Thursday, April 5, 2012

Masquerade Read-Along (Week 1)

Today is week one of the Masquerade Read-Along! I almost didn't make it because my wi-fi has been acting up at my house and I couldn't download my copy of the book from Amazon! It said I had purchased the book, but then when I tried to send it to my kindle, it like refused to show up...for days... You should have seen me earlier this week driving to all of the wi-fi hotspots in my town, desperately trying to download the copy...lol I finally managed it in a McDonalds parking lot...much to the confusion of the workers inside...lol So yay! I am happy to say that I will be participating in the read-along every Thursday this April!

Chapters 1-8 Discussion Questions
1. If you were disfigured like Heven (by some sort of accident) do you think you would have reacted the same way as her? (loss of self-confidence, hiding yourself, etc)
Well, I don't think I could really truthfully answer this question unless I actually experienced it. Right now I feel like I would be more confident than Heven. I personally think scars are bad-ass and sweet. I have one that looks like a kind of wonky star on my arm from working at my job and I think it is freaking awesome. Of course, if it was on my face it might be a different story, especially in high school where all you want is to look like everyone else. I say that I would embrace my disfigurement now, but knowing high school me, I probably would have hid it under hoodies much like Heven did.
2. Do you think that Kimber’s plan for revenge against Cole (for kissing another girl) is a good idea?
Definitely not. I had creeping feelings of unease almost as soon as she started talking about it. You just know that something like that is going to backfire...either by leaving Cole unwilling to date Kimber or for Sam to fall for Kimber and then get his feelings hurt when he gets dumped...unfortunately this little ploy of Kimber's made me not like her so much...maybe my opinion will change later on, but right now I feel kind of like she will be an antagonist in the future...maybe...
3. In the beginning chapters, Heven is very drawn to Sam but won’t admit it due to her own insecurities. Kimber begins to “date” Sam… do you think that Heven should have spoken up? Do think Kimber should have seen Heven’s real feelings?
I wouldn't have spoken up if I was Heven...it's kind of like an unspoken law of highschool girl world that the first one to talk about a crush or liking a guy has dibs on him. It's totally stupid, but the same thing happened to me in high school. I was crushing on this guy for like a year but never told anyone, then a friend who had a class with both me and my crush told me that she was going to get him a carnation for Sweetest Day and ask him out...at this point I felt like it was too late to bring up my feelings, so I conceeded to her rights as girl with dibs...lol...As for Kimber, like my friend Trisha, she had no idea that Heven/(or me) had feelings for the guy so you can't blame them for not being mind readers...honesty is just always the best thing all around. :)
4. Masquerade is broken in four separate POV’s: Heven, Sam, The Hate and The Hope. Do you think having multiple POV’s adds depth to the story? Why or why not?
It depends on the strength of the author writing the story honestly. Sometimes having multiple POV is just confusing or jarring and makes it hard to keep going with the book, other times it adds so much more than you would have been able to experience with just one main character. In this case, I really like the multiple POV. The Hate and the Hope are fascinating and I really want to learn more about them...I keep thinking of them as like..shoulder angels...but the Hate is trying to kill Heven instead of lead her down the path of evil...anyways...I feel like the POV adds a lot to this particular story and kind of love the structure.
5. A great source of strength for Heven is her grandmother. Who do you think yours is/would be?
That's kind of tough. I don't really have a lot of people in my family who I go to for strength. I would say parents...especially my dad...he always has answers to questions about finances and like...life-problems in general...but at the same time the thought of having heart-to-hearts about my love live or something makes me feel all squeegie on the inside...lol...I would say my grandparents as well... but both of my sets of grandparents are way oldschool and don't understand a lot of the issues I face in the "modern" world. This sounds weird, but they are SO unbelievably oldschool...like when my cousin moved in with her boyfriend (After dating for 4 years...) one of my grandpas refused to visit her or even to...talk to her for a while because she was "living in sin"...it kind of makes me walk on eggshells around them so I wouldn't really go to them either...I would probably say my best friend Alex. We've been there for each other through a lot. Even though she moved to Montana, she's still the one I call when I have a bad day, bad break-up, get good news, etc...So I would probably call her about the new hot guy in town I guess.

Cool! So that was week 1! Make sure you stop by 5 Alarm Reviews to find the list of other bloggers participating so that you can hop around and see all of our answers! I really love read-alongs because you get to know your fellow bloggers SO much more than even their reviews and memes! You guys should definitly check it out!

11 comments:

  1. wow!!! What you had to go through just to get the book downloaded!!! LOL. I totally appreciate you getting it downloaded! I did that once with my e-reader trying to contect to wi-fi..... lol.
    Loved your answers this week! You know you are right about the unspoken kind of "dibs: on a guy in High school. It was like that at my school too. So I totally relate to that.
    I actually have a granfather similar to the one that you describe in your final answer and I have felt like I have to walk on eggshells around him as well. Fortunately I have some great grandmothers. :-)
    I love how you said you think of the hate and the hope as shoulder angels. LOL!!! That's awesome. I can totally understand that too!

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  2. Yes, that kind of thing wouldn't have gone over well with my grandparents, either. LOL! You gotta love the oldschool in them. Both of the sisters I talk to the most don't live in the same state as me, but it seems to not matter. Sometimes, you just need who you need. :D

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  3. I found the whole 'the hate' and 'the hope' thing fascinating too. I really didn't understand who they were at this point in the book, but I had to keep reading to try and work it out!

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  4. Hi Andra! So glad you are along for this read along. Your answers on The Hounded were great, Man that sucks you had so many problems with your Kindle, so glad you got your copy. I think you will think it was worth the trouble. You put a lot of thought behind your answers. I think you have a good inkling on Kimber.

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  5. The whole Kinber "dating" Sam made me not like her that mush too and later on something else added to that dislike. I have to admit I still have my doubts about her.

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  6. Great answers.
    I think that Heven should have spoken up. Sam wasn't so much a crush for Kimber as a pawn in her pathetic game.
    I can relate to your answer in number 5. I did have my maternal grandmother, thankfully, but I have witnessed things in my family that have left an unspoken rule that there are certain people that can not be relied on.

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  7. McDonalds. Lol. I've done that St Stsrbucks too. I'm totally with you on scars. Scars are stories even if they are lame. Chicken pox scars. Mole removal scars. Sliding on your knee on a motorcycle...all stories and life experiences.

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  8. I love your answers Andra! So did your friend and your crush end up dating?

    You know what, I had the same problem downloading books last week. They wouldn't show up, until a couple days later. Weird.

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    1. Ha! Actually, my crush got creeped out by Trisha sending him flowers and ended up stopping talking to her..And he became my...sort of boyfriend later that year...lol, he was actually the one who I ended up on the couch with and sneaking out of his house when his parents came home if you were following for the Hounded tour! lol...so I guess things worked out for me after all!

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    2. Oh that is too good! Love it! lol

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  9. We had the "dibs" rule in high-school too! I guess if you don't tell your friend from the start, like Heven should have - then it is fair enough.

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