Mood

 Wednesday

Reading update on The Fourth Wing:  I'm at 42%. It's a quick-ish read. We're in the training-or-die phase for the first year cadets so it feels very Divergent-influenced. The "love triangle" feels very much like Katniss-Peeta-Gayle from Hunger Games. I only read the first book of Twilight a very long time ago so I can't draw upon that for comparison but it could be that as well. Sarah mentioned that the author comes from a romance writing background and I can see that because, what I've noticed in terms of story, the main character Violet never fails or has any setbacks. In romance stories in general, the journey is the relationship, building toward wholeness together between two flawed people. The journey is mostly internal. But in non-romance books, in addition to the growth of the hero, the story is an external/quest one and what makes us care about a character is the drama of failing/setbacks and figuring out how to overcome them. As a reader, I'm starting to not care about or be as invested in the dangers that Violet encounters in this cadet situation and therefore Violet herself because she always "wins" without actually earning it if you follow me. Violet wins at "X" because of course she does. Violet survives "Y" because of course she does. Violet gets the best-of-the-best "Z" because of course she does. I'm not disliking the story, but for the marketing/hype so far I'm left wanting more from it.

 

Steve's got the gun range tonight. I'm going to read. I'm thinking about re-starting the afghan blocks with a different type of yarn. I have a bunch from another project that may work better. But not tonight.

Have a good day

Much love,

PK the Bookeemonster