Caius mods, please feel free to delete this if you don't feel it deserves its own thread, but I'm dying to hear what everyone thinks of Pet.

Stephenie describes her as having golden hair, gray eyes, silvery skin and a frail physique giving her, what I pictured in my mind, as an almost alien appearance. Why do you suppose then did the colony gravitate to her and treat her with near reverence? Even going so far as touching her, patting her head and stroking her hair when she was near. Even Maggie and Sharon weren't able to treat her with animosity or hatred. Pet's body was so frail that she wasn't able to work as hard as the others without giving into her fatigue. She obviously wasn't able to carry her share of the colony's burden. Was Melanie's appearance so much more harsh that it inspired "fear, mistrust, even hatred" while Pet's appearance "defied such emotion"?

Jamie tells Pet that he chose her because she had a face that no one could ever "distrust" and that she didn't look "dangerous at all" and that she "sort of looks like an angel". In short, he tells Wanda, "I was looking for someone who looked like you." Was the decision to place Wanda in Pet's body done deliberately because she looked so different from Melanie? Or was it completely unintentional? Please discuss.

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That's an awesome question, queenie!

I like that Jamie wanted to find someone who "looked like" Wanderer. You know how if you hear someone's voice before you meet them or have an internet pal you haven't seen, your mind just kind of conjures up an image to fit the voice (whether spoken or written)? I think finding Wanderer a new host was kind of like that. Wanderer is so kind and thoughtful of others and would never hurt anyone, they wanted to find a body that would (for lack of a better word) advertise those qualities about her.

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As I drifted off to sleep last night with this book so fresh in my mind, I also started thinking about the end, when Wanda has woken up inside Pet's body. She looks over and sees Jared and Melanie touching and feels a stir of jealousy. Do you think that this was a residual response left over from the time that Wanda spent in Mel's body and feeling Mel's feelings for Jared, or did Wanda develop her own seperate feelings of love for Jared that will fade the longer she spends in Pet's body loving Ian? How much of Melanie's responses and reactions to situations will Wanda carry with her? With Pet's body not knowing any other consciousness other than her alien soul's, will Wanda react more as Pet or as Melanie in the beginning?

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I think that the touch of jealousy she feels at the end is a residual feeling. The emotions don't jsut go away, but I think they were more Mel then they were Wanda.

Now that she is in Pet's body, with nothing Human to guide her, I think Wanda will get a chance to be herself. Not Pet or Mel oir anyone else. It is a chance for her to really understand the emotions and feelings she is experiencing for the first time.

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I'm more of an athletic type so putting Wanda in Pet's body was a real let down for me. I liked the fact that when she and Ian were playing soccer one-on-one that she was able to squeeze in one more goal after the challenge she threw him. I bet Pet wouldn't even be able to play for very long if at all.

Love Ian though, I'll have a piece of that.

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"You're my life now."

Honestly, I think that reaction was a little bit of both. I think it was mostly residual, but I do think there was a touch of her own emotions there. He was very kind to her at the end and I think that probably stirred some emotions within her that had nothing to do with Mel. I do think it will fade though, and she knows that she truly loves Ian.

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Books can be dangerous. The best ones (Twilight anyone?) should be labeled "This could change your life." ~Helen Exley

I do think that they wanted someone totally different than Melanie, because Wanda really was so different. And Jamie knew that. I loved how he said he wanted someone that looked like an angel.

I think the feelings that Wanda had for Jared were just residue feelings. Kind of like seeing a previous boyfriend with someone else. You do feel a little jealousy since you use to like that person, but the feeling goes away once you realize how you are over that relationship and have moved on to something much better.

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Here is my thought on Pet..
Since her body is so frail and tiny, do you think that it will hold up long term??

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Backup_Bella wrote:

Here is my thought on Pet.. Since her body is so frail and tiny, do you think that it will hold up long term??

Hm, I think it may just be frail from disuse. I don't think Jared would have let them pick a body that wouldn't be able to withstand their lifestyle. She would probably just have to break up some serious dirt clods to get those muscles going.

Edit: 100th post. Yay, I'm not a newborn anymore!

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Backup_Bella wrote:

Here is my thought on Pet.. Since her body is so frail and tiny, do you think that it will hold up long term??

That's such a great question, Backup_Bella! As I was reading the end of the book I thought, holy crow, Pet's going to die before I get to the end of the story. I hope that Steph's intention in pointing out how delicate Pet is was simply to make her a huge contrast from Melanie. Maybe as she becomes accustomed to a life of labor within the caves, her body will become more durable!

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I think her body will acclimate. She is also really young yet. At 16 she isn't full grown.
I also think she is a bit stronger then she is treated. You know those people you automatically help because they are smaller then you. I think that might be the mentality that the colony in the caves is working with.

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The description of Pet's body reminds me almost of a genteel society. In my mind I pictured almost a debutante - a young woman who is used to having others do things for her where her main concern in life is to be pretty and happy. I don't think her being weak is meant to be viewed as sickly. Just that she is physically "dainty."

As for her description of having a "moonlight face and sunlight hair," that leaves me a little bit more fulmmoxed. In my mind I picture someone very pale with golden hair. But I don't know how she would get a silvery cast to her skin.

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feistypixie wrote:

The description of Pet's body reminds me almost of a genteel society. In my mind I pictured almost a debutante - a young woman who is used to having others do things for her where her main concern in life is to be pretty and happy. I don't think her being weak is meant to be viewed as sickly. Just that she is physically "dainty."

Those are the words I couldn't find. LOL! Thanks for explaining it so well.

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feistypixie wrote:

The description of Pet's body reminds me almost of a genteel society. In my mind I pictured almost a debutante - a young woman who is used to having others do things for her where her main concern in life is to be pretty and happy. I don't think her being weak is meant to be viewed as sickly. Just that she is physically "dainty." As for her description of having a "moonlight face and sunlight hair," that leaves me a little bit more fulmmoxed. In my mind I picture someone very pale with golden hair. But I don't know how she would get a silvery cast to her skin.

I hadn't thought of Pet this way....in terms of someone who has been pampered and waited on her entire life as opposed to someone who has had to go out and work hard for a living....I like looking her that way as opposed to frail or sickly....dainty is much more preferable. The silvery cast to her skin is what made me think about an alien appearance...I suppose that her paleness could possibly be compared to the Cullens....didn't SM describe their appearance as alien...at least inhuman...I can't recall.

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A few thoughts on Wander/Pet’s body;
So it took me a couple times to read chapter 59 (remembered) before I really understood. I could tell that they put her into another “being”. But I was annoyed because I didn’t want her to have to share anyone else’s thoughts/feelings again. She deserved a brake. I was relieved that she was mostly alone with only Pet’s old thoughts. But Sunny was inserted back into Jodi with some hope of discovering her conscience again. Does anyone think that Wanda may be revisited by the human soul at some point?

I think that Wanda’s jealousy of seeing Jared and Mel together were her true feelings. All that had been exchanged between them in the months leading up to that moment had affected HER. I think that without Mel’s undeniable pull toward him, this may not have been the case. But Wanda did love him, in some sort of way.

Pet’s body was younger and weaker. For now. But (as others have mentioned) it could be from lack of use. When Wanderer/Mel took off in to the desert Mel comments that Wanderer had let them go soft. I think that her petite, 17 year old body has every chance of being able to hold up in the Arizona conditions. Most of it must just need time to acclimate to those conditions. That may be hard when others (including a lot of intervention from Ian) may hinder her to “beef” up to her full potential. Mel and Wanda’s personalities are very different. It’s not surprising that there outer shells (when chosen) would look so completely different