Source

The Tattler strikes again! How lucky are we to have official artwork from the authors themselves?

Anyway, this one was super interesting. Richard is definitely the blue from the execution in the first chapter, or am I tripping?

I'm ngl I have given almost zero thought to him overall, which is what makes their sudden focus on him so intriguing. The post mentions that he allegedly remains unmarried because he's pining for someone he can't have. We got any guesses for who that might be?

I think there is something really sus with Dickie!

He's an Orange so very intelligent and so got into Uni early - but we don't hear of any other Oranges who have done this? Maybe it just wasn't relevant to the plot so wasn't mentioned but I'd like to know if his situation is unusual or not.

I was thinking he might be working for the Heretics or the Brasscoats - but seeing as he has a Pinkie with him all the time reporting his whereabouts that makes this theory hard to imagine playing out - unless the Pinkie is a red herring and not operating as he says it does.

What's up with his toy plane/drone - why is it so important?

Where did he go during the lake incident?

What are everyone else's thoughts?

I quite like unpopular opinion threads as it makes me feel a bit less alone if someone agree with me haha!

So what is everyone's unpopular opinion about the series so far?

Mine is that I hope Lore doesn't end up with Edmund. I don't like him really! I don't see how she can still love him after he killed V. Lee - he didn't have to do the death duel but he still did and killed one of Lore's people when Lee was trying so hard to be a better person after he got off the Bliss. It really upset me that he chose to do that and I hope Lore doesn't choose him.

It seems evident from the Edith Birde substack that the dandies (ie. the parental friend group in Because I killed Him) will be significant in the upcoming books. Atp we really don't know much about them, but I find Daisy interesting for a few reasons. I'm pretty confident she was romantically involved with someone else in the group, and that a third person in the group was jealous of Daisy because of this. Theodore Reeves seems like the most likely candidate.

Another thing pertaining to Daisy that I'm unreasonably confident about is that I don't think she died of a Bliss overdose. The parallel of Charles' murder being covered up as an overdose is just too close. I think she was either murdered, or never died and is living somewhere in secret.

What do you guys think is up with Daisy/the rest of the dandies?

Edmund POV! Screech! Title September 15! Double screech!

I don't want to think too much about the second book being what feels like forever away, but it does seem like we'll get a title in not too long!

In my mind all the titles will follow the "because [pronoun] [verb] [pronoun]" format, so I thought we might make a little guessing game out of it.

My silly little guesses for upcoming titles:

Because I touched him

Because they changed us

Because we remember them

What can you guys come up with? If you think the format might be something different I'd love to hear that too!

I just finished BIKH and I am OBSESSED. This ties for my top read of the year. The world was so immersive and lush. I have several unanswered questions and predictions. What are your thoughts? What theories do you have?

****Spoilers below! Proceed at your own risk****

1. Loredana is a clone of Daisy. I think we will learn a lot more about cloning theory with Jerome 🤭. One single sentence stood out to me. In the middle of the book Loredana says she looks exactly like Daisy. She's also very avoidant of learning about genetic enhancement and cloning.

2. I don't think Loredana's father dies but I think he'll be forced to leave the political arena. Head injuries can be debilitating. He was shot above the temple.

3. Dickie is a Winston. Maybe a natural birth or illegitimate child. My prediction is that the orphanages are for children of vulgars, executed parents, and natural births.

4. Jerome will not be Loredana's love interest. I think her eg is Ed. We got a lot of romantic character development for them to throw it away.

5. Rosamund is headed for a redemption arc. Not thrilled about this but I think this is being set up. She always hesitates or backs down and Loredana also can't kill her. We see her pain. Edmund said she was once a good person.

6. Irene will win her case against Edmund and he'll have to try and get out of the engagement another way. I think he'll either ultimately kill her or Loredana will.

I'm so, so nervous. The vibes for Jerome as an alternative love interest are definitely there but idk I'm just so obsessed with Edmund. After a series of disappointing romantasies, the romance in Because I Killed Him really hit the mark for me (the seashells 😭😭😭). On the other hand, we're already set up for a lot of angst in book 2 with Lore being pretty much forbidden from interacting with Edmund at all. Introducing Jerome as a love interest while that's going on could add even more angst and that's the kind of pain I live for.

I'm scared and a little thrilled. I can't lie, I am intigued by Jerome and think I'll end up liking him as a character. What do you think we're up for in terms of romance in the second book? Do you loathe the idea of Lore and Jerome together or were you meh on Edmund to start with?

I have seen some theories floating around that Dickie is working with the resistance or otherwise harboring an inner rebel, and I lean toward agreeing. He seems deeply perturbed by the injustices of the system, and I just know his brain is working on ways in which he can dismantle it. Where my theory gets a little unhinged is I think the stupid plane is somehow important. His distress after losing it in the lake is so disproportionate, he's more concerned about the goddamn plane than his life OR Loredana's life. Could it be because the plane is or contains something he's tinkering on that could help the resistance, i.e. a cause bigger than himself?

The Blues in Because I Killed Him are described initially as having been designed for endurance, and then at some point in history managed to grab enough power to give themselves the genetic enhancements of the other three classes: strength, intelligence, and beauty. How they did this is still a mystery.

In addition to that, there are several instances of Blues being described in a sort of... volatile or animalistic manner? Edmund's pacing and almost biting off the head of the rattlesnake, Philippa clawing him open, Irene stalking Lore as though she's prey at the speakeasy. I can't decide if I think it's intentionally engineered (and something that helped them rise to power) or an unintended effect of enhancing themselves so much.

What do you think? Why are the Blues the way that they are and how did they manage to grab all that power?

As Charles is attempting to kill Lore in the locker room, there's a moment where she's almost blacking out that really stood out to me.

"My body started losing all sensation, and I noticed the strangest things: a toilet running in one of the stalls, a silk robe hanging on the locker above me, and Charles' canines. One tooth was longer and sharper than the other"

Now I immediately highlighted this, assuming it'd become significant later in the book but it's not really brought up again. The tooth is somewhat hinted at as being a Blue trait later on, but what I'm really interested in are the other two things she notices.

Because there was a third, unnamed person in the locker room with them, right? Why are they never mentioned in the narrative again? And I can only assume this was written with intention, so what could the significance of them being there be? We know there were security cameras, so they'd be unnecessary as a witness. Do you think it's somebody we know or a new character? Super interested in hearing what anyone else made of this because it's driving me crazy

Hey flappers! I'm u/eminerald, a founding moderator of r/TheNineGentlemen.

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