Oh my god this weekend has been tough. It's now one minute past midnight on Monday morning. I have had eight hours sleep in two days, and still can't sleep.
What have I done over the weekend? I've spent hours absorbed in Hardy's Jude the Obscure (and still didn't finish it). My thoughts? I like Hardy's style but bloody hell is he miserable. This is why I'm very much an Austen girl. I can accept that both of them have a subtlety about them, but I like Austen's humour. I'll admit it, I like a happy ending. I don't mind misery, but ultimately I like all the ends tying up.
I read a blog on the perils of YA romances this week, additionally. She talked about the same-ness of the male protagonists. I've been thinking this for a while but felt I would be doing a disservice to my favourite genre. I have a fondness for YA literature due to its diverse range of topics, and the relatability. I feel issues are viewed from multiple points of view and sympathies for minor characters are available. But Melissa observes the unrealistic nature of their plots; 'The main character has never in her life been to a party and the first guy she meets is this extremely attractive bad boy who loves reading and listens to indie music? I’m more likely to meet Jesus at that party than such a guy'.
And it is true of most YA novels these days. I expressed, to a close friend last week, a need to branch out with regard to literature. I need a new genre to obsess over for a little while. I spend the large part of my years waiting for new releases in the YA genre. This sameness is not true of the whole genre, however. I remain truly loyal to Jennifer Niven, Sarah J Maas, Samantha Shannon and many others. But I am slowly realising that I prefer YA fantasy novels for the moment, and my Fairy Loot subscription is aiding me in this appreciation.
On a side note, I thought I'd let you know that Fairy Loot will be dispatched today and arrive in the next few days. So you can expect an unboxing coming soon!
I also read this article which views Beauty and the Beast as a tale of caution against 'smart homes'. Characters are compared to the Amazon Echo's functions; deciding that Lumiere, Cogsworth and Mrs Potts are much superior to Alexa. Apparently the surveillance of the magic mirror is a little creepy, too. This was, very much, an interesting read. It was more than just a gushy post about the film (I am guilty of conforming to the gushing!) and I appreciated that.
This weekend I also finished The Song Rising by Samantha Shannon. It is the third book in her series 'The Bone Season' and I've been waiting a while for it. Now that I have finished I will commence my wait for the fourth book. The Bone Season is beautifully complex and frightening. Paige Mahoney is one of my all time favourite protagonists ever. She is nineteen years old (as am I, at the moment) and is now Underqueen! I finished book two, The Mine Order', fist pumping the air in the name of her victory. Then I sat worrying about the next book after that cliff hanger. I wasn't ready, emotionally, for everything that happened in this book. All the ends that I hoped would begin to tie themselves up, that didn't. This is a book of Paige Mahoney getting screwed over consistently and I just want to hug her all the way through. I loved the new characters that we got to meet, and I wept for the existing characters that we lost. But I was so happy to see the return of characters like Warden, Nick and Eliza alongside Paige. I almost cannot bear to wait for book four, which I have learnt is book four of seven.
Well despite no sleep, I have clearly spent my weekend reading a variety of different things. I hope you all had a lovely couple of days!
See you all soon.
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