YA Addicted Book Club discussion

Jo and I just started this if anyone else wants to join

Im almost done chapter 7, unsure of the story so far although it is interesting. (view spoiler)[ Cant believe the level of flightiness Gemma's friend Nell has. Leaving with no notice when your supposed best friend is coming to stay with you and is in real need of that friendship is just awful. I'm also not loving Gemma's treatment of the other people in the boarding house. I get that she has been burned before but still, these people are trying to be nice and include her.
Suling and her need to escape a terrible uncle and arranged marriage has intriguing chapters. Her ability to make money as a Chinese female in this time is impressive. I do wonder what happened to Reggie though. (hide spoiler)]

I've just started Chapter 4 so a little behind you.
(view spoiler)[ Yeah I'm wondering if there's more than meets the eye as far as what's happened with Nell because it seems odd she would just leave with no notice when she knew Gemma was coming. I also don't trust the rich patron guy, there is something sketchy about him. I'm more intrigued by Suling's chapters at the moment than Gemma's though I do prefer Saskia Maarleveld as a narrator to Katherine Chin, I'm invested in her escaping her uncle and curious about what happened with Reggie. I'm also curious as to what exactly happened with Gemma in New York that made it so imperative that she left. (view spoiler)[ (hide spoiler)] (hide spoiler)]

near the start of chapter 12 (view spoiler)[ So Reggie is really Nell. Didn't catch that! I definitely didnt expect that Suling's person was a female. I'm now even more curious what happened that Nell just up and left like that.

Gemma has fallen into being a mistress type quite quickly. I guess all that shine is hard to ignore and if he actually does get her the roles she desires and everything well that's something. Just surprising how quick she is trusting him after everything that happened in New York and her ex agent the thief. I get that she has kept her apartment and everything but still, idk.

Very intrigued by this Phoenix Crown and what is going to happen with it. Im almost at the Earthquake so I expect things to really take off soon. (hide spoiler)]

Jo wrote: "I've just started Chapter 4 so a little behind you.
[spoilers removed]"

Yup! (view spoiler)[ Totally agree Suling is fascinating but Saskia's narration is the best as always.
Also agree about the patron guy. Rich guys with that much charisma are rarely a good thing. (hide spoiler)]

a little over halfway into chapter 18 (view spoiler)[ Earthquake time! Big things happened before that though. Found out that Reggie was put into an asylum at the church. Wonder what she did to displease him that much. Suling has run off to save her with no idea how she will accomplish that and no back up. But with the earthquake at least she is able to get into the building and unlock the door. Wonder what they have drugged Nell with for her eyes to be so flat. Hopefully she leaves with Suling though.
As for Gemma she got her opportunity to sing with the great Crusoe but at what cost. She did ask for it though. Having to go on with basically no time to learn the blocking though and all the other things in her mind would have been rough. Her performance at the ball made up for that but what will she do if she actually leaves? She's burned bridges with the company and as her patron he could break her career as quickly as he was making it. She wants to go back to her Taylor street apartment but really, he knows where that is... See what happens to his octagon house after this earthquake, at least Gemma is outside! (hide spoiler)]

Im finished I enjoyed it but it wasnt my fave of Kate Quinn's books. The pacing was off. I do however want to read more of Janie Chang's works.
(view spoiler)[ I appreciate that the women were suffering from some ptsd after almost being burned alive. I liked seeing where they ended up after fleeing san fran. The cornering of Thornton was fun even if it did feel a little too contrived. But using fire against him like that was a good pay back.
I loved Alice's character. Her risking her life to save the botany samples was insane but also so courageous. I love that she was a real person who actually did this. I want more of her. (hide spoiler)]

I forget how much faster you read than me! I'm still mid chapter 4, I've not listened much this week.

No worries! I'm on nights this week and I tend to get a lot of listening done when I am.
This way you still have my thoughts when you get there and Ill check back as you read more :)

Up to Chapter 7, it's still a little slow so far but I'm intrigued by some of the mysteries developing.
(view spoiler)[ I'm still liking Suling more than Gemma, I'm struggling to warm to Gemma, I understand that she's been burned before but like you said Brittany, I don't love the way she's been treating the others in the boarding house and I'm still finding her a little snooty and stand-offish. Her dinner with Thornton did do a little to bring down the barriers a bit and finding out that her migraines are the reason why she's not be able to do as well in opera as she's wanted did have me feeling bad for her but I'm still desperate to learn why she left New York.
I'm really rooting for Suling, I hope she is able to make it out of Chinatown and make her living as a seamstress. I liked seeing her interactions with Alice as well, I'd like to see more of their friendship in upcoming chapters. I really like Alice as a character too. I had a theory that Reggie might actually be Nell as they've both disappeared and I thought it was kind of coincidental but it seems unlikely given that Reggie lived in Thornton's house and Nell was at Taylor Street. I am baffled as to where Nell has gone though and why she didn't tell Gemma she was leaving when she knew Gemma was coming to San Francisco, something doesn't add up there at all. (view spoiler)[ (hide spoiler)] (hide spoiler)]

I liked Suling more throughout the book. Enjoying your thoughts!

Up to Chapter 10. (view spoiler)[ I do feel bad for Gemma now that more of her story has unfurled, her losing her job like that, her business manager taking everything from her and being kicked out of her apartment, no wonder she's prickly! Nelly is the absolute worst for abandoning her friend like this and I hope Gemma absolutely rips into her whenever they inevitably meet up again. I don't trust Thornton though, he seems way too good to be true, promising her all this stuff, I mean I get he's rich but there has to be a catch somewhere and I feel like it's going to come back to bite Gemma at some point. I saw them hooking up coming a mile away. I do wonder about Suling's ring, is it an engagement ring from Reggie? Something from her parents? Why does it mean so much to her? I'm glad she's got the job working on the dress, hopefully she makes it out of San Francisco before her intended wedding. (view spoiler)[ (hide spoiler)] (hide spoiler)]

Okay have made it up to Chapter 12. Should get through a bigger chunk tomorrow as I have a long train journey to and from riding.
(view spoiler)[ I ACTUALLY CALLED IT! I am so damn pleased with myself for working out that Nelly was Reggie, even if I did doubt that I was right. I'm guessing she was maybe Thornton's previous mistress then? They keep talking about how "the last one" was messy and liked to party and that definitely sounds like Nelly and I don't really think there would be much other reason for her to be in the Octagon House. I'm assuming the same thing happened as happened to Gemma, she started off in the Taylor Street house, met Thornton and then became his mistress. Things seem to be getting moving a bit more now, we've jumped forward a few days and are almost at the earthquake.
I do still think Gemma has trusted Thornton way too quickly even if she says she knows what she's doing. I reckon that she and George are going to end up getting together at some point, there's definitely chemistry there, he obviously likes her and I think she likes him a lot more than she likes Thornton, she's very obviously just using Thornton to get ahead-not that there's anything wrong with that, as a woman in that time, you had to use all the advantages you could get.
I think things are going to really start heating up now and I'm excited to see how the earthquake changes things for everyone. (view spoiler)[ (hide spoiler)] (hide spoiler)]

Made it to Chapter 14.
(view spoiler)[ So it seems my instincts were right about Henry Thornton, the painting was a setup and not actually from Nelly but from Thornton. It seems she didn't leave San Francisco of her own free will, but the question is what did Thornton do with her? And what did she do to make Thornton want to get rid of her? Did he find out about her and Suling and was jealous maybe? Did he just get bored? It seems like Gemma could potentially be in danger here if dispatching his mistresses is something he's done a lot. I worry about their plan to break into his office and find his financial records though, seems like it's bound to go wrong.
So he bought a better role for Gemma in Carmen and naturally that has gone horribly wrong as all the company now hate her. I kind of feel bad for her as she clearly didn't want him to do it like this but then she did flat out ask him to boot someone off stage for her so she could have a better role, so she can't be surprised when he does so.
Everything seems to have come crumbling down for Suling as well, her uncle has found out about her plans and has locked her in the flat, so now she might not be able to get out and find Thornton's financial records and any lead to where he is keeping Nelly or what he has done with her.
I'm starting to get properly invested in this now, feels like things are starting to ratchet up at last! (view spoiler)[ (hide spoiler)] (hide spoiler)]

Jo I agree with you! Once things started to get going, they really got moving! (view spoiler)[ I was impressed you called the Reggie/Nelly thing. I should've but went over my head.
Thornton was always too good to be true (hide spoiler)]

Brittany wrote: "Jo I agree with you! Once things started to get going, they really got moving! I was impressed you called the Reggie/Nelly thing. I should've but went over my head.
Thornton was always too good t..."

(view spoiler)[ The convenience that they had both disappeared and that Nelly changes her name a lot just seemed too coincidental, I will admit, I wasn't expecting to be right and was quite surprised that I did actually work it out, I usually don't! (view spoiler)[ (hide spoiler)] (hide spoiler)]

Now up to Chapter 19 and things are really heating up!
(view spoiler)[ So we've hit the earthquake chapters at last and things seem to finally be moving at a nice pace now! Suling found out that Thornton is keeping Nelly in an asylum, which tracks, rich jerk with no use for his mistress anymore in the 1900s, the asylum is a pretty obvious bet. Her going off to the asylum by herself with no backup was a pretty stupid move though, she's lucky that the young nun was willing to help her and also kind of lucky the earthquake happened really because I'm not sure she would have got into the asylum as easily if it hadn't. They've obviously drugged Nelly with something, my guess given the time period would likely be laudanum (opium) as that was often used in asylums in the 19th and early 20th century to "calm" patients.
Glad Gemma has finally seen what a jerk Thornton is but worried about how she is going to get out and where she is going to go. Going back to Taylor Street is too obvious, as is going to George's flat really, she likely needs to get out of San Francisco. I know she asked for someone to be booted off stage for her but I still did feel kind of bad for her, having to learn the role and the blocking that last minute and starting new in the company where everyone now hates her. I think she said what she said about wanting someone to be booted off stage in the heat of the moment of her success of the initial private concert and in the whirlwind of her lust for Thornton and didn't really think through what the actual implications of that would be.
I wonder if Thornton found out about Nelly's relationship with Suling and got jealous? But putting her in an asylum because of that seems like a bit of a stretch, it must have been something worse, like she was threatening to reveal something bad about him or something because if he'd just got tired of her then surely he would have just dumped her, sent her on her way and moved onto the next mistress? I'm sure I'll find out more in the coming chapters. (view spoiler)[ (hide spoiler)] (hide spoiler)]

Enjoying your thoughts! Cannot comment on them right now though, too hard without spoilers :)

No problem, we can talk through all the spoilery stuff when I'm done!

I have managed to forget to update for ages so I've got through a significant chunk since my last update, now up to Chapter 29.
(view spoiler)[ Ooh the last ten chapters or so have been really exciting! It was nice to see the four women finally come together as a group, although I do wish it had happened sooner. I had my heart in my throat when Gemma was rescuing them from Thornton's burning house even though I knew they'd be fine because Alice was sending them all letters in 1911, I was still panicked for a moment there. Thornton is the absolute worst, I can't believe he burned down the house with them all in it. I was so glad Suling found Reggie and that they've been reunited but it definitely seems like she's suffering a lot from what Thornton did to her even years later. Was delighted that Gemma and George were reunited (and later married) and the section of Gemma singing in the middle of the square for all those traumatised people was a really beautiful moment. The moment with them all in the attic with the Queen of The Night flower blooming was also really lovely.
I am kind of concerned that the next few chapters are gonna be a bit rushed because a big chunk rightly focused on the earthquake and there's now only 4 or 5 chapters left to wrap up what's going to happen with Thornton in the end as he is obviously alive following the earthquake. I feel like there should have been less chapters focusing on the leadup to the earthquake and then a few more in this second "Act" because I do worry that the climax is going to be rushed. (view spoiler)[ (hide spoiler)] (hide spoiler)]

Jo, good to get your update!
I agree I wish there were more chapters during and after the earthquake and less before it but I dont think the end is as rushed as you fear it will be.
(view spoiler)[ I like how real Reggie's trauma is and how she wasnt instantly fixed.
I agree the part with Gemma singing in the square was such a well done heart felt moment.
I also wish we had the 4 of them together sooner in the story as I like the way these different women all interact with one another. Also yes! I agree to the rescue and how was it all going to work out even though we knew it had to. (hide spoiler)]

Oh that's good to hear!
(view spoiler)[ Yes, in previous Kate Quinn books I've read, she's always been good with dealing with character trauma, I've not read any Janie Chang books prior to this, but I'm assuming she's the same and actually probably wrote more of Reggie's parts as she features more heavily in Suling's chapters.
It was really lovely.
Yeah I love the dynamic between the four of them and it would have been great to see more of it sooner, though hopefully these last five chapters or so will have them all together a lot more (view spoiler)[ (hide spoiler)] (hide spoiler)]

Okay I am done (well I finished on Saturday)! Final thoughts:
(view spoiler)[ I agree, I absolutely love Alice and was thrilled to find out she was a real person, I really hope one of them does a whole book about her at some point because she's such a fascinating person and I would love to read more about her escapades.
I also appreciated that they showed how the women suffered with PTSD following their traumatic experiences and didn't just brush them under the carpet. I agree that the confrontation with Thornton did feel a tad contrived but I did think it was fun and was very satisfied with how it all worked out. I kind of thought them all heading back to San Francisco in the end was also a tad contrived, though I guess they did all have connections to the city that would make them want to go back. I loved that it ended with the Queen of The Night flower blooming again, that was a lovely full circle moment harking back to the initial moment they bonded. The ending didn't feel as rushed as I had feared it might, but I do still wish we had been able to see more of the four women working together prior to the 2nd act of the book. Overall I did enjoy it but it's not my favourite Kate Quinn book I've read. (view spoiler)[ (hide spoiler)] (hide spoiler)]

I'd love a whole book on Alice!
I agree with everything you said