in which Jade is reading Graceling

First of all like why is it every summer there’s some big song about unrequited love? Last year it was “Realize” and this year it’s “You Belong with Me” GAH TAYLOR SWIFT WHY. WHY. (answer: because it is fun to belt in a country accent.)

(yes I know songs about unrequited love happen all the time...maybe it's more a question about why there's always one that hits me.)

(OH MY GOD I actually watched the Taylor Swift music video BAD PLAN.)

Anyway, just a couple thoughts on Graceling, which I am currently plodding through.

( musings that include spoilers up to halfway through the book, i.e. all the most important ones unless there's a huge twist that I haven't yet arrived at, you have been warned )

I guess at this point I’m enjoying it well enough (or I was, before say the last two chapters), and I definitely admire the author’s imagination and vision (and map-drawing skills), but the whole thing has been a bit mis-firing, and occasionally strays too close to clichés that push my buttons. It just seems like this book could have been so much better than it actually is. (And I guess it actually is pretty good? So maybe I should just lower my standards…

…or go reread The King of Attolia.)

( footnote )

( edited to add )

first sentence meme

so this popped up on my f-list three times in quick succession, and I like it, so I'm doing it.

List the first lines of your last twenty stories. See if you find any patterns. (And flist, I'd love your opinions on patterns you notice.)

 ( links to the fics )

 

( the sentences )

 

( analysis )