EVERYONE Has Read This but Me - The Catch-Up Book Club discussion

Hello! This is a buddy read for Children of Blood and Bone by Tomi Adeyemi.
Let's keep each other updated on when we have the book so we can set a start period. I currently am first in line for an ebook from the library.
How would you like to read together? Should we set limits on how much we read so we're roughly in the same place at the same time? For example, each week approx 100 pages / equivalent in chapters? Or would you rather it be more free and put spoiler html in our comments?

I have the book now! How long do you think it will be till you have a hold of your copy?

I'm going to try to join this! It's on a list for another book group so I have to read it by this spring.... I've heard it's really good, and I already have a copy!

Oh man. I didn’t realize there was a thread up for this. I will get the book today and can start reading whenever! Yay!

No worries Lina! Let's say we begin reading January 6th and let's check in with each other in a few days, as a buddy read is meant to be in much more detail and in sync with each other compared to the BOTM.

Well this is frustrating. I downloaded the eBook but my eReader can't read it... So, back to square one for now! I'll let you know if and when I get my hands on a copy.

Oh man, that is frustrating. I’m frantically trying to finish American Gods so I will be ready whenever you happen to get it but no rush. There are always so many books to read! Looking forward to discussing with you both!

I have about 3 books I'm trying to finish before they expire between my Overdrive and Hoopla app. I've got this on my radar and am HOPING to get it started in about a week!

I’m just about done with my next couple of books. Just let me know when you’re ready and have it and I will start along with you. 👍🏽👍🏽👍🏽

Hello Cassie and Lina, how are you doing?

I've got my hands on another virtual copy so I'm ready to begin.
How do you feel about reading at our own pace and checking in when we have something to say?
We can title our posts with the chapters we're going to speak about so the others are warned. Then people aren't spoiled accidentally.
Let me know what you think and if you have any ideas.

Thanks!

Hey there! Doing well, thank you! How are you?

This sounds like a great idea to me. Looking forward to reading with you!

Good to hear you're well, I'm okay thanks :)

I've already delved in!

Chapters 1 to and including 6:
okay, I'm enjoying it a lot (very easy to read and fun) but there is something almost too digestible and fast food about it. Do you agree? The storyline feels predictable and the characters are not so complex, at least not yet.
I like the idea and premise of a world where people born with magic command different aspects of nature. Then the classic hatred and massacre, loss of magic that results in the diviners never becoming maji. There is the possibility of two or even three sides to the story (Zelie = diviner, Amari = princess, Inan = prince) so there hopefully will be more angles to play with but I have my predictions...
Inan and Zelie already falling for each other FROM ONE LOOK?! come on.
Amari feels weak at the moment and pretty boring.
I know I'm being overly critical, and I can't complain because I'm enjoying the experience enough to carry on, but it feels like a screenplay to a movie: the sentences are short and to the point, there is not a lot of description, and things are quite black and white, making it easy for the reader to understand.

This looks interesting so I just got a copy. I hope you don’t mind me joining this read, Betsy. I’ll start reading it today & will catch up with you.
(The Kindle version is currently £0.99 from AmazonUK if anyone is trying to get this.)

On the contrary, delighted to have you joining us Trisha!
SO CHEAP - great news :) I'm borrowing an ebook from my library via Overdrive.

That’s lovely, thank you Betsy.

I’ve read about 30% of the book so far. I have mixed feelings about it - parts of it are good, but there are so many strange terms used that I’d quite like a translation in places! Anyone that is used to fantasy books will probably love it. It’s interesting that you think it reads like a screenplay to a movie, Betsy. When I read the name of yet another obscure creature, I wondered if detailed descriptions were omitted deliberately to make it easier to film if the opportunity arose.

YES, I agree with you: it's on purpose. Or the author just has very little imagination (ooh that was harsh...)

I've read up to chapter 19 and still am finding it pretty tame. This just seems to be a light and easy read, with little to comment on.

Perhaps the question to ask if what are you enjoying about it Trisha?

Betsy wrote: "YES, I agree with you: it's on purpose. Or the author just has very little imagination (ooh that was harsh...)

I've read up to chapter 19 and still am finding it pretty tame. This just seems to be..."

Sorry Betsy - I missed seeing your comment earlier. I’m ahead of you at the moment, finished reading chapter 33 early today. The author’s imagination? - I find it strange, the descriptions of some places are fantastic with huge amounts of detail, but we’re given no detail about the creatures except that one type has large horns. As the names include real animal names, I assume we are to think these creatures are similar to the real ones.

I have a question too - do you (or anyone else) know if the writing in a foreign language with different symbols is based on a real language, or if it’s completely made up for the book? I guess the printers had fun producing it! It’s a bit irritating as no explanation is given about what it means.

What do I like about it? I started to get bored yesterday, but read a lot early today. For me it’s a book that’s easier to read in large chunks, reading a bit at a time wasn’t working very well. The short chapters make me read “just one more”, then another - & suddenly I wonder why I haven’t got other things done! I like the descriptions of places, some are beautiful. The early chapters seemed to give some sort of framework for the story but further on parts of it seem exciting & more detail is given about past events too. I can’t decide whether it is just a fantasy/adventure or if it’s meant to have any deeper meaning in relation to religious beliefs. Perhaps that will be more obvious later.

Great question, I do know the Yoruba people and culture are real, but if this is connected to the way they're presented in the book, I'm not too sure. I think the writing/alphabet that is used is also 'real' (see Wikipedia).

I'm losing interest to be honest... I'm at chapter 29 I think and like you said, if you read it in one go it works better than little at a time. The voice has to engage me and I don't see the point of three different POV if they all sound the same. How can she be a creative writing coach?!

I've just done some research and apparently Orïsha is indeed a real native religion of the Yoruba people, so this is kind of imagining a world where this was really going on? That makes it a lot cooler; like I said, I love the premise, it's just the writing that's killing me.

Thank you, Betsy - sorry, as it is labelled as fantasy it didn’t occur to me to research as you have done. I assumed the names were fictional.

You’ve also noticed what I missed about the writing - that the different people all sound the same. Now you’ve mentioned it, I realise that several times I have had to go back to the start of a chapter to check which character is telling the story at that point.

It’s strange how different things irritate different people! For me, it’s often the use of other languages, probably because I’m so bad at them. Some of the classics, written in English, suddenly include a section written in French or whatever. It just seems pretentious to me, a way for the author to show off their language skills. Perhaps it’s meant to add atmosphere, but it just makes something incomprehensible to some readers. If a translation is included - which it isn’t in this book - then the original language is superfluous.

I also assumed because it was fantasy it must be fantasy and not somehow based on the REAL Yoruba people, but oh well, it wasn't clear to me, Wikipedia had to help with that!

Yeah, it is funny how certain things bugs different readers. But I'm glad I'm not the only one not sure who's talking.

That's such a good point about the author using languages, and as you've said, in this case it's quite superfluous. I mean, maybe she's trying to create atmosphere but what's the point really if we can't understand it?

Hahaha! I ALWAYS felt like you when encountering French in a classic but I've been told it is meant to be pretentious, right? We're the normal ones thinking this way Trisha :)

Betsy, it’s good to share this with someone who understands!

Do you recommend continuing? I'm going to give it another go today and let you know.

Yes, I was thinking the same. I’m going to start reading now.

Have you decided yet, Betsy?

Just about to say: there are more pressing books on my shelf I could be getting to, so I'm going to stop for now. I'll still follow this conversation if anyone is going to keep reading. What about you then Trisha?

I really couldn’t decide! I gave up yesterday & read a different book as it was really frustrating me, but to be fair I was already having a bad day. I’ll give it another try - I usually only abandon books that I thoroughly dislike in some way, & this isn’t in that category. It’s very disappointing as I liked it initially & expected much more of it.
Enjoy your other books, Betsy. I’ll let you know whether I continue with this one properly or not.

Well, I managed to finish reading it. Sorry, it was a huge disappointment, definitely not my type of book. To be fair, I’m usually reluctant to read fantasy books, but this one started well & initially I thought it would be very good. As I read more of it, I reached a point where I had lost interest & nearly abandoned it. Today I decided to complete it as I rarely give up on books unless they are dreadful. This wasn’t dreadful, it just wasn’t for me. Without giving spoilers, I can say that I thought there was too much unnecessary violence especially in the latter parts of the book. There was an ending of a sort, though it was clearly left to continue in further books.

Fair enough Trisha. What makes you normally reluctant to read fantasy books? Can you think of any you enjoyed?
I'm putting this book away: I've started The Secret Garden and am loving it.

I still have not started, but too bad it wasn’t the best read for either of you! I haven’t read all of your comments because I still want to attempt to read it at some point but now feel less of a sense of urgency. I have found that fantasy has started to not interest me as much as it used to. Enjoy your other reads! ❤️

Enjoy your reads too, Lina!

Betsy wrote: "Fair enough Trisha. What makes you normally reluctant to read fantasy books? Can you think of any you enjoyed?
I'm putting this book away: I've started The Secret Garden and am loving it."

I prefer books in a real setting, with real people! For me, the fantasy I like best is something that seems real but has a fantasy twist. I especially like the series that starts with Rivers of London by Ben Aaronovitch. It’s set in London, obviously, & named places can easily be identified. It’s clever. I have also started reading a series that starts with Just One Damned Thing After Another by Jodi Taylor. It involves time travel, but relates to real historical events & is quite funny.

Lina wrote: "I still have not started, but too bad it wasn’t the best read for either of you! I haven’t read all of your comments because I still want to attempt to read it at some point but now feel less of a ..."

Lina, don’t be put off. If you usually enjoy fantasy you may love the book. I loved the earlier sections of the book as the descriptions of places were beautiful. For me, it became disappointing once the emphasis was on the characters.

I started reading this book a month ago and it hasn’t kept me engaged, like other fantasy books such as Binti, The Poppy War, or Harry Potter. I’ll finish this book eventually.