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The editing saga, some recs/reviews, and more fashion
The editing plows onward, and today I'm revisiting Jack's tumultuous relationship with pronouns. Why did I make Jack a shape-shifter with an unknown gender again? Oh, right. Because I love shooting myself in the foot. Other than that, I incorporated a lot of my mom's nitpicks through chapter eight, and hopefully the story reads better for them.
Aaaaanyway. Reviews/recs!
The Night Tourist by Katherine Marsh: a YA urban fantasy novel about a boy named Jack, a Classics prodigy with a dead mother and some serious social fail. After demonstrating what not to do when crossing a busy street (aka translate the Metamorphoses), he's hit by a car, and though he seems to survive, a wrong turn on a trip to New York leads him straight into the Greek Underworld. He meets up with a girl named Euri who died under dubious circumstances, and decides to take the opportunity to find his mother.
This narrative suffers a little from first book syndrome - the pacing could have been slowed down a bit, and there are certain phrases that could have been worded differently. I also think she really would have benefited from first-person instead of third, because her narrative voice is a bit dry, and her character voices are definitely not.
That said! I really did enjoy the book. I liked the characters, I thought the play on the Orpheus myth was particularly nice, and her worldbuilding was very clever. (The dead have orientation videos! Dylan Thomas haunts New York and did not, in fact, go gently into that good night! Elysium is in the Hamptons! And the ghosts fucking with people through the Ouija board was classic. "Who am I speaking to?" "SATAN.") She incorporated the Greek myths in an original enough way that the book doesn't come off like Percy Jackson's moody cousin
All in all, despite the issues, it made me interested in reading more of her universe. I have the sequel, The Twilight Prisoner, though I have only just started it. I hope to see her writing grow stronger!
The Devil's Whisper by Miyabe Miyuki: a mystery novel, originally written in Japanese as Majutsu wa sasayaku, about a Japanese high school student named Mamoru. Following the disappearance of his father and the death of his mother, Mamoru goes to live with his aunt and uncle in Tokyo. But his crappy luck follows him there, too, when his uncle hits a college-aged girl late at night with his taxi and is thought to be at fault. After a series of strange phone calls to the house, Mamoru starts looking into the accident more closely.
The translation is a bit awkward at points - notably when the translator flubs the victim's last name once - but Miyabe's pacing is fantastic, as is her sense of suspense. The characters were endearing and compelling, and though I thought a certain plot point was going to go in a predictable direction, it totally didn't, which I loved. There was a certain aspect of the plot that I would have bought more if she'd made it a bit more fantastical, if that makes any sense, but in general it's a great mystery with some wonderful commentary on Japanese society in the process.
Miyabe also wrote the YA novel Brave Story, and her most famous mystery novel is All She Was Worth. I hope to grab both sometime soon.
Otoyomegatari: a historical manga that sounds so much more fetishy and squicky than it actually is. It's a slice-of-life story set in the Asian steppes, centered around the arranged marriage of Amira and Karluk. The only catch is that, while Amira is 20, Karluk is only 12.
And then this plays out absolutely nothing like you think it will. Amira doesn't bemoan her fate, nor does she act like a sex-crazed maniac out to deflower little boys. Amira and Karluk have an affectionate but hesitant relationship. They're trying to play to the expectations of married couples in their society without overstepping their own boundaries, just like real people in their situation might have done. They're also both written fantastically: Amira is strong and capable and a bit of a badass, but is generally cheerful and avoids conflict. And Karluk is just adorable in his attempts to be a mature adult despite the awkwardness of his situation.
The other characters are great, too - I sort of love the random anthropologist guy - and the art is absolutely friggin' gorgeous. I mean, seriously, just look at the first page. SO PRETTY OH MY GOD.
And lastly, more fashion pictures! Since I didn't wear anything particularly special today, I will show off some winter gear instead.
You know how some women have a shoe problem? I have a scarf problem. Thankfully scarves are cheaper.
My hat collection. I am not ashamed that three out of the four are caps.
And the particular combo I chose today, along with the lovely coat that my mom gave me for Christmas!
Dinner, and then more editing!
Aaaaanyway. Reviews/recs!
The Night Tourist by Katherine Marsh: a YA urban fantasy novel about a boy named Jack, a Classics prodigy with a dead mother and some serious social fail. After demonstrating what not to do when crossing a busy street (aka translate the Metamorphoses), he's hit by a car, and though he seems to survive, a wrong turn on a trip to New York leads him straight into the Greek Underworld. He meets up with a girl named Euri who died under dubious circumstances, and decides to take the opportunity to find his mother.
This narrative suffers a little from first book syndrome - the pacing could have been slowed down a bit, and there are certain phrases that could have been worded differently. I also think she really would have benefited from first-person instead of third, because her narrative voice is a bit dry, and her character voices are definitely not.
That said! I really did enjoy the book. I liked the characters, I thought the play on the Orpheus myth was particularly nice, and her worldbuilding was very clever. (The dead have orientation videos! Dylan Thomas haunts New York and did not, in fact, go gently into that good night! Elysium is in the Hamptons! And the ghosts fucking with people through the Ouija board was classic. "Who am I speaking to?" "SATAN.") She incorporated the Greek myths in an original enough way that the book doesn't come off like Percy Jackson's moody cousin
All in all, despite the issues, it made me interested in reading more of her universe. I have the sequel, The Twilight Prisoner, though I have only just started it. I hope to see her writing grow stronger!
The Devil's Whisper by Miyabe Miyuki: a mystery novel, originally written in Japanese as Majutsu wa sasayaku, about a Japanese high school student named Mamoru. Following the disappearance of his father and the death of his mother, Mamoru goes to live with his aunt and uncle in Tokyo. But his crappy luck follows him there, too, when his uncle hits a college-aged girl late at night with his taxi and is thought to be at fault. After a series of strange phone calls to the house, Mamoru starts looking into the accident more closely.
The translation is a bit awkward at points - notably when the translator flubs the victim's last name once - but Miyabe's pacing is fantastic, as is her sense of suspense. The characters were endearing and compelling, and though I thought a certain plot point was going to go in a predictable direction, it totally didn't, which I loved. There was a certain aspect of the plot that I would have bought more if she'd made it a bit more fantastical, if that makes any sense, but in general it's a great mystery with some wonderful commentary on Japanese society in the process.
Miyabe also wrote the YA novel Brave Story, and her most famous mystery novel is All She Was Worth. I hope to grab both sometime soon.
Otoyomegatari: a historical manga that sounds so much more fetishy and squicky than it actually is. It's a slice-of-life story set in the Asian steppes, centered around the arranged marriage of Amira and Karluk. The only catch is that, while Amira is 20, Karluk is only 12.
And then this plays out absolutely nothing like you think it will. Amira doesn't bemoan her fate, nor does she act like a sex-crazed maniac out to deflower little boys. Amira and Karluk have an affectionate but hesitant relationship. They're trying to play to the expectations of married couples in their society without overstepping their own boundaries, just like real people in their situation might have done. They're also both written fantastically: Amira is strong and capable and a bit of a badass, but is generally cheerful and avoids conflict. And Karluk is just adorable in his attempts to be a mature adult despite the awkwardness of his situation.
The other characters are great, too - I sort of love the random anthropologist guy - and the art is absolutely friggin' gorgeous. I mean, seriously, just look at the first page. SO PRETTY OH MY GOD.
And lastly, more fashion pictures! Since I didn't wear anything particularly special today, I will show off some winter gear instead.
You know how some women have a shoe problem? I have a scarf problem. Thankfully scarves are cheaper.
My hat collection. I am not ashamed that three out of the four are caps.
And the particular combo I chose today, along with the lovely coat that my mom gave me for Christmas!
Dinner, and then more editing!