Masquerade Read Along: Week 4

Well friends and followers! This is the FINAL week of the Masquerade Read Along *cries* I've definitely had a blast reading everyone's answers and going deeper into Masquerade than I ever would have without the read-along to keep me thinking! I want to thank all of those who have been following the event and especially commenting on all of the posts! (Especially Cambria! You have no idea the awesome squeeee moments I have whenever I see that you've commented!)

Chapters 24-31 Final 5 Discussion Questions 

1. Heven develops a new “supernatural power”. She remarks that it isn’t that exciting of a power. Is this a power you would like to have?

Dude...I think her power is awesome. I've always been super interested in auras and seeing what an aura would look like...especially mine! While the power isn't particularly exciting compared to the awesomeness of a Hellhound boyfriend, I think it could definitely come in handy! Wouldn't you like to know what someone was feeling and their intentions towards you ? It would definitely have come in handy in high school. That way the mean girls could never "fake befriend" you and you would know if a guy was using you for sex or if he really liked you.

2. Which character do you think makes the biggest internal change throughout the course of this book?

Since we were in her head for the most time I would have to say Heven. Sam's character might be revealed throuout the book, but he doesn't really deviate from his protective and fiercely caring nature. Heven on the other hand flips from being self-consious, scared of her own friends, and relatively weak to being this secure, loving, caring, strong girl. I mean she would have to be strong to deal with everything that's thrown at her. To be honest, I really didn't like Heven at the beginning. I thought that she was kind of living in a "woe-is-me" mindset that bugged me. I like to roll with life's punches and when people seem like they are laying down and letting life trample them over I get annoyed. That's why I love Heven so much more at the end. She's ready to take on her next adventure with Sam and I can't wait to see what it is!

3. Who is your favorite character and why?

I definitely loved Sam. He was swoon-worthy, chill-inducing, and so protective it was awesome. I would love a man like Sam to be my man-friend...even if he is a paranormal beastie. That being said, I weirdly liked China. The best thing in a story, in my opinion, is when you have a really great villain. When the bad guy is just as scary as the good guy is brave, then you have a really cool battle of wills. Don't get me wrong, I'm glad good beat evil in the end, but I love the battle, the tension, and the evil in a good bad-guy and China was fun (if kind of chilling) to read about.

4. When the book ends the reader has an idea of what the next book will involve. Do you think the book ended in the appropriate place?

*sigh* I HATE books that end on a cliffhanger or without tying up loose ends. A series that drove me nuts was Karen Marie Moning's Fever series. Her 5 book series is just the same story spread out over 5 novels. That drives me NUTS. I want a series to be a set of individual adventures that lead up to a bigger plot or story line. I love it when each book ends on a final note and you have no clue where the next ones will lead. Two series that do that well are Harry Potter and Kelley Armstrong's Women of the Otherworld series. Each adventure has a definite ending and even though things may come up in the next books that occurred in past books, we aren't left hanging for answers.

5. Do you have any predictions for the next book in the series, Charade?

Ha...no clue! I have a hunch that some problems will arise with Sam's brother, but other than that...nope! I love that I will be surprised by almost anything Cambria can throw my way!

6. Did you enjoy participating in this read-along? Will you join in future read alongs?

Um...duh! I love read alongs with a fiery passion! I love getting connections to other bloggers and authors, and especially getting an X-ray look into the story. A lot of the time, other bloggers have TOTALLY different ideas about characters and plot than I did and I love seeing a 3-D model of the character, rather than just me black and white model!