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57: A Book Recap
131 Plays1 year ago
podcast
Hi, y'all, and welcome back to this week's episode! This week we are giving thoughts on books we've read recently!
Thank you so much to our sponsor, The Anti-Grapevine Podcast! Check them out!
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Transcript
Introduction to Podcast and Book Discussion
00:00:02
Speaker
Well intro intro is in since you know you want to talk. No, I was just gonna say I was telling them something off off camera off mic and then Alexis started yelling at me but I didn't think it was part of the conversation because y'all welcome to the podcast this week we're gonna be chatting about the two books that we have both read. I was about to pull the book up and show the camera.
00:00:28
Speaker
Which are you have my icebreaker? No, I thought Kate Raven was because she grabbed a napkin. I thought she was holding the books. Oh no, I didn't have them here. So the two books we've both read are icebreaker. We've all three read. You know, I said both because there are two books.
Overview and Initial Thoughts on 'The Housemaid'
00:00:50
Speaker
You know, the two books we have all three read are icebreaker by Hannah Grace.
00:00:57
Speaker
And the house made by Frida, what's her last name? Give me two seconds. It starts with an F. I shall see what you note. Frida McFadden. So I think we should start off with the house made because I feel like it's shorter. You've got to be joking. You whip out a Caprice sign, made recording.
00:01:27
Speaker
Y'all, this is such an unprofessional environment. No, it caught me off guard when she ripped the straw from the juice mess. Like, I know she's not drinking a Capri Sun. I really ain't had a Capri Sun in a minute. Right? And they would hit right now. It's real hot outside. I don't even remember what they taste like. I just know, like, juice. Like, what flavor? I don't like cherry ones. My kids be drinking Capri Suns all the time.
00:01:56
Speaker
and sometimes like they just be smelling like juice especially when they spill them because caprisons have this scent to them like especially if you spill them everywhere they got this smell and then it just permeates through the rest of the day just like everything you touch just kind of smells like caprison
00:02:18
Speaker
I really wish I would have taken
Analyzing Characters and Plot Twists in 'The Housemaid'
00:02:20
Speaker
notes. Cause now I gotta remember what everything is about. Yeah, me too. Okay. We're starting with the housemaid. Yes. Oh my gosh. Wait, should someone read, um, like what the back of the book says? You can since you suggested it. Um, fair warning. There are going to be spoilers. So if you haven't read the books yet, my mom, actually, no, I don't care. You click this podcast. Okay. So you should have had all this prepared. Pull up your goodreads.
00:02:49
Speaker
um shut up as you see i'm trying okay okay so here's the little thing on goodreads it says
00:03:11
Speaker
Welcome to the family Nina Winchester says as I shake her elegant manicured hand I smile politely gazing around the marble hallway. Working here is my last chance to start fresh. I can pretend to be whoever I like but I'll soon learn that the Winchester secrets are far more dangerous than my own. Every day I clean the Winchester's beautiful house top to bottom. I collect their daughter from school and I cook a delicious meal for the whole family before heading up to eat alone in my tiny room on the top floor.
00:03:40
Speaker
I try to ignore how Nina makes a mess just to watch me clean it up and how she tells strange lies about her own daughter and how her husband Andrew seems more broken every day. But as I look into Andrew's handsome brown eyes so full of pain, it's hard to not imagine what it would be like to save, to have Nina's life. The walk-in closet, the fancy car, the perfect husband. I only try on one of Nina's pristine white dresses once
00:04:08
Speaker
just to see what it's like, but she soon finds out, and by the time I realize my attic bedroom door only locks from the outside, it's far too late. But I reassure myself the witnesses don't know who I really am. They don't know what I'm capable of. An unbelievable twisty read that will have you glued to the pages late into the night. Anyone who loves the woman in the window, the wife between us, or the girl on the train won't be able to put this down. You know my one thing about that that I don't like?
00:04:38
Speaker
What? By the time she finds out that her bedroom only locks from the outside. That's not true. She found that out at the very beginning. And she stayed there. And also like way before the dress. But I think what disarmed her is like how she got a key. But what's the point of having a key? Okay, y'all we need to go back. Okay, first off, Casey, what the heck is your review?
00:05:05
Speaker
I don't remember y'all I just thought I'd be going like a dad watching football one Sunday. At the end we're gonna read Kasey's reviews for both books. That is because I am dedicated to the Goodreads grind and I leave reviews to try and influence others or dissuade others because some books that I didn't like I was being a little
00:05:30
Speaker
Like my review for The Perfect Little Wife is honestly kind of mean and I don't regret it. Okay, where are we starting? In the beginning? Yes. I'm not good at timelines if I don't have it in front of me. Oh, well basically it starts off she's looking for a job. Oh yeah. Yeah. So okay, our main character is... Oh dang, I forgot the real thing.
00:05:59
Speaker
Shoot, me too. They ain't got any little things. What's her name? Did they even say it? It's Maddie. No, it's not. Yes, it is. It's not Maddie. It's something stupid. It is Maddie. I'm looking it up. Milly. Milly.
Hypothetical Casting and Final Thoughts on 'The Housemaid'
00:06:23
Speaker
Milly. Okay, see, I was close to those.
00:06:29
Speaker
Y'all, y'all, guess what I just found? What? Spark notes? No. Discussion questions. Okay. Well, hold on. We gotta go chronologically first. So she's looking for a job. She just got out of prison. She's been in prison for the past 10 years since she was 17 years old. So she's 27 now. Um, I do hate how long it took for us to find out why she was in prison. Yes. Astronomically long.
00:06:59
Speaker
Um, she was living in her car. And then she found out she got the job, moved into the, to the big house, met some gardener who only speaks Italian named Enzo. Yeah. Spoke Italian. And like a dumb dumb, she believed like the first time they met, he said, what was the word?
00:07:29
Speaker
Oh. Peri-colo. Y'all, and if you're Italian, listen to this. Don't come at me. No, it's peri-colo. Peri-colo. Yes, which means danger. Danger? Yeah. Okay. Okay. I want to ask, did y'all look it up immediately? Or did you wait for the reveal? I waited for the reveal. You did? Yeah. Eventually they were going to explain why it was there. I knew that, but like I just had to look it up right then.
00:08:00
Speaker
I don't know. I was like, deep into the mindset of okay, look, look, oh, here we go. Nope. Anytime I have a book that is, it says something in a language that I don't know, I look it up. And it's so easy to do on Kindle. Like why wouldn't I? You can? Yeah. Oh, I don't know how to highlight on there. Just hold it down. And then drag
00:08:29
Speaker
Yeah. I guess because I can't physically see the color that it's just like not something I think about. I highlight a lot. I don't highlight it all. You're probably one of those 5,000 people that like when it's underlined in the book, it's 5,700 people highlighted. Sometimes I don't do that. I'm like, why did they highlight this? I feel like the most dumbest sentence in the book. But it may like books that you do not need to be highlighting in. Yeah.
00:09:00
Speaker
It would be like the most random book. And I'd be like, what are you highlighting? Why are you annotating this book? This book doesn't need to be annotated. He out here saying, yeah, baby, I'm about to lick the back of your knee up to you. And you highlighted that? You wanted to remember that? That's crazy. OK. Completely unrelated, but I'm reading the fine print right now. And I think the things that the guy says
00:09:28
Speaker
Like, I'm like, Oh, that was super cute. I'm like that more
Introduction to 'Icebreaker' and Character Set-Up
00:09:32
Speaker
because he's like a grumpy sunshine personality. Okay, I'm also reading the fine print. Is that the one where, where it was like his granddad was like super rich and he died. And he has to like create something new for their family. Oh my gosh, I
00:09:54
Speaker
I follow a girl on TikTok who she does this thing where she rates if these couples will stay married or if they're doomed to get divorced. I don't know if they're married. I mean, I assume. But she's like, yeah. But she's like, yeah. But she reads the entire book handle on camera. And she's talking about it. And she's like, oh my gosh. She literally hates that male main character. She's like. Because he is a trash human being.
00:10:25
Speaker
Even though he's not- I feel for him. He's had some rough stuff. Rough? I mean, it doesn't matter anyway, but I understand where he's coming from. I understand his character more, but I have a background. Okay. Okay. Back to the book that we're talking about. Raven as a billionaire grandpa? Why didn't you tell us?
00:10:55
Speaker
new information. I know. Oh, and so, okay, so she meets him, she moves into the house. Can I call her crazy yet? Or is that giving it away? No. So she meets Nina, Nina is super nice and stuff. But then the moment she goes into the house, she sees unlike yesterday, this house is trashed.
00:11:22
Speaker
It is dirty, there are stains and pizza everywhere. Somehow Nina, in a week, her roots grew out. Which is crazy. No, what was crazy was that kid flipping a biscuit over some dang peanut butter. In hindsight, that wasn't crazy. She's not on her dick. No, but she should have definitely asked if she had a nut allergy.
00:11:55
Speaker
Before you ask somebody to watch your kids. I mean, not really. I mean, maybe, but obviously we're trying to set her up to be a little scatterbrained, but.
00:12:08
Speaker
I don't know. What does the kid need to be a terrible human being too? The Alexa, did you finish this book? Or are we just speaking like the very beginning of the book? I mean, I'm going based off of the beginning of the book, how I felt that kid was a tyrant. I wanted to kick her in the throat. But I'm just saying needed a swift spanking. I'm just saying if I
00:12:29
Speaker
If I was, if I, whether I was allergic to nuts or not, y'all gotta say that was a little funny. Can you imagine? Oh, here you go. Peanut butter, crackers and bananas. Oh my God, you tried to kill me.
Character Dynamics and Standout Moments in 'Icebreaker'
00:12:43
Speaker
Mom, she tried. Like, even if she was being like a little jerk, that was kind of like great comedic timing. It was dramatic. You could have just been like, Oh no, I'm allergic to peanut butter. Well, then why do you have this giant jar?
00:12:58
Speaker
I mean, I'm allergic to nuts. I'm super allergic to pistachios. My mama loves pistachios. Just because somebody in the house is allergic to some don't mean other people can't have it, especially if it's not one of those allergies where it's just like the particles in the air get too warm. Well, no, it doesn't count, because then she comes out and says, why would I keep a giant jar of peanut butter in the house if my daughter's allergic?
00:13:29
Speaker
Anyways, moving past the peanut issue. What happens after that? Oh, she goes to the attic in the room. Y'all, first of all, I just want to say, Millie, I get, you know, just coming out of prison and being desperate. I don't know if I'd ever be that desperate. I could actually never mind, but not even a closet.
00:13:57
Speaker
I thought there was a closet in the attic. No. That attic was like a closet. It was like, like, like, I think in my imagination, the attic is kind of like that closet in Raven's old house that they kept the movies in. Or like the under the stairs type closet. Like a Harry Potter situation. Yeah.
00:14:25
Speaker
And like, I don't know. But I just feel like, why didn't she ask her, aren't parole officers supposed to help you find jobs? Yeah, but her parole officer didn't know. Oh, yeah, because she didn't know that she had gotten fired for punching that person. But why didn't she just say that she got fired for another reason? Like, she broke too many glasses. Probably because they were going to call and verify.
00:14:55
Speaker
Or like, why couldn't she say she just quit? She's allowed to quit a job, isn't she? As long as she finds a new one? Well, the whole purpose is that she has to obtain a job. Like, there can't be any gaps. So she would have to like immediately find one the next, the next day, same day. Oh, but like, if she would have liked, I don't know, maybe I actually, I'm thinking too highly of parole officers who know how much they're trying to actually help, but I'm just saying. I feel like her parole officer wasn't a mean lady.
00:15:25
Speaker
whenever you actually like heard from her we
Reflections and Reviews of 'Icebreaker'
00:15:29
Speaker
did once yeah once yeah and she was like she was a nice lady okay after the peanut butter incident she meets the husband yeah andrew when i tell you i genuinely hated the first like half of this book i hated every single person in this book for a plethora of different reasons
00:15:54
Speaker
he gave me the ick right away just because he was too sweet he did not give me the ick i was like wow this is the man that is definitely gonna cheat on his wife it wasn't like an ick like oh my god he's too nice just like here i was like he's definitely gonna cheat on his wife and like before the little twist i was like i was like dang nina
00:16:17
Speaker
he cheat on his wife is she is she crazy like that that man is a dummy that means a doofus both of them got marbles rattling around and they school if this is how this woman is acting and y'all haven't wronged her yet that's crazy that'd be a crazy thing to do but
00:16:43
Speaker
Yeah, so we meet Andrew. They have a little they have a little chitchat over. Family feud or something. Oh, no, she tells him about the peanut incident, and he's like, what are you talking about? She is not allergic to peanuts.
Current Reads and Future Book Recommendations
00:17:00
Speaker
And he's like, I think I know what my daughter is allergic to, even though she's not really my daughter. And that's where we learn that. What's her name is not his daughter.
00:17:13
Speaker
Baby Nina is not- I did not see that coming. What is the girl's name? I don't matter. Cecilia. I'm gonna call her Paige. Oh, is it really? I'm pretty sure it's Cecilia. I was about to call this girl Wele. Wele? You knew her name when Wele. First of all, you didn't read that book, so you don't know what I'm referring to.
00:17:42
Speaker
It's just the first child being popped in my head. Really? Yes. You know, Casey, I've tried to bully you into reading that book and you still haven't had any of the things we hide from the light.
00:18:00
Speaker
I'm not reading that book. That book is too big. Things we never go for. That book is too big. If I, I can, I'll maybe listen to the audio book if I ever got 12 days, but that book is too big. No, it's so good. Once you get to like, maybe like chapter 20. I already think there's something wrong with
00:18:24
Speaker
wrong with me because i didn't like the inheritance game so i just i can't be subjected to any more ridicule for not liking a popular book like people people have the inheritance game on their list of books they do not accept criticism for
00:18:44
Speaker
That is crazy. People be talking about this book has crack in it. That book has the opposite of crack in it. That book has that drug that they give people who smoke cigarettes that makes people throw up when they taste cigarettes. That is what that book has in it for me. I just don't think you appreciated it like I did. That's why it was listed on my book bracket for the year. Also, I sent that to you and neither of you participated. I said I hadn't been reading since January.
00:19:15
Speaker
Okay. I don't think I have any January books. Mine, it was too early to put housemaid as like my one for June. All the things that I want to read are like vacant at the library and I really don't want to be suckered into buying them, but that's looking like what it's going to be. Yeah, I think we should really stay on topic because I feel so bad for anyone listening to this. We do two seconds of book talk and then we go on a tangent.
00:19:41
Speaker
okay we're focusing okay we gotta at least finish this book and then we can have a little bit of tangent time and then icebreaker okay okay so her and andrew hit it off there he he ha ha over uh dinner and over family feud and nina she is acting like she don't like it one bit she telling her you can't watch tv down here with my family you can't do this with my family and then
00:20:08
Speaker
Millie is actively catching Nina destroying her hard work every morning. And me personally, that would have been the moment I quit. The first moment I woke up and saw her throwing stuff out of the refrigerator, looking for her notes, I'm quitting. Oh my god, would you guys like to hear the first discussion question?
00:20:29
Speaker
yeah okay so before she takes the job at the winchester's at the very beginning of her employment there are several warning signs that millie does notice but chooses to look past why doesn't millie get out of the situation because she's stupid and desperate i dang raven
00:20:51
Speaker
Revan, my name is not Nicole Kaler. You are not gonna do this to me. Let me sum it up for you. She sees a lot of red flags. She chooses to ignore them. Why? Because she's dumb and stupid. Because... Well, really it's because she was scared of going back to prison. That's true. Dumb. But, you know, like...
00:21:21
Speaker
I would have left. Also, why do you think she never contacted her parents? I don't remember them explaining that. She was just like, I can never contact my parents. Maybe her parents think she did what she did for not a good reason. I guess we could say why she went to jail. Murder. Which, to be quite honest, it seemed like it was a self-defense situation. I never backed her up.
00:21:52
Speaker
Oh, okay. I was going to say so either. Yeah. Or we took a plea deal. Okay. Okay. Next question. While Nina was intentionally, as it turns out, actually, can we just discuss the twist right now so that I can ask these questions? Y'all the twist is that Nina actually was not crazy. And Andrew was a psychopath who locked Nina up in their attic to quote unquote
00:22:18
Speaker
punish her when she did something bad and to get out of the attic she always had to do something twisted like rip out a hundred strands of her hair from the root or like pepper spray herself from in the eyes and stuff like that and so what happens is once he kicks Nina out he's like I don't love you I'm gonna be with Millie so now Millie's living up in the in the in the main bedroom and she does something he doesn't like and so he
00:22:47
Speaker
does his first punishment of her and so then what happens is Nina kinda set Millie up to be able to get Andrew back because Nina knew that Millie that Millie had killed somebody before she's like she killed one person she can kill a second person so then Millie she switches it up she gets Andrew up in the closet and she does what she does well actually technically he like starved to death or died of dehydration
00:23:16
Speaker
but before all that she kind of tortured him so boom andrew dead nina comes back tells millie get out of here and then like she her husband's dead and it turns out that one of the officers main officers on the scene of andrew's death is like dang that's crazy because he used to be engaged to my daughter and my daughter said he was crazy and that he might have been he might have been
00:23:42
Speaker
privy to kill himself. So shoot, he must have killed himself. This must have been a accident. And and Nina was like, Yeah, it was an accident. So now Andrews dead. And what we learned at his funeral is that his mom used to do that to him as a kid, which is how he learned this process. And really moved on and she now she just kills bad husbands. And that's how they set up the second book.
00:24:07
Speaker
um i think that the officer knew exactly what happened and he was just trying to cover it up because i mean he definitely knew exactly what happened yeah that he found out he did that to his daughter so therefore that was his payback yeah that is definitely what happened but okay so while nina was intentionally as it turns out terrible to millie do you think this justifies millie starting an affair with andrew why or why not
00:24:33
Speaker
No. It is never okay to sleep with somebody's husband, no matter how crazy she is. But like, the way they started this affair, they literally, it like, why didn't y'all just do what y'all were gonna do? Oh my god, I've never seen a Broadway show. Oh my god, we should make a night of it. Oh my gosh, do you want to make some French meal? Oh my god, let's go stay at this hotel together. Oh my god. And then when she asks, can we get like supper rims? No, we'll just share.
00:25:02
Speaker
Y'all could've done this for $10 worth of pizza at your house and she would've still slept with him. He did not have to wine and dine her. I mean I guess they probably just make it so much better. They're like thinking she won.
00:25:22
Speaker
Not really, but she won. Let's see. Nina could have let Millie take the fall for Andrew's death, but she chose to cover for her after much prompting from Enzo. Did this further change your view of Nia? Is Nia ultimately a good or a bad person? You know, honestly, before I say answer that question, can I make this into a movie? Because sister had to be acting her butt off.
00:25:51
Speaker
Like, this is Oscar worthy performance. Okay, who's playing Nina in the movie? Not Blake Lively. I know who's playing Nina in the movie. I know who's playing Nina in the movie. Oh, what's her face? Olivia Pope. Good girls. No. Nina in the movie is the main lady from Good Girls. The red hair?
00:26:15
Speaker
Yes. What is her name? No, that's no. Yes. Beth is Nino Winchester. No. Yes, she is because she can play put together housewife, but also I think she can like get a little. No. Kerry Washington. Nobody can play crazy better than her. First of all, I would never want to see my girl Kerry go through that.
00:26:41
Speaker
I just think she would pull it off. I would never put a black woman in that situation. Okay, fine. We'll give Blake Lively the part. Y'all can't see the camera, but Regan's agreeing with me. We are not giving Blake Lively the part. We are giving Miss Beth from Good Girls the part.
00:27:04
Speaker
or Gina Rodriguez? No! Alexis, you don't know how to, you don't know how to cast movies. You don't know how to cast movies. Gina Rodriguez! Yes! Mrs. Nick is giving me heebie jeebies! That's who you're casting! Jane the Virgin! No!
00:27:25
Speaker
I'm running out of options now. I gave you a good option. I don't agree with that one. Look at this. Look at this. She can't be old. She's got to be young. Look at this. You're telling me that's not giving Nino Winchester? Look at this. I think so. This is giving Nino Winchester. Fine. And you know who should play Andrew? Ryan Reynolds.
00:27:53
Speaker
No! You should agree with me. No, you know who's playing Andrew? You know who's playing Andrew? This guy, this guy, hold on. Because I've seen how he's aged and how he's aged. Hold on, hold on, hold on, hold on. Oh, crap, what's the show called? Hold on, I'm Googling it. Is it a popular show? It's a show that we've all seen. What is his name?
00:28:23
Speaker
What's his character name? This, this is who's playing Andrew. Oh boy from the Mindy Project. This is who's playing Andrew. Mr. Mr. Danny Castellano. I think Andrew needs to be like.
00:28:49
Speaker
It seemed super- Please don't height shame. It was super charming. He is charming. Ryan Reynolds is charming. No, no, Ryan Reynolds, he's too known. This is a movie where you gotta have, like, you can have known people, but they gotta be lesser known. Really? Y'all not seeing Mr. Danny Castellano?
00:29:16
Speaker
No. Oh, let's see. Who else can I imagine as him? Ooh, you know who would play a really good him, but they ain't never letting this man act again. Um, hold on. Who would be Millie?
00:29:42
Speaker
Oh, hold on. What is his name? This is, this guy would be a perfect Andrew, but, but I don't think he ever going to work, work again. I gotta, I gotta pull him up. Hold on. Why wouldn't he work again though? Oh my gosh. Because his, his controversy, this, if he read this book, it will only give him ideas. Mr. Army hammer. Oh, Mr. Army hammer. This is our Andrew. This is our Andrew.
00:30:11
Speaker
Ms. Beth, Ms. Beth Wheeler or whatever her last name is, is our Nina. Who is our Millie? Somebody real strange. Millie, Millie is the girl from all too well, 10 minute Taylor version. Sadie Sink. That's our Millie. That is our Millie. Sadie Sink is our Millie.
00:30:42
Speaker
Am I wrong or am I wrong? Yes, you are. You were very wrong. Lily does not have red hair. I'm so sorry. Alexis, this is Hollywood. She can die or put on a wig. I don't care. Pick somebody else. It doesn't matter. Get back to your discussion questions.
00:31:02
Speaker
She's mad because she knows I just casted that movie perfectly. And if Hollywood uses that cast, first of all, why is Armie Hammer still working? Second of all, I want residuals. No, they're going to cast Blake Lively. OK, Andrew was undeniably a terrible person, but he also died a particularly gruesome death. Do you think he deserved what he got? Yes and no. And second part of the question,
00:31:33
Speaker
If we got to hear from Andrew's point of view, would you have, would you change your answer? Um, I think, no, I wouldn't change my answer, but I also think that there's a lot to the story that we didn't hear just by the last thing that the mom said, his mom said. Yeah.
00:31:58
Speaker
Like if you would have been able to hear what he had to say about that, like, oh, my mom, would you have changed how you felt? Or would he still be like? I think if he was actively trying to be a better person. But he clearly wasn't. Yeah, I mean, that's true. He clearly wasn't. But yeah.
00:32:24
Speaker
Do you think if he was actively trying to be a better person but he just like sometimes he couldn't help it and he like locked him in a closet, do you think you would have thought different about him? I still think because I do sometimes lock somebody in a closet. Or if he was like really apologetic like I'm so sorry, I'm so sorry. No. Okay. Especially in that type of closet.
00:32:50
Speaker
with a bucket and three mini bottles of water. No snacks. But we're all drug. That is what's crazy. I want to know what kind of drugs. Did we get that information? It was probably, he was probably roofie on them. Nice. So is that our last thing about this book? Okay. Our ratings. I rated it five stars.
00:33:18
Speaker
Oh, I read it. I read it at four. Um, we should read Casey's review real quick. Um, also don't read the second one. It's terrible. No, we were reading both of them. Y'all are reading it. You're the one that wanted to read it. Oh, I'm going to read it. I'm just saying don't read the second book. It's hot garbage. Oh, the second book. Yeah. Okay.
00:33:44
Speaker
This book is so unserious, but the combination of short chapters and hateable characters... Hey, hold on. This is, this is not... I don't think this is grammatically correct. It probably isn't.
00:33:57
Speaker
of short chapters and hateable characters, but it got me, and I really liked it. Now, was I screaming at my phone like a dad watching football on Sunday? Yes, yes I was, but I loved every minute of it. Was the twist predictable and honestly kind of underwhelming? Yeah, it was. That just made me like it more, because yes, follow the formula. What is the formula? What do you mean? Oh, the woman is crazy. The woman is the problem. Boom, actually the man.
00:34:27
Speaker
I've read many a book where, oh my God, the woman, the woman, the woman, boom, actually the man. All of this to say it was a very fun read and I had a nice time. Now you're saying that wouldn't make you want to read the book? No. Okay. No. Okay. On to the next icebreaker. The most overhyped book. This book is not overhyped.
00:34:57
Speaker
This icebreaker is on my list of books I don't take criticism on. It's overhyped because you overhyped it. I think I gave it the appropriate amount of hype. No. I felt bullied into reading it. I think it was a good book. It wasn't like I could finish in two days good, but no. I didn't finish in two days either. It was no house made good.
00:35:25
Speaker
It was better than housemaids. It's okay, I'm going to leave, obviously not. No, I can compare them. They say you can't compare apples to oranges, but I can and I will. Whatever.
00:35:40
Speaker
Anyway, Casey description. OK. This is the review that you Anastasia Allen has worked her entire life for a shot at Team USA, a competitive figure skater since she was five years old, a full college scholarship thanks to her place on the Maple Hill skating team and a schedule that would make even the most driven person to weep. Stasi comes to win. No exceptions.
00:36:08
Speaker
Nathan Hawkins has never had a problem he couldn't solve. As captain of the Maple Hills Titans, he knows the responsibility of keeping the hockey team on the ice.
00:36:20
Speaker
rest on his shoulders. When a misunderstanding results in the two teams sharing a rink and Anastasia's partner gets hurt in the aftermath, Nate finds himself swapping his stick for tights and one scary coach for an even scarier one. The pair finds themselves stuck together in more ways than one, but it's fine because Anastasia doesn't even like hockey players, right? I'll start off by saying
00:36:49
Speaker
way too long it was not way too long it was the perfect amount of long no has the second book out already no it looks like people people probably have art copies i'm so jealous i want an art copy okay yeah um also there were bonus chapters did i miss that there were bonus chapters
00:37:19
Speaker
One of the reviews says she just read the bonus chapters. Oh, I didn't read the bonus chapters. Okay, Casey. So, I wish we have like a list of characters, but I don't. This book has a lot of characters. Yeah, and I got confused between Nay, Jordan. Her best friend. Her best friend, Jordan.
00:37:51
Speaker
Her best friend? I thought his name was Andrew. No, that's a different book. Nevermind. Hold on. Nate, Jordan, Anthony, JJ, I don't know. David's just naming people now. JJ from? JJ was in the book. JJ was the one that they cooked with. Like literally they're all blur until probably halfway through the book. Or different people. What's her skating rink partner's name?
00:38:22
Speaker
Don't ask me. Don't ask me. I was like, which one am I not supposed to like? Okay. Aaron, Aaron, Aaron. Okay, so the main characters we need to know are, oh my gosh, why can't they just have a list of all the characters in this book?
00:38:51
Speaker
I'm trying to figure out how to play this bill. Okay, so our main character, our main is Anastasia Allen. Our main love interest is Nathan Hawkins. And so then Nathan's friends are Henry, Robbie, Jayden, Bobby, Chris,
00:39:19
Speaker
Joe, Maddie. Okay, and Russ is kind of important. But those are the hockey boys. And then Sabrina is Anastasia's best friend. And Sabrina is dating Robbie. I thought her name was not Sabrina, like Lolo or something.
00:39:47
Speaker
Oh, it could be Lulu. But I don't see her on this list. I don't know y'all and I don't have the book to check. It's too far away. Mine's even further so get yours. We are not measuring distances right now. Mine is not in this building. It's in the car. Mine?
00:40:18
Speaker
Well mine's at the other house. Well y'all I really wish I could tell you who these characters were but for some reason they have absolutely no list of who these people are and this is like the main book that needs a character list. Why has nobody written down all the characters in this book somewhere? Okay but let's go in order. Okay so
00:40:48
Speaker
It starts off, we have Stasi. She is just, you know, doing her thing. She's skating. She's trying to hit a quadruple Lutz, but you know, she can't, she's not hitting it, you know? And it's really, it's really chafing her that she can't do it. And then we meet her skating partner, Erin. Erin is the human personification of a turd.
00:41:20
Speaker
Lola, who is Sabrina? I don't know who Sabrina is. Oh well, it don't matter that much. Her best friend's name is Lola. But yeah, and so her and Lola are going out to a party and it ends up being a hockey player party.
00:41:45
Speaker
she's like I don't like hockey players blah blah blah oh wait back to Erin we meet Erin and Erin is always talking about her weight he's always talking about how we can't lift her how this that and my first thought was maybe you need to get in the gym and stop being so weak
00:42:04
Speaker
because everybody knows in these books these people be itty bitty they be sitting there oh my god i'm barely five foot and i i like like i feel like hannah grace and
00:42:19
Speaker
What's wrong girl's name? Allie Hazelwood. Allie Hazelwood is a chronic perpetrator of this. Allie Hazelwood be having these, oh my god, these, I'm so, I'm so tiny. I look, I look and he's six five and it's like he's a mountain of a man. And here I am, a little mouth scary. Like, wait, did y'all both read love hypothesis? I never finished it.
00:42:46
Speaker
Well, in her little spicy scene, the main male character, she's like, I'm so tiny, I'm so itty bitty. He put my entire booby in his mouth, and it was so easy for him to just even go for my titty. I was like, I'm sorry. I was like, you're happy. You are happy now.
00:43:09
Speaker
say that for? We got it. We got it. Sis was tiny. We didn't need you. Oh my god. I'm so petite that he was just able, if given the chance, he could have stuck my entire arm down his throat. Like I'm like an Anaconda. What did she say that for? I love Allie Hayes. When Doris ended her books, I just think she gets tired and a little unhinged. That's all I gotta say. Because love on the brain was crazy.
00:43:38
Speaker
Oh, wow. But back to but so yeah, he's constantly I con her fat. He made up a meal plan for her where this woman is an athlete that is training every day for multiple hours doing intense cardio aerobic exercises. And she's eating 1200 calories a day. She got to be hungry. And her being hungry is where we come into my personal favorite character of this book, top five at least.
00:44:09
Speaker
What's his name? I thought his name was Jordan. Ryan. Ryan. Ryan, Ryan, Ryan, Ryan. So guys, Ryan is the captain of the basketball team at Maple Hills and they're little, they're little buddies. And Ryan's thing is Ryan is always trying to get Stasi to eat. He's always like, I'm bringing snacks. I got food. And Ryan, Ryan always has that bag on him. He, he always has snacks on deck just in case any time Stasi is around. And even if she get kind of hungry,
00:44:38
Speaker
he gonna be ready. She's like, oh you, I got jerky. Oh, oh you hungry? I got these, I got these chips. You hungry? I got these. But she never takes it because Erin has her eating exclusively lettuce and smelling salts. That's all she eats. Wait, Ryan was the one who, dang, now I lost my train of thought. He was her, he was her friends with benefits, right? Yes.
00:45:06
Speaker
He's your favorite. I, when I first started this book, I had such a hard time trying to root for Nate because I was like, what's wrong with Ryan? Ryan is right there. Okay. And Nate is not the best friend. No, Nate is the main male love interest. Okay. Who was the best friends? What was his name? Lola and Robbie. Okay.
00:45:35
Speaker
Are we sure it's Robbie? No. Oh, okay. Well, that's what we're going with for the time being. But yeah, so yeah, they go to this party. It is. I don't remember what happened. I gotta be honest. Read this book a little bit ago. Y'all. Um, someone who read it more recently jump in. She meets the captain of the hockey. What part? Party. The party.
00:46:03
Speaker
Oh, and then she asked, she needs to go to the restroom. That thing. Oh yeah, that happens. And then she says one of the cringiest lines I've ever read. The only time I like meant to beg is when they're on their knees in front of me. You just met this man.
00:46:22
Speaker
You genuinely did. Can y'all imagine saying that this man says, Oh, would you want me to do big like he's joking? And she goes, The only time I want a man to beg is when he's on his knees about to. Babe, what? That only flies in a book. In any other context, I guess unless that man was crazy attracted to you like Nate was. In any other context, you are getting laughed out of that room.
00:46:52
Speaker
at least personally. Like if I ever was jokingly and I said please to a man and he goes only, only like it whenever, only like it when my woman begs on her knees before giving me, I would've been like, where is your mama's phone number? Let me call her right now. Cause she raised a heathen. Yeah. And so,
00:47:23
Speaker
and then things happen. Wait, does he actually end up, y'all, and then he actually ends up getting on his knees and giving her the little heave ho. That's crazy. And then she sprints out and they don't talk for weeks, which like, honestly, vibe. She said, I was only joking. It was a joke. Why didn't he laugh?
00:47:49
Speaker
And so then what ends up happening, boom, the hockey players' hockey rink gets trashed by another hockey team. So they have to share with the figure skaters. And everybody hates it. Y'all, I don't know how to give a good book synopsis. I don't know. Because I really just want to skip to, y'all, they ended up together. This will happen. We had time for that book, too.
00:48:18
Speaker
Like what happens? I like to have parts where I'm like, oh, that'll be a good part to talk about. If I ever want to talk about this. I need you to have, I need you to remember. I do want to talk about how they never actually broke up. No third scene breakup.
00:48:39
Speaker
Yeah, most books like when you're you have this love interest. Oh, okay. We're in a fight. We're done. So then that's gonna to go through the rest of the book, we could just skip and do like the high level points where Skating partner hurts his arm and blames it on a and lies about it and billions of the nate can't play hockey until he gets better. So
00:49:04
Speaker
Which is so stupid. Yeah, it is very stupid. So then Nate- You want me to sit down while your bones heal? Well, because they said that he sabotaged him on purpose. And then- Okay, but technically he agreed to it because he didn't want- because his coach is about to bench their whole team. Oh. And so then Nate ends up being Stasi's, um, partner for like the next four weeks.
00:49:32
Speaker
And, and he tries to build her confidence and stuff because she's always like, and I'm too heavy. And he's like, but you're not even my warmup late. And then finally, what's his name goes back.
00:49:52
Speaker
Yeah. Yeah. Skating partner comes back, but he drops Stasi and she gets wrecked. She has a concussion. Her ribs are bruised and Nate sees it happen and he carries her to the hospital like a man. Yeah.
00:50:14
Speaker
Fast forward. It ends up coming. Oh, a big fight happens. So then the hockey players are throwing a party because Stasi, she lives with Aaron and Lola, but she's really upset at Aaron because he's been a really bad friend. So she's been living with Nate and the hockey guys. They throw this big party because something good happened.
00:50:35
Speaker
and Erin shows up drunk. And during that party, Stasi and Nate were in the back just hanging out. They hear a little brouhaha happening. And what she sees is Henry, her favorite hockey player, like her little brother, beating the brakes off of Erin.
00:50:54
Speaker
So she gets all mad at Henry. She's like, why'd you do that? And he's like, he knows why I did it. And it don't matter. I'm whatever. I'm not sorry I did it. And then it comes out that Aaron was calling her everything but a child of God to everybody. He was calling her a whore. He was calling her a Jersey Tracer. He was calling her fat. He was calling everything. After Nate had done all this work to get her to eat right,
00:51:22
Speaker
and stop being insecure about her weight and stuff. And yeah. And so then they go to therapy. Yeah, they go to couples therapy and she decides that she doesn't think she'll be able to be friends with him again, but she needs him if she's going to go to the Olympics. And Nate is mad about that.
00:51:49
Speaker
And so fast forward, Nate's able to play hockey. They get to the national championship. They win the national championship. Go hockey team. And then he rushes to go see Stasi perform in the skating nationals. And right when it's happening, he goes. And at the end, they do an amazing routine. And they're at their ending pose. And Aaron grabs Stasi and kisses her.
00:52:15
Speaker
Stasi, she skates off to her coach. She's like, I'm not doing this. I can't do this. And so in skating, they have a thing where you learn, whenever you learn about what your, um, what your score is, you go to this little box that has a camera and it's called the kissing cry. Because what either happens is everybody's super happy and they're like kissing and it's so happy or you get devastated and you're crying. So they go to the kissing cry.
00:52:42
Speaker
And it is ice cold because she's pissed. Erin's pissed. Her coach is trying to hold it together. And in the kiss and cry, they see they got this amazing thing. But she's like, I'm not skating with him. We're disqualified. So that happens. And then Nate had seen it happen. But he was like, oh my god, that wasn't playing. Like, Sussy did not like that. And so he comforts his woman. I don't remember if he hit Erin. Yeah, he hits Erin.
00:53:11
Speaker
And then Stasi's dad was calling him because they had met. And he was like, and Stasi's dad was already super proud of him for how great he was at skating. I mean, at playing hockey. And then he was like, I hope you punched that boy that kissed my daughter. He was like, I did, sir. It's giving go figure. You know what we miss? You know what we miss, which is a big point in this? Stasi almost died, y'all. Oh, yeah.
00:53:40
Speaker
How has he almost died? She was skating on a frozen lake and fell through. She literally almost died in the middle of the book. Any movie, any book that you read about people skating on a frozen lake, it always breaks. I was waiting for it to happen.
00:54:02
Speaker
I was like, I was reading it. And I was like, there's no way this is gonna happen. And then it happened. And I was like, well, she's definitely not gonna die. So what was the point of putting this in? That would have been so crazy if she just killed her off then. I know it's just Nate mourning. It's a series. She can't kill her.
00:54:24
Speaker
The rest is not going to be. It's not really a series. It's like a separate series. Like the next book isn't about Stacey and Nate at all. And we could have just had Nate being sad in the background mourning the loss of his one true love. Are we at the end? Do you want me to read? Well, we got to. And so then the epilogue. Yeah, the epilogue. So like. I didn't read that. Stacey ends up going solo. I just missed the epilogue.
00:54:54
Speaker
Anything that has a prologue and an epilogue, it's not meant to be read. Yes, it is. Yes, it is. This is a terrible way to live your life. If it doesn't say chapter, whatever. It says epilogue. You need to read the epilogue. It doesn't say chapter.
00:55:10
Speaker
Oh my god, y'all, there's some wrong with Alexis, but back to what the epilogue was about. Stasi goes solo and now she's a solo figure skater. She got gold at the Olympics. She is now preggers with baby Hawkins. They are not married yet. That had my Pentecostal pearls clutching.
00:55:31
Speaker
you telling me y'all went through yoga and even just got engaged before she got knocked up but aye aye let me let me chill a little little calvary christian academy jumped out for a second let me so she's pregnant she's about to have a baby nate is in the nhl they are the most successful couple to ever exist
00:55:57
Speaker
And he proposes to her and so they get engaged and it's so cute. The end. Okay, I'm gonna read Casey's review now. Okay. Hannah Grace put her whole coochie in this book.
00:56:21
Speaker
She did. I'm not freaking back fantasy. She had me flicking my feet and giggling the entire time. She honestly has a fan in me for life. Okay, but Nate Hawkins is a man, capitalized man, and I love him. And Stacey, she is perfectly relatable and genuinely funny. She does such a great job in making the characters very likable, very as in capitalized, very
00:56:46
Speaker
But yeah, this book, in my opinion, is the most perfect fluffy romance book, but I can't sing its praises enough. We're going to work on your reviews. Nope. If I could put whole coochie on a public website. I mean, yes. She did put her whole coochie in the book. Back to what I was saying, if I was somebody like, I don't know if I should read it, is it too
00:57:16
Speaker
And I was scrolling through reviews, and I see Hannah Grace put her whole coochie in this book. I'm reading it off rip. It doesn't matter. I don't care if the rest of that review was saying it kind of sucked. She started it off. When she put her whole coochie in it, I'm reading it. Because the whole thing? Not just part of it. Not just part of it. Not just part of it. Yeah. She put all of it.
00:57:46
Speaker
All four, all four. You should put all of it in there. Okay, so ratings. Five out of five. You guys, we gotta rate the pepper scale. Pepper scale. Three. Three point five. Four. I mean, a big chunk of the book was missing. True.
00:58:16
Speaker
Yeah, three and a half. Yeah. Can we do half-writing? Yeah. What's stopping me? Okay, 3.5. Raven was the one who told me I can't rate books one out of 10. Yeah, because that's not a book scale. Books is out of five. Movies and TV shows are out of 10. Okay. Everyone knows that.
00:58:43
Speaker
Wait, can I just say something? I also recently I read Jeanette McCurdy's biography. I'm glad my mom died.
00:59:04
Speaker
It's so traumatic and a real story and she rated this woman's personal tragic biography like a 3 out of 5. I gave it a 4 out of 5.
00:59:21
Speaker
You spend a whole book talking about how you had to come to the realization that your mother was incredibly abusive and that has permeated through your entire life from pre-teenager till now as a grown woman and some girl in Texas goes three out of five. It was three out of five. Same thing with Josh Peck's book.
00:59:47
Speaker
Happy people are annoying. I gave that a four as well. That is so funny. Whatever. Anyway, we're going to end with the books that we've currently been reading. Well, the ones that we finished this month and currently reading. Okay. I finished House Made Secret number two.
01:00:07
Speaker
Um, tell me lies. I was going to ask y'all to read it and then we were going to watch the TV show on Hulu so we could talk about it, but, um, I'm not going to put you through that saga. So, um, are you there God? It's not worth it. Are you there God? It's me, Margaret. Okay. First of all, don't come for me. Second of all, I wanted to see the movie. So in order for me to see the movie, I had to read the book. I love that. And it's cool.
01:00:36
Speaker
And it was fantastic. I was enthralled the whole entire time. Her friend talking about boobs and getting periods. I was like, Oh wow, this was like middle school. I mean, they were in middle school, but you know, different. What else did I read? Oh, in the hotel Nantucket. Great. Kind of want to go to Nantucket. Probably won't though. And then I'm currently reading the song of Achilles because everything else on my list is, um,
01:01:04
Speaker
like a five-week hold at the library. I am currently reading Mickey Chambers shakes it up and the perfect marriage and this month I finished Love on the Brain and I unfortunately did not finish um song the ballads of songbirds and snakes. I will try again soon.
01:01:30
Speaker
Yeah, it has such a low rating, I'm kind of sad. And I've also started The Toll. I finished, I finished, I finished Thunderhead, the second book in the side series, and I started The Toll, the third book in the side series. Trilogy. Neil Shutterman, that man. Y'all, if y'all read my Thunderhead reviews,
01:02:05
Speaker
I'm going to read it after I finish a fine print. Are you ready to alter them consecutively?
01:02:15
Speaker
Okay, like I'm even trying to convince my older brother to read it cuz right now I'll give his now reading my older brother is now reading Kindred by Octavia Butler, and I'm also trying to get him to read fledgling by Octavia Butler Octavia Butler is so good. She's she's the best sci-fi writer of our generation and I stand by that RIP rest in peace. Oh She's dead. Yes, pretty recent
01:02:45
Speaker
I know because Fledging will never get the sequel it was set up to have. I'm currently reading The Fine Print before he wakes, true crime book. And then I'm listening to Ace of Spades.
01:03:12
Speaker
Yeah, I need a new book to listen to. I'd be having nothing to do in the car on the way to work. I haven't been able to listen much since the interns came, but it's fine. What book did I just read about a manuscript? Y'all know the longest podcast we've had in my life. Yeah. Yeah. Don't read that. It's way too long. But it's great. Okay. Well,
01:03:41
Speaker
We'll probably read again and then talk about what's going to be our next joint book. We're all going to read scythe. If y'all could read it. I'll read it. Happy place. Okay. Nevermind. I'm not, I don't read Emily Henry. No offense. I don't enjoy her writing. Very controversial. Don't come at me book talk ladies, but I don't, I don't like it. She wrote book lovers, right?
01:04:11
Speaker
Yes. Yeah. Everyone's been crying at the end of the book. I'm like, well, I want to know why we're crying. I'm just not a fan of Emily Henry. She seems like probably a good audio book one, like where you kind of need something where it's not going to completely get your focus. But like, who? That's a good background. No. Let's read the fourth wing. The way at the library for that is insane. We can buy it. I'm not buying it.
01:04:39
Speaker
Oh my gosh, you know what we should read? It's a book that my mom put me on. It's called The Perfect Match. I'm actually on the wait list for it at the library, but my mom said it was really good. The Perfect Match. Oh, never mind. That is such a lie. It's called Neighbor Favor. It's called The Neighbor Favor. I was never close to a Perfect Match. It's called The Neighbor Favor. She said it was super cute. Or the inmate. Or Yellow Face.
01:05:09
Speaker
Okay, I haven't heard of that. You have? I've been talking about it for weeks. I can do the neighbor favor. I don't listen. Do the neighbor favor. Yeah. Oh, shoot. Okay, hold on. Raven, where's your library? Fort Worth. Dang. Dang, what's your hold looking like? It says there's one person per copy. I want to hold on each copy. And there's only three copies.
01:05:39
Speaker
Okay, I'm placing hold. It shouldn't be too bad. Dang, I'm third in line, but Arlington and Mansfield and stuff only has one copy. But my mom bought it. So if y'all get it before my hold is up, I'm just going to borrow her hers. This is about two weeks wait. Fourth and okay. Okay. Yeah, mine is mine is like six weeks. So I'll probably just end up borrowing my mom's. It's okay. Cover. Well,
01:06:09
Speaker
This is a great podcast. Yeah. We'll see you. I'm not going to promise anything. I forget a lot that we have this. Yeah. Bye. Bye. Love you.