Book Assassins discussion

Super excited to discuss this book with you guys!

Just got the book and looking forward to reading it and discussing it.

Great! I'm planning to post some questions Wednesday, to give everyone some time to read the first part of the book.

What do you guys think of the characters so far; Josie?
Her mother?
Patrick?
Willie?
Cokie?
Jesse?

Josie- like her strength, attitude, personality. I understand her wanting to get out of the quarter, but also, a part of me is like... Just go to college in New Orleans and then get out of the Quarter.

Jesse- LOVE him as a love interest. Smart bad boy is nice.

Willie- still trying to figure her out. I like her, like how she is protective of Josie, but wondering if she is keeping something important from Josie.

Patrick- he seems nice, but it seems like he is taking advantage of Josie. Asking her to watch Charlie so he can go out and party. Not liking that.

Cokie- great side character. Very sweet.

Josie's Mom- evil woman who should have used protection, never should have become a mom. She is mean and evil, I see no redemptive qualities in her.

Rebecca wrote: "Josie- like her strength, attitude, personality. I understand her wanting to get out of the quarter, but also, a part of me is like... Just go to college in New Orleans and then get out of the Quar..."

I love Jesse so much. I also really love Cokie because he just cares about Josie and like you said he is very sweet.

You are right on about Josie's mom. I can't stand her. It's one thing for her to make dangerous, toxic life choices, that's her problem to sort out, but when she drags Josie into them I just can't stand that. She isn't content to just ruin her own life, she has to drag everyone down with her.

As for Willie, I think that she does care deeply about Josie and getting Josie a good education so she can become more than her mother ever was. Is she keeping information from Josie? I think so, but I believe she's doing it to keep Josie from getting hurt.

And as I agree with you about Josie, we come at last to Patrick. On one hand I agree with you, it's a dick move to always ask Josie to watch Charlie. He assumes that Josie doesn't have any plans. But Patrick is a pretty important person in Josie's life. He's such a good friend to her because he knows her family history and doesn't condemn her for it and when she isn't comfortable telling other people about it, he doesn't spill her secrets.

Have you met Charlotte yet? Read about the uptown party?

Oh yeah, I forgot about Charlotte. I really like her. She is uptown and obviously comes from a wealthy family, but she is kind and doesn't judge Josie for her background. I really do see them being friends in college.

I just finished the book. I have to say, I really enjoyed it. I've read this authors other one about a year ago. Really enjoy her characters, historical background, side love story, and adventure. Five stars all the way!

Ps. I also agree with you about Patrick. They are close family friends, and it does make me like Patrick more when I think about how he knows everything about Josie and doesn't hold that against her. I don't see them as love interests though, just friends.

Rebecca wrote: "Oh yeah, I forgot about Charlotte. I really like her. She is uptown and obviously comes from a wealthy family, but she is kind and doesn't judge Josie for her background. I really do see them bei..."

I loved the friendship between Josie and Charlotte. I just loved everything about the book. I really love how everything turned out for all of the characters.

How do you feel about Josie's determination to go to Smith? Do you think she would be better off trying for a college in the south?

Yeah, I wasn't sure about Smith and only Smith. She wanted to get out of the Quarter. And she mentioned not wanting to go to college with people she knew from HS. But, in my mind I just thought she could go to college there and then move away after graduation. Because even though she had been through a lot. She had a lot of people in New Orleans who cared about her. Was it shame that made her want to leave? Thinking Charlotte was better then her? I'm not sure.

Rebecca wrote: "Yeah, I wasn't sure about Smith and only Smith. She wanted to get out of the Quarter. And she mentioned not wanting to go to college with people she knew from HS. But, in my mind I just thought she..."

I think the main reason Josie wanted to get out of the Quarter and New Orleans in general, is because thats where she had all her terrible memories of her mother and Cincinnati. The shame of everyone knowing that her mother was a prostitute was definitely a part of it, but I think she just wanted to get as far away as she could so her mother and Cincinnati would never find her and drag her back into their problems.
She never tells her mom that she wants to go to Smith and the people that knew, Cokie, Willie, Patrick, Jesse, they wouldn't betray her trust by telling her mother. I think that while it wasn't a great financial decision, Josie made the choice to completely cut her ties with her family and in the end that would be better for her.

I'm not trying to be the devils advocate, but I'm not sure if Josie cut the tues with her mom or if her mother did. The whole time I felt that Josie cared about her mom and she was just waiting for her mom to grow up and actually act like a mother. Even with all the bad stuff her mother did, I got the impression Josie would forgive her in a heartbeat. As long as her mother asked it.

Rebecca wrote: "I'm not trying to be the devils advocate, but I'm not sure if Josie cut the tues with her mom or if her mother did. The whole time I felt that Josie cared about her mom and she was just waiting for..."

You're right. No matter how horribly her mom treated her, Josie was always willing to forgive her. But I think that once she got to Smith, Josie wouldn't have tried to reach out to her mom. If her mom showed up again she would probably forgive her, but I don't think she'd go out of her way to seek her out.