Kushiel's Avatar

by Jacqueline Carey

I'm actually sad to have finished this trilogy. I absolutely love Phedre as a heroine. Despite the fact that I knew I could have given myself a longer break between the second book and this one, I really didn't want to. Not least of which because there are A LOT of characters and I've already had trouble keeping them all straight. I think it took me until this book to really get a good idea of who's who.

I'm not normally a fan of first-person narration but it's the dominant style these days so I guess I'm just going to have to get used to it. I actually really like the way it's used in these books. Phedre is a kick-ass heroine, but she doesn't seem to realize it. Yet at no point does she come off as sounding naive. For example, every time Katniss got all self-deprecating I was like, "Really? Where are you getting this from?" ("The Hunger Games" is one series that really should not have been told in first person).

Everything Phedre thinks and does is totally believable. I found myself thinking about her the same way she thought about herself until another character told her how remarkable she is. Then I had to step back and go, "Oh, yeah. That was pretty awesome." But because Carey's writing is so in-the-moment, I had to consciously step back from Phedre's mindset in order to see it.

I also love the way Phedre matures. By the time this book ends she's approximately 20 years older than she is at the start of the first book and she believably sounds like it. She looks back on things she did and thought as a child and thinks, "Was I really that bad?" and I had to go, "Oh, yeah! You were a total brat!" However, at no point did I wonder how she got from that obnoxious, self-absorbed child to the mature, responsible woman she is in the second and third books. After all, throughout the series, she has a number of adventures which force her to grow up real fast. And she does so.

Gone Girl

by Gillian Flynn

Okay, so I initially didn't want to read this book. I read the synopsis and thought "Nah, not really for me." Then everyone and their mother started reading and raving about it. So, of course, conformist that I am, I had to read it, too.

I'm really glad I did. I loved it! It was brilliantly written. I'm going to try to talk about the things I loved without spoiling too much because, if you haven't read it yet, I highly recommend it. One of the characters is brilliantly manipulative but, in order for her to pull it off, Flynn had to be brilliantly manipulative. The switches she makes between characters, even within characters, is nothing short of masterful and it left me in awe.

The whole book is a battle of wits between a husband and wife and I loved it because, while rooting for one, it kind of seems inevitable that the other will win (I won't tell you which or why in case your opinion differs). But it was fun in all the ways that mind games are always fun to read about and then some.

The only part I really had a problem with was a woman convincing her husband (and other people in her life) that she was deadly afraid of blood. How stupid are these people? Don't they know that women have to deal with blood every month? How exactly would a woman manage to deal with that unpleasantness every month if she could't stand the sight or smell of blood? I've heard of men who can't stand the sight of blood, but never a woman.

FINISHED!

It's over! National Novel Writing Month has officially moved on to Christmas month which means we can all move on from our respective writing projects to buying presents and eating lots and lots of sugar!

So here's what I did: In terms of attaining my goal of spending at least one hour a day researching or editing there was only one day where I did neither and there was one day where I only spent half an hour researching. On the other hand, there were other days where I spent more than an hour (sometimes two hours) doing either research and/or editing. So, all in all, I definitely spent more than 30 hours working on my 2 projects and, personally, I consider that to be pretty good.

I also attained my goal of finishing the one book I was using for research and moving on to a new book. The new book is borrowed from the library so I am continuing my pledge to do at least a little research every day until I have to return it. At that point I will return it to the library and forget about it until the holidays are over.

Speaking of which, one of the things I will never understand about National Novel Writing Month is why it takes place in a month that also includes a major holiday. In the past I have been known to spend all week baking for Thanksgiving. This year, I had to get up at 6am in order to get my editing/research done and all of my baking (somehow I got put in charge of all the pies for my family. Still not sure how that happened). So trying to write a novel and get all that baking done would never happen. I would probably have to pull an all-nighter and that will never happen because sleep is actually a #1 priority for me!

How did you guys do? Are you as glad as I am that it's all over?