I'm so into the story that I don't notice them?
Since I'm not too far into the story and I'm not sure where it's going, this is probably a little early to say but I'm having a hard time with picturing this schoolteacher/girl's volleyball coach as a terrorist. I know, I know, it really can be anyone, they're good at blending in, but...I guess maybe I just know too many teachers to imagine one as a terrorist.


This book is interesting enough and I wanted to finish it, but, oh good gracious, the wordiness! I skipped so many passages because of the overly loquacious prose. I felt like the book stopped and started far too much. I don't mind when things slow down and the characters take a break -- in fact, I prefer an action-packed book to have character development -- but describing every scene and every movement in excruciating detail is beyond unnecessary.
And what was worse was that most of the "slowed down" scenes didn't feel very "character development-like" to me. I felt a bit like I was still on the outside, looking in with these characters. I didn't feel like I really got to know them as well as I would have liked, and because of that, I didn't care about them as much as I wanted to.
This book could easily have been 300 pages instead of the 500+ that it is, and I would have enjoyed it much more.
I'd give it 3.5 stars, but I'm rounding up because I feel generous. XD


I was reading the praise on the back of The Chemist. It seems like they were just making comments in general about her books and writing but not specifically about The Chemist which I found funny. I guess it is all in how you read their comments.

What does everyone else think?

Honestly, I don't feel connected to any of these characters. I've noticed the comments on wordiness which in some stories often doesn't bother me but in this one, I just got bogged down in all the descriptions of how these characters hiding from the gov't (or whoever they're hiding from) took precautions to the point of I don't care anymore.



It's the chapter where Daniel goes all hot and heavy on Alex. It was so out of character for him to corner her and try to kiss her. I feel like Alex stayed in character but Daniel was all wrong. The kiss should've happened organically instead of being forced like that. And the way it was written made me wanna gag. I'm all for romance but that was just too much 😒

I can understand his forgiveness of her more so than his lack of PTSD. At the very least he should be more jumpy and nervous around her, not going all creep mode in the kitchen. I'm just glad Chapter 17 got us back to action. I can forgive the blunder that was Chapter 15 if the rest of the book is as good as the beginning. Now I'm worried about all those dogs though 😢

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Participants: Julia, Eirelyn, Joan, Kristy, Tina, Nikkin