SOS: Serious Overload of Series discussion

This book is the 2nd in the Downside Ghosts series by Stacia Kane. Christine and I will be reading this in August some time, feel free to join us or to participate in the discussions if you've read it already.

When was the best time for you to read this Christine? I've got buddy reads up to my ears but it looks like I might be able to fit something in the 2nd week.

This will be starting August 5-6. Feel free to join us at any time!

Yeah! I am dying to get back to this series. I've been trying not to schedule many buddy reads for August so I can go wild with this series, but I am trying to fit one in either right at the beginning of the month or around the 10. So if you were thinking around Aug 5 or 6 that would probably be perfect for me.

Ok August 5-6 it is! These buddy reads are doing wonders for my TR pile hehe.

The buddy reads have been great for the TBR pile, but I keep starting new series instead of finishing ones I started ages ago. I'm excited that all of my August buddy reads are continuing series I started in the past two months. I'm trying very heard to resist all those shiny new series. But it's so hard...

Haha, I'm exactly the same Christine. It's great picking up a new series but not if it's left unresolved for ages! I've been continuing the Kitty Norville series myself, I really enjoy it. I'm glad the August buddy reads are continuing stuff too.

I like Kitty Norville! It's not a 'wow that was awesome!' series for me, but they're nice solid reads with comfy, familiar characters. I'm looking forward to the new one.

I know, I read the 3rd one and it was my favourite so far. It is a bit of a comfort read and there's something that's so real about the characters, and Kitty is lovely. I think the books concentrate on more character development than fast-paced action scenes or full romance so that's what I appreciate about them.

All ready to read this in a few days Christine? I'm still finishing off another book but will pick this up afterwards.

I'm hoping to be able to start this sometime tomorrow. If not, then definitely on Monday.

I started last night and am about fifty pages in. I've really missed the characters and their world.

Excellent, I'll be starting tomorrow or the next day, nearly finished .

Only downside of having too many buddy reads is that we can't read a series that we are into back to back!

Jeann wrote: "Only downside of having too many buddy reads is that we can't read a series that we are into back to back!"

Tell me about! And I was so proud of myself for not scheduling any buddy reads of new series this month. But I somehow forgot about the five buddy reads of ongoing series. How did that happen?! Atleast I'm making progress on series instead of starting new ones.

Lol I think once we started buddy reading new series that they just continued, which I do enjoy :) I have five buddy reads this month too! And one which we didn't end up doing due to so many other commitments!

Just started and reached Chapter 3 before I had to get back to work. The world is so dark and gritty, kind of "refreshing" to get back into. It's not a very happy atmosphere is it, I kind of appreciated the break we had until we returned to Chess's world.

Didn't need a refresher though for the previous book, which was good. Eww I also forgot about the explicity of the drugs.

I just reached Chapter Eight, and discovering a similar formula to the first book. A case that Chess gets involved in relevant to the gangs, and another Church assigned case that Chess believes to be simply fraud. It's interesting, wonder if the series follows this formula?

Woah Chapter 11 was really powerful. Especially that part where (view spoiler)[Chess got sucked into the spirit's dark magic and she had a memory of when she was 14 and got raped. Poor, poor Chess. (hide spoiler)]

I haven't read much in the past two days. My mother-in-law, who was a truly remarkable person, passed away on Tuesday. I hope to not have to deliver news like that to my children again for a very long time. At 9, 7, and 4 this was the first loss of a close family member that the 2 oldest are old enough to really understand. Needless to say, I haven't had much reading time.

I did have some time last night, and I had just gotten to chapter eleven. But I have to admit all the talk of corpses and having to cremate them quickly because of ghosts really got to me under the circumstances and I could only read a few pages before I had to set it aside. They had just found the guy they were chasing and realized he has a ghost with him when I quit.

I also noticed the same formula. Chess gets a side job with Bump and Terrible, which turns out to also involve Lex and Slobag (Will we ever meet Slobag, I wonder?). Then she gets a Church case which I'm betting ties in to the other case in some way as in the first book. But at least the actual cases are different from the first book. Given that sex magic was involved in the hookers death and the actor and his wide are, ummm...really into sex. But so many times I just want to give Chess a hug. Or the number to a good psychotherapist.

Oh christine I'm sorry for your loss and the difficulty your family is going through, you'll be in my thoughts. Definitely not easy when it comes to letting the kids know.

I just reached Chapter Seventeen. In the previous Chapter, Chess (view spoiler)[really hits rock bottom and you start to really understand that not only does she want to take drugs, but she literally cannot function without them. It's obvious that she's been affected by horrors in the past and this is her way of dealing. (hide spoiler)]

Thank you for your condolences. We will miss her greatly and we have a lot of work ahead of us settling her affairs.

I finally managed to finish chapter eleven. Creepy. Something that really jumped out at me at the end of the chapter is how reluctant Chess is to really let Lex into her life. Sex and drugs are one thing, but anything else appears to be off limits. And yet at the beginning of the next chapter, when she returns to her building and sees Terrible waiting for her "the sight of him eased something in her chest, made her smile". She wants to hang out with him. I like their relationship so far and am really curious to see how it evolves as the series progresses.

It sounds like she was an amazing woman too.

That's an interesting point Christine, to me it seems like Lex is just for sex (haha, no pun intended) whereas she seems to be more emotionally invested into Terrible. The way Lex is always coming on to her also gives me that impression.

Terrible on the other hand, she's interested in keeping around as a friend because of the comfort he offers.

What really strikes me is her dependence on drugs. It feels like it shouldn't be something we sympathise about but the way Chess is depicted and the gritty, dark world she lives in somehow gives her a reason. I wonder how this will be dealt with as the series progresses? It kind of makes me uncomfortable reading it yet I can't tear my eyes away.

I think I'll finish this book by the weekend, I'm really hooked at the moment. There's something so absorbent about how the author writes. It's very emotionally striking too.

Woah, I just finished the book. That was freaking epic. While reading, I suddenly understand why Chess was so good at debunking. She is so far gone, that she's not afraid of dying, so she just gives it her all. (view spoiler)[At the end, when she gave herself the Mantra "I am already lost" it was a really emotionally fuelled moment. It should be sad, but it gave her strength. (hide spoiler)]

I enjoyed this book immensely, much more than the first as I got used to Downside, Chess's drug taking and the dark world that she lives in. The author has a way with conveying emotions in such a strong manner.

Chess, I just hope one day she will be able to pick herself up. She made so many bad decisions in the book and continued to make it when it came to her personal relationships. (view spoiler)[It seems like to her, Sex is just another drug. Evident in the way she uses Lex, and Merritt to wipe away the pain with how things played out with Terrible. (hide spoiler)] This poor girl just has no idea, because she's never had anyone she's cared about before.

Wow! I just finished the book. I loved the first one and didn't see how it could get better, but it did. My heart just bleeds for Chess and Terrible. They are both so lost, Chess far more so.

The scene where she goes into withdrawal was so powerful, and it continues to amaze me how the author makes such a messed up character so like able and sympathetic. There are so many times where you see how bright Chess is and can't help but wonder what she could accomplish if not for the drugs. In the first book there were hints and glimpses of Chess' past to help explain her addiction, iand it was heart wrenching to learn more detail on this book. When she and Terrible shared aecrets with one another, what a touching moment. I won't go into all the moments between them that nearly broke my heart. But when she was looking at that photo at the end, I teared up.

And I'm with you on that moment when she realized "I'm already lost." At first I thought she was going to break down, but it was incredible to see her find strength in the experiences of her past. The poor girl is so messed up. So afraid to get closer to Terrible, but terrified to lose him, and clueless as to what to do about it. And when Terrible offered her drugs in exchange, I would have slapped him too. I have to keep faith that they will get past this. At least as best as they can.

Sounds like you enjoyed it as much as me Christine, here's my review on the book.

It's not the sort of thing I could read back to back as it's kind of depressing and dark. Did you want to buddy read as well? Earliest I could do is 10th of September, but anytime next month is fine except for first week.

Around Sept 10 sounds good. As much as I'd love to keep going and see what happens next, I have other buddy reads that I'm already behind on this month.

Awesome, I'll set up the thread. We're blazing through this series! :)

Here's the thread here: http://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/9...