The Book Club of Woodland Grove - Chapter 3

Abigail the Squirrel blushed as she rushed into the room, all eyes turned to her, “Sorry, I’m late. Thea and Kade had dance practice tonight, and Braiden was late getting home from work.”

“Oh, no worries, Abby. We never mind  waiting for you.” Nora the owl smiled as she grabbed Abby’s coat to hang up, “Jenna made jam cake for today, help yourself.” Abby smiled and hurried for her coffee and jam cake.

“Can we get started soon? I think I loved “Love Lost in Time” more than the first two romance stories!” Violet the Skunk smiled eagerly as she scooted her chair over so there was room for Abby.

“Of course. Now that we’re all here. Violet, I assume you want to kick this discussion off?” Violet blushed, but nodded 

“I really enjoyed the premise of this story. The way both characters evolved, how they each found closure and a happy ending. I just loved it!”

“Care to dig in a bit more? Why did you love it? It wasn’t my favourite, if I’m being honest.” Tracey the Rabbit asked, sipping her coffee.

“I found the idea of the timers to be really interesting. I wish I had a timer telling me when Mr. Right will show up. I felt it was really well written and laid out quite nicely.  I really like the slight plot twist that the soulmates were from a different point in time. How come you didn’t like it, Tracey?”

I didn’t love the premise. The idea that you know when you’ll meet your soulmate just seemed kinda boring to me. Maybe it’s just me, but it felt a little predictable. With the title and then the negative number, what other way could it go? ”

“Interesting. I was surprised by the twist. I wasn’t sure where the author was going with the story.” Abby added. “I thought it was an interesting take on the idea. And I really loved the letter at the end, that there was closure for both Joey and Alice.”

“It was nonsense if you ask me.” Bernard the Raccoon cut in with a grunt. “That’s the problem with young folks today. You always want the answers handed to you.  But what would you learn?”

“Not everything needs a lesson,” Violet rolled her eyes.

“You are quite right, Violet, there doesn’t always need a lesson.” Nora gently cut in. “However, I do love the unknown more than a planned-out road map. Which is what I enjoyed about this story. The author has two characters who had major unknowns in a world where your fate is laid out for you in terms of a countdown to your soulmate.”

“That’s a well put way to say that, Nora!” Abby clapped her hands. “And I did like that this story would have lent itself well to an enemies-to-lovers idea, as Joey and Alice had two different takes on what to do if your soulmate dies before you ever meet them, but she chose for them to be neutral first. When they first met, they didn’t hate each other but were actually interested in the other's theory, which I felt was more relatable.” 

“I still felt this story was too easy.” Bernard said, sipping his coffee.

“Well, if it was too easy, let me ask you all this,” Nora smiled, “what camp would you be in? Find the soulmate or not? The timer ran out on your wrist, and you never met them. What would you do?”

“Oh, I’d have to find them to get closure! There is no way I could live with the what-ifs.” Violet quickly jumped in, “It would just be awful to not know.”

“I think I’d agreed with Violet,” Abby said, “I’d like the closing that came with knowing.”

“I’d be more like Alice. Just live my life my way, and if I meet someone, then that’s that!” Jenna added and looked at Bernard,

“I’ll stick with Jenna. No sense grieving and watching for what you don't have. What about you, Nora?”

“Oh my, I’ll have to be the tie breaker.” Nora stopped and pondered for a moment, “But I do think I’m with Jenna and Bernard.” Violet and Abby sighed and shrugged their shoulders, while Jenna tried to high-five Bernard, who just stared at her. “Any more thoughts? Shall we move on?” Nora waited before smiling, “Alright, onto Fictional Love.”

“I really enjoyed this one, even though it was on the shorter side.” Jenna started, “I could put myself right into it, I’ve done this so many times, one minute I’m reading and the next I’m off in some different world. I will say, I was taken by surprise that the reader at the end of the book was from the modern world. I had assumed it would be a princess daydreaming about her knight.”

“I assumed that too!” Violet jumped in, “I thought for sure it would be about a princess who read too many books and had dreams of running away with her forbidden lover. But I did like how we found out it was from our time. It really made me think about the last time I allowed my imagination the freedom to go exploring.”

“I have to admit, this story caught me completely off guard. And it made me a little sad.”

“How come, Abby?” Nora asked,

“Well, I,  like the author, used to imagine myself in my books as I read them, but as I got older, it felt too childish to do that. But after reading this story,  it got me thinking. Why does it have to be childish? Why can’t I lose myself in books in my 30s?”

“A good question indeed. I’ve never experienced losing myself in a book like this story, but after reading it, I’d like to try and just shut my brain off the next time I read to try and discover this feeling.

“I wasn’t allowed to do such things,” Bernard added quietly. “My teacher was never pleased when I let my imagination run wild or when I’d get lost in a book. Have to say, it’s been a while since I’ve tried to lose myself in a book. But I almost did while reading this one.” The girls all smiled brightly at Bernard, who glared, “But I didn’t cause it was a romance story.” The room burst out laughing,

“Oh, Bernard. I do hope you never change,” Nora smiled with a laugh. “Now, do we have any other thoughts?” The discussion lasted another couple of minutes before it wrapped up. “Wonderful, for next week, we’ll be into part two of the book, the friendship stories. Have The Same Spot and Keeper of Dreams read for next week.”

“Goodbye, Nora!” Abby smiled and waved as she and the others left. Nora waved goodbye and continued to pack up.