So this review is also long overdue. Thank you Goodreads for crashing as I was writing it. I can't believe it took me almost a year to realise I'd stiSo this review is also long overdue. Thank you Goodreads for crashing as I was writing it. I can't believe it took me almost a year to realise I'd still not written it. Whoopsie!
This novel centres on the artist Edvard Munch and I already found that fascinating because I always found his piece The Scream intriguing and disturbing.
The Girl Between really does something magical in creating a possible story behind his paintings, including The Scream. It's wonderfully creative and I can see that the author went into a lot of detail and effort researching his life. There's a bit at the end after the novel that explains reality from fiction and I really appreciated her efforts.
The protagonist, young Johanne is in fact an observer of events between Edvard and his lover Tullik, who is actually the younger sister of his first love affair. This already creates some problems. Their relationship is hot and fiery and poisonous. And because Edvard is so withdrawn and has a bunch of anxiety issues already, he's almost oblivious to the destruction his affair with Tullik creates. She becomes consumed by him and it destroys her.
And Johanne, the MC has to watch it all unfold.
Johanne loves to paint and befriends Edvard early on as he discovers her passion for painting and encourages it by letting her paint in his workshop. She does so in secret to avoid angering her constantly disapproving mother.
She becomes a maid to Tullik and her family, where she befriends Tullik. Tullik learns of the friendship between Edvard and Johanne and wants to meet him. They go to Edvard's residence regularly and I felt that Tullik used Johanne for that purpose. She is selfish and obsessed but there is goodness in her heart somewhere. Unfortunately, Tullik and Edvard both have that obsessive characteristic and it destroys not just their lives, but those around them.
I disliked their carelessness and obliviousness. I felt that despite having so much love and desire for one another, and wanting each other, defying others' opinions was all well and good and commendable, but they did it without care for those around them. Johanne for example. She suffered a lot and had to pick up the pieces. I found it aggravating.
But the storyline itself was so enticing and I couldn't put the book down. I enjoyed it - in between fuming at particular characters and their careless decisions.
If you like art, history, romance, friendship and being swept away by dark and powerful emotion, you have to read this! You won't be disappointed.
And I can tell you the ending.... phewieee! It'll blow your socks off. ...more
But first, the cons: This is one of those books that if you don't keep going, you'll miss out on the fun. I noticed quite a few reviews staGreat book!
But first, the cons: This is one of those books that if you don't keep going, you'll miss out on the fun. I noticed quite a few reviews stating that they DNF it and that's kinda sad but I guess I understood their reasons.
I personally like it a lot. It was funny and enjoyable! If I hadn't checked it out on Goodreads I probably wouldn't be mentioning this anyway.
The only problem with it that I found was the layout/format/style. It has these continuous footnotes throughout from Dirk, the assistant or whatever, and Jeff the head of the show Rolling with the Royces. And these were irritating to be fair but I learnt to ignore them. They weren't necessary IMO, and they came at awkward moments jarring a sentence and sometimes the numbers were so far from the footnotes that when I did bother to read them I was like, What's this referring to? It makes sense with the whole reality show, fakeness and scripted everything kinda style, but it didn't help the book. I felt it hindered it actually. BUT, despite that, I really did like the book.
It does take some reading, I'd say up to 60% or maybe more for everything to fall into place. The big secret and reveal is far later, like in the 90%. But I was kept so entertained all the way through I didn't mind the wait. There was obviously something to wait for, and it made it clear from the beginning which helped to keep my interest.
Characters wise, well they were certainly colourful. And their names were hilariously apt to the whole ridiculousness of reality TV. Sorry to anyone who has those names, I mean no offense. It works is all I'm saying and adds to that whacky doodah flavour of the book which I loved.
The MC, Bently a.k.a Bent is driving the story and I liked her a lot. She does a lot for her family, even when they're initially ungrateful and self obsessed but the great thing about this whole book is how all of them, even Bent's mother bettered themselves. Mercedes (the Mom--though she wouldn't have let them call her that EVER until three quarters into the book, if that) who finally reconnected with her motherly roots that had practically been severed from a long career on reality TV and materialism and spotlight and fakery. It was nice to see her warm up to her kids again.
And Bent's older sister, Porshe who is practically Merc's twin in the beginning. All about the spotlight and being noticed. But discovering love and the power of family and everything that happens to shake all that up brings her back to what really matters.
Then there's the little gay brother, Bach. He's the calming one, the guy who takes it all on his shoulders and plays it cool, but he finally shows how much the pressure has got to him and it's nice to see him not be perfect all the time. To see, like the others, what they're REALLY like, really feeling, and really wanting in life.
As for Bentley herself, she wants to go to college, be free of the fame and paparazzi and everyone controlling her life, making her memorize a stupid 'Bently bible' that lists how she should be, what she should eat, where, do, say. She decides she doesn't want it anymore, but she puts her family before her own needs. And she also finds love in a rather sweet and swoonworthy male by the name of 'Venice' who she befriends from months prior, spending time with him during her two hour freedom slots on Wednesdays at the library. Where she can just be herself and nobody recognizes her. Or so she thinks...
It's a feel-good story, made me laugh and gasp aloud. The bit where Whitey punches Jeff had me howling with laughter after I'd recovered from the shock. I love a good ass-kicking.
I'd definitely recommend this book, all I can say is, if you can allow yourself to go with the flow and get used to the weird format, you won't regret reading this book. It's a good one. And I give the cover art a solid four stars. It's really spunky and bright. Just like the story. ...more
I loved the concept, the plot, the characters, the mystery and suspense. It was exactly what I needed.
Ada a.k.a Vivi a.This was absolutely wonderful!
I loved the concept, the plot, the characters, the mystery and suspense. It was exactly what I needed.
Ada a.k.a Vivi a.k.a Arden is a famous female illusionist. She takes on the business after her mentor and boss leaves. She was the first ever, Ada is the next best thing. And someone in the very beginning--believed to be Ada's husband--has been killed with an axe shoved in his belly and Ada is the suspect. Captured by a policeman who has a fatal bullet lodged in his spine from a previous case, has a lot riding on finding the killer. He'd just found out that day that he could die or become paralyzed at any moment, thanks to the bullet moving about, so as soon as he sees Ada running away, he makes chase, captures her and takes her to an office for questioning.
This is where we learn all about Ada from when she's about twelve up to the present. And it is a story full of so much. I couldn't put it down.
The big question lurking in all of this--well QUESTIONS--is did she really kill her husband? And then later it's, WHO IS her husband? Because her storytelling leads you in one direction and then flips you on your ass and leads you in other. Just when you think you've figured it out it laughs at you and says 'Guess again'. I loved that!
The whole thing is about Ada facing her fears, sharing her story and following her adventures. She starts off wanting to be a dancer--thanks to her mother's influence--but from the beginning her life is shadowed by the psychotic Ray, who to everyone else is a good and kind young man who cares for the horses in the stables and is the son of Ada's mother's husband. So her stepbrother. In gtruth, he's a nasty piece of work and Ada discovers this by accident when she walks in on him cutting himself, but instead of it being about depression and self harm, the guy is absolutely adamant that he has super healing powers. Ada is actually the one with the powers and once he learns this, he won't leave her alone. He feels he has a right to her, that he OWNS her. And just like the rather repulsive 'hobby' of his to break animal's and attempt to heal them, he does it to Ada just before she's about to perform to a famous retired dancer. Her future hangs on that performance and Ray takes it away through malicious and jealous intent, throwing her from the balcony of the barn at the mansion she is meant to perform at.
From then on, her life goes shifting in another direction entirely, and though she completely heals, she knows she must escape Ray and his evil. He believes that her healing is his doing, not her own and that makes her life all the more in danger. And when she fleas to New York, it is there she discovers her true calling. Magic, illusions, and standing on the stage being applauded. But the thought of Ray is always lurking in the back of her mind.
It's a magical story, full of twists and turns and I loved the richness of it. The emotional rollercoaster of it. The romance and suspense were wonderful. I loved Ada and her strength. I loved her determination and wit. It was fun to read but it wasn't what I'd call light and airy. There was darkness in it too, hidden in the happy, light moments and that made it perfect for me.
I can't praise it enough, and for that it gets the full five stars. ...more
Okay this was peculiar. It took me to the end to decide whether it was good peculiar, or bad peculiar. And I'd say GOOD.
It's like reading it whilst onOkay this was peculiar. It took me to the end to decide whether it was good peculiar, or bad peculiar. And I'd say GOOD.
It's like reading it whilst on LSD--or at least that's what I imagine being on LSD to be like. It's not completely confusing, but it took me some time to figure out the writing style. Plus, the copy I received from Netgalley had some formatting issues (mostly it left out the 'th' 'ft' 'ff's in words so I needed to get the hang of that also). Apart from that, the story itself was actually charming.
The narrator has this dry wit that made me laugh in places, but he wasn't bitter about the bad things that happened, he was just being matter-of-fact and that was pleasant to read. You could make the decision yourself about his situation without his personal opinion overpowering your thoughts.
The story is about a guy who talks about three particular moments in his life, which are when he falls for three different women. One is when he's a young kid, about eleven I believe and he decodes this girl who talks non-stop and about such random things no one understands her, until he does. She basically fantasized about being in movies, and once he worked that out, he was able to guess what movies she was referring to and then what she was actually talking about. He understand her better than anyone because he saw her fantasies similar to how he viewed his dreams. He has a habit of writing down his dreams and interpreting them so he had that ability to interpret her.
Then it jumps to his late teens. He falls hard for another girl, they get together, play happy couple and when they start to find work and she gets a job a little out of the way from him, the distance makes them drift apart. It's sad because in the end, she makes the decision to move away--the reasons are rather interesting in itself--and she gives him the choice to meet her at the airport last minute, tells him that she has an extra ticket. Though he has doubts about a lot of things, he fights to reach her but unforseen forces get in his way.
Then it's love number three, who works in his restaurant. He calls her Knife Girl because of her knife talents and this one was a sweet read. He really helps her out and it's a lovely story.
But in all of that, there's these mini breaks of a story about something that I am still not quite sure of the significance. It's jumpy, and I read a lot of it in the middle of the night so my head wasn't exactly up to full working mode. So I'd have to read it again to figure out what it was there for. It was all still very interesting and entertaining and like a dream. Nothing quite made sense until it did. But I enjoyed it, and I liked it's quirkiness, and it's depth and knowledge. I liked learning things from Japan's history and culture. There was a lot take in in such a small book!
Not my usual reads but I'm glad I did request it. And I loved the cover too. It's so cute!
I fell in love with this book. More accurately, I fell in love with Grace! Yay for awesome main characters with depth and complexity. Yay for diversitI fell in love with this book. More accurately, I fell in love with Grace! Yay for awesome main characters with depth and complexity. Yay for diversity!
This was so different for me because it's the first time I've read a book in the mind of someone with Aspergers. Despite her having that label, she's not that much different to you or I. I could in fact, totally relate to her anxieties, though compared to her, mine is muted. For her, everything is amplified. Noises, crowds, social awkwardness. It's all a struggle beyond anything we can comprehend, but this book helped to put me in her shoes and I completely sympathized with her. But more importantly, I RELATED to her. She made me laugh so much. Her humour and sarcasm at the assumptions of others was really funny and enlightening. But it also cast a dark shadow that this is what some people act like and think like towards people like Grace. It's kind of sad, but Grace takes it with, well, grace.
The novel follows Grace during a time when her wildlife cameraman dad is away and doing very little to help the family, her mother is acting particularly grumpy and seems stressed all the time and is being influenced badly by her so-called friend 'Evil Eve' (who seems to want her all to herself and is nasty to Grace and her sister Leah), and then Leah, Grace's younger sister, who is being a teenager and exploring the wonders and horrors of alcohol, popularity and bad influences.
Grace seems to be the only one aware that her family is falling apart, and she has to deal with all of that whilst dealing with getting up each day, trying to be normal and fixing her face so she doesn't have what she describes as "Resting Bitch Face"; and her narrative is just so refreshing and hilarious as she talks about all of this. She then, on top of all of this, after being dragged into a game of Spin the Bottle at a party, ends up getting kissed by the boy she's had a crush on in forever. Gabe.
I liked Gabe, because he was funny, awkward and a bit of a nerd. He shared a passion with Grace for Doctor Who and left her cute presents because of it. He gets her and he doesn't make her feel weird. He himself suffers from ADHD so they have something they can relate to to an extent. The feeling of trying to fit in every day, the pressures of not drawing attention to their differences. It's done in a lighthearted way but still manages to get the darker and quite sad message across. That people who are different are treated poorly. It's the truth, and this book speaks the truth, but it doesn't demand sympathy. It demands respect. Grace wants to be respected, she wants to get things right and she wants a normal happy life, and to be accepted for who she is. It's something everyone wants and should get.
So I couldn't put it down, and I read it pretty speedily. I loved it, and I'm looking out for more books by this author.
Holy Moly this book was heart-wrenching. How did the author write this without having a nervous breakdown? I mean, wow.
Stay With Me is about a woman wHoly Moly this book was heart-wrenching. How did the author write this without having a nervous breakdown? I mean, wow.
Stay With Me is about a woman who desperately wants a child, and that is the bones of this novel. Stay With Me is called that because she has a hard time keeping her children in this world. Anything to do with child loss always kills me so I had a really hard time reading this. I mean I was hooked; it was so good, so gripping, so emotional, but it was hard and cutting and I continuously bled for Yejide, and Akin also.
Yejide and Akin are the perfect couple in the beginning; they're madly in love, happy and living together. But it's been four years now and nosy in-laws are getting involved, trying to find out why they haven't gotten pregnant. Of course, Yejide is blamed. She's the 'barren wife' and it's all her fault and oh poor Akin for being lugged with such a woman. She's not even a real woman. This is what is said in the book and YES, I WHOLEHEARTEDLY DISAGREE. So the in-laws think, Oh we know how to fix this, Akin, you must marry again. They bring in this slice of pretty pie called Fenmi, and Yejide's happiness from that moment gets chipped away. Bit by bit.
Akin then takes things into his own hands in a way that is controversial, and questions morality, but at the same time you understand his reasons. It's one of those things that would certainly get debates rolling. I did suspect about Akin and what he did, and that he wasn't honest--but I understood why. If you read it, you'll get what I'm on about. No one in this novel is perfect, but there are reasons for it. I even got where Fenmi, the second wife, was coming from. It's a messed up situation fuelled by ridiculous superstitous, meddling behaviour from family who really don't give a damn about them. There's so much jealousy, backstabbing and plotting, it's a wonder they can smile so sweetly while they do it and demand the respectful titles they think they deserve. I found myself cawing outloud at the injustice and the utter gall of some of the family.
But this book is not about being sweet and lovely with a happy ending. It's truth in all its ugliness. It's the secrets and lies and sorrow and pain and loss that are our life's foundations. Yejide and Akin sure had their fair share. Some things that happened I'd say was their own doing, or was made worse by their mistakes. Some was just plain tragic and my heart swelled with sympathy for them.
I will never forget this book. I enjoyed it, despite it's rather dark and upsetting content. The characters were all complex and intriguing. The Nigerian culture and the country's situation at the time and setting was new for me. I thoroughly enjoyed learning about it, absorbing it, even Googling some of the terms that I didn't understand or weren't familiar with. This is why I love fiction that is rich with culture. You learn so much. But it wasn't overpowering and didn't draw away from the plot; in fact, it complimented it so well.
Wonderful novel, not for the faint hearted, and I can see this becoming a sort of Slumdog Millionaire level film if it is ever adapted to the big screen. Brilliant stuff....more
I wasn't expecting it to be how it was. I thought it would all be about a wartorn country and two people's struggles This book was one hell of a ride!
I wasn't expecting it to be how it was. I thought it would all be about a wartorn country and two people's struggles through it, but it was a lot more than that. I certainly wasn't expecting the magical realism and the really refreshing narrative!
Pros about this book are that it's SO well written for one. The characters are thorough, deep and I was emotionally invested in them and their story. The little additions of other people around the world and their stories was absolutely charming. And the whole fact that this book showed the ugly side of humanity, yet it did it so artfully and creatively was wonderful.
I loved the idea of this alternate world where wartorn countries cause an influx of migrants into safer countries, and all the drama and consequences that happen as a result of that. It is so close to today's reality, but also so far. The concept of the black doors being magical portals--like escape pods--from one country to another, was fascinating. That people, if they have the right connections and money, can buy safe passage to somewhere else in the hopes of finding a place to belong, when their own home is ravaged and destroyed by militants. It's just marvelous and so damn clever. It's also clever how those very doors can be used as a source of power when taken over by the wrong people.
I loved the mini stories interloping with the main story of Nadia and Saeed. How you can transport from their wartorn country at that time, to somewhere else and witness in a brief glimpse what is happening to someone else at that exact moment. It paints this beautiful and wonderful and horrific picture of just how different two people's lives can be in the exact same world at the exact same time. It's humbling. It was just perfect.
Granted, at first I didn't know why it was being mentioned, but after the first or second time of having this sort of out-of-body- almost Godly experience, I got it. And it just works.
Which brings me to the narrative style. The style, from what I know of being a writer and all the taboo subjects on that side, is that the style used in Exit West is actually not a popular one. I believe it's in the third person omnipresent narrative which basically means you're reading it from a God-like perspective, able to jump in and out from one character to the next, but not exactly being them. Merely watching the scene from above but also being able to see what is in each person's head. It's not popular and many writers avoid it simply because IT IS SO HARD TO DO. You tend to find yourself mind-hopping which is really frowned upon, because it causes confusion when reading if not done properly. Mohsin Hamed does not do this, and he got this narrative down perfectly. It works perfectly for this book, because of the aforementioned mini stories and it also works because a lot of the time the author 'tells' us rather than 'shows' us what is going on.
This again is frowned upon by a lot of snotty folk who think they know how books should and shouldn't be written. Like there's a rule book for this sort of thing. I would normally agree with the idea that a story should do mostly showing than telling but with this book I make an exception. The author HAS to tell us a lot of what's going on because there's so much going on. Things need to be explained, and a lot of time and events needs to filtered into this neat, shorter summary. He still manages to keep important moments into the 'show' category, allowing us to experience firsthand those important moments between Saeed and Nadia.
I just loved this book. It was a nod to people suffering in any wartorn country because the country in the book is never mentioned by name. That was also a smart move by the author. It was just clever, not a shouting political read, but more of a subtle, knowing smile that's elegant and a lot is subjective and subtle in meaning. He leaves it to you to come to a lot of conclusions, which is always nice in my opinion.
A thoroughly enjoyable read, lives up to the hype, and well worth it. Left me in tears, both good and sad and it'll be one that I'll remember. ...more
It took me a while to read this but I did really enjoy it. Compared to the tv series, which I watched before reading this (big mistake) it is much sloIt took me a while to read this but I did really enjoy it. Compared to the tv series, which I watched before reading this (big mistake) it is much slower to develop at some points, and there were significant differences. Some of which I preferred, others I didn't. The main difference I found was the character of the China man, Mr Willoughby. I found him in the TV series to be engaging, warm, interesting and funny. In the book he was reduced to something savage and odd that had little endearing qualities. He was a drunk, which wouldn't be so bad if he had something good going for him, but he seemed to be the cause of so many problems for Claire and Jamie. It saddened me to find him to be this way, and I'm not surprised they changed his character to something more favourable for onscreen.
The writing however, as always, is sound, enjoyable and engaging. I love this series and want to see what happens next! I'll be taking a break, however, from carrying this on because there are other books I want to get through first.
A decent read, not my favourite of the series so far, but there were some epic moments in this book that are undoubtably my favourite! (The print room scene, anybody?)
My God the feels. I can't. I just can't talk about it right now. To review later.My God the feels. I can't. I just can't talk about it right now. To review later....more
Yeah. No. I didn't feel this. It took me over two months to finish and I just couldn't stay gripped. The characters were uninspiring. I didn't really cYeah. No. I didn't feel this. It took me over two months to finish and I just couldn't stay gripped. The characters were uninspiring. I didn't really care about them or what happened to them. The plot was dull. Most of it was spent plotting stupid pranks (though the last one was quite funny) and talking about deep stuff that I really didn't care about. I wanted more interaction, more character development. I still don't know half the reasons for stuff that was mentioned or what was the significance. I like coming of age novels but this felt stereotypical and the teen characters just had little substance. I didn't connect with them or this novel. The best part was the end where he writes his essay summing up how he escapes the labyrinth. A question which is a running theme throughout the novel. I liked the concept, but felt it failed to deliver what I hoped. And as it's my first John Green book I'm even more disappointed. I've seen The Fault in Our Stars and loved it. Now I'm wondering if maybe I should have read that first. Sorry guys. I'm not jumping aboard the hype train on this particular book. But maybe I'll like his other novels. ...more
Okay so Rose is in prison. Whoopsie. She's swapped with Dimitri. He's now become more accepted and people are less terrified of him suddenly going allOkay so Rose is in prison. Whoopsie. She's swapped with Dimitri. He's now become more accepted and people are less terrified of him suddenly going all red-eyed Strigoi and shouting 'BOO!' before devouring them all. Rose is to thank for that. Your welcome, asshole.
She worked hard to get Dimitri accepted by the susperstitious folk, who couldn't believe their eyes and did everything to bring out the Strigoi they believed was still hiding in Dimitri. And he still is pretending Rose doesn't exit. To be fair, she starts behaving like a spoilt brat, pouting and shouting every chance she got, but I didn't blame her. Her frustration mirrored mine, or mine mirrored hers, whatever.
And then Queen Tatiana is staked! HOLY SHIT! Big uproar. And it turns out that the stake was Rose's. Oh dear. And Rose publicly threatened the Queen thanks to the injustice going on at the time--she no happy with the new law that Guardians should be out in the field much younger--and makes it known in a rather satisifying public display. Which goes against her when Tatiana is found dead in her bedroom with a stake poking out her chest. Rose's stake as I said. So Rose is locked up. And it's up to her friends to bail her out. Abe does his thing. Adrian his. And FINALLY Dimitri his.
The moment I started to like Dimitri again was when she was captured by the vamp police. He fights to defend her. Fisticuffs can profess one's love as much as words as far as I'm concerned.
This novel is a lot about discovering the truth--the WHO-DUN-IT?--as well as bringing Dimitri back to her. He starts to believe in himself, in them, again. And that was a wonderful thing. Rose goes through a lot in this book and has to restrain herself a lot.
She and Dimitri escape the Court together, with the help of her friends and a ton of explosives, unbeknownst to Rose at the time. They go after Sofia Karp, Rose's former teacher who turned Strigoi herself in the throws of insanity. Also a spirit user. They need her to find the possible illegitimate child of Lissa's father. If they find the child, Lissa can get a place on the Council and it'll help a lot of things blow over. She could even potentially be queen. This book is also a lot about Lissa going through trials to become potential queen along with other members of royalty. They encourage her to step forward--even though she can't actually be accepted as queen without another member of her own family living--so a lot of things are riding on Rose and Dimitri to find this child.
They find her, and it is someone who we've met before. That's all I'm saying. And Lissa does become queen. Rose gets shot saving her in the process. But the ending wasn't quite happy. Lissa has trouble accepting her half sister because it just reminds her of how her father cheated on her mother. And Rose and Adrian who have been a rather odd couple since Dimitri become Strigoi finally confront each other. It was painful to say the least. Adrian has been nothing but good and patient in all of this. He gave Rose space, knew how much she loved Dimitri and his heart was crushed when he discovered Rose and Dimitri had got together. So much happens in this book that I can't mention because it's too long, but the ending, with Adrian upset me.
Sure, Rose and Dimitri are together and Lissa is queen but it left a bitter taste in my mouth. In Rose's defence, Adrian put her in a difficult position after Dimitri turned Strigoi. He asked her to go out and made it almost like a deal which she felt emotional blackmailed to accept. At least that's how I saw it. He genuinely liked her, loved her even, but he knew about Dimitri, about where she stood emotionally and he still brought it up. She accepted it though, perhaps not wanting to upset him and also because she wanted to move on from Dimitri, see what would happen with Adrian. She liked him, loved him maybe, but not like she did Dimitri.
But to sum up the series I think this book did what it was supposed to. I thoroughly enjoyed the books and after reviewing this, I feel like I want to pick them up again! ...more
Okay, so to recap. Dimitri's gone Strigoi, he's captured Rose, imprisoned her. She escapes, stakes his ass and then discovers he is still in fact alivOkay, so to recap. Dimitri's gone Strigoi, he's captured Rose, imprisoned her. She escapes, stakes his ass and then discovers he is still in fact alive, is super pissed and is no more Mr Nice Strigoi Guy. He's made it clear he plans to kill her, and he has no reason to hunt her down because he knows exactly where she is. 'Oh shit, oh no' moment. Buuuuuut, he's not dead so yay because after she staked him, she discovers there's a way to bring him back from Strigoi to his good ol' Dhampir self. He'll get his soul back and not be an evil, blood-sucking dick.
It starts with the letter he sends Rose:
You forgot another lesson: Never turn your back until you know your enemy
is dead. Looks like we'll have to go over the lesson again the next time
I see you-which will be soon.
Love, D
Ohh momma creepy jeebies.
[image]
The last book was brilliant. The third and fourth are by far my favourites. This book follows on from the impending doom. There's the final Guardian exams which Rose aces. They even pump up the difficulty for her because she's dealt with them before, and they're super impressed with her.
Abe, Rose's recently discovered father, sends a message to Viktor Dashkov in prison, trying to bribe him to tell them where his brother Robert is. Robert is a spirit user, and Rose discovered in the previous book that he once brought a Strigoi back to life, which she chases up as soon as she discovers that she didn't kill Dimitri.
Rose knows the only way to convince Viktor to help them is to break him out of prison. So she, Adrian and Lissa do just that, and it was so fun to read. They then travel to Las Vegas to meet Robert and whilst they're there, they bump into evil Dimitri and again Rose hesitates to kill him. She doesn't want to obviously but it puts her at risk of death, fortunately Adrian saves her ass AGAIN and they escape. But so does Viktor with Robert in the kerfuddle.
A lot of stuff goes down, but the most important of it all is that Dimitri is turned back Dhampir, and after all Rose went through to get him back, HE IGNORES HER. I mean WTF!? He refuses to see her because he's got it in his head that she'd be better off without him, because she's too dumb obviously to make that decision for herself. I mean what the f*ck does she know about her own feelings. He's just too guilt-ridden to face his damn problems.
Anyway, this novel is like a spring tightening. And then exploding in a huge, fiery climax. The aftermath however, is disappointing as f*ck and leaves more problems than it started with. So, addicted, I read on.
I just love the world that's been created here. And the characters. I care about them, I want them to win and I feel their suffering greatly.
And in a weird way, at the end of this, I kind of missed Dimitri the Strigoi. He was more fun than Dimitri the Infuriating Martyr. But *shrugs* things have a way of sorting themselves out, in the end....more
Wow this kicks you right in the feels, doesn't it? Not to put too fine a point on it.
So Rose goes on a quest to search for Dimitri and his Strigoi behWow this kicks you right in the feels, doesn't it? Not to put too fine a point on it.
So Rose goes on a quest to search for Dimitri and his Strigoi behind in the naively described 'freezing' land of Siberia. She intends to kill him because she loves. Sounds fun already. Oh, what love this is. No, seriously, despite my jesting, it is quite a sweet albeit bitter plot. She knows that he would never want to be a Strigoi, to be without a soul and wandering around killing innocents. It goes against his Dhampir guardian nature. He was good, warm, full of life. And she doesn't know what to expect when she finally meets him. And my GOD the moment she meets him is so chilling and had me rereading it a couple of times just so I didn't miss a thing.
This book was full of intrigue and great characters. Rose ends up with Dimitri's family through some happy twist of fate, and stays there for a time. The feelings that being in Dimitri's family home stirs up is enough to make me reach for the tissues. I really felt for them both. It was so heartbreaking. She meets this dodgy dude called Abe, and he seems to have an agenda alright but not what you would expect. And when you finally realise who he is and what he's up to, it all makes perfect sense.
Rose then joins forces with a group of vigilante dhampirs who go around killing Strigoi by themselves, not under any order of the vampire race, but as rogues. I found their reasons reasonable enough, if a bit unorganised. I was in Rose's boat on that one. She decides to join them when she figures Dimitri might be in a city and she's proven right. After much interrogation of Strigoi, she finally finds one that knows Dimitri, and tells him to send D a message. And he gets it.
From then on she's pulled into a world of Strigoi against her will, a man who looks like the man she loves, but just isn't, despite what her heart is desperately seeking. Things go stokholm syndrome and blood whoring from there. You get it, I got it. She's trying to hold onto something but at the expense of falling into darkness. That period of the book where she became so weakened by blood loss and high and addicted to the endorphins from the bites (Strigoi bites are super strong compared to a Moroi as well, so mega drug ride), she was easily manhandled by a mere human. And that makes her feel so ashamed of herself. She's a strong, capable Dhampir guardian who has been reduced to an addicted, blood whore all because she's trying to cling onto the man she loves, hoping that he's still in there somewhere.
FYI, I love this moment in the film. It's where I see how much Dim loves her, just by the way he says her name and looks at her. *swoon*
She finally accepts reality, manages to escape and after a brutal battle of strength and wits, she sends him to a watery grave with a silver stake lodged in his chest. It's a powerful, gutwrenching moment for someone like myself who really connected with Dimitri's character, and believed in their love, felt the power of it.
But then she gets a letter waiting for her back at the academy, with the stake inside, and that little doubt she had at the time she'd shoved the stake into his chest, uncertain for a moment that it hadn't penetrated deep enough, turned out to be true. He's alive. Or as alive as a Strigoi can be and he's one pissed off Strigoi, intent on killing her.
It's poisonous, it's torture. But I loved it.
This book, and the third book are my favourite in this series. They really had me hooked and hauled me with them on their messed up emotional ride. I'm not a sucker for vampire romance as such (har har I did a punny), I just like the sort of mystery, forbidden, adventurous, passionate and all consuming element that usually goes hand in hand with this genre. I like vampires in general to be what they used to be: bloody-thirsty, dangerous monsters. But I also like layers and complexity. I like drama, pushing boundaries, and I just like love in a story. Not lovey dovey, but a love that gets battered and stretched and tainted but keeps on firing, keeps on giving, even taking. Because that's epic. And this, to me, was pretty epic.
Plus, there was a lot of ass kicking. That's always good. ...more
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