Group Read: The Betrayal of the Blood Lily

This is the thread for the group read of The Betrayal of the Blood Lily by Lauren Willig. It looks like February is a good month to read this book. I for one can't wait to get started!

Thanks for setting up our thread Christina!!

Wow! It looks like Lauren posted the first chapter on her website today. If you need a fix and can't wait until February....

http://www.laurenwillig.com/news/2009/12/07/blood-lily-eloise-colin/#more-756

Oooooooooo! Too bad I haven't read The Temptation of the Night Jasmine yet, or I would go take a look. :) I am going to read it in January though so I will be ready for the group read in February.

So, February is getting closer...how are we going to do this? :) I've never done a group read before, so I don't really know the procedure. Do we want to read X number of chapters by X date, or should we just read the book this month and post about it whenever we're done? If the former, there are 33 chapters in the book...maybe we could read the first 8 by February 7, or something like that.

Our library still hasn't gotten a copy of it. Which is odd, they have the rest of the series. I'm still hoping to join in. I'm up for either way you suggest Christina.

My idea is to divide the book into sections and set weekly deadlines -- for example, we could all read chapters 1-8 by February 7. That way, when we post in the thread, we'll only be discussing the parts that everyone has read, thus avoiding spoilers. A workable plan could be:

Febrary 7 -- Ch. 1-8
February 14 -- Ch. 9-16
February 21 -- Ch. 17-24
February 28 -- Ch. 25-33

Of course it's fine if you get behind or ahead of the group; just don't post any spoilers until the rest of us catch up! :)

What do you all think? I'm certainly open to other ideas and suggestions!

Sorry folks, but I am going to skip this one. I did not realize that it is basically the end of a 6 or 7 book series and as I have not read the others................ I hope you all enjoy it though.
Happy reading and big hugs to all my friends and............. ah, hell............hugs all the way round!~!
belva

My copy should be here next week so I am definitely in! I think your plan to nibble away at it is a good one.

It's February 1, and you know what that means: time to start reading! Since no one seems to be objecting to my weekly plan, let's go for it: Chapters 1-8 by February 7. Post questions, impressions, things you liked, things you hated...anything goes! I look forward to discussing this book with my fellow LTers! :)

So, what did everyone think of Chapters 1-8?

I liked the way Alex and Penelope react to each other at first. There's a little bit of that "I hate you, but really I'm extremely attracted to you" vibe going on, which can be irritating since it's so overdone, but I think it works well with this couple. I also really liked the scene in Chapter 8 where Penelope has to impress the Nizam and Mir Alam - she has a lot of good one-liners!

I was a little put off by Penelope's rescue of her husband's servant. Not that I wanted the servant to die, obviously! But I thought it was completely unrealistic that SHE would be the one to dive in after him - wouldn't one of the other men on board have done something? I get that Penelope is supposed to be unconventional, but I had trouble suspending my disbelief in that scene.

I totally agree with you Christina, leaping into the river was a little over to the top. I too, enjoyed Pen's flower speech. I'll have to remember that the next time I'm caught gift-less.

I like Alex very much. Of course, we're supposed to like him right? Is there anything about Freddy that makes him sympathetic? Anything endearing about him at all? Of course we want Pen and Alex to be together. I hate when I can feel my strings being pulled.

I'm not really fond of India as a locale yet. Maybe it will grow on me.

Victoria, I agree with you about Freddy - he doesn't seem to have any redeeming qualities at all, and that bothers me. When I first saw him and Pen interact, I almost thought, "Well, they're not getting along now, but there is something here that they could possibly build on to make a good marriage." But then he got progressively worse and worse. At this point, it seems like there's no contest between him and Alex. I do like Alex very much, though. :)

All right, Chapters 9-16! What are your thoughts?

I'm getting more and more annoyed with Freddy's character, to be honest. Now he's gone and taken a mistress -- and under the same roof as his wife! He keeps getting worse and worse, and it's obvious that Willig is trying to make him as loathsome as possible so that we're on board with the Penelope/Alex romance. Personally, I find love triangles much more interesting when both rivals have some good qualities...then the ending isn't a foregone conclusion, and the entire conflict seems more realistic.

Ah well, sorry I'm nitpicking. I am enjoying the relationship between Penelope and Alex, what with their morning rides together and constant bickering. I also thought Penelope's failed seduction of Alex was hilarious! I could just imagine the physical comedy if this were a movie. And I was happy that Alex resisted her -- I love an honorable hero! :)

Once again, Christina, we are in agreement.

Freddy is such a disappointment. I loved the line where Pen wonders if Freddy would get a bulk discount on the emeralds. I hope Freddy gets his comeupance later on.
Pen's (attempted) seduction of Alex was very well described, wasn't it? Of course, that's the juicy part so I expect no less. I loved that someone put a cobra in her room, although I have trouble believing she shot it on the first attempt. But don't worry, I enjoy the book for what it is.
And yes, I love Alex for being the honorable hero. I can't wait to read what happens when they begin their journey together!

Hey Christina! I finished it last night! Can we go ahead and discuss it? I don't think anybody else is reading it with us...

I know...I was just thinking that! Guess we didn't really need to set up a separate thread! Oh well...sure, let's go ahead and discuss it now! :) What did you think of it?

Were you surprised by how/when Alex gave in to Pen? I liked the scene where he washed her. That's something I don't think Freddy would ever do. Do you think that says something about the difference in class structure, or just their own personalities?

Well, I wondered how Willig was going to remove Freddy from the picture but I have to say, it came more abruptly than I expected. I hoped that Freddy and Alex might have a duel. I love duels. And there still would have been plenty of angst for Pen if Alex ended up killing Freddy (in this hypothetical duel). I was frustrated when Alex and Fiske didn't get to have their duel either. I guess I'll have to wait for The Three Musketeers to get my swashbuckling in.

Were you shocked by the reveal of the Marigold, Moonflower and Frangipani? I thought it was a little meh. I knew Jack would show up. How do you picture Jack? I think he has a little of Han Solo in him.

The denouement was pretty expected, after Alex and Pen had already talked about going off together.

What did you think of the Colin/Eloise segment this time around? Where are they headed? So, the cousin is the stepfather...

The fact that Pen and Alex committed adultery REALLY bothered me. I was kind of hoping/expecting that Freddy would die before their relationship reached that point. And that made me annoyed with the whole setup of the book, because you had to hope either that Pen and Alex would commit adultery or that Freddy would die! Generally, I don't find adulterous characters sympathetic, so it was very hard for me to root for them after that.

I agree that Freddy's removal was abrupt - it really came out of nowhere! As I said, I was expecting him to die at some point, but that was a bizarre resolution.

As for the spy plot, I wasn't particularly affected by it, because I felt like it wasn't given very much attention -- the focus was all on the romance. I was surprised by the revelation of the English spy, because that character seemed pretty minor as I was reading the book. Like you, I expected to see Jack again...and I'd like to see more of him! Maybe the next book will be about him. :) I do get a Harrison Ford vibe, though I was thinking more Indiana Jones than Han Solo.

The Colin/Eloise segment dragged for me; I was much more interested in the Alex/Pen stuff! Colin's sister has been such a minor character in all the previous books that I didn't care very much about her romantic problems. The revelation about the stepfather being the cousin was quite startling though! I would like to see Colin and Eloise's relationship move forward in some way.

Where does it rank for you in the series? I think this is my #2 favorite, behind Crimson Rose.

I've enjoyed reading & discussing with you!!

Hmm, where does it rank...good question! I agree with you that The Seduction of the Crimson Rose is #1. :) I think this one might be #2 or #3...I also really liked The Masque of the Black Tulip, probably because I liked Miles and Henrietta as a couple. Oh, and Lord Vaughn! For me, the weakest links in the series are The Deception of the Emerald Ring and The Temptation of the Night Jasmine (probably my least favorite so far). Not that I disliked those books...I just didn't like them as much as the rest of the series.

I have enjoyed our discussions as well! Perhaps I'll see you for the next Willig installment in 2011. :)

I concur, Night Jasmine was the low-point in the series for me. It's the only one I don't own.

I just finished a re-read of Crimson Rose. I think Lord Vaughn is one of her most detailed characters.

Yes, definitely, let's get together for the next installment!!