Rated YA-MA discussion

Are you joining the group read?
What are your first impressions?
Limit conversation to what happens in chapters 1-16

[There are not obvious breaks in this story so I just divided the total # of chapters by 3]

To discuss later chapters go here:

chapters 17-32
chapters 33-end

Follow this link for a TWELFTH NIGHT summary.

I'm having mixed feelings on this one so far.

I love that there's LGBT themes! I wasn't expecting that, and I think it'll make the inevitable romance more interesting. At least I hope so.

However, the whole plot to kill the queen is rubbing me the wrong way so far. Katherine just plans to hop off stage, stab the queen, and escape? Possibly through an unguarded window? Um....there's going to be a room full of people watching this play! How does she expect to 1) get close enough to even stab the queen and then 2) manage to get out!? She expects to live through this?! I'd be more on board if she was just straight up out for revenge, doesn't care if she lives or dies, as long as she takes out the queen.

I'm not quite to chapter 16 yet, but I'm ready to weigh in.

The good stuff:
-I LOVE the Shakespeare connection in this book.
Twelfth Night just never gets old for me. I'v attached a link to a summary of Twelfth Night for anyone who wants to know what the play in about in a less confusing way than how this book depicts it. [It is a quite twisty plot, made even more confusing by the fact that the MC is a girl pretending to be a boy - who gets hired as a actor pretending to be a girl pretending to be a boy. I'm positive Shakespeare would approve!]
-The back and forth points-of-view keeps the story from dragging.
-There are some witty dialog exchanges.

Bad stuff:
-No complaints really, but there could be MORE of the witty banter.

History stuff I probably should know more about:
-I know a little about King Henry VII and his many wives but I'm not well versed on the reigns of Elizabeth or Mary.
-I know there was a lot of internal strife regarding religion at this time, but I had thought it was mostly resolved by later in Elizabeth's tenure.
-Nothing in the book seem anachronistic so far, but I'm not the best judge.

Melanie's Wild Predictions:
-(view spoiler)[Toby is totally going to fall in love with "Kit," thinking she is a boy and Kit will totally fall for Toby and want to be a boy for him. (hide spoiler)]
-(view spoiler)[The queen won't die because that doesn't match history as I know it, but someone will die. In fact, if we're going full Shakespeare tragedy, they'll ALL die in the end. (hide spoiler)]

Angie wrote: "However, the whole plot to kill the queen is rubbing me the wrong way so far. Katherine just plans to hop off stage, stab the queen, and escape? Possibly through an unguarded window? "

I didn't put too much thought into the efficacy of her plan. I'm just kind of experiencing the characters.

Okay, first and foremost, THANK YOU for the link to Twelfth Night summary!!!

Thus far I am enjoying the book. I enjoy this time period immensely so yeah. Anyway, I'm not sure how I feel about the characters right now. I'm generally enjoying them and their story, but I don't feel completely invested in either Katherine or Toby right now. We shall see as I progress. I am enjoying the descriptions of the play and of Shakespeare's mad man like style :)