Two vapid BFFs—we’ll call them the pretty one and the smart one—find themselves in a G-rated polyamorous vee, the hinge of which is a hunk named Quent...moreTwo vapid BFFs—we’ll call them the pretty one and the smart one—find themselves in a G-rated polyamorous vee, the hinge of which is a hunk named Quent Younger. The main conflict is that the smart one can’t deal when Quent realizes he prefers to take the pretty one as his primary; instead of compersion, the smart one feels cattiness and jealous rage. Who can blame her? As is often the case in real life, it turns out that the smart one is also the bitter one. She says of herself, “Oh great, I’m about as mysterious as Donald Duck!” I guess I’m a fogey, but I cannot fathom the adult world being so blase about teenybopper nonmonogamy. All the dads are relieved! I can only presume it is because they suppose that with two girls, the courtship will take twice as long and thus delay the inevitable rupturing of hymens.
Violette LeDuc is needy and she knows it. She stages suicides. She delights when her big nose halts elevator eyes. She’s prone to romantic friendships...moreViolette LeDuc is needy and she knows it. She stages suicides. She delights when her big nose halts elevator eyes. She’s prone to romantic friendships and poor boundaries; as a result she’s always unhinged. I particularly love her in obsessive-romantic mode; she records her hard falls for brutes, sycophants and gay-identified father figures in painstaking detail. I imagine she was an undertow in real life, but in print she’s glamour and genius.
LeDuc's prose is consistently amazing. Observe:
“Judge me. I could have taken him to some disused barn. I could have said to him, here is our home, we will cut our steaks from the rumps of their herds, my darling, a shepherd will lend us his cloak and there are hedges to plunder while the great wind blusters around us.”
I really dislike books/movies/etc where, in order to be noble, the protagonist tells (and keeps telling) an outlandish lie. I don’t care how hot, youn...moreI really dislike books/movies/etc where, in order to be noble, the protagonist tells (and keeps telling) an outlandish lie. I don’t care how hot, young and dying I am!
What do you do when your best friend develops brain cancer before you can reveal your secret teen dream romance? Convince your teen dream boyfriend to date your best friend! Who cares if he doesn’t want her? Who cares if you have to take your budding romance to the grave? Because it’s a real shame to die without that first boyfriend. Because a simulacrum of romance is A-Ok. Because if you die in the bloom of youth you deserve to go down with a kiss.
To Applegate’s credit, she does a fine job of exploring how Sam (<-- teen dream boyfriend extraordinaire) would feel in this scenario; it gets particularly complicated towards the end. (less)
Though it had some rather high points, this is my least favorite of the books in the twilight saga so far. Boo to many pages of lore explaining vampir...moreThough it had some rather high points, this is my least favorite of the books in the twilight saga so far. Boo to many pages of lore explaining vampire/werewolf origins. Hokey lore is to be expected, but dull hokey lore? Cullen family history lesson? Blech. This said, the ending of Eclipse is quite titillating. Nonmonogamy! Brawny wolf hunks! Mass murder of newborn vampires! Etc! Is it healthy to spend day upon day devouring young adult fiction in 8 to 10 hour shifts? On to book 4!(less)
![La Bâtarde [The Bastard]](http://d.gr-assets.com/books/1327929266s/99089.jpg "La Bâtarde [The Bastard]")
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