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Annie

June 14, 2019 at 12:23 AM UTC


Updating my theory- Athelas killed the first victim, the one that brought him and Zero and Jin together. I bet he knows everything, and is the one setting all the wheels into motion.

Rocky

June 12, 2019 at 03:05 AM UTC


What I want to know is Pet’s real name. In pretty much every story dealing with fae, names are hugely significant; they are tied to identity and power, and knowing someone’s real name gives you power over them. Pet makes no effort to even care about her name, and I can’t help but think that when her real name is revealed, we will learn a lot more about her. For now, her namelessness is a protection from the far being overly interested in her or seeing her as more than her current title of Pet. I think they will most surprised when her true name and potential are revealed. We’ll also learn more about her parents once we know her family name.

Eleniel

June 12, 2019 at 04:45 AM UTC


Actually, in the very beginning of Between Jobs, she mentioned the fact that names are significant-
“Hi. My name is Pet. It’s not my real name, but it’s the only one you’re getting. Things like names are important these days.”
I think you’re right, though- her name will likely give a lot more insight into her background and character.

Alyn

June 11, 2019 at 10:06 PM UTC


So my favorite in book one would probably be Pet. She is so funny and interesting. Personally, I love how she reacts to situations and I find her immaturity/maturity refreshing (she is both rather immature and mature in different situations). It feels realistic to me.
One thing I loved about this book is that the vampire is Korean. In the fantasy genre, it is rare to have any characters be of Asian origin, but it is especially rare to have a supernatural being be Asian. I cannot even think of another book that had an Asian vampire. I think the Grendel Affair by Lisa Shearin had a Japanese half-elf, but that is the closest I can think of. So I love the fresh take on this. And I watch Korean dramas, so Jin-Yeong is like ticking all the boxes for me 🙂

Annie

June 11, 2019 at 03:32 AM UTC


Just started re-reading book one and a horrible theory struck me. If Pet’s parents were indeed killed, I think the kind old/strange/drink-nicking man possibly maybe probably did it.

Cheri

June 10, 2019 at 06:51 PM UTC


I, too, couldn’t stop after the first book. Pet is an unusual character. She is very accepting of others and doesn’t seem to withhold friendship from most characters. I agree that there is more to Pet than her being a simple human. I feel like Athelas is a little too interested in her and her abilities for her to just be human.

Aimee

June 10, 2019 at 07:05 AM UTC


Hey, everyone don’t forget there is a short story, that goes with these books.
“All The Different Shades of Blue”.

Caitlin

June 10, 2019 at 07:58 AM UTC


There are actually two short stories 😀 “Cloudy with a Chance of Drop Bears” is part of the anthology “Fell Beasts and Fair.”

Annie

June 10, 2019 at 04:27 AM UTC


Not to over saturate the board with my own posts, but is anyone else in the dischord chat? I am curious what everyone is “shipping”, if at all at this point in the series. I thought I had it figured it out to be honest and then I went on dischord and everyone os on a whole different page! I would like a larger sample size of shippers- please and thank you!

Alyn

June 11, 2019 at 09:41 PM UTC


Well, when I was reading the first book, I did not feel like any of them should be really shipped. They clearly had very little interest in their pet, other than a mild concern (maybe more on Zero’s part). But as I was reading, I really hoped there would be some romance later on. But that is a discussion for in a couple of weeks 🙂

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Imola

June 10, 2019 at 11:03 AM UTC


How can I get to that dischord thing? I sm curious.

Kitty

June 10, 2019 at 07:13 PM UTC


Hey Imola, if you go to the top of the website and hover over the “For Champions” tab, it gives you a drop down menu. The bottom of the menu is fan discussion. Go there and it will explain everything!

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Caitlin

June 10, 2019 at 08:13 AM UTC


I am not on the Discord chat but I DESPERATELY want to talk about ships. I don’t think I can though without breaking the spoiler ban. So I am going to hold my piece until everyone has read book 4. *Sigh*

Kitty

June 10, 2019 at 07:12 PM UTC


*screams* ME TOO!!!!!! I am all over on my ships with this book. But , yeah, I feel like books 3 and 4 dropped some serious ship-bombs so we can’t discuss them just yet. But SOON!!!!!

Annie

June 10, 2019 at 04:18 AM UTC


In one of the books someone bakes a blueberry tea cake. This intrigued me because what is a TEA cake vs a cake? So I asked a friend who lives in the UK and she sent me a photo of a cross between an English muffin (books and crannies type thing we have in the US) and a big cookie! This didn’t seem right. So I googled “australian tea cake” (because they can’t put anything on the internet that isn’t true!) To see what Gingell was talking about. By and large, every result was for cinnamon tea cake. Short and simple recipe that I made just a bit ago and just had a slice with a cup of tea. If anyone sees the author speak on tea cakes and what she pictured the character baking, I’d like to know. But for now, I feel very Donna Reed! Haha.

Emma Reddy

June 22, 2019 at 04:34 PM UTC


Tea cakes are not cakes at all, they are a bit like hot cross buns but usually wider and flatter and no crosses. They are eaten toasted, served warm with butter that melts into them. Great with a cup of tea. Sold in many UK tea shops

Annis

June 27, 2019 at 03:26 AM UTC


Yes! That’s what o was told my a British friend. But I didn’t like the explanation because Pet is said to have “sliced” it to serve. So! I googled “Australian tea cake” and tons of recipes came up- all for Australian cinnamon tea cake. A small, one layer, simple cake dusted in cinnamon. So easy and so good.

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Kitty

June 10, 2019 at 07:15 PM UTC


Oh gosh, even though I’m American I LOVE having a bit of dessert with tea. I’m big into Japanese Green Tea and more European black teas, so when I’m feeling particularly fancy I try to match snacks with the tea. Sooooooooooooooo fun!

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Annie

June 10, 2019 at 04:20 AM UTC


*nooks and crannies…*sigh*

Caitlin

June 10, 2019 at 08:04 AM UTC


If I have learned anything from WR’s Instagram it is that there are many lovely sweets to be found in Australian cafes. Yum!

Bethany

June 09, 2019 at 11:16 PM UTC


I got so caught up in this book that I just read all four this week. 😀 I really enjoy the character development. The thing about book 1 that most stuck out to me was the beginning – I don’t typically like books that read as a “whodunit” and start with a body. But the author skillfully used the corpse situation to give us so much information in a relevant way that built suspense and allowed us to be dumped into the world right away. Out of all the lingering questions – I just really want to know what Pet’s actual name is!

Kitty

June 10, 2019 at 07:17 PM UTC


Yeeeeeeeeeees, the series really starts with a bang! And I love that the “psychos” show up pretty much immediately. That keeps Pet a little more mysterious, too, because we don’t have a perfect idea of what she was like pre-Psychos. (I mean, we do, but Pet is sneaky. Soooooo~~!)

Lynn Zieske

June 09, 2019 at 04:28 PM UTC


I still have 2 chapters left. I don’t have a favorite character of the 3 “psychos” because they all have too many moments where they frustrate me. However, I can see glimpses of how their relationships with ‘”Pet” will involve and once they value her I’ll like them more.

While I don’t think this is true I did briefly wonder when we learned about Changlings if Pet was a Changling with a human’s memories who didn’t realize she was not human. At any rate, with the brief mention that her Dad only worked for cash making me wonder what he was hiding, I do think Pet has something besides human to her. I also think it is something to ponder that Pet represses her memories of her parent’s death and I think clues are locked up there. If she is fully human something occurred there that gave her some of the abilities she has now.

Gia

June 10, 2019 at 01:19 AM UTC


I also think there’s definitely something different about Pet. I think it has to do with her parents. She was homeschooled and her parents seemed like they were a bit weird and different.

Caitlin

June 10, 2019 at 08:09 AM UTC


I wondered about the Changling angle too. I decided that she isn’t, but I certainly do wonder who and what Pet is. Because she didn’t just stumble out of Between. To make it all the way out she had to consciously visualize the way out. And then it appeared.

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Kitty

June 09, 2019 at 10:45 PM UTC


Ooooooooooh–I forgot that her dad only worked for cash, too! That does seem unusual and might be a major clue. When I read this first book I resisted the idea that she was something more because her parents were so human, but that some really awesome insight that makes it understandable! Way to go, Lynn! 🙂

Chrissy

June 09, 2019 at 12:26 PM UTC


Pet is my favourite (naturally). I have other favourites but keep changing my mind about the three psychos. I’ve read all four books and that has changed everything. I’ve changed my mind about the vampire 😉
Right from the start I had suspicions about how easily Pet ‘adapted’ to interaction with far. I wonder if she has some special affinity we don’t know about yet, something that kept her safely hidden that will one day blossom into a super power that proves humanity isn’t inferior.

Jocelyn Malone

June 10, 2019 at 08:12 AM UTC


Oh yeah, I’ve finished book four, too, and JinYeong definitely grows on you. Though I actually didn’t dislike him much in the first book, even–he clearly had unplumbed depths and was deliberately projecting a certain image.

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Kitty

June 09, 2019 at 10:47 PM UTC


Yeah, I like the vampire a lot more by the latest book as well! It’s ironic that he actually seems the most willing to bend to her when in the first book he really didn’t like her at all. (Though Athelas is still my favorite. Between Floors all the way!! <3 <3 )

Jocelyn Malone

June 12, 2019 at 12:31 AM UTC


I do wonder if some of his flexibility is because he was, once, fully human, so on some level he connects more and “gets it” in a different way than the others.

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Chrissy

June 09, 2019 at 12:28 PM UTC


*fae – I hate auto-correct

Annie

June 09, 2019 at 03:02 AM UTC


Love it. Am on book four. Dude. I just wanna know what Jin is saying! Does anyone have a cheat sheet?! Haha.

Jocelyn Malone

June 10, 2019 at 08:09 AM UTC


FWIW, I think they’re phonetic spellings (Korean uses different characters) because I can’t ever find anything useful googling or using translate on his stuff :-). At least by the later books Pet is better at following him so we get more “translation”!

Caitlin

June 10, 2019 at 08:19 AM UTC


Yeah, I have tried, but only had limited success. I have learned a few Korean words now though so that is kinda fun. One of these days though, I swear he is gonna surprise us all and *actually* speak English. Not just that other thing he does.

HobbitLady97

June 10, 2019 at 06:25 PM UTC


She uses romanized Korean. I’ve found a site that translates the romanized Korean back to Hangul. I then copy the Hangul, and paste it to Google translate. It works about half of the time.

http://www.mauvecloud.net/charsets/hangulgenerator.html

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Kitty

June 09, 2019 at 10:47 PM UTC


LOL! I’ve considered reading it with my laptop on hand so I could google the Korean bits! You’ll see in future questions, but W. R. Gingell herself is learning Korean! 🙂

Diane

June 08, 2019 at 10:24 PM UTC


Out of every character in the first book, I’m the most curious about the homeless man. I keep wondering whether HE is the serial killer her psychos are trying to find. And whether he’s setting Pet up to be a victim.
And I love that W. R. Gingell bases the Between off that feeling you get that if just turned a different way, or looked at something just a little differently, that it wouldn’t be a too-solid mass of clouds, but instead a line of mountains and that foggy road isn’t leading to the corner but is instead leading down into a hidden valley. Oops bit of a run-on sentence there!

Alyn

June 11, 2019 at 09:52 PM UTC


So the old guy kind of reminds me of this crazy, homeless guy in the book When You Reach Me by Rebecca Stead. I doubt there are any similarities or connections because they are very different genres. But I only read When You Reach Me because I had to teach it one term while I was teaching English in South Korea, and Jin-Yeong is Korean so there is a connection for me 🙂
There is a huge twist with the old guy in When You Reach Me, and so my mind automatically assumes there is going to be this crazy awesome twist with this old guy in the Between series. We will have to see.

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Kitty

June 09, 2019 at 10:50 PM UTC


Yeaaaaaah, I do that all the time with shadows. (Or with my hair hanging in my face, lol!) So I know the feeling both you and she described!
And I like the homeless guy, too! I think I partially am so fascinated by him just from an author point of view because it is flaming DIFFICULT to write a character that just skirts in and out of a story like that without being 1) distracting 2) useless.

W. R. actually pulls off a lot of really fancy plot/character-type things with these books. And she does it so well you don’t even notice!

Imola

June 08, 2019 at 10:22 PM UTC


1. Not a person, but interactions between people. All 4 groups have merits, but I do have a preference for vamp-Pet interactions from book 1 on. Not everything is as it seems is written on it all over from early on.

2. Yes. Everything in this book has importance. A half smile, a wink, a red coffee box, a beam in the house. I don’t think you could name a thing that doesn’t prove to be important at a later time somewhere. This pretty much is my favorite part of the book.

The book is written from Pet’s perspective, which means, you’ll know and understand about the same amount of things she does. Yeah, you might have more insight in real life and people, so you might conclude different things or understand behavior she doesn’t, maybe place importance of things elsewhere then she. But you’ll know about as many things from Behind and the world built up, she is told. It is not a book where a world is laid out before you and then a story is placed in it. I personally love it (my husband wants to know the world first). I think this way of information location keeps things new and interesting all the time.

I adore the subtle hints that are placed. Since I am reading about it and not being part of it, I enjoy the mental games played in them. All the characters are rounded and have their own blinders and focal points. Some of them you want to kick, to scream at, some you want to hide from or just wished you never knew.

It is not many plot ideas you can get from the book from as in making theories, as you won’t be informed about many aspects of the world just yet. It might be worth keeping a track of time as in when happened what before the start of the book.
Maybe a few questions for the others:

– who did you feel the most sorry for?
– who did you fear the most?
– who did you want to yell at so loud that the neighbors call the cops on you?
– where and when did you want to be in the shoes of a character and who was it?
– was there a part you went back on rereading (aside from the whole book, more like a single part that you returned to).

I am curious how you saw it.

Chrissy

June 09, 2019 at 12:30 PM UTC


I feel most sorry for the poor detective

Caitlin

June 10, 2019 at 08:21 AM UTC


Me too! Poor Tuatu. I am glad he is there though. I think it is good for Pet to have a little human contact.

Jocelyn Malone

June 08, 2019 at 09:49 PM UTC


So, I’m carefully trying to disentangle my thoughts from the fact that I’m actually reading book four right now–thank you for the series rec, Kitty, because I’ve devoured them! I started them not long after your post announcing the read-along, figuring I could easily read the first one in time and then keep up, but…well, I’m ahead now ;-).

1. I’m not sure I have one by the end of book one. I do with where I am now, but I’ll leave that for later discussions ;-).

2. Sort of. We’re very carefully fed that the invisible fae fellows had to “open” the way out for her, but I suspect that if she had nothing Between-touched about her she still likely couldn’t have gotten all the way back out to the human world. So, she’s not entirely self-sufficient back there, but she’s not quite as inept as a human is “supposed” to be, either. While we may or may not get some reveal about whether she’s entirely human later, I definitely think living so close to the Between (even when she didn’t know she was living on the edge and, I suspect, using it to help hide herself) has given her an edge in using it.

Other thoughts: I find the way Pet is written pretty fascinating. We’re told she’s 17, but she “reads” and acts a lot younger in a lot of ways. Now, I find this completely appropriate–she lived in near-isolation for four years during a very formative part of human development (the bulk of her mid-teens). She had no guidance and little social interaction to shape her instinctive responses to other people. What interaction she had (work) is demonstrably very lacking. Especially in the first book, the way she reacts to the “people” (sorta) who enter her world reads much more 13 or 14 years old than 17. She has the basic skills you’d expect of an older teen–she’s a competent cook, housecleaner, shopper, etc., but not the social and emotional skills. I am enjoying watching how she begins to grow even with as dysfunctional a situation as she lives in throughout the rest of the books. I do hope we get a good bit of that growth before introducing a romantic interest in any firm fashion, as right now, for all intents and purposes, she’s too young for anything but a crush (which she appears to kinda have on Zero, but since he’s also the one who most often keeps her safe, that’s pretty understandable).

I have more thoughts and may come back later, I’m glad to see others enjoying the books!

Kitty

June 10, 2019 at 07:20 PM UTC


I’m so glad you’re enjoying it!! 🙂

It’s so fun to be able to share a series with you guys like this! (HAHAHA though this will be a tough act to follow if we do this again next year.)

And I do agree with you about Pet–she is a bit of a tangle because in some ways she’s so competent (like cooking, as you mentioned, and she’s obviously comfortable with tech like computers) and you can see that she’s older in some of the ways she sass’s the psychos as she knows when she can push and when she should retreat, but her inner dialog is a bit more of what I would except a 14-year-old to act like. But I bet you might be right and all the alone time might have emotionally stunted her a bit.

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Lynn

June 09, 2019 at 04:15 PM UTC


I agree about Pet’s age and maturity level. My youngest kid is 17 and Pet came across as much younger but as you say she could have been stunted a bit with her lack of social interactions. And I hadn’t gotten any romantic feel from the book but with Pet reading on the young side I was glad of it. So, like you, if Pet is to have any romance plot later I hope to get a sense of her being older by then.

Caitlin

June 10, 2019 at 08:26 AM UTC


One of the things I love about Pet is that she is so insightful and wise in some ways and so blind in others. And I think that some of those blind spots come from the lack of socialization and then immaturity you all mentioned. I am actually glad JinYeong is there so Pet has someone that is more on her level (maturity wise) to play pranks on.

Kate

June 08, 2019 at 07:48 PM UTC


This is one of my favourite re-read series! Pet is so much fun and it’s really interesting to go back to book one after reading book two and connect a few more dots (and so on through the series).

Kitty

June 09, 2019 at 10:53 PM UTC


I agree with both of you–the re-read potential of this series is ridiculous. After every new BOOK you have a greater understanding of things said in earlier books!

Caitlin

June 10, 2019 at 08:27 AM UTC


It is mostly Athelas’ fault. The man is all subtext…..and I love it!

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Jocelyn Malone

June 08, 2019 at 09:53 PM UTC


I love series that let you do that–where a re-read gives you new things to find fascinating!

Kim Gregory

June 08, 2019 at 05:24 PM UTC


Each of the characters had something that I liked (well, Jin Yeong was just too off for me to like), but Pet grabbed at my heart. From the beginning she was intrepid and so determined to find a way to make it on her own. She had an inkling of fear for her “owners”, but I think deep down she was glad they came. I always had the feeling there was a touch of fae in her.

I hated all the slang. Just way too much. When Jin started acting more vampireish I had to give up on the story, too ghoulish for me. The story had moments of gory violence, but they came and went quickly but we’re discussed – slaps in the face to me like the slang.

I enjoyed the characters and the overall story, but at about 65% I just couldn’t go on. I love W R Gingell’s other stories so, despite having a vampire, and the praise of the series from authors I love to read, I have it a try.

Jocelyn Malone

June 08, 2019 at 09:56 PM UTC


FWIW, JinYeong’s vampire-y-ness does continue to come up, but it generally is in an ancillary role/easily skimmed past (aside from “oh, we could do X because he made the humans not notice” kinds of things). I kinda enjoy learning the slang from another part of the world, myself, but I can totally see why it would throw someone for a loop.

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Kim Gregory

June 08, 2019 at 08:23 PM UTC


I typed this from my Kindle and it spell-checked some of the words – wrongly! LOL!

The last sentence doesn’t make much sense, does it? The praise of the other authors that I love to read caused me to take a second look at the series, despite it having a vampire in it!

Colleen

June 08, 2019 at 04:36 PM UTC


Aaah! I’ve read everything wrg has put out. So spoiler- free is soooo restricting but yes so right (cough cough wag). But yes PET and yes something is up w Pet, she is def not a normal human!

Eleniel

June 08, 2019 at 04:00 PM UTC


Honestly, I have to say Pet as well. She sass off just enough to keep some sense of personhood, but she’s very careful about it. She’s also noble- she can’t resist helping in fights if she’s needed. She’s very smart, and I loved it when she annoyed the detective on purpose and told him he wasn’t asking the right questions- something she’s become skilled at. I think that she may have some amount of Behindkind blood in her, or she’s just a very special girl. I’m not sure. She’s able to do quite a few things that surprise her psychos.
And I’m also really looking forward to finding out her psychos’ backstories- particularly Zero’s. How on earth did a snobby Fae fall for a human? And how hard must it have been living among the Fae with Human blood?

Jocelyn Malone

June 08, 2019 at 09:57 PM UTC


RIGHT? I’m almost as interested in how Zero exists as anything else–which fae got off their high horse long enough to reproduce with a human? Or was it…less voluntary than that? (I hope not)

Sara

June 08, 2019 at 03:55 PM UTC


At first, I wasn’t sure if I was going to enjoy the book. As I continued to read, I enjoyed it more and noticed how Pet was developing throughout the story. I can’t wait to see how much she opens up in the second book. I also have more questions than theories right now.

Annabelle

June 08, 2019 at 01:50 PM UTC


I love Pet as a character! I love how she often says things you would never expect and the reaction from the other characters in the book is hilarious 😅. I love her way of pondering things and asking just the right question to gain information others didn’t want to give her 😁. And the first book suggests that there are so many more layers to Pet than the one she ought to have (“you are human, you can’t do that” is a very common phrase). She is special 😉.

    • Jun 8, 2019
    • 2 min read

Reading Discussion: Between Jobs


BetweenJobsDiscussion

Welcome to the reading discussion for Between Jobs! Before we get started, a reminder that today and tomorrow are the last days you can enter the giveaway for the MBRC stickers! Okay, now on to our talk!

This book introduces you to our rather mysterious narrator, Pet, and her Three Psychos/owners–Zero, a fae from a noble family; Athelas, a fae who serves him; and JinYeong, a sulky vampire.


Between Jobs cemented Pet as one of my favorite characters ever. She’s so funny and will sass off to her “owners,” but she also has a sense of self preservation so she never goes too far. She has a very good grasp on the psychos’ boundaries, but in a very realistic/human way.


I most enjoy her interactions with Athelas–but that’s because he’s the only one who lets her try to go head to head with him in games of wits, and he’s also the only one who will share any information with her.

Her interactions with Zero are interesting/amusing as well, but mostly because it seems like he really wants to treat her like a little dog, but it’s also fairly obvious he’s more concerned about his “dog” than either Athelas or JinYeong.


And speak of the vampire, that brings us to JinYeong! He doesn’t seem too impressed or fond of Pet, but he also seems to be the most willing to interact with her–for the sake of food, anyway. I love JinYeong as a vampire because he still has that flair of elegance vampires have, but the way he’s sulky, demanding, and much more emotional than Zero or Athelas is a fun change from the way most vampires are depicted in urban fantasy stories.


In all honesty, I don’t have too many theories for Between Jobs. I think there’s going to be romance, but at this point it doesn’t seem like there is a strong contender.


There are a lot of mysteries wrapped around Pet–possibly even more than Zero and the others. Why didn’t she reveal herself to the authorities when her parents died? I’m about 98% certain it’s wrapped up in her need to stay in the house, but if she’s not a fae, why would she feel that drive? (They state again and again she’s very obviously human, but there’s a few spots where she can do things normal humans can’t–like see the sword.)

Obviously there’s something to do with her parents’ death–is it tied to the serial killer Zero and the others are tracking, or is it something different entirely?


The other big mystery to me is the homeless man Pet sees. It seems like he might have abilities similar to Pet’s, but that’s hard to confirm. What role does he have? Can he identify the serial killer Zero & Co are tracking?

So perhaps I have more questions than theories with this book.


Comment below with your thoughts and theories, but I do have a couple of other questions for you to ponder:

  1. Who is your favorite character, and why?

  2. Do you think there is significance to Pet’s ability to stumble out of Between on her own?


Reminder: Try to keep things spoiler free in the comments for now–when we get to the 4th book we’ll let it rip with the secrets, though! 😉

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