Reading Update

[jaggedwolf]

Imogen, Obviously | The Return of The Native | The Obelisk Gate

Imogen, Obviously by Becky Albertalli

YA novel by the author of Simon vs The Homo Sapiens Agenda. I didn’t read that book but I did watch Love, Simon back when it was released in theatres and my main thought across the two works is god these teens are so stressed that I get second-hand stressed.

Also our poor protagonist really needs to Log Off. Never have I wanted a protagonist to delete social media more.

The plot goes as follows: Imogen, #StraightAlly, is visiting her childhood best friend, Lily, at college. Only Lily, embarrassed at her own lack of romantic experience, has told all of her friends that Imogen is her ex. Imogen agrees to go along with it, first having a internal crisis over The Ethics of Pretending To Be Queer, and then has a realization or two when thrust into a social context where no one thinks she’s straight.

Thus ends my three-book-long endeavour to read some f/f romances set in college and I’m amused by how much I’ve failed at it - the first book was about a politician and a graduating master’s student that ended up being ASOIAF fic with the numbers filed off, and now in this book, one of them isn’t even in college yet, she’s just visiting for her senior year.

This is also much more of a coming-of-age novel with a romance as part of the plot, much like Love, Simon. A couple of chapters into the book I went ohhh, this wasn’t purely haha didn’t realize I was bi how oblivious of me but something a bit murkier, clearly inspired by the author’s own experience getting harangued on the internet about how straight she must be.

The prose works, I like the way texting is presented. Lily’s college friend group of all queer first-years who only talk about queer things could’ve been grating but I was like yeah this a college social circle that would exist and their shenanigans were believable. If sometimes gross, (The one sausage...).

Imogen’s sister and Lily respond reasonably to Imogen realizing she’s bi, while Imogen’s other friend, Gretchen does not. I kept going Imogen, bro, she is clearly a frenemy.

It did make me think about relationships as mutual identity-reinforcement, even beyond the scope of sexuality. “We’re both X”, or “You’re Y and I’m Z” — the degree to which such conceptualizations are fundamental to a relationship differs, but any lasting relationship (which is not Imogen and Gretchen’s friendship IMO) is one that can gracefully adapt to those identities or perceptions of those identities shifting. Especially so in the age ranges present in this book, which is a time of great change.

Random note: Do the kids actually say “queerphobe” and “queerphobia” now? Those words did jar me. Am I too young to be saying “the kids”?

Got reminded to read Leah on the Offbeat sometime.

The Return of The Native by Thomas Hardy

Much heath such plants wow. Lady did not actually do affair but she almost did so time to die lady goodbye.

I mean that basically summarizes it. I will say, though, out of the “lady does affair back in the day” books I’ve read, I found something compelling in Eustacia Vye that I did not in Bovary or Anna Karenina. Perhaps it is the nature of her selfishness. The men themselves are not her goal but that they can convey her to somewhere other than the dreary heath, to Budmouth or even Paris. (It is definitely not that she doesn’t actually have an affair, I don’t care about that.)

Yet she refuses Venn’s offer of paid companionship to some old lady in Budmouth. An indignity to the job, to any job really, that she turns her nose up at.

The other three characters involved in these love triangles are just okay to me. Clym reminded me a bit too much of Levin of Anna Karenina, with his oh I shall put down these urban businesses and intellectual pursuits to engage in physical labor with the common man, though Clym is more sympathetic than Levin. Wildeve has a name that makes me think he should be a trickster elf in the woods and behaviour that made me go ah I suppose he is catnip for a certain subset of ladies. Thomasina is here to suffer nobly and non-problematically, not very interesting.

I like how small of a misunderstanding it is that dooms the families. It feels stupidly realistic, both with the money and with Eustacia not answering the door for Clym’s mother. I generally enjoyed the writing style, even with all the heath descriptions.

Intriguing to me that Hardy wanted to end the story with the deaths and Clym’s comment that he murdered two women he loves, but was compelled to write an additional section where Clym finds a new job and Thomasina/Venn get together. I prefer Hardy’s original ending — Venn works better as a mysterious figure who knows he will never receive Thomasina’s affection but intercedes on her behalf anyway.

The Obelisk Gate by N.K. Jemisin

Hmmmm does some interesting character stuff, but the style started to grate as did the plot. Ultimately liked the first book in the series more. I am curious to see how things end in the final book.

I like that Essun’s daughter doesn’t like Essun. Because Essun is harsh and sometimes cruel in the way she teaches her daughter to control orogeny, much like what was done to her. I don’t like that we constantly get “Nassun would realize later actually what was happening or XYZ felt a certain way”. If we’re in the perspective of child, I would rather see the world through their eyes as it is, and be trusted to make inferences or suspicions that there are things they don’t see yet. This was especially the case when Nassun is thinking about her dad.

Schaffa being alive is ehhhh. I guess it’s fine? I am intrigued by his subplot of his magic school, and how it’s going to play out. Oh, and because I knew orogeny was inspired by DA’s mages-and-templars, I kept picturing Schaffa as blond (Cullen-expy) and had to go oh dang, wait he’s got dark hair. I really should be better at paying attention to physical characteristics when reading.

Essun and Alabaster’s stuff this book didn’t linger much in my brain, it’s kind of whatever, and when we got to the ending line about moons I was like, didn’t we end the previous book talking about moons too? Could we make the moon stuff happen faster? #moonbaited

Comments

[belacqua]

I'm glad modern AU Sansa is still here to have a good time.