Good Spice, Bad Writing: For Whom the Belle Tolls pt 2

So has the book delivered the spice?  Find out in this next installment. 

Title: For Whom the Belle Tolls

Author: Jaysea Lynn

Reviewed by: Percy, Daisy, Aris 

Created by the Podcast Team at the Harris County Public Library.
www.hcpl.net

Podcast Team Members include: Beth Krippel, John Harbaugh, Mary Mink, Dylan Smith, Sadina Shawver, Alinda Mac, John Schaffer, Jennifer Finch, Katelyn Helberg, Darcy Casavant, Darla Pruitt and Nancy Hu 

Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:00

Welcome to Harris County Public Library's Reading Room Radio, where your to be red pile gets a little more exciting, one micro podcast at a time.

SPEAKER_02 0:10

Welcome back to our Reading Room Radio. And today we are continuing our segment, Good Spice, Bad Writing. Introducing me, Percy, Daisy, and Aris. So we are talking about our part two for the book Whom the Bell Toes by JC Lynn. Let's get into it.

SPEAKER_01 0:31

Yay!

SPEAKER_02 0:32

We have a lot to talk about.

SPEAKER_01 0:35

It was hard to even start. I mean, start recording.

SPEAKER_02 0:38

What is our mood, our emoji, emoji? So yeah, this has a lot going on. These part two of this book has a lot going on. Of course, we get introduced to Sharky and we all have ideals of feelings about that. And of course, her and her try to killing. We meet Bill's family. Yes. And then we get some spicy scenes into like one big pizzazz sort of scene. But we have some thoughts on that. So how do we feel about the spicy scenes in this book? So many thoughts about that.

SPEAKER_01 1:12

Yeah, we're definitely on level three now. However, personally, I wouldn't say the spicy scenes are really sticking out to me that much. Oh, right.

SPEAKER_02 1:24

So ours, just to recap, our spice levels for this. We go by levels one through five. So level one would be no kiss, just tension.

SPEAKER_00 1:34

Level two will be tension.

SPEAKER_01 1:37

Level three would be it leads to one spicy scene. And then four is worldly realistic, three times or more spicy scenes. And five will be otherworldly, three times or more spicy scenes.

SPEAKER_02 1:50

So Daisy, you were saying this is level three.

SPEAKER_01 1:53

Yeah, definitely level three. We've interacted with them, ha having some some interactions, but the way the interactions are written, it's kind of take throwing me out. Like I'm I'm not really enjoying it. Okay. I thought it was 41. So you're not doing 401. I feel like when I was listening to the audiobook, I was like, oh, oh, I don't know about that.

SPEAKER_00 2:18

It definitely feels like the writing is a little bit um, I don't know how to put it, it feels mechanical.

SPEAKER_02 2:25

So definitely that's how I feel about the spicy scenes. I am a visual person because that's just my brain, my brain has to work that way. Like I have to be able to visualize it. Oh, like imagining it. Yeah, imagine it. I just have to though. Because it has to make sense in my brain. Like because if it doesn't, literally, it's just like I see the words, I hear the words, but I it's just gonna go like a blurb, and that's what's happening right now. And that's what I don't like because I'm like, wait a second. I'm more used to I think we all have different levels of what we like and enjoy from spicy scenes. I enjoy my C dramas and K dramas, okay? Because of the chemistry between the characters. What gets me is the chemistry, and so what's getting me here is that I am not feeling any chemistry. I'm feeling like the very forced, oh, this is attraction, we're attracted. Yeah, they're getting to know each other.

SPEAKER_00 3:21

Yeah, there's not a lot of buildup. No. No, there's like a lot of friendship. I feel like the writer is is paying a lot of attention and building so much friendship, yeah. But then when the scenes have are happening, you're left very cold, I guess. And that's what I feel like you're wondering, where is this going? And they're talking about love, but it's it's it's leaving you really cold.

SPEAKER_02 3:45

I definitely the chapter where they were like, I love you, I love you back, and I was like, Okay, we love each other, but then it was like I I don't know, the build-up for that was not what I was thinking, like what I was feeling. Like, I I feel like we are already in the middle of the part two, like we are in part two of the book, literally part three, we're done, right? So this should be the like we're building up to it, and it's not building up to anything. So I I mean this book had a lot of good reviews, so we're hoping I know in part one.

SPEAKER_01 4:19

I was I spoke a little too soon. I said it was actually good writing, but I'm starting to feel bad spice, bad writing. I agree with you there, and then I'm gonna go.

SPEAKER_02 4:29

I know, I understand.

SPEAKER_01 4:29

I was like, wait, I this whole middle section was a lot of Sharky's development. I'm gonna be so honest. I don't want Sharky in this book anymore. I've I've had enough. I get the bomb family thing, I get what you're trying to do, and I know it's a cozy read, but I maybe that's just no look and I that is fair because reading the Sharky scenes as a mom, right?

SPEAKER_02 4:54

And I'm like, okay, I get it. Now you're feeling the fulfillment of that you got you, you know, you never had a child, and you I get it, but also in a sense, I'm like, pick one. Yes, pick one. The book can't be everything. If the book wants to be about, um I want to be a mom, I want to have my regular life, I want it to then stick to one thing. That's exciting. But it's I feel like it's going everywhere, like being a mom, killing her past, she's traumatized, Belle's traumatized, and I was like, wait, are we supposed to be in her paradise? Like, what is going on?

SPEAKER_01 5:26

I keep forgetting we're in the afterlife. It does not feel like paradise anymore.

SPEAKER_00 5:29

Like, we've always all over the place. She has too much. There was so many things happening, and that I feel like everything happened to her character, everything in the list. Like, she was going through a check mark, like, yeah, everything, everything has happened. Everything happened. Every kind of trauma, someone trauma is happening. It's a little mud.

SPEAKER_01 5:49

I think it could have been done well, but and I think it's a great first novel for Joseph Lynn's first book. I like that makes me more like, okay, okay, this is this is better than what I expected.

SPEAKER_02 6:00

But it's a lot, it's a lot going on, and I think that's why the spicy scenes are getting lost to us. Because usually you get a storyline, the chemistry's there, even if it's like enemy slovers or if it's like their first love at sight. Just and these little things are we don't want to say cliche, but they they help with the chemistry of the of the characters and for us to get into the spicy scene. Here it's like war is going on. You're a general, you lost people. Like I I don't even know what's going on in the after like in this paradise. I don't know what the afterlife, I don't understand the whole universe attacking us. I don't know what's going on in the background. Like, I'm not understanding so much that's going on. Well, I'm trying to understand what's happening with Sharky, which I'm trying to understand with this, and I'm like, wait, but also your guys are in a relationship.

SPEAKER_00 6:52

And I think that's why we're having so much trouble because we wanted to read a book about that, about Lily and Bell, and then is we're getting all this all this information about all this other stuff, and maybe that's the problem here the mark. I wanted to guess.

SPEAKER_01 7:12

I I think um, like while we did have certain expectations, I think it would have been fine if it just was written a little differently. I think in romanticy there's always war. There's always one of them, the guy's always a general, that's like normal. But I do feel like in every single one, but I feel like in this one, it's just so much, so many plots, and it's just like getting it's it's just not cohesive and getting to it. But let's move on, we'll save that for the next part.

SPEAKER_02 7:41

So on the fun side, on the fun side, what song would describe our ideal level of spies? Something that you know we think.

SPEAKER_00 7:51

If we're talking about a level number three spies, you know, there's so many levels here. Yeah, but a level three spies, I would say for me, maybe the song Cherry by Lana Laray describes a level three spies as spy there. Can you sing it for us? Not really no. But if you have heard the song, then you know what I'm talking about.

SPEAKER_01 8:19

I think my level three would be Love to Love You Baby by Donna Summer.

SPEAKER_02 8:30

That's all yours personally. Mine is not level three. I just like the chemistry, okay?

SPEAKER_01 8:36

Like it's just level one. I like level one.

SPEAKER_02 8:41

Okay, just that's how you know the level of chemistry is so great. When you're just like smitten with someone with just their top, you're just like, wow, okay, okay.

SPEAKER_01 8:49

What do level one talk?

SPEAKER_02 8:51

Level ones from Pursuit of Jade. They have uh a single thoughts, so you have to actually hear it. It speaks of the fillings are there, right? The fillings, but it would be interesting to romantic.

SPEAKER_00 9:05

I mean maybe next time we'll just read a romantic story. Oh yes!

SPEAKER_02 9:10

I would love to hear comments um from others if you want to comment about what book or what song they're doing. Oh, yeah, what song they're gonna do number three is.

SPEAKER_01 9:20

I would love to hear that also. Yeah, their little comments of like, what do you think? Um then also, too, another comment that would be great is we only have one portion left of the podcast. So if you want to comment what book you want us to read next, and then we'll choose from there. Yeah, it would be great to have audience engagement with that. Please give us good suggestions. We're open to anything. This one was 700 pages, so we're pretty fast readers. Okay, well, thank you guys for joining us today. Yay, I'm very excited for part three of the R. Bye. See y'all soon. Or hear y'all soon.