Romance Lovers for the Challenge-Impaired discussion

This topic is open for discussion of Changeless by Gail Carriger. EXPECT SPOILERS!



Goodreads Synopsis: Alexia Tarabotti, the Lady Woolsey, awakens in the wee hours of the mid-afternoon to find her husband, who should be decently asleep like any normal werewolf, yelling at the top of his lungs. Then he disappears - leaving her to deal with a regiment of supernatural soldiers encamped on her doorstep, a plethora of exorcised ghosts, and an angry Queen Victoria.
But Alexia is armed with her trusty parasol, the latest fashions, and an arsenal of biting civility. Even when her investigations take her to Scotland, the backwater of ugly waistcoats, she is prepared: upending werewolf pack dynamics as only the soulless can.
She might even find time to track down her wayward husband, if she feels like it.

Please note this is the second in the series. The first is

Welcome to our "buddy read".
Answer discussion questions, volunteer to post some, or just chose to comment on the ones you want. Or stop by to say "Hi!" and let us know what you thought of the book!

Date		Chapters		PPDQs*
October 17	Chp. 1 – Chp. 4		Carob
October 18	Chp. 5 – Chp. 7 	Lisa Kay
October 19	Chp. 8 – Chp. 10 	Heather	
October 20	Chp. 11 – Chp. 14 	--	

*PPDQs = Person Posting Discussion Questions

CaroB’s questions for Chapters 1-4:

1. Loved the way this books starts, just as Alexia is waking up and with the reader already intrigued by what has Conall all in a huff. No question, just me commenting. Feel free to add your thoughts on the way this begins and the humour.

2. What did you think when Alexia came across the army in her front yard? First impressions of Channing Channing of the Westerfiled Channings ? Have you ever heard of a Gamma male before?

3. What could be causing the plague of humanization? Will it affect Alexia in some way?

4. Any predictions on how Ivy’s engagement to the Captain might progress?

5. Thoughts on the other two characters in the Shadow Council and the way the dewan, the protentate and Alexia interact?

6. Is anyone else thinking that Lord and Lady Maccon aren’t communicating very well for a newly married couple? (except in the bedroom, of course!)

7. Was Madame Lefoux hitting on Alexia?? What do you make of her? How cool did that parasol sound, like the James Bond of parasols!

Reserved

Eek! I want to read this one. Can you add more hours to the day, CaroB?

I defnitely want to read this one this month too.

This month? Maybe we could set this up for when the Buddy-Read finishes?
Lol, wish GR had a calendar function for groups!

I'm good with that, CaroB!

I really really want to read this one. I have it on hold at the library.

My library doesn't have it!

That sucks Lisa Kay!!

I am so going to try and do this buddy read

Great to hear ❥☪LIZZ NEILL☪❥

Great, ❥☪LIZZ NEILL☪❥!

Got the audiobook last night, so I'm all set to heard this gem.

Heather wrote: "Got the audiobook last night, so I'm all set to heard this gem."

Who narrates it?

Emily Gray, ✿Michelle✿. She narrates Alexia soooo well!!

Ok ladies, I'm working with a digital copy here and have no idea of how many pages each chapter consists of.
I've noticed there are 14 chapters. Is 3-4 chapters a day ok?

Carob wrote: "Ok ladies, I'm working with a digital copy here and have no idea of how many pages each chapter consists of.
I've noticed there are 14 chapters. Is 3-4 chapters a day ok?"

Right now, I'm thinking that would be fine. Anybody else?

Fine by me.

Works for me, Carob

Sounds good to me.

Great! I'm happy to take the first set of questions, so we'll only need three more. Any volunteers?

If I can get read before this starts, I'll join in on this :)

Oh great Susan!

Sounds good, Susan!

I'm finishing Soulless right now. So I'll be participating.

Great to hear Carolyn!

Just a friendly reminder that we'll be starting this buddy-read on Monday :-)

Looking forward to it, all.

I think I'm ready. Still sneezing... but otherwise okay.

I'm ready!

I started it and they just got on the dirigible (Zepplin to me and easier to say).

Picked it up this morning on my way to work. I really want to punch Major Channing Channing of the Westerfield Channings. Just sayin'

Ditto, Heather!

CaroB’s questions for Chapters 1-4:

1. Loved the way this books starts, just as Alexia is waking up and with the reader already intrigued by what has Conall all in a huff. No question, just me commenting. Feel free to add your thoughts on the way this begins and the humour.

2. What did you think when Alexia came across the army in her front yard? First impressions of Channing Channing of the Westerfiled Channings ? Have you ever heard of a Gamma male before?

3. What could be causing the plague of humanization? Will it affect Alexia in some way?

4. Any predictions on how Ivy’s engagement to the Captain might progress?

5. Thoughts on the other two characters in the Shadow Council and the way the dewan, the protentate and Alexia interact?

6. Is anyone else thinking that Lord and Lady Maccon aren’t communicating very well for a newly married couple? (except in the bedroom, of course!)

7. Was Madame Lefoux hitting on Alexia?? What do you make of her? How cool did that parasol sound, like the James Bond of parasols!

CaroB’s Qs & As for Chapters 1-4:

1. Loved the way this books starts, just as Alexia is waking up and with the reader already intrigued by what has Conall all in a huff. No question, just me commenting. Feel free to add your thoughts on the way this begins and the humour. I’ve giggled more than a few times already, I’m loving the clever humour.

2. What did you think when Alexia came across the army in her front yard? First impressions of Channing Channing of the Westerfiled Channings ? Have you ever heard of a Gamma male before? Having only read the GR synopsis before I started this book, I thought this army might have had something to do with the Scottish pack. Channing sounds like he has a Napoleon Complex, except he’s not short. All that whingeing and aggression, blurgh! I’ve heard of a Gamma Hero here and here, but my impression was that they were like Alpha males but aren’t afraid to cry. That doesn’t ring true for what we’ve seen of Channing so far.

3. What could be causing the plague of humanization? Will it affect Alexia in some way? I’m thinking it might be a poison of some kind, maybe relating to water, or travels through water / mist?

4. Any predictions on how Ivy’s engagement to the Captain might progress? That poor woman has such bad taste, but I think somehow she’ll end up with Tunstall.

5. Thoughts on the other two characters in the Shadow Council and the way the dewan, the protentate and Alexia interact? So far it just seems like they exchange news and ideas, and they don’t really trust each other.

6. Is anyone else thinking that Lord and Lady Maccon aren’t communicating very well for a newly married couple? (except in the bedroom, of course!) They’re not really getting to spend much time together.

7. Was Madame Lefoux hitting on Alexia?? What do you make of her? How cool did that parasol sound, like the James Bond of parasols! I don’t get why she held Alexia’s hand. I’m still a bit suspicious of her.

Would anyone like to volunteer to do some questions?

I can do questions for tomorrow, CaroB. ☺

Excellent, thanks Lisa!

I can do questions for Wednesday. =)

Lisa Kay’s Answers to CaroB’s Questions for Chapters 1 - 4:

1. Loved the way this books starts, just as Alexia is waking up and with the reader already intrigued by what has Conall all in a huff. No question, just me commenting. Feel free to add your thoughts on the way this begins and the humour.
Love the clever humour also, CaroB! Yes, and imagining Conall in the buff. **sigh**

2. What did you think when Alexia came across the army in her front yard? First impressions of Channing Channing of the Westerfiled Channings? Have you ever heard of a Gamma male before?
**blows raspberry** I didn’t like him and found myself worried that Alexia would fall for him just based on his looks. Glad she clobbered his with her parasol, but I’m still worried. Yes, I’ve heard of a Gamma… SEP has written some neat Alphas that turn Gamma by the end of her books. However, in this case Gamma may be more of a werewolf term and me not understanding the terminology/role in the pack?

3. What could be causing the plague of humanization? Will it affect Alexia in some way?
I figure it is some type of machine (based on Alexia thinking so and more b/c this is steampunk). I was wondering if Alexia was the counter/antidote to it, as things got back to normal when she went to town, right?

4. Any predictions on how Ivy’s engagement to the Captain might progress?
Oh, I hope she drops that dude. I’m a hopeless romantic and am rooting for her and Tunstell.

5. Thoughts on the other two characters in the Shadow Council and the way the dewan, the protentate and Alexia interact?
Well, dewan is a dweeb and I think a bit jealous. The protentate? Hmmm… too early to tell. I can understand their fear and conclusion jumping on one hand, but really? She can’t touch everyone at once.

6. Is anyone else thinking that Lord and Lady Maccon aren’t communicating very well for a newly married couple? (except in the bedroom, of course!)
Really!

7. Was Madame Lefoux hitting on Alexia?? What do you make of her? How cool did that parasol sound, like the James Bond of parasols!
Yes. Definitely hitting on her. Yes, LOL! I liked the parasol too. What a thoughtful husband.

I'm sorry I thought I could participate, but not only is my brain fried, I'm packing to move. I'd probably just hold everyone up, so I'm going to have to bow out of this one :(

You're moving! Good Gravy Beans, ✿Michelle✿! That's a lot of work.

Lisa Kay wrote: "You're moving! Good Gravy Beans, ✿Michelle✿! That's a lot of work."

Yup! Packing wouldn't be so bad if my cat would stop hiding in the boxes. So I'm checking every box thirty times before I seal it. I'm afraid I'll accidentally pack her away or something, LOL!

CaroB’s questions for Chapters 1-4:

1. Loved the way this books starts, just as Alexia is waking up and with the reader already intrigued by what has Conall all in a huff. No question, just me commenting. Feel free to add your thoughts on the way this begins and the humour.
The humor is there right from the start, which is something I love about this series. I wonder why they are still so secretive around each other....

2. What did you think when Alexia came across the army in her front yard? First impressions of Channing Channing of the Westerfiled Channings ? Have you ever heard of a Gamma male before?
Again with Conall being secretive about things, or does he just not think of his wife/lady of the manor? That is a little frustrating.
I can easily say that I detested Major Channing Channing of the Westerfield Channings, and was so happy with the repeated clobbering. =)
I'm not a general werewolf reading fan, so while I've heard of Gamma before, I'm not sure how that plays into werewolf dynamics.

3. What could be causing the plague of humanization? Will it affect Alexia in some way?
I think that this plague will affect Alexia at some point. I am very curious over it though. I personally feel like its a group of something, I'm not buying into the "machine" method just yet.

4. Any predictions on how Ivy’s engagement to the Captain might progress?
I'm all thumbs-down on this new development. Tunstell is her equal in all things theatric.

5. Thoughts on the other two characters in the Shadow Council and the way the dewan, the protentate and Alexia interact?
The disdain in this group just leaks off the page. lol
I was surprised that they were able to come reasonable agreements, but I don't yet feel the power of the three.

6. Is anyone else thinking that Lord and Lady Maccon aren’t communicating very well for a newly married couple? (except in the bedroom, of course!)
Communication issues thrive with this couple, but where other couples in other stories make it a misunderstanding in a new relationship, there is this deliberate purpose behind it here that I just don't like. They both need a few whacks with a parasol.

7. Was Madame Lefoux hitting on Alexia?? What do you make of her? How cool did that parasol sound, like the James Bond of parasols!
Madame Lefoux is a fishy character. Do not trust her, though I was impressed with all the connections and knowledge she seems to have. I really think all the touching was suspect, like she is trying to draw something from Alexia.

@ CaroB

#3 - H2O and plague? Now there's an idea.

#4 - I hope Ivy & Tunstell end up together. :)

@ Heather

#2 - Conall was a little frustrating. If I had been her and all those guys were on my front lawn I would have been dialing the cell phone - oh wait, can't do that! Yes, loved the repeated clobbering. :) Don't know that much about werewolves either.

#3 - Really? Hmmmmm.

#6 - Deliberate? Hmmmm... I'll have to think on this one.

#7 - Now I hadn't thought of her drawing power/strength from Alexia. Very clever... or paranoid, LOL!

I'm always a suspect of things new until proven wrong. lol

Ok well I started today. I will try to read fast and catch up. We'll see.