1. Let's get this out of the way at the top so that I don't ask all the questions about it. Dean Priest: worst or worst ever? How much did you want to punch him in the face for lying to Emily about her book being terrible and how much did you want to punch him again when he took advantage of her injury to get her to marry him?
DEAN PRIEST IS THE ACTUAL WORST EVER. I HATE HIM AND NOTHING HE CAN EVER DO WOULD MAKE ME FORGIVE HIM. Because yeah, that's just not okay. It's creepy and controlling and manipulative and possessive. I HAD A LOT OF FEELINGS. None of them were good.
2. We talked a lot about whether or not the number of suitors Anne had was ridiculous, but I think Emily had way more proposals. How ridiculous did you find them?
It was pretty ridiculous. I didn't think much about it at the time, but it was a little bit much. Mostly, I just wanted Perry to stop proposing.
3. Over the course of the book, Ilse, Perry, Emily, and Teddy's friendships grow and stretch and change as time and distance separates them. Did you find it a reasonably realistic portrayal of what can happen to friendships when people scatter to the winds?
I think it's a pretty accurate portrayal of what can happen with friendships, that you still love each other but your lives are headed in different directions and/or you're living in different places, and that can change things. It doesn't have to, but I know it's happened to me.
4. Ilse and Emily: how badly did you think that Ilse violated the girl code by agreeing to marry Teddy in the first place? Or did you think she genuinely didn't know/understand how Teddy and Emily felt about each other?
I genuinely didn't think Ilse knew how Teddy and Emily felt about each other, otherwise she probably would have made them get their acts together. I think I was more upset by her being engaged to Teddy when she knew she didn't love him, which is possibly a double standard but I had conflicting feelings at the way this was playing out.
5. Which of Emily's books would you rather have read, The Moral of the Rose or A Seller of Dreams?
BOTH! But if I had to choose, I think A Seller of Dreams.
6. Emily calling to Teddy on the Flavian: creepy, romantic, or creepily romantic?
Romantic and sweet. Creepy is reserved for Dean Priest.
7. How badly did you want to shake both Emily and Teddy over the course of the book? They both knew and yet they never managed to overcome their selves to get it together? Does it make you sad to think about how much time they wasted?
This was the part that was frustrating for me, and really made it hard for me to read at points. I didn't even necessarily mind them not being able to overcome themselves to get it together, because that felt organic and they were young anyway, but I think I minded it more and more when Ilse got involved. Those types of entanglements rarely work out in a way I find satisfying, especially since they're usually "fixed" through something just like this. What if Ilse hadn't learned about Perry's car accident RIGHT IN THAT SECOND? I mean, that's awfully convenient. It feels more like fate and divine intervention instead of personal choice, and I'm really not into that. I've never been into that (IDK, I've liked some resolutions that have happened like this, I think Louisa's fall in Persuasion is the exception that proves the rule), but I think this is where my reading these books for the first time comes in. I don't think I would have minded it nearly as much if I'd read these when I was 13 or so.
DON'T GET ME WRONG, I still liked the book and wanted the happy ending, but I didn't walk away feeling satisfied the way I feel when Anne and Gilbert finally get it together.
8. Were you reasonably satisfied with how the romantic entanglements sorted themselves out? Do you think that after all that Ilse and Perry and then Teddy and Emily can be happy together?
I think they will be, but I do wish we'd gotten to see a little bit more of that happiness.
9. Finally, how much do you love this line: "Don't tell me you can't love me--you can--you must--why, Emily"--his eyes had met the moonlit brilliance of hers for a moment--"you do."
What if Ilse hadn't learned about Perry's car accident RIGHT IN THAT SECOND? I mean, that's awfully convenient.
Yeah, I get this, but in this case I feel like it's redeemed by Ilse's line that even if she'd found out after the wedding she would have gone just the same? Because I believe she meant that.
Okay, TRUE. I forgot about that. But then my brain goes to "WHAT IF THERE WAS NEVER A CAR ACCIDENT AT ALL!?" How long would it have taken her to realize her true feelings, and at what point does the damage become irreversible? I AM GOOD AT WORST-CASE SCENARIOS? I do not know. I think I could have excused it better if we got a little more of them together and happy at the end.
DEAN PRIEST IS EASILY ONE OF MY LEAST FAVORITE CHARACTERS FROM ANYTHING. EVER.
You know, though, in some ways, I think it made it easier for me to handle Ilse/Teddy the way it was? I don't think I could've handled it if supposedly they were in love, too, and it was a genuine love triangle (or quadrangle, I guess). Or if one of them was in love and the other wasn't. I mean, at least, they were using each other and knew it? (Haha, not that that's a GOOD thing, but I liked that they were on equal grounds, I guess.)
DEAN PRIEST IS THE ACTUAL WORST EVER. I HATE HIM AND NOTHING HE CAN EVER DO WOULD MAKE ME FORGIVE HIM. Because yeah, that's just not okay. It's creepy and controlling and manipulative and possessive. I HAD A LOT OF FEELINGS. None of them were good.
2. We talked a lot about whether or not the number of suitors Anne had was ridiculous, but I think Emily had way more proposals. How ridiculous did you find them?
It was pretty ridiculous. I didn't think much about it at the time, but it was a little bit much. Mostly, I just wanted Perry to stop proposing.
3. Over the course of the book, Ilse, Perry, Emily, and Teddy's friendships grow and stretch and change as time and distance separates them. Did you find it a reasonably realistic portrayal of what can happen to friendships when people scatter to the winds?
I think it's a pretty accurate portrayal of what can happen with friendships, that you still love each other but your lives are headed in different directions and/or you're living in different places, and that can change things. It doesn't have to, but I know it's happened to me.
4. Ilse and Emily: how badly did you think that Ilse violated the girl code by agreeing to marry Teddy in the first place? Or did you think she genuinely didn't know/understand how Teddy and Emily felt about each other?
I genuinely didn't think Ilse knew how Teddy and Emily felt about each other, otherwise she probably would have made them get their acts together. I think I was more upset by her being engaged to Teddy when she knew she didn't love him, which is possibly a double standard but I had conflicting feelings at the way this was playing out.
5. Which of Emily's books would you rather have read, The Moral of the Rose or A Seller of Dreams?
BOTH! But if I had to choose, I think A Seller of Dreams.
6. Emily calling to Teddy on the Flavian: creepy, romantic, or creepily romantic?
Romantic and sweet. Creepy is reserved for Dean Priest.
7. How badly did you want to shake both Emily and Teddy over the course of the book? They both knew and yet they never managed to overcome their selves to get it together? Does it make you sad to think about how much time they wasted?
This was the part that was frustrating for me, and really made it hard for me to read at points. I didn't even necessarily mind them not being able to overcome themselves to get it together, because that felt organic and they were young anyway, but I think I minded it more and more when Ilse got involved. Those types of entanglements rarely work out in a way I find satisfying, especially since they're usually "fixed" through something just like this. What if Ilse hadn't learned about Perry's car accident RIGHT IN THAT SECOND? I mean, that's awfully convenient. It feels more like fate and divine intervention instead of personal choice, and I'm really not into that. I've never been into that (IDK, I've liked some resolutions that have happened like this, I think Louisa's fall in Persuasion is the exception that proves the rule), but I think this is where my reading these books for the first time comes in. I don't think I would have minded it nearly as much if I'd read these when I was 13 or so.
DON'T GET ME WRONG, I still liked the book and wanted the happy ending, but I didn't walk away feeling satisfied the way I feel when Anne and Gilbert finally get it together.
8. Were you reasonably satisfied with how the romantic entanglements sorted themselves out? Do you think that after all that Ilse and Perry and then Teddy and Emily can be happy together?
I think they will be, but I do wish we'd gotten to see a little bit more of that happiness.
9. Finally, how much do you love this line: "Don't tell me you can't love me--you can--you must--why, Emily"--his eyes had met the moonlit brilliance of hers for a moment--"you do."
SO MUCH.
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Yeah, I get this, but in this case I feel like it's redeemed by Ilse's line that even if she'd found out after the wedding she would have gone just the same? Because I believe she meant that.
DEAN PRIEST IS THE WORST, HAAAAAAAAAAAATE.
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DEAN PRIEST IS EASILY ONE OF MY LEAST FAVORITE CHARACTERS FROM ANYTHING. EVER.
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