Ep. 148: IDK My BFF Jill

[00:00:16] Welcome to Ink Drinkers, a literary tea party podcast where we discuss books and drink tea.

[00:00:30] Hello. Hi. Welcome to post-Christmas, um, I don't know. That was a... Slump? Yes, post-Christmas slump for sure.

[00:00:48] I know I was saying earlier, I was like, I have so much work to do and I just don't, I have no motivation,

[00:00:56] no energy, I just don't want to do it. I'm with you. I have a lot to do as well and our house is also a

[00:01:04] wreck so it makes it even more anxiety producing. Yes. Um, and I also have to go to, I don't have to,

[00:01:11] but I'm going to New Orleans on Monday, um, to get a new passport, like an expedited passport because I,

[00:01:17] my passport has been expired and we are going out of the country soon. So yeah.

[00:01:23] Yep. Yeah. Wow. Are you doing global entry? I didn't do the paperwork to like,

[00:01:32] do whatever I needed to do to go make that meeting. So I don't know if I'll do that before we leave or

[00:01:36] not. Yeah. Um, this is just the appointment to get the passport because you had to do the whole

[00:01:42] application process. And my passport is old, like really old. Yeah. Like 2011 is when I got it and it

[00:01:50] expired in 2021. Um, so why do you have to go to New Orleans though? So if you want an expedited one,

[00:01:58] you have to go to, to New Orleans. Oh, there's only, um, there's one in New Orleans, one in Houston

[00:02:05] to do the expedite. Yeah. Um, so anyways, we are, my mom and I are doing that cause hers expired also,

[00:02:12] and she didn't realize it was expired. Um, so you have to like fill out this whole application.

[00:02:18] It's a little bit more expensive. Yeah. You have to bring all the forms that you did online. You have

[00:02:24] to print them out, sign them, go have your, get your picture, bring it there. And then you go back

[00:02:29] later in the day and pick up your passport. Oh, so it's like that. Oh, wow. Cause I was going to say,

[00:02:35] I thought we like when my mom and I renewed our passports, I thought we did expedited,

[00:02:39] but I guess there's like an even more expedited. Yes. It's like, it's called at the agency. Like

[00:02:44] if you look at the thing, it's like a, yeah. Didn't know that existed. Yeah. Like if you, but,

[00:02:49] but I don't know if I should say this on the podcast, but basically you have to have a trip

[00:02:55] that's coming up in the next like couple of days. So we'll book a trip, um, on Sunday and then cancel

[00:03:02] it after we come back. Interesting. Interesting. Well, anyways, um, but yeah, so we're doing that.

[00:03:17] Cool. So your trip to new Orleans, I am taking my annual new year's trip to the beach with my family,

[00:03:26] which is always super chaotic. Cause it's not like we can go outside. Like normally when we all go to

[00:03:32] the beach, like they go out on the beach and do beach things. And I might go out there one day for

[00:03:38] a little while, but mostly I just stay up in the condo and sleep and read, but they're all going to be

[00:03:43] inside all the time. Yeah. It sounds a little stressful, especially with kids. Yes. But we're

[00:03:51] not bringing the dogs as well. Luca's coming their new little puppy. He's coming, but the other dogs

[00:03:57] are not. So it will be chaos, but it will be fine. By the end of it, I'll be like very ready to come

[00:04:06] home. Sure. But yeah, I'm trying to still nice to get away. Oh, for sure. Yeah. There's going to be

[00:04:11] one day where like they're the John and the kids aren't there yet and I'll be able to relax. And then when

[00:04:17] they get there, it'll be chaos. But I'm trying to like think of things that we can do. Like sometimes

[00:04:22] we'll go to, Oh gosh, I can't remember what it's called, but the place with like the go-karts and

[00:04:28] the arcade and the whatever that's in Gulf shores. Um, and I don't know, we've done different stuff

[00:04:35] before. And my aunt told me about this place. I don't know if it's an orange beach or pretty dough

[00:04:40] or what, but it's like a, an art studio kind of thing. And you can go and do pottery classes or

[00:04:46] glass blowing classes or things like that. So I might sneak away on my own and go do that one day.

[00:04:52] Therapeutic. Yeah. Cool. Yes. So, well, we are here to discuss books, I believe.

[00:05:01] I do. I have one to talk about. Me too. I don't know who goes first. I don't know.

[00:05:07] I'll tell you about mine. Okay. Go for it. Okay. So this was on my list. So I just, I made it.

[00:05:12] Oh wow. I have not even been paying attention to my list. I don't even remember what was on it.

[00:05:18] This is the midnight feast by Lucy Foley. Oh yes. Yeah. Okay. I haven't read her before. I know

[00:05:23] she's somewhat popular. Um, she's like a thriller. Yeah. I don't know if I've actually finished one

[00:05:30] of her books before. So I thought that the, the twist and turns and the wrap up of everything

[00:05:36] was pretty great. Oh good. Like she did that very well. I got a little bored throughout and I don't

[00:05:43] know if it was the writing or if it was Christmas time and I was just on overload and I couldn't pay

[00:05:50] as close attention as I normally would. I'm not sure. But, um, I didn't see everything coming and

[00:05:57] all the characters are linked in some way and you don't realize it until it starts to unfold. Okay.

[00:06:03] So that was cool because that doesn't always happen. Yeah. I liked that. She left a couple

[00:06:07] things open-ended but she insinuates enough that you, you get it kind of thing. Um, so basically,

[00:06:14] um, there is a new manor in this small town. It's called The Manor and it's this luxury, uh,

[00:06:22] estate and only the elite can go. It kind of gives vibes of, um, what's the book from Leanne

[00:06:30] Moriarty, um, where you go to the retreat and you know what I'm talking about? I can't remember

[00:06:35] the name of the book, but it gives, it gives feelings of that. Um, so it's supposed to be

[00:06:42] exclusive. You have to submit a bio to it, to like attend and it's crazy expensive.

[00:06:47] I was wondering like how do they determine who is elite? Can we, can we pause for a second?

[00:06:52] Because when you say it gives vibes of whatever that book is. Right. The five, the 12 people

[00:06:59] something continue. That one Leanne Moriarty, whatever it is, um, that may have a number in it.

[00:07:09] So does Gen Z like in their own new little language that they're creating, like, do they just take out

[00:07:16] the, it gives vibe? Like, I think they just say it gives Leanne Moriarty. They do. It gives,

[00:07:23] yeah, they do. And that's just so strange to me. I don't hate it, but like, I don't even think,

[00:07:27] you know, I'm not thinking about them because I don't understand. And I, you know, you get to that

[00:07:31] point in your mind where you're like, oh yeah, I'm old and I have no idea and nor do I want to

[00:07:37] learn that lingo. Me either. But I keep thinking every time I hear some sort of, not that you use Gen Z

[00:07:44] language because you didn't, but every time I hear Gen Z language, I think of that. I don't know

[00:07:49] if it was like an AT&T commercial or something. And there was a young girl, this was when we were

[00:07:55] probably in high school and she responded to her mom. She was like, IDK, my BFF Jill. And I'm like,

[00:08:01] is that, is that what our, like the generation above us was like, I don't even know what they're

[00:08:06] saying. A hundred percent for sure. Yeah. Yeah. It's generational, but you know, we're here.

[00:08:12] This is where we are in life. I'm okay with it. And I will not be learning the lingo until my child

[00:08:18] is a teen and she starts saying it and I need to know what's going on.

[00:08:23] I just wanted to make sure I was understanding correctly that phrase.

[00:08:27] That is, that is exactly it. It gives the vibes of this is it gives, it's the same thing.

[00:08:33] Okay. It's the same thing. You were right. You were right.

[00:08:35] I learned something. Okay. Please continue.

[00:08:37] So, um, Francesca is the owner of the manor. This is her family's estate in her grandfather.

[00:08:44] Five perfect strangers.

[00:08:45] Five perfect strangers. Thank you.

[00:08:49] It gives five perfect strangers.

[00:08:52] It does for sure. Um, in a lot of ways actually. Uh, so Francesca comes off like this perfect ethereal,

[00:09:02] just, you know, uh, mistress of the manor with just this estate that has, um, I don't want to say it's spooky

[00:09:10] because it's not, it's like, it's beautiful, but it's kind of, um, like they discuss it as pagan luxury.

[00:09:16] Like it has this feel of being, um, cause you're kind of off the grid. It's in a small town.

[00:09:22] It's on the, on the property. There's like woods in the, in the background that there's a lot of

[00:09:28] significance to the woods. Um, anyways, so.

[00:09:33] I've been watching the Harry Potter movie, so I'm thinking like forbidden forest. I'm like,

[00:09:36] what's happening in there?

[00:09:37] Yeah. So there's something happening in the forest. Um, there's a lot going on in this book,

[00:09:42] so I don't know how much I want to give away and how much to even explain, but, um, there are,

[00:09:46] I think four different narrators throughout and it's different, um, different, actual different

[00:09:51] people narrating the book throughout, which is nice. Sometimes, sometimes it's nice, sometimes it's

[00:09:56] not, but it worked in this book. This is a British novel. So, um, I don't know if they're all,

[00:10:02] are they all British? I guess they are. Anyways, so Francesca has since redone the manor. Her

[00:10:09] grandfather passed away. She inherited the manor from him. She completely redid it. Um,

[00:10:15] she got in touch with an architect and the way that they got in touch, in touch is a bit of a

[00:10:21] mystery until the end. Um, we, she gets in touch with him. It's a couple of years of a process of

[00:10:27] creating this new, um, oasis in this small, like terrible town basically that, um, you're either

[00:10:36] really rich or really poor. It's kind of how that town is. Um, it's been 15 years since she's lived in

[00:10:43] the town when she was a teenager. She has two brothers who are twins, who are just awful human

[00:10:48] beings. Uh, Hugo and I don't remember the other one's name. Um, Oscar maybe. And Owen, the architect,

[00:10:57] they end up getting married over the course of building this manor. Okay. Francesca.

[00:11:05] Francesca and Owen. Yeah. And the architect.

[00:11:07] Who? We don't know how they met up until the end.

[00:11:09] We don't, we don't know the situation of like how they got in touch. They have different versions of

[00:11:13] the story of how they met. Gotcha.

[00:11:15] And why they met. And there is a reason for that. Um, so Francesca is one narrator. Owen is another,

[00:11:23] her husband. Uh, then we have Bella who is a mystery guest and we find out who Bella really is.

[00:11:31] Okay. Early on. Um, and then there's Eddie who is, he works in the kitchen. He's like a

[00:11:38] teenager. I think he's probably like 18 ish or so. He works in the kitchen. Um, and then there is a

[00:11:44] detective. Um, I don't know his name's like D.I. Walker, I think. Something like that. Um, and he is

[00:11:50] also a narrator. So. I think you just named five. Then there's five. Then there's five. D.I. Walker

[00:11:56] is like here and there. Okay. The others are more narrating most of the, most of the storyline.

[00:12:01] So, I'm sorry. This is taking forever, but it's just really, um, intricate. So they go back 15 years

[00:12:09] in the book. There's present day and then there's the day after the midnight feast. So the midnight

[00:12:14] feast is the grand opening of the manor. Okay. The manor is packed with elites and celebrities and

[00:12:20] well-knowns and all the people coming from all, all over. Um, they've hired all these fancy people,

[00:12:28] um, to be at the hotel as well as locals that work in like the kitchen, like Eddie and things like

[00:12:33] that. The locals that live there hate everything about the manor because it's taken a bunch of jobs

[00:12:38] and they've just, yeah. And so there's like a beach affiliated with the manor as well. And I mean,

[00:12:44] the beach is kind of like public, but they bought the rights to it. And so they're having trouble

[00:12:48] with the local teenagers disrupting and they're just like, screw y'all. We're still going to come.

[00:12:54] Um, and they're, you know, kind of just, uh, they're teenagers, but they're kind of bad.

[00:13:00] Okay. They're getting drunk and like yelling and the, the people that are staying there are

[00:13:05] like paying a lot of money to stay there. And I'm like, what the hell? You know, this is weird.

[00:13:09] So, um, we go back in time, 15 years to where Francesca goes by Frankie as a nickname, which she

[00:13:17] would never now. I mean, obviously. She's Francesca Meadows. One would never go by a nickname.

[00:13:25] So Frankie and her brothers who are again, pretty awful, um, are really close friends with a girl

[00:13:31] named Allison. And what we're looking at in Allison's storyline is that in 15 years ago,

[00:13:37] you're, um, reading what we're hearing from that narration is her journal entries. Okay.

[00:13:43] Of what happened. Okay. Um, there are a couple other players throughout that 15 years ago that

[00:13:49] make a big difference in present day. Um, what is happening now is that they're trying to get

[00:13:56] this midnight feast going. This is again, the grand opening. It's supposed to be super posh,

[00:14:02] but there's creepy things happening in the woods. Um, lots of blood being found. Oh, by some guests

[00:14:09] who are concerned. Perfectly normal. Yeah. Um, we have blood show up all the time. It's perfectly

[00:14:15] acceptable. These are woods, she says. And some things, you know, nature, we can't help. And

[00:14:21] they're like, there's literally blood everywhere. Yes. Well, sometimes the animals can't help

[00:14:27] themselves. This is just the circle of life. Nothing we can do about it. We try not to interfere.

[00:14:33] The guest is like dry heaving and crying because of all the blood. Um, so anyways, um, let's

[00:14:41] see how I can finish this up. Sorry. I don't know. I'm intrigued. Okay. Yeah. I'm, I'm, I'm almost

[00:14:47] done. So there are these creatures that come in, in the woods and this is a thing. And the grandfather

[00:14:53] growing up always would tell Francesca, be careful of the birds. So there's a theme of birds

[00:14:59] throughout the storyline as well. And these birds look like these pagan people all in black

[00:15:07] with a long beak and a hood. Yeah. Yes. Okay. I know what you're talking about. Okay. So

[00:15:11] there is this folklore feel around this situation of these bird people in the woods. Um, there's

[00:15:21] happenings that occur that no one can explain. There's random blood being found. There was

[00:15:26] a murder 15 years ago, uh, in present day D.I. Walker, the detective is going to investigate

[00:15:34] a death that has occurred the morning after the midnight feast. So there's a body that washes up

[00:15:42] or that, yeah, I guess she, I guess the body's in the water. Um, and he goes to the manor to

[00:15:49] figure out what happened. Um, and everything at the end connects. Everyone in the story,

[00:15:57] all the players have a connection to each other, whether some of them know it and some of them

[00:16:01] don't. Um, but by the time they all know it, everything is like blown up, like a total disaster.

[00:16:11] Wow. Anyways, that's the best I can explain it. Sorry. Without giving anything away.

[00:16:15] No, you, you sufficiently gave me enough information to decide if you want to read it or not. Yeah. I'm,

[00:16:22] I'm intrigued. I'm interested. I think I'll check it out. Did you enjoy it? I mean,

[00:16:27] yeah, I liked it just because the holidays were so chaotic. I think I, um, I think I would have liked

[00:16:32] it more if it was just a random, like me just reading where you could really pay attention because

[00:16:37] there was a lot going on. Sometimes I would get lost and then, um, yeah, I just had a lot of my mind.

[00:16:44] So I wasn't paying as close attention or had the mental capacity to do so at the time. Yeah.

[00:16:50] But yeah, I would say, I would say it was at least a four, four and a half. And if I

[00:16:55] had to listen to it again, maybe it would be a five, but I would say a solid four for sure.

[00:17:01] Okay. Good to know. I am getting, what is today? The day that we were recording is the 27th.

[00:17:12] Um, I'm getting dangerously close to the time of year where I like don't start new books because

[00:17:20] I don't like to be in the middle of a book between two years. I feel like I've talked about this

[00:17:25] before. Did you? I've never told you this before. No. I swear I've discussed it on the podcast.

[00:17:30] Yeah. I have all books must be finished by December 31st at midnight.

[00:17:37] Or you just abandon them? No, I just, it makes me uncomfortable.

[00:17:41] So what do you, so you just stay up all night if you're not done?

[00:17:45] Well, I mean, it's December 31st at midnight, so I'll be up until then anyway.

[00:17:51] Okay. I just have to be very-

[00:17:53] I mean, I go to sleep. Sorry.

[00:17:54] Okay. I just have to be very careful about which books I start to make sure that I can

[00:18:00] finish them before my deadline. Got it.

[00:18:02] Anyway, that was just a random little aside. Has nothing to do with the books that I'm talking

[00:18:06] about. Um, okay. I'm telling you about Bluebird Day by Megan Tatey. So our two main characters

[00:18:19] are Wiley and Claudine Potts. Interesting names. Yeah.

[00:18:26] So Wiley is, I think, in like her late 20s and, um, she hasn't spoken to her mother in years.

[00:18:38] Okay.

[00:18:38] Her mother, Claudine Potts, is an Olympic medal winning skier. And Claudine wanted Wiley to also

[00:18:49] be an Olympic medal winning skier, but that was not in the cards for Wiley.

[00:18:54] Okay. She wanted to be an artist and she tried the skiing thing and her mom coached her and

[00:19:00] it just, she had enough and she was done and they're just not really speaking anymore. And

[00:19:06] it's been years. However, Claudine is, um, I can't remember what they call the company,

[00:19:12] but it's like Peloton and she like leads cycles every day, like live. Okay. And Wiley does these

[00:19:19] with her, but like Claudine doesn't know who's following along. Okay. Yeah, sure. And there's

[00:19:24] like all these celebrities call themselves potheads because they follow Claudine's cycles. Anyway,

[00:19:31] so Wiley is supposed to do this competition. She's still very fit, right? Even though she's not skiing

[00:19:38] anymore, she's still very fit. She and her boyfriend are supposed to do this competition, um,

[00:19:44] in Berlin in, I don't know, like four or five days and it's called the body fittest duo competition.

[00:19:52] And so I don't really know exactly what the competition is. They never really say it's

[00:19:56] just some big competition where they're supposed to be athletic and whatever. Okay. But unfortunately

[00:20:01] her boyfriend tears his ACL and he is out. But Wiley's like, I still want to do this. I still want

[00:20:09] to prove that I can do this and that I can be the best. And she had a competition previously where

[00:20:16] she didn't do it. And so she got a DNF by her name and did not finish. And she does not want another

[00:20:23] DNF by her name. So she's going to do this competition, but she needs a partner. So she

[00:20:28] calls her mom Claudine because she knows her mom was fit. Right. And she's like, hi mom. I know we

[00:20:34] haven't spoken in several years, but would you please do this competition with me and join me in Berlin?

[00:20:40] Well, her mom agrees to it. But along the way to Berlin, they stop in this city in Switzerland

[00:20:55] because Claudine says, we're going to scatter my father's ashes, but really she's there to speak

[00:21:03] to someone from her past. Okay. There's things that happened in her past with the skiing and with

[00:21:09] the Olympics and all this kind of stuff that like is alluded to, but we don't really know what's going

[00:21:14] on. We don't know who Wiley's father is and she wants to know who her father is. And there's this

[00:21:21] journalist who's like digging into things and wants to write a biography about Claudine. And Claudine is

[00:21:27] like, if he starts digging and things come out, I don't want that to happen. So she's got to go

[00:21:32] talk to this person in Switzerland to head that off before he gets to this woman. Got it. Okay. But

[00:21:39] Wiley doesn't know the real reason that they're there. Well, while they're there, they're staying

[00:21:44] in a hostel and an avalanche occurs and they are stuck together for days. They don't have a good

[00:21:53] relationship. And Wiley really wants to get to her competition. And the two of them like want to have

[00:22:00] a good relationship, but they also just clash constantly and they are stuck together. There's

[00:22:07] other people in the hostel who they kind of befriend and everyone enjoys each other. But it's really

[00:22:14] just a story about the two of them trying to overcome their, their relationship struggles. And,

[00:22:22] and what do you rate it? It was really good. I enjoyed it. I would say like four, four and a half

[00:22:26] stars. Okay. Um, it is a Zibby Owens book. That's like an imprint. Zibby Owens has her own. I think it's

[00:22:35] an imprint, not a publisher, but, um, she tend, like, I tend to really enjoy Zibby Owens books. Cool.

[00:22:41] So great. Yeah. You want to tell us about the tea? Yes. So my aunt, um, gave me some teas and a teapot

[00:22:51] from Red Stick Spice Company. And I let Marissa pick which one. And she decided on gingerbread cookie

[00:22:59] tea. And it's, it's delicious. Yeah. It's really good. It's subtle, but it has enough, um,

[00:23:06] of our dessert, dessert tea preference. Um, it was good. I like it a lot. It's crisp black blend with

[00:23:15] ginger, cinnamon, cloves, and touch of citrus. But it's not overwhelming. No. Yeah. If it was

[00:23:22] super like cinnamon and ginger and whatever, I wouldn't be super into it, but it's just like a

[00:23:27] subtle, like here's some gingerbread. Yep. In your cup. Yes. Enjoy. Yeah. It gives, no, I'm just kidding.

[00:23:35] I have nothing to say. It gives Christmas morning, um, but when you're really tired.

[00:23:47] It's after the presents have been opened. That's exactly the vibe I'm giving. I'm giving,

[00:23:55] I'm getting, see, I can't even. Don't even. We should, we should stop. I shouldn't try the phrase.

[00:24:00] It's just on that note. I say we just end it on our own or the way we do. Cheers. Cheers.

[00:24:08] Thanks for listening. Be sure to check out the show notes for the full list of books we discussed

[00:24:12] today. You can find that in your podcast app or on our website, inkdrinkerspodcast.com. And please

[00:24:19] support us by subscribing anywhere you listen to podcasts and leaving a review. You can find us on

[00:24:25] Instagram and on Twitter at inkdrinkerspod. Cheers.