WeekendReader

@JennaMark @Tan_Trumps ITA Chp 17
          	
          	I've posted my thoughts to T's page. I'm beyond disappointed in how anticlimactic the pregnancy reveal was -- I can't underscore this enough.

JennaMark

@WeekendReader @Tan_trumps Revisiting an oldie
          
          I realize we've talked about this but... I need to revisit this topic after today's horrendous chapter of ITA. WHY, Why, why would you write yourself as an indecisive, passive, doormat? Incapable of travel with First Class Arrangements PRE-MADE for you?? A handsome billionaire waiting at the other end? Where is her backbone? Her PRIDE! She should be JUMPING at the chance to show her worthless cheating spouse that someone supports her and WANTS her company. (Yeah, I don't like the pregnancy part, but honestly, I felt FANTASTIC in that middle trimester.) 
          
          The ONLY part of this duet that has made sense was all the Affair chapters. THOSE were passionate, believable, a little uncomfortably perfect. The rest is like an endurance test in torture. David is a materialistic, elitist, arrogant, self-centered idiot. He only cares about himself, EVER.
          
          And E needs to turn in her female card. She is a blob. Afraid to go anywhere or do anything. No sense of adventure? No reaching for the stars -- she seems afraid of a blueberry. I just cannot BELIEVE how humiliating that chapter was. She could have reasonably hit back at him at least five different times and yet she lets him get away with every stupid, thoughtless remark.
          
          So I circle back to the question we've been asking... Why would you write yourself as a slug? A fraidy cat? A woman who can't make a decision?

WeekendReader

@JennaMark @Tan_Trumps Revisiting an Oldie
            
            To Nancy's Post:
            Hmmm....what in the WORLD could be the reason for writing a book where the FMC is supposed to be semi-autobiographical -- and, yet, written as a doormat  who is always less than the Mistress (less pretty, less smart, less interesting, less desired)...and what in the WORLD could be the reason for writing a book where the MMC is on the eve of divorce and still hasn't had a boombox moment (Say Anything) or tried to win his wife back -- moved 90 minutes way (60 w/ not traffic) -- but contemplates a return to his marriage as the right thing to do? Hmmmm. Who in the WORLD would write THAT book?
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JennaMark

@Tan_trumps @WeekendReader — Hot — Judging a Book by its Cover
          
          I posted about the new Cornerstone book cover on the author’s WP conversation board… if you were inclined to back me up, thank you. I’d appreciate it, but absolutely no pressure. I took some creative license with the post. But someone else helped my case by just posting the cover was so CUTE. Unfortunately, the author agreed. But Cute, and right for the content, can be two separate things. She’d done a cover reveal on FB (no old/new testing that I noticed there) and a couple of people said it looked great. Yes, great artwork. For a book that covers death, a suicide attempt, a month in a mental health facility, a car accident, separation, etc. etc. NO. I realize it will likely make no difference, but I think authors need to think hard about what their covers are saying. Personally, I didn’t like old or new cover on What We Choose, a story about finding love and battling breast cancer. But these are all just my opinions. And I admit, a long background in marketing has made me very conscious of what an image says. Thanks, sorry to rant and ramble.

JennaMark

@Tan_trumps @WeekendReader Re Cornerstone Author Replied…
            
            You can see it on her page…
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JennaMark

@WeekendReader @Tan_trumps ITA Date
          
          Well, I'm going to think on today's chapter.
          
          But one thing... David's birthday is November 12. So, we could have built the timeline on something solid had we known that a bit sooner. :)
          
          Maybe someday we'll ever hear the mystery May anniversary date.
          
          The thing about 7DIM going on KU is that it's literally a book without an ending... or the info to live up to the title.

WeekendReader

@JennaMark @Tan_Trumps - Fractured!
            
            I want to read your review of Fractured!
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JennaMark

@WeekendReader @Tan_trumps Petty 
            
            My vengeful side will be on display later today when I give Fractured an Ama.zon review befitting how absolutely betrayed I feel by that author using my private message in a public post like she did. I might also hit on GoodReads… haven’t decided.
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JennaMark

@WeekendReader @Tan_trumps ITA LET’S GET CRITICAL
            
            S, everything you said about David and ITA is gold.
            
            On reflection, I wonder if the whole Dad reveal would have been better if it were part of David hitting rock bottom after the divorce is granted? Where it is plugs more flow about the divorce progress, and kills story momentum by adding in new characters we don’t need to meet right now. (As you said, S.) Maybe (maybe) a more beaten-down David would been a more sympathetic character when his backstory was revealed? 
            
            And I laughed at your remark about his “hardship” in having James hand him $20M to get started! 
            
            David is just shockingly unlikable in this book. You’re right, Ava saw the true colors. And she liked him anyway. Everything in books 1&2 point to a more believable relationship between David & Ava. Sure, it was surface, but isn’t David anyway? 
            
            I agree that the book is crashing. Much worse than I had anticipated. The Reckoning should have boosted some momentum and shown us fallout on multiple parts… instead, the boys and Emily are offscreen, so is the office. Did David meet that next day with Jerome? We don’t know. What about Jerome’s wife and Emily’s good friend Eliza? Crickets. Jerome barely shrugged where I would have been ballistic at my partner with a subordinate. No one’s reactions have really matched what I’d expect. Much too contained. 
            
            True — David repeatedly turned to James. From the first reveal to the end breakup, he was reaching out to him. James even met her! It’s all so warped.
            
            But as painful as I found it to read about the affair, it’s been the only solid part of the books. It was moving forward and on track. The rest of the chapters have been drifting, often filler, unanswered questions, brand-name dropping drivel (Ha! Got you with that, right S?!) I say that with sadness and disappointment. I wanted this story to hit it out of the park. The chapters needed a reorg and the lack of info on Emily is outrageous.
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JennaMark

@WeekendReader @Tan_trumps ITA Illusion Ch
          
          So, am I understanding that David proposes in bed and they tell that story to the family and kids so much it’s family legend? Ick. I’m not telling that story to my kids.
          
          I’m meh on the memories part. Him flying around the world for the delivery doesn’t impress me. Even though it says Theo came early, he shouldn’t have left the country with her deeply pregnant and a small child at home. Sorry, not seeing that as any great sign of love.
          
          Finally another mention of the secret credit card. That Emily had never snuck a look in his wallet for details on that card is criminally stupid.
          
          Emily should respond that he can have access to her royalties if he can describe what each of the books was about. :)
          
          So, still no mention of the potential pregnancy. Normally, you’d show faster with a third pregnancy, so with a hearing in three weeks, she might have to work harder to conceal it… if it’s for real. 
          
          I don’t know… what did you think?

JennaMark

@WeekendReader @Tan_trumps Re: ITA Illusion PPS
            
            I presume they’d censor the proposal story before telling it to the family and kids but it still gives me a cringe.
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JennaMark

@WeekendReader @Tan_trumps Re ITA Illusion PS
            
            BTW, so she was in labor more than 22 hours with her second child? I’m sorry to so aggressively nitpick a story but highly unrealistic.
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JennaMark

@WeekendReader @Tan_trumps ITA Illusion Ch
          
          So, am I understanding that David proposes in bed and they tell that story to the family and kids so much it’s family legend? Ick. I’m not telling that story to my kids.
          
          I’m meh on the memories part. Him flying around the world for the delivery doesn’t impress me. Even though it says Theo came early, he shouldn’t have left the country with her deeply pregnant and a small child at home. Sorry, not seeing that as any great sign of love.
          
          Finally another mention of the secret credit card. That Emily had never snuck a look in his wallet for details on that card is criminally stupid.
          
          Emily should respond that he can have access to her royalties if he can describe what each of the books was about. :)
          
          So, still no mention of the potential pregnancy. Normally, you’d show faster with a third pregnancy, so with a hearing in three weeks, she might have to work harder to conceal it… if it’s for real. 
          
          I don’t know… what did you think?

JennaMark

@WeekendReader @Tan_trumps Re ITA David
            
            You’re right, he wasn’t telling the truth to the therapist about Ava. The thing is, his conversations with Ava, even if surface or whatever, seemed more authentic or at ease than any the stilted, fraught conversations with Emily. It wasn’t that David was never short with Ava, but he wasn’t so rigidly fearful of his words. (Does that make sense?) When David and Emily would converse on the patio, it felt stressful to read! Like they literally were speaking in totally different codes. 
            
            It looks like this therapist might be good for him.
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WeekendReader

@JennaMark @Tan_Trumps ITA - David
            
            The thing is - David was more authentic and free w/ Ava than he ever was w/ Emily in 7DIM. He was relaxed, happy, making out, so carefree that he forgot his wife. The author is trying to recharacterize it and "fix" this fact by flashbacks or David's POV -- but they read as phony as he does. I don't think David was w/ Ava for praise as he claim in his therapy session. She talked tough to him (made fun of him like Emily did when they first met) -- and was savvy and pretended to be "unimpressed" -- so she wasn't written as overly obsequious by a LONG shot. So, maybe you've said it best, N. There may not be a "Real David" other than a performative one. His recanting of why Ava made him feel good doesn't really align w/ how they were together -- so he's just performing yet again w/ his therapist by espousing cliches that don't even fit how he was written.
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JennaMark

@WeekendReader @Tan_trumps Re ITA Who We Choose to Become 
            
            All great points! I liked the therapy chapter more than most chapters in Book 2 (but that bar is super low). What I don’t like is things like stories of Emily that seem completely false. He remembers a Saturday morning from a few months ago? Dude was gone every Saturday, part of each one spent in bed with Ava. Plus, either Max was in sports or he wasn’t because NO kid in the suburbs is home Saturday morning. AND if he remembers being happy that recently, what was Ava about? 
            
            His phony memories are EXACTLY why we complained bitterly about Book 1 being the affair to the exclusion of all else. Had we seen a scene in Book 1 with a happy breakfast, it would make his tale now more plausible. That scene — were it enacted in Book 1 — could have been a moment of great emotional conflict for him. But it wasn’t, because it didn’t happen and we’re watching David rewrite his own history. 
            
            I agree that the dominant David side has been dedicated to everything BUT Emily. And these rose-colored glasses he’s using with others are indeed performative. He’s using exaggerated stories as a cover for reality, and because they make him look better than the real, self-absorbed, thoughtless cheater he has been. He’s equal opportunity at least — he lies to himself and others. I should have been on the cover when I was good 6 months ago. (You were cheating.) I loved Emily when I met her at 23. You were married at 23, so you can’t recall your own history. I was happy with my family a few months ago. (You were absentee and cheating.) He is incapable of being truthful. 
            
            Is there a real David, or is he just performing all the time? Playing the hot-shot lawyer, pretending he was the proud and supportive husband, pretending in front of his mother that he loved his family. I said before, I believe he was more authentic with Ava, probably because he soaked up the adulation. And had she reined in her expectations, he would’ve kept going.
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JennaMark

@WeekendReader @Tan_trumps Next ITA Chapter preview
          
          The photo is an antique looking sapphire ring on a white cloth.
          
          Chapter preview:
          
          Chapter 14 — The Illusion of Permanence
          
          Dropping January 16th
          
          He’s downstairs making breakfast — I can hear him swearing at the espresso machine. He bought it yesterday, some Italian thing that takes way too much cleaning. “You deserve proper coffee,” he said, like bad coffee was a personal insult to my existence. He’s been reading the manual for an hour. I love him. 
          
          So -- is this supposed to be a flashback? Is it supposed to be David and Emily? Or is it James & Kathryn?
          
          If it is a flashback of David and Emily -- here's my question. Why would you buy an Espresso machine to impress a woman who works or had worked in a Coffee Shop? Is that really an impressive choice? I'd say No.

JennaMark

@WeekendReader @Tan_trumps Re ITA Teaser
            
            I agree, S, I really want to know how Emily is doing, how the boys are doing… it’s once again as if she doesn’t exist. I’m not sure I’ve ever seen an alleged key character this invisible.
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WeekendReader

@JennaMark @Tan_trumps Re ITA Teaser
            
            I agree -- if this chapter veers off to James and Kathryn -- it feels like "filler" because Emily has been close to forgotten. I REALLY was curious about her mental breakdown post-separation -- who wouldn't challenge everything they've thought and done after being floored by an affair as extensive as David's? And -- we've lost all of that during the period of time it would be most dramatic. Emily's story is really being ignored, imho.
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JennaMark

@WeekendReader @Tan_trumps Re ITA Teaser
            
            Thanks, when I last checked FB, people were speculating James. It might be just me, but we’ve already got an MIA on Emily, so if we’re veering off to a James/Kathryn flashback, I’m going to be irritated. Sorry, but what happened to David 26 years doesn’t actually forgive 7 months of cheating so….. it’s just more filler to me. Emily will be 9 months pregnant before we hear from her again, won’t she?
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