Howl's Moving Book Club discussion

Setting up a discussion board ready for when we start :)

ok. I'm hoping this one may be relatively better than Wicked Fox.

So I finished the first section. The idea is actually quite scary, if you see what I mean? I know it’s fiction but it actually seems scarily close to reality. Kinda freaking me out 😬
The writing styles a bit confusing but I feel like I’m beginning to understand it.
Too much dirty talk for my liking haha 😅

i've not finished but I understand how odd the writing style is.

Hey stranger, have you read your section yet??????????

what do you think? stranger danger

That's a noooooooo then

Hello,
I am messaging you to let you know I finished my section on Friday.
it took much consideration to come to this decision and I hope you appreciate why I am responding after such a long time.
Certain events have taken a drastic toll on me and I am deeply upset by the occurrences spewing from the book. thus, I am withdrawing myself from reading S.5 until later tonight.

I hope you understand this pain I have been feeling recently, I also hope you allow me to take off a few hours, thus I will no longer contact you on this discussion board until after I have read S.5 on Vox.

I hope you can pubically administrate my response and care for it in the way I have asked.















































































































































































































































































































































































































kind regards,
Zaynab

Dear Zaynab,
Thank you for letting me know. Your bravery is much admired. I hope the difficult topics spewing from our group book, "Vox", has not caused you copious amount of stress. My thoughts are with you at this time.
I look forward to hearing from you upon your completion of section five. Do not hesitate to contact me further should you have any queries or issues.

Kind regards,
Kara, Group Moderator

P.S I noticed you left a long blank message in your last post. Are you quite all right? If not, I will contact you privately to discuss the inappropriateness of your behaviour.

P.P.S I do not appreciate your tone.

Dear Kara,

Apologies if I sounded insincere to you, I guess you make me feel as


though I am a child with the formality of your response. I have some


adoption papers I need signing, would you care to sign for them?


I KNOW MY TONE HAS UPSET YOU, WOULD IT HELP IF I SCREAMED?









I HAVE NO RECOLLECTION OF WHAT HAPPENED IN THE PREVIOUS EVENTS OF VOX APART FROM THE LAST SECTION SO I AM ADAMANT I REMAIN UNINTERRUPTED UNTIL 00:00 ON TUESDAY 1ST DECEMBER 2021.






AS YOU MAY BE Aware, I have suffered a great loss in heart of these characters, thus, I will be preparing for their funerals later, if you would be willing. there is definitely more to come.






FUNERAL TIMES: WEDNESDAY 32ND AUGOVEMBER 20000000333111

MY HEART - 17:00
MY SOUL - 19:00
MY LIFE -21:00












Hope you can come,
signed
Richard (Dicky) Hardings

Dear Dicky Harding,

SCREAMING WOULD VERY HELPFUL THANKS. Your consideration is greatly appreciated.
I have not always been a great detector of sarcasm. But I'm afraid your sarcasm would be rather hard to miss. In fact, I believe it would be like trying to ignore a great brick wall in the middle of the road. So, to answer your questions one at a time:

1. Yes. I would love to sign your adoption papers, Dicky. I cannot wait to become your parent.
2. I will make sure never to cross you until 1st December 2021.
3. I'm afraid I might have a meeting on the 32nd Augovember 20000000333111. However, I should be finished by 21:00, in order to attend the funeral for YOUR LIFE. It would be my greatest joy to mourn YOUR LIFE.

Signed,
Kara, Group Moderator

Dear Kara Group Moderator

Thank you for your interest in adopting myself, once you've signed the contract, this will become an official contract with official terms and conditions. I am going to let you know prior that adopting me will mean cancelling any meetings you've got between now and my funeral, in which you can sign my adoption papers and thus legally be required to take penultimate care of my heart, body, soul and life.








I am currently very irate, thus I am holding solely you liable if you refuse to come to my funeral and something occurs, such as a murder...


I would also greatly appreciate it if you could become my soul bearer, meaning you will be required to consume my soul and replicate my persona into a mannequin. this edition MUST be named Dicky I am edition #480293428478578375755933222323844735734384858342375738427352375667447523439483828457429333832983923895732857375764985435256775892011283147875873737653583748927118784835728377985878932784218978283138927489735329857673773895897789841848384262424312532371481573437957328472385725323412091292901202103874473573638129384665619239273456129475638289756145781248751589861252478478438485776487432849843834879777584843429848958788498585857575582144875378328348748758737858423493490490489049348747346234653245632467475547327323454524534535667543775858686854848734873773287348838347757637483482392982834776573873484383857475287382890498247754743737387234275874873908324957538793257828798383578897




however, you can refer to them as Mr. William Bill Buttlicker (Office reference) for short.






Kind regards,
DICKY RICHARDS.
Internal murderer

Dear Dicky Richards, Internal Murderer,

Oh dear. I'm sorry to hear that you are irate. Can I do anything to help? Perhaps a nice cup of tea to soothe the spirits?

I'm afraid I'm having a little trouble understanding. How can I take care of your soul, heart, body and life, when they are all dead? I believe you just invited me to their funerals - do you intend me to mourn or despair because I am now a parent with responsibilities?

I also lack the qualifications to become a soul bearer. I only went to school for thirteen years. However, I would be glad to welcome Mr. William Bill Buttlicker to the group, should you so wish.

Hope you are well,
Kara, Soul Snatcher

dear Soul Snatcher


i am infuriated by the fact you'd ask me whether I would like to calm down. for your information, this is me on a GOOD DAY.


DON'T MAKE IT WORSE....

so... in the world in which I am generated, my soul, life, body and heart all play very minor roles within the functioning of my species. At the ripe age of 29488382823774748392924473728292999937372727261728387277171727771, we have our heart,soul, body and life removed of our essence due to it being the key cause of annihilation of our species.
thus to commemorate our loss, we hold funerals as joyous occasions to thank that these horrid beings are removed from ourself.


when a hooman agrees to adopt a Humanoid, the written agreement constitutes adoption thus the papers signed are totally not a scam for you to sell your rights over to us.
did I say that out loud? oops.

a soul bearer needs no qualifications whatsoever. they simply consume the soul's essence after burning it over a pit of fire. the soul's essence then rejuvenates a Humanoid and elongates the life of hooman



under this regard, you have no choice through which means you may deny, you are now my soul bearer.

R.I.P

Mr. Dicky Harding

I feel like I've stumbled across a private joke here...

Zaynab there is no possible way Soul Snatcher can respond to that, so I forfeit 😅

Also, sorry to everyone else in the group! Zaynab and I were just messing around haha

Paris,

this is what happens when we convince you to join a book group with us :)

also, thank you Kara, for your surrender, I feel as though I've somehow developed a novel plot...

although I must apologise, this is very far off the topic of Vox.

Look at that - Zaynab finished Vox without me :(

Dear Mr Dicky Harding and Soul Snatcher,

Are you two quite alright? I'm a bit concerned by the distress in these messages. Soul Bearing sounds like a difficult job, and I'll be very intrigued as to how Kara's career in Soul Bearing will go. After all, it doesn't seem likely that one can be a successful Soul Snatcher without Bearing any souls.

Also, Mr Dicky Harding, are you quite sure that you should be engaging in such strenuous conversation? After all, you are 29488382823774748392924473728292999937372727261728387277171727771 years old. Health complications may arise by being so outgoing, and I suggest taking a rest with some Hobnobs and sweet tea. However, all of this Soul Snatching could probably increase your energy, therefore I would recommend continuing this to avoid perishing. I also may not be able to attend the proposed funeral on the 32nd of Augovember, 20000000333111 due to these unprecedented times with the Covid-20000000333110 pandemic. Additionally, it would very much be a tragedy if you were to perish. I don't want to meet Dicky #480293428478578375755933222323844735734384858342375738427352375667447523439483828457429333832983923895732857375764985435256775892011283147875873737653583748927118784835728377985878932784218978283138927489735329857673773895897789841848384262424312532371481573437957328472385725323412091292901202103874473573638129384665619239273456129475638289756145781248751589861252478478438485776487432849843834879777584843429848958788498585857575582144875378328348748758737858423493490490489049348747346234653245632467475547327323454524534535667543775858686854848734873773287348838347757637483482392982834776573873484383857475287382890498247754743737387234275874873908324957538793257828798383578897.

I hope you two sort out this perilous feud soon. I am here to contact any time - my preferred way of communication is Pigeon Mail, but I am also happy to message on this so called "forum". I am in fact a 20,050 year old time traveler who has just returned from 150 years in the 18th and 19th centuries so I'm not the best with modern tech right now.

Hottest regards,

Dr Galen doctordoctor :)

Good morn, Dr Galen Doctordoctor,

Thank you for your message. Your concern is much appreciated.
To put it simply, no. I am not "quite all right". I am being forced into the role of Soul Snatcher for Dicky, and frankly, that makes me uncomfortable. I wish they would leave me alone, and leave me to snatch souls for other people in peace :(

I will try and contact you by Pigeon Mail next time. Unfortunately, my last pigeon got caught in an airplane propeller (what he was doing up that high, I have no idea). I instead propose using a different method of communication - perhaps using petroglyphs instead?

Thanks again,
Kara (Group Moderator, Soul Snatcher and Vice President of Quite Annoyed)

Dr Galen Doctordoctor

thank you for your concern.
what did your last pigeon die of?
i must admit, soul bearing is a difficult job. so difficult that my uncle's son's brother in law's cousin's wife died of arrogance once she completed her dooogreeee in Soul bearing 101. it was an additional class.

*VOX SPOILERS*
Helloooo, so I finally finished Vox. What did you think? I gave it 4 stars. I really enjoyed the plot, I think it was a fascinating idea (even if it is scary close to reality!). For me, were it fell down was:
> The characters. For the first half of the book, I didn't warm to anyone, not even little Sonia. By the end, I was quite fond of Patrick, and even felt sympathy for Steven. I admire Jean and her determination, but I just didn't warm to her? In my opinion, likeable characters must be established.
> The ending. It was fast-paced and action packed. I enjoyed reading it a lot. But it seemed a little far-fetched to me. Like they killed someone of high status and cleaned it up extremely quickly? Maybe that's just my unreasonably high standards though! I was perfectly satisfied with the ending, but I felt it lacked something.

Anyway! I'd be glad to hear your thoughts before we move on!

also *VOX SPOILERS*




As you know I finished reading it yesterday so I've had time to process the book now. similar points to you really, characters weren't really too likeable, hated Steven's opinions and view of the world. hated the fact he reported Julia because, even though he loved her, it was wrong.
I wasn't too sure about Patrick. my mindset was just like: if he refers to her using terms like 'babe' surely it illustrates he does feel some kind of affection for her however I think Dalcher may have portrayed him to be relatively cold hearted at first to become the 'unexpected' hero towards the end.
did get confused between Jackie and Jeanie a few times but that's just me, nothing to complain about there.
Lorenzo. ok. I wasn't too sure on the idea of their relationship at first because it just felt immoral, but as time went on, you realised both Patrick and Lorenzo just wanted to protect Jean, really, and in a way, that was kind of sweet but I think the female degrading that occurred at times may have knocked it down a little (not L or P, the Government).
Ending picked up really well, fast paced, relatively thrilling, my head plays it out like a movie (is that weird?!) which I just think makes it better for character development etc.

I quite like that it didn't make you wait a while before things actually started happening, unlike some *other* books.

I was reading Morgan's death bit and I was also thinking about how
inaccurate that probably was, not that I'd know how to quickly hide a dead body - anyone got any advice? there's been one in my freezer for ages ;)
I'm just surprised as to how, as the lab area was so secure, why didn't they have people making sure nothing was rebelling internally as well. not everyone liked the ideas the Govt. had introduced (including Petroski, it seems).


i mean.... aside from all of that,




would totally recommend.

YES agreed about Morgan's death. If the lab had all this security, how did no one see the body/blood (even though they cleaned up)?
I also agree with Lorenzo.
A good read all in all!

true. very good read. definitely recommend