Books I've Read in 2024: Bride by Ali Hazelwood
"You don’t know anything about what it’s like to find your other half, I would take anything she chose to give me—the tiniest fraction or her entire world. I would take her for a single night knowing that I’ll lose her by morning, and I would hold on to her and never let go. I would take her healthy, or sick, or tired, or angry, or strong, and it would be my fucking privilege. I would take her problems, her gifts, her moods, her passions, her jokes, her body—I would take every last thing, if she chose to give it to me."
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I feel like Hraethen the antihero antagonist from Elantris has just the right mix of unconventional sex appeal and deeply problematic nature to be controversial fandom icon for the Cosmere. Maybe even a Tumblr sexyman.
For starters he's a middle aged man with inner turmoil, so he's do numbers on Tumblr right off the bat, even if he wasn't also over 6 feet tall and buff enough to wear full plate armor whenever he's in public. He canonically respects and admires women who intellectually challenge him, so he's got good taste. And literally everything about his actions and personality is the perfect breeding ground for Discourse™️, he's a manipulative bastard who serves a fascist theocracy because he genuinely believes he is saving people's lives and wants to make up for past mistakes.
I think this man could give Vriska Serkhet a run for her money.
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A very well done, and timely discourse on the nature of human religion, packaged for delightful consumption.
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"You will simply have to call Saul."-Tell Me How Long the Train's Been Gone (1968) by James Baldwin
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“It was love, not pain, that broke her.”
-Slewfoot , a tale of bewitchery by Gerald Brom
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It's funny, I'm quite certain I didn't cry when I read Warbreaker the first time. I thought it was brilliant, I empathized with the characters was invested in their goals and struggles, but I definitely didn't think of any part of it as extremely emotional or heart-rending.
But now l, rereading it after several years, I'm at the part where we learn Lightsong's past. Where his High Priest Llarimar tells him how he originally died.
I'd forgotten a lot of details from the book overall, but I remember reading this part the first time. The first time I read it, I was amazed at what a brilliant plot twist it was, and how it explained character motivations. It was a thrill, not an emotional gut punch.
This time I knew it was coming. This time, that knowledge of who Lightsong used to be has been right there at the front of my mind in every single interaction he has with Llarimar. There's nothing for me to be surprised about, I've been anticipating this conversation the whole time.
But now I'm here, and I'm actually reading it, I'm reading what Llarimar says.
Alfred Hitchcock was right about suspense and anticipation.
Because now I'm actually bawling my eyes out. I've been expecting to read it the whole time and yet now that it's here and Llarimar saying those words to Lightsong, right in their darkest hour, and like, fuck, how was I so blind, how did I not feel the impact of this?
"You gave me back my faith, Stennimar. You are a god. To me at least."
Just, like, how am I supposed to live with this?
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Starring your favorite version of the Grim Reaper in a challenging role of self-discovery.
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Book 50 of 2023: The Left-Handed Booksellers of London by Garth Nix
A secret society of booksellers fight magical crime in London. A girl named Susan, freshly arrived from the country and searching for her long-lost father, gets caught up in some very strange happenings and drawn into the booksellers' world. Old Ones, lies and betrayals, the ancient and the modern--this is kinda designed in a lab to be my fave, and it worked. I loved it. Definitely check this out if you love Susan Cooper's The Dark is Rising series and faery tales where the fae are neither cute nor friendly.
What to read next: Neverwhere, by Neil Gaiman, for the all time classic old-magicks-in-a-modern-city adventure.
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