ONTD Book Club discussion

Discuss the first book of the series.

Hide any major spoilers!

Bumping this since it's the first thread.

So looking forward to reading this series again now I'm an adult

Oh, I hadn't really thought about that! I bet it's a very different experience. Same with the Harry Potter books. I was 16 or 17 when the first one came out, so I only read it because my students were yelling at me.

Jessica wrote: "Oh, I hadn't really thought about that! I bet it's a very different experience. Same with the Harry Potter books. I was 16 or 17 when the first one came out, so I only read it because my students w..."

It is, sometimes I go back to books from my childhood and wonder why the hell I ever enjoyed it in the first place.
I think the overall experience of reading when you're a kid makes things seem more magical than they actually are. I guess that's what I miss the most, haha.

I'm excited about seeing how I feel about them now that I'm older too. It's been about a decade since I read the first one.

Regardless of how my opinion may have changed the series will always be special to me because my social studies teacher in 8th grade is the one that gave me the first book. I mentioned being interested in reading them in class one day to her. She had a copy for her daughter who ended up not liking the book so she brought it in and gave it to me. She was one of the best teachers I've had, I still remember lots of things I learned in her class, and she really cared about her students. I'll always remember her fondly.

Cassandra wrote: "I'm excited about seeing how I feel about them now that I'm older too. It's been about a decade since I read the first one.

Regardless of how my opinion may have changed the series will always be ..."

That's a really sweet story, Cassandra! Teachers are awesome.

I haven't started rereading this one yet, but hope to soon. I adored Violet and thought she was so amazing when I first read it!

Laura wrote: That's a really sweet story, Cassandra! Teachers are awesome.

That is a sweet story!


I'm reading some series from when I was a kid and most of them I have enjoyed. Some I can't remember the names of, so I've been trolling Goodreads for things that sound familiar.

First time reading it so I'm not quite sure how I would've felt about it as a kid, but as an adult, I found that I enjoyed the writing style very much, but the content wasn't to my liking.

I just finished. I had forgotten the ending so it was almost like reading it for the first time. A lot of things happened in it very fast so I'm not surprised that I forgot a few things. I thought it was a good introduction to the main characters and their antagonist. You definitely get a feel for who they are. I was happy that I still adore Violet just as much this go around. I don't know if this technically counts as a spoiler but I don't want to ruin it for anyone but(view spoiler)[another thing I forgot about was the letters to the editor in the back of the book. It brought back memories of when I was first buying the series. I would finish one and have to wait on my parents to take me to the store to get the next and I loved trying to figure out what those letter in the back of the book I'd just finished meant while I was waiting. (hide spoiler)]

I can definitely understand why these books wouldn't be someone's cup of tea because they can be a bit bleak and are written in an odd style. Some bits were a bit more brutal than I remember as well. (view spoiler)[Like the injuries the children received. Violet's arm sounded like it was in bad shape. (hide spoiler)] However, I've found during this re-read that I love them just as much now as I did when I was 13. I like the writing style because it feels like someone telling me a story instead of just me reading a story. I would constantly interrupt my mother when she read to me when I was younger to ask what words meant so the random definitions really work for me. Even though I already know the words now I still like reading the definitions he comes up with.

Between the look and feel of the books with their uneven pages, gorgeous covers, amazing artwork inside, strange dedications at the front to Beatrice, and the letters it makes for a wonderful sensory experience as well as expanding the world the author built beyond what he's been able to show so far. Even after reading just the first book I felt like I had a pretty good grasp on what that world is like. The little touches really make it for me.

I'm excited to read The Reptile Room next because if I remember correctly it's my favorite.

Cassandra wrote: "Between the look and feel of the books with their uneven pages, gorgeous covers, amazing artwork inside, strange dedications at the front to Beatrice, and the letters it makes for a wonderful sensory experience as well as expanding the world the author built beyond what he's been able to show so far. Even after reading just the first book I felt like I had a pretty good grasp on what that world is like. The little touches really make it for me."

I'm glad you still liked it, Cassandra! Violet was always my favorite too.

And I especially agree with you these books being sensory experiences in addition to good stories. I love love love all the details - the artwork, the letters, the dedications to Beatrice, etc. So often books seem slapped together with whatever cover that it's so nice to have a series where they so clearly took time to perfect every little detail. It does add a lot to the experience and immerses you more in the world, like you said.

I just finished the book and I'm not familiar with the series at all and I never saw the movie, so I was surprised to discover how dark it was (I didn't take the series title seriously!). I really liked it (but i thought the "own hand" thing was a bit of a stretch) and I'm looking forward to the next book.

For those who own it, do you guys have the box set that's around $90 something on Amazon? It looks gorgeous.

I admit defeat. Rarely do I quit reading a book, even some terrible ones I just power through... but I CANNOT stand the writing style. The bleakness doesn't bother me, in fact I'm sad, because the storyline is compelling. I just can't do it.

Summer wrote: "I admit defeat. Rarely do I quit reading a book, even some terrible ones I just power through... but I CANNOT stand the writing style. The bleakness doesn't bother me, in fact I'm sad, because the..."

I understand! On my first attempt to read them, I just got fed up and stopped somewhere around book 5.

Marie wrote: For those who own it, do you guys have the box set that's around $90 something on Amazon? It looks gorgeous.

I don't have that set, but I got all the ebooks from that edition and they are really nice. Nice illustrations and chapter pages.

Such a good book, I read it this month without even realizing that it was the book of the month

I finished the other day... I had forgotten how creepy the ending was!