Reading about the shining Sinclairs and their private island reminded me of the joys of summer when you live on a large property and you have the run of the land. My cousins, my sibs and I -not RICH at all, just always together - we had the golden summers that Lockhart describes in her latest book "We Were Liars".
I was swept up in that sense of belonging, of knowing that we would always have each other. Idyllic.
Of course, even in fiction, life must intervene. Lockhart takes great pains to dole out the pieces of that intrusion and so, out of respect for her craft, I can't tell you much. Life crashes into the Sinclairs' lives, like a tornado. That's all I can say.
So read it.
Tomorrow - over at BoB - Chime goes up against Daughter of Smoke and Bone. Now that the book I thought would go all the way has been kicked out, is it a little, um, self-pitying for me to pout and say I don't care which book wins? YES!! Yes, it is. I do have an opinion about this match.
Chime was the second most difficult book in this year's Battle for me to get into. (I still haven't finished
Life. I will. I promise.) Briony's stream of consciousness, anxiety-ridden narrative is so confusing. But I was so glad I persevered because none of her rambling is wasted.
On the other hand, I slipped into
Daughter of Smoke and Bone like I was sinking into a fragrant long-awaited bath. Ahhhh, what a lovely setting, ahhhh, what intriguing characters, ahhhh, blue hair. Isn't this indulgent? And then.... there was the battle-y part.
Very Short Digression: I am getting really really REALLY tired of battle-y parts.
Back to BoB; The battle-y part was followed by the heart-breaking romance part and the WHAT??!!! ending in
Daughter. That's a lot to pack into one book.
So, there you have it. Hard to get into but satisfying
Chime goes against seductive, action packed
Daughter of Smoke and Bone.I could toss a coin as one of our esteemed judges did. I could use my Chobani Oracle Cup and pull out the name. But this time, I think I will just predict that.... Oh, my, this is so hard.
I choose
Chime over
Daughter of Smoke and Bone. I think it was the battle-y part that pushed me over the edge. I suspect that excellent judge
e. lockhart, will have a more intelligent take on this match. And, as I say over and over, I will not be disappointed in either book moving on.
StoryFUSION!!! So much StoryFUSION prep work going on. If you don't hear much from me this week, that is why. Check the
Storytelling page for updates and schedules and stuff.
