The Procrastinators Book Club discussion

Welcome to the Red Winter Buddy Read Discussion thread! This thread officially opens on August 9th and anyone can join at any time. Please keep in mind that spoilers are allowed in this thread but only up to the group's current reading place. Do not spoil the book if you've read further than the group. Any extra days can be used to catch up!

Each day we will be reading by chapters or page numbers. Page numbers are an approximation based on the hardcover or paperback that is the default on Goodreads. The suggested Buddy Read discussion schedule is as follows:

Week of 08/09
Aug 9th: Ch 1-5
Aug 10th: Ch 6-10
Aug 11th: Ch 11-15

Week of 08/12
Aug 12th: Ch 16-20
Aug 13th: Ch 21-24


PARTICIPANTS
~ Helen
~ Ela

Chapters 1-5

I like the writing style so far as well as the characters we've been introduced to.

Emi reminds me a bit of Yumi from Yumi and the Nightmare Painter because they're both so focused on their duty, but I think I like Emi more. Even though she's just as devoted to her cause as Yumi was, I prefer her approach to the situation because she's not as helpless or stuck up.

I really like how the characters have been introduced (Rina, Yui, the student that comes on the weekends, Katsuo, Minoru, Fujimoto), and I'm really looking forward to seeing Emi get to know them more and her interactions with them. Also, I'm curious about Nanako.

(view spoiler)[ I don't think the person deciding how Emi should live (Guji?) wants her to survive. She's moved to an isolated place that has lots of yokai and I'm assuming that unlike Emi, they know that the closer it gets to the ceremony, the more power Emi has which the yokai are drawn to. I don't understand why they would want that though. Maybe the person is a yokai or yokai follower? (hide spoiler)]

I wasn't expecting this to take place in the modern world, so it was a bit shocking when it talked about cars, but it hasn't become a big part of the story yet so I'm not sure if it's bothering me.

It feels like chapter 5 ended on a bit of a cliffhanger (view spoiler)[Emi finds out that she's going to basically die during the ceremony when the kami comes (hide spoiler)] so I might continue reading.

Chapters 6-10

I’m really enjoying this book so I might just binge read it today.

(view spoiler)[ At first I thought the kitsune might become like a familiar to Emi, so I wasn’t expecting that he would turn into a human. Even though I’ve read some books in the past with yokai and kami, it feels different and new in this book - in a good way.

I really like how Shiro has been introduced and his personality seems fun. I can’t wait to read on and find out why he was cursed and if his missing memories are due to the curse.

I like the illustrations in this book.

Why is Guji Ishida coming to visit the shrine? Who is Shiro taking Emi to meet? I’m not 100% sure where the plot is going but I’m really liking the book.
(hide spoiler)]

I'm still finishing up another book so I'll start tomorrow most likely, I might get around to it tonight. We'll see. I have the audiobook.

Glad you're enjoying it. I've read a bunch of Annette Marie's urban fantasy and I'm a big fan of hers so I'm excited to see what her YA fantasy is like.

I’ve never read anything by her before so this is an amazing surprise. Do you have a favourite book/series by her?

I've read her entire Guild Codex universe which encompasses four different series. But each can technically be read alone, it's just a more complete experience to read all in the recommended order.

Out of those four my favorite by far is the Guild Codex Demonized series (starts with Taming Demons for Beginners).

The first book overall in the Guild Codex universe is Three Mages and a Margarita

I’ll definitely try them (probably in order of the whole universe) after this series if it keeps going as well as it has been.

Chapters 11-15

(view spoiler)[ I thought that there would be more interactions with the other miko but I’m still liking the book and I liked that Miyako appeared - is she going to be an important character?

Who is Koyane and where is Izanami? Did he ever really descend? Is Emi too impure now that she had yokai ki breathed into her? Also, it would make sense if she was too weak now to immediately get rid of Shiro’s onenju so he’s probably going to have to stick around. I’m curious to see if him finding out that Emi is the kamigakari is going to be a big reveal - how would it impact him?

Yumei seems kind of scary and I’m wondering if he’s going to play a big part in the story, especially since Shiro agreed that he’d owe him.

How is Emi going to keep her soul when Amaterasu descends? And obviously, because it’s a trilogy, are Emi and Amaterasu going to coexist in the same body or is Emi just going to get Amaterasu’s powers?
(hide spoiler)]

Chapters 16-20

(view spoiler)[ I thought that Fujimoto would be a fun character, but I don't think I like him, especially with his response when Emi reveals that she knows that she's going to cease to exist after the solstice.

Yumei guessed that Emi's a kamigakari and I'm wondering if and how that affects Yumei and Shiro.

It already feels a bit like Emi and Amaterasu are partners so I'm hoping that's what's going to happen.

I'm not sure what else could happen when it comes to the plot. Also, the ceremony probably isn't going to happen in this book and I'm wondering if it's going to happen in the last book.
(hide spoiler)]

I read thru ch 7 today (view spoiler)[ the pace is slower than I’m used to for Annette Marie but I really like the setup and by ch7 the action has definitely started. I’m really excited to see how the kitsune plays into the action and how she gets out of this death sentence. (hide spoiler)]

Chapter 21-24

(view spoiler)[ This book was great and I’m definitely going to continue the series. I really liked all the characters even though I thought more of them would be present, for example Nanako. I liked Emi and how her choices were shown without trying to force the reader to agree with them. I liked Shiro and how he approached most situations lightly.

I still have a lot of questions when it comes to the plot: how did Izanami get rid of all the Kunitsukami?; what does Shiro know?; how are they going to find out what happened to the Kunitsukami and what are they going to do?; will the other characters from the shrine show up again in the future?
(hide spoiler)]

Ela (Mouse333) wrote: "Chapters 6-10"

I didn't know there's illustrations in the book, that's cool! I've got the audiobook version.

Yes Shiro is great so far and he reminds me of Zylas, the protagonist of the author's Demonized series, i LOVE him

Helen 2.0 wrote: "Ela (Mouse333) wrote: "Chapters 6-10"

I didn't know there's illustrations in the book, that's cool! I've got the audiobook version.

Yes Shiro is great so far and he reminds me of Zylas, the prot..."

I might start with the Demonized series then because I definitely want to read more books with characters like Shiro.