5/12/2013

Interlude: WHY

Today is Mother's day here and I was caught by surprise how busy I was the whole day.  

So, have an interlude, where I lament about two books.


Let me tell you about two books I've been struggling with. STRUGGLING I SAY. But for very, very different reasons. 

Ilsa J. Bick’s Ashes. You may have heard of this one. I think the internet has pretty much fallen in love with it, as they should have. (If I'm wrong well, get on it.) 
I was only vaguely curious about this one and I bought it for two reasons only: it was four euros on bookdepository and I pretty much fell in love Alex, the narrator/main character.

To be honest, I have a weird and complex relationship with zombie books. I’ll probably go in to more detail about that with the Ashes review, but I just can’t always take the bloodshed and constant looking over your shoulder -deal. It makes me anxious and I’ve noticed that the more I read books that are all doom-and-gloom, I get all doom-and-gloom. Also I just don’t like that hopelessness - I’d like some false hope, thank you. I know it’s a little childish and so on, but fuck it, I’ll rather read about another really special girl getting the attention of the hottest boy at the school and discovering she has magical abilities. 

But so far I can tell that Ashes is amazing, it’s becoming one of the best books I’ve read. But it’s just so very sad that I keep screaming how unfair things are and wanting to just hug the characters. I’ve only got something 150 pages left, which is ridiculous, but I can’t bring myself to open it and continue reading!

The Iron Wyrm Affair by Lilith Saintcrow. I’d heard about this from somewhere on the internet and went crazy about it. It was, I think, too expensive when I first went to look for it, but I kept it on my must-get -list. I mean, it sounds pretty damn awesome and the cover isn’t half as bad as some other ones in the genre (I suck at photoshop and sometimes I think I could do better.)

So when I got a gift card to a bookshop and then stumbled onto this (ridiculously overpriced), I think I squealed and bought it right away. Oh was I so wrong. I’m not quite sure yet what is it about the book that makes me grind my teeth every time I consider reading it, but I can’t get past the first fifty pages! And then I get really mad because I wasted that gift card on this piece of crap! 

But then again, I feel like I’m being too harsh and judging it too easily. I don’t really want to say anything too bad about it. The first draft of this was really well, mean, so I rewrote those parts. Because what can the first fifty pages say about the whole book? But then again, a book should catch one’s attention right away and not start on the good bits somewhere around page 256. 

It is the first time in a while that I’ve had to actually struggle with a book - if we’re not counting my trials against that damn swedish book (I’ll tell you later) - so it’s kind of exciting. But then again, the latter has been quite the disappointment so far so that takes away the fun. 

So, that’s two books that keep glaring at me from my shelf, where I’ve left them unread. I keep re-reading other books and ignoring them. And I’m really bad when it comes re-reading books so that should say something. 
I can’t bring myself to just start reading either one, but I desperately want to search my feelings why I can’t. It’s a never-ending loop of should-but-won’t and yeah. 

I know I’ll write a review of Ashes - it’s already half-written because hello feelings! - but I don’t really know if I’ll write one about the other one. I want to stay away from a completely negative review, but I have complex feelings about it that I might want to get out in the open? We’ll see when/if I finish it. 

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