Favorite Re-reads: Agnes and the Hitman
I started re-reading an old favorite today. Or, rather, I started re-listening to it. Agnes and the Hitman by Jennifer Crusie and Bob Mayer is one of those books that I go back to over and over. It’s light, fun, and a little bit naughty, both from a sexy times standpoint and a violence meter.
Agnes is a food columnist living in a tiny town in South Carolina. Her column is called Cranky Agnes and she lives up to the title. She’s on track to cater the wedding of the decade, marry her attractive chef-fiance, and restore the gorgeous antebellum home they just purchased together.
Everything is going swimmingly until the night a young kid breaks into her house and tries to steal her dog. Agnes hits him many times with a frying pan before he falls through the wall into the basement she didn’t know she had. Suddenly, her picture perfect life is full of old mobsters, crazed dognappers, and a government hitman who is her new bodyguard.
Shane, said hitman/bodyguard, has a very straightforward life. He travels frequently and kills people for the government. It’s hard work and he doesn’t enjoy it, exactly, but he is very, very good at it. Until the night his Uncle Joey calls and asks for help protecting “his little Agnes.” Then the hit he’s on goes south for the first time in his career and he’s headed back to Keys, SC, the “armpit of the south.” And “little Agnes” turns out to be a grown woman with a disturbing agility with a skillet. He also can’t help but notice that she’s very well grown.
Soon it’s Agnes and Shane against the oncoming tide of craziness as more people come after the dog, after Agnes, and after Shane all while Agnes still has to cater the wedding of the decade.
Agnes and the Hitman has no pretensions of being highbrow literature, but it’s genuine and it’s fun. Jennifer Cruise is very good at writing witty, entertaining romances and Bob Mayer is great at writing high-paced action. Together they have managed to create a fabulous novel. The two have collaborated on a few other books; Don’t Look Down and Wild Ride. Don’t Look Down is pretty fun, but Wild Ridecan be skipped without regret.
I’ve read or listened to Agnes probably ten or more times. So, what prompted this revisit? I had a quote stuck in my head, Shane and his partner, Carpenter:
“I understand she cooks.”
“Yes.”
“I am often hungry in the mornings.”
That’s it. Nothing special. But it’s been kicking around in my head for the last couple of days, so I had to crank up the audio as soon as I finished my last book, which was The Jennifer Morgue by Charles Stross, by the way. I’m really enjoying his Laundry Files novels. And thanks to Seanan McGuire for the recommendation.
What are some of your favorite books to go back to?
Literary Tattoos
I spent the weekend at the Alabama Phoenix Festival, my local sci-fi convention. This is the third year I’ve been a vendor there and I really enjoyed myself. I love to interact with fans, fans of all sorts of things. I was cosplaying Saturday and Sunday, so I got to talk to people about the things I’m a fan of and ask them about what they’re fans of. It was all very cool. There were lots of authors there as well, but since I was at my booth I didn’t get to go to any of the panels. Cosplay is one of the major ways that fans at conventions can show their love for their fandom, but there’s something that goes a step beyond even that. Tattoos are the ultimate expression of admiration. You’re permanently marking your skin in order to express your admiration for something. I saw several fan tattoos this weekend and showed off my own new tattoo. Yep. I have a new tattoo. It’s based on Angelmaker by Nick Harkaway, which, if you’ve been following this blog for long, you’ll know I’m a huge fan of. I’ve read the book six times in the two years it’s been out. (I do that sometimes.) So, a month ago I went and got a tattoo inspired by the clockwork bees in the book. (There are clockwork bees in the book. And a mechanical book. And a protagonist named Joe Spork. And an octogenarian spy. It’s awesome!) Here is my Angelmaker tattoo:
It’s actually my second book-inspired tattoo. The first was an illustration from Oliver Jeffers’ The Heart in the Bottle, which is a children’s book about coping with loss. I got it the week I found out my Dad had cancer and it helped me through the rest of that year and the years since. People get tattooed for all sorts of reasons, but literary tattoos have always interested me. Back in 2004 I heard about a project called Skin, which was a short story by Shelly Jackson. The thing about it was that it was never going to be published, as such. It was going to be tattooed, one word per person, onto people across the country. I have a friend who got a word. I applied, but by the time they got to me all the words had been given out. There have been hundreds of roundups of literary tattoos. Harper Collins even put out a book called The Word Made Flesh. (I submitted my bottle to that collection, but again, they were full up by that point.) There is just some books that get inside you and make a home there. And the amazing thing is that everyone is so different. There are some quotes that get tattooed over and over, “Not all those who wander are lost” comes to mind, but there are so many more that have never been duplicated and may never be. There is something amazing to me about that level of excitement over a book. Do you have any literary tattoos? Tell me all about them if you do!
Super Awesome Giveaway
!!!EDIT, Part 2!!!
Ok, I’m not sure how many of you have looked at this in the last… 30 minutes. But Viking isn’t ready for ARCs of The Book Of Life to be out in the wild yet. So, the giveaway is going to run until much closer to the pub date of July 15. I will close the giveaway on June 30 and then ship the book out to arrive on the pub date. I’m sorry I’m having to change it, but I really don’t want the nice folks at Viking to be upset with me because they’re already being extraordinarily awesome to give us these ARCs to start with.
So, to enter go to this page: Book of Life Giveaway and go through the options. You can earn lots of entries by commenting on this post, following the blog, following me on Twitter, follow Deborah Harkness or Viking on twitter. All the info is on the Rafflecopter page. Thanks so much!
#WeNeedDiverseBooks
So, there’s a hashtag going around: #WeNeedDiverseBooks. There’s also a Tumblr. It’s a whole movement. And it reminded me of a conversation I’d had with the boy-type creature a few months ago when we were totaling up our books for 2013. Of the twenty or so books he’d read four or five had been written by authors of color. Of the one hundred and forty-four books I had read… two had been written by authors of color. That was not only embarrassing, it was ridiculous.
Now, I can come up with reasons – I read mostly in genre literature and there’s less representation there. I read a bunch of series, so it’s not quite as bad as it looks. But at the end of the day I read mostly white authors. And that bothered me. Even though I wasn’t doing it on purpose, I wasn’t doing anything about it either. So, I took to the internet last week and asked for a reading list.
People responded, as people are wont to do and I’ve got a list now. Granted, not everything people recommended to me looked like something I wanted to read. At the end of the day, I just don’t read much non-fiction or much literary fiction. I’ll work on expanding those horizons later. Maybe. But there are plenty of amazing authors working in speculative fiction and in mystery, which are my two primary genres. So, I’m following my Twitter advice and just buckling down to read.
The first two books (paper and audio) that I’m starting with are The Lives of Tao by Wesley Chu and The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms by N.K. Jemisin. These had both been on my list for a while, but I just never got around to picking them up. My 
bookstore didn’t have either just on the shelf and I’m easily distracted, so I just hadn’t gotten around to either one. I’m reading The Lives of Tao and listening to The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms. They’re both pretty awesome so far. I’ll keep you posted. And, because the internet is an amazing thing, there are interviews with both authors available from Sword & Laser. I’ll post those down below.
Wrapping up Mockingjay
I’m headed to JordanCon this weekend where I hope to see Brandon Sanderson, Patrick Rothfuss, and Sam Flegal (he drew a zombie portrait of me once. It was awesome!) Pat is the writer guest of honor this year, which is pretty exciting. I went last year and got to meet Seanan McGuire, who is one of my literary heroes. I’m also in the art show again, so wish me luck on that. I will have exciting pictures (if I remember to take any) on Monday when I come home. But now, onto the end of Mockingjay.
Chapter 25
I was expecting the immediate reaction to seeing Prim die. But instead, we get an opium dream and she’s back in a hospital. This is not the emotional impact I was waiting for.
The description of the burn treatment is brief, but has caught my attention because I recently started another book called The Gargoyle. Its protagonist is horribly burned and the book goes into loving (and nauseating) detail about the treatments he receives. I can’t help but flash over to the horrible things he has to endure.
Katniss losing her voice is interesting, but I’m a little… jaded? about her injuries now. It seems to mirror her temporary hearing loss in the first Arena.
Her mother is doing almost the opposite of what she did when Katniss’s father died. She’s using work to numb the pain, rather than sinking into it. Which seems to be what Katniss is leaning toward instead.
Unfortunately, there is no way or me to read the words “human torch” without immediately thinking of comic books.
Roses are almost never ominous in western mythology. There’s Sleeping Beauty, of course, but that’s about it.
I like Paylor. I hope she turns out to be one of the truly good guys.
Ah. And Snow tells us that he didn’t actually send the parachutes. Which tallies with what I thought at first, that Coin was the one who had Prim killed.
Gale’s traps. Beetee’s traps. Plutarch’s Games. All brewed into a cauldron of hellfire.
Chapter 26
I wish her talk with Haymitch had gone better. I like him even if he is drunk and abrasive.
Effie?!? Except, why are her eyes vacant? Ah, she was arrested too. Poor Effie.
Katniss’s prep team is the only one left at all? And all the stylists are dead. With the implication that maybe the rebels killed some of them too. These people just look better and better.
So, Gale at least semi-acknowledges that it might have been his and Beetee’s plan that killed Prim and all the other medics and children.
Coin wants to have a Hunger Games with Capitol children? Of course she does. And she wants the remaining victors to vote it into law because, coming from them, it might seem like justice rather than political maneuvering.
Why is Katniss voting yes? I’m guessing there’s a plan and Haymtich is trusting her on it.
The moment where Katniss kills Coin instead should be dramatic, but I think I was expecting it. Especially since she voted Yes for the Games.
Chapter 27
Why did they leave her alone to die or not if they were trying her in absentia? Did they not care what happened to her?
Snow died at the same time. Poetic, I suppose.
Paylor is the president. That’s… satisfying I suppose.
And Katniss is “not guilty by reason of insanity.” Will anyone know that Coin killed the children?
Katniss became her mother.
Poor Madge. Although, maybe she was part of the rebellion all along. Her pin started it all.
Buttercup!
And that’s the emotional punch I’ve been waiting for.
And some very oblique sex to round things out.
Epilogue
I find it strange that her children are just “the girl” and “the boy.” It feels very distancing.
The book sounds like an interesting project, but is it just for Katniss and her family? Or is it bigger than that?
I’m surprised Gale survived actually.
Mockingjay chapters 22 –
Chapter 22
And once again, Katniss makes Snow look stupid. Although, only to the people on the digging and hunting crews, but it’s enough.
Peeta’s connection to the things hunting her is interesting. I wonder if it’s going to be further developed.
The pods are all fairly horrible. It’s an interesting mind that can come up with these things.
Using the pods on the mutts is smart.
I feel almost like I should be keeping a count of the squad the way I did in the Arena. We’ve lost five now. Six if you count Leeg Two before Peeta arrived.
Dammit! Finnick! I knew he and Annie couldn’t be happy for long.
Is Gale’s gaping neck wound going to be a problem? Because those usually don’t end well.
True love’s kiss?
And Katniss has now killed her first civilian.
Chapter 23
The fact that people are going about their business is very weird. Although, I suppose it’s fairly typical of the Capitol.
The disguises can’t hold for long, but then, who would expect the Mockingjay to look like a Capitol citizen?
Furry… underwear?
So, you can go too far in the Capitol. Tigris – did the name or the enhancements come first?
How odd that their erstwhile ally is fighting for the opposite reason as the rest of them. She was banned from the Games that were the focus of her life.
As a side thought, I wonder where/how Caesar Flickerman is.
So, Gale’s injury is an issue.
She dreams of Effie. I hope Effie is safe. She was shallow and vapid, but she never hurt anyone.
Oh Katniss, confessing only to find out everyone already knew your dark secret.
“I don’t know why his voice reaches me when no one else’s can.” Really, Katniss? You don’t think maybe it’s because he’s the only one who really understands? Haymitch was in the Games once. Finnick and Joanna are the only other two who have had to go in twice. And they knew there was a grand plan. Only you and Peeta were flying blind.
It doesn’t surprise me that Katniss’s plan involves sacrificing herself.
Gale and Peeta bonding. That’s strange, but then again, they understand each other in a way no one else can too. Gale and Katniss have the woods and hunting. Katniss and Peeta have the Games and Snow’s attention. Gale and Peeta have Katniss.
Chapter 24
Surprise, Katniss hears Gale’s comment and immediately thinks the worst of it. Not that I wouldn’t think the worst of something I’d overheard about myself too. But, I’m not sure he meant it the way she’s taking it; that she’s calculating and cold.
The rebels are making progress, although it’s stunted by the time the broadcast goes out. More people are fleeing into the heart of the Capitol. I wonder if there’s a saturation point where Coin is willing to sacrifice the center of the city.
People are starting to seriously crack up in the Capitol and Peeta wants to be a diversion. Lovely.
Gale is so sure Katniss can kill him. And, of course, I think she could if it were down to her arrow or him in Snow’s hands. Just like she was going to try to kill Peeta at the beginning of Catching Fire.
It seems right that one stylist helped set Katniss on this path and now another is helping her to the end of it.
The rebels are firing blindly into a crowd. What lovely people.
And now it’s just mass panic and everyone shooting everyone else. If you were going to get to this, why bother trying to preserve the Capitol? Why not just stage an air raid? And why hasn’t Snow used nukes? Does he still think they can come out of this?
The Peacekeepers have Gale. And she leaves him. Granted, he tells her to, but that’s going to hurt both of them.
Oh. He was telling her to shoot him. But when she didn’t get it, he told her to go. That’s terrible then.
Snow is using children as his human shield. From who? Does he think the rebels care? That Coin cares? Or is it to protect him from the Capitol refugees?
Did the Capitol actually just blow up the children or did Coin do it?
Ok, I’m guessing since the medics went in and that’s when the rest of the parachutes go off that it was actually the Capitol doing it. And Prim. Oh, Prim. I knew it was coming, but I thought it would be off-screen. Not her trying to help, trying to do what she’s best at. That’s worse than I expected. And yet, I’m not crying. Maybe because I haven’t read the reaction chapter yet.
Three chapters and the Epilogue left to go.
Mockingjay Chapters 19 – 21
Before I get into Mockingjay for today, I have to be really excited about something. I got an ARC of Tigerman, which is Nick Harkaway’s next novel! It comes out in July in the US and it’s brilliant. I finished it Friday night and I can’t wait to tell you all about it a little closer to publication. For a man with only three novels, Nick Harkaway is almost chameleon-like in his ability to immerse his reader in different stories. Gone Away World was about a post-apocalyptic future as well as a biography of a soldier who grew up Before and survived into the After. Angelmaker is part London gangster movie, and part steampunk, Cold War, spy movie. And now, Tigerman is about a sergeant in the British army who is supposed to shepherd the island of Mancreu to its final destruction. Some rather dodgy business practices on the part of a chemical plant have made the island a potential danger to the world ecosystem. The best suggestion anyone has is to crack it open and rain fire down on the remains in the form of some very, very large bombs.
However, none of that is going to happen in the next few days, or weeks, or months. And in the meantime, the people of Mancreu slowly contemplate leaving, and numerous shady business interests from around the world move into Mancreu’s extra-legal harbor to make deals, preform illegal surgeries, interrogate prisoners – anything you can’t do in the rest of the world because someone would notice and object. Until the Fleet goes too far and someone on the island does object.
It’s beautiful and heartbreaking and I’ll tell you lots and lots more about it closer to when you can get your own hands on a copy!
Mockingjay – Part III
Chapter 19
I find it very interesting that Katniss is being so frank with Boggs. But he seems to be on her side, or at least to be a decent person, unlike Coin.
Hmm, Coin wanted Peeta. And theoretically, is worried that Katniss won’t support her. Wouldn’t it make slightly more sense to suck up to Katniss rather than try to get her killed?
Oh Gale, death before… well, anything really. You’re not Buffy, dude. Death is not your gift. So stop trying to give it to everyone!
Haymitch being to voice of reason again. I like Haymitch. I hope he comes out of this. I also hope we find out about Effie, but it’s probably bad news.
I don’t enjoy Katniss being so hard on herself. I don’t like her that much, but it’s like she’s got to beat herself up to prove she’s not a Mary Sue. Just let the girl be strong if she needs to or weak if she needs to. She doesn’t have to hate herself to be real.
I wonder if the midnight conversation will help Peeta at all.
So, the Avoxes from the Capitol apartments are dead. And all to torture Peeta. The Capitol just gets worse and worse.
Katniss takes the deaths on herself, Gale just wants to kill something even though he probably didn’t like the Peacekeeper who became and Avox and never actually knew the girl who got picked up in the woods.
Damnit! Boggs!
Chapter 20
Boggs makes Katniss the new commander. Because she’s closest or because he wants to give her the best chance to survive?
So, the Holo isn’t as helpful as it was supposed to be. Mitchell is dead. Peeta is having another incident. Boggs knew what Katniss came to do and he told her not to trust anyone. That’s… comforting.
Jackson is with Coin or with Boggs?
Katniss actually pulls off a lie and the squad is split between her and Jackson. This could get interesting.
Cressida is lying to help Katniss. Now isn’t that interesting?
Very smart, Katniss. Going out in the wake of the wave. You’ve got no tracks and the goo set off most of the traps ahead of you.
It’s nice that the Capitol thinks they’re all dead. But Katniss is right, everyone back in Thirteen must be going nuts. Except Coin, of course.
Chapter 21
Peeta seeing himself have an incident seems to have broken some of the conditioning.
Why is Katniss not in her Mockingjay suit? Especially if they were shooting a propo (which is a terrible name).
Why are people hoarding food in the Capitol? Were they afraid of a rebellion happening?
Coin and Snow, both trying to use Katniss and her death. Both hoping that she really is dead.
Peeta wants out so desperately. Poor lad. I care about him more now that he has flaws than I did in Catching Fire where he seemed too good to be true. I think I don’t trust perfect seeming things. Or people.
The tube into the maintenance areas gives another insight into the Capitol. If you live in and apartment with tunnel access you just deal with the workers coming and going at need. There’s no asking. It just happens. Also, people in the Capitol pay rent. That’s something I don’t remember being mentioned in District Twelve. And certainly not in Thirteen.
Pollux worked in the tunnels. That’s handy.
There are still cargo trains running? That seems odd. Why haven’t the rebels disrupted them?
I would not do well in those tunnels. I’m just claustrophobic enough to start freaking right out.
Katniss is thinking about Peeta’s memories. The fake ones seem ‘shiny’ and, presumably, the real ones don’t. I wonder why the doctors never picked up on it. Maybe because they didn’t play Real/Not Real with him.
Who or what is in the tunnels with them? Find out next time. Same Bat-Time! Same Bat-Channel!
Mockingjay Chapters 16 – 18
Back to Mockingjay. I wish I had more images for these posts, but they don’t really have that many visuals that aren’t character specific.
As an aside, I did finally see Catching Fire. I actually didn’t like it as much as the first movie. On the whole, I didn’t like the costume design very much with the exceptions of Katniss’s parade gown, the wedding dress, and Effie’s butterfly dress. I also thought Effie’s wigs looked horrible. Especially the gold one. It just looked cheap and if there is one thing Effie Trinket is not, it’s cheap. We had more side characters to deal with this time, which meant we spent less time on them and so I didn’t care as much. My residual affection from the book carried over some, but the movie didn’t seem to give me that much to work with. I also found the decision to make Mags mute very distracting. I assume they didn’t want to have to come up with an effective and sensitive way to mimic post-stroke speech patterns, but I just spent a ton of time trying to remember the book.
I could go on, but I don’t think it’s really worth doing a detailed comparison.
Chapter 16
Well, I was right, it wasn’t the guy on the ground who shot her.
Hey, Johanna! I like Johanna.
And Johanna is dancing around the edges of a morphling habit. I can’t say I blame her. She seems solid so far though.
Wait… Katniss didn’t get hit by the bullet? She had her spleen out? Should that hurt this much at this point? I haven’t had abdominal surgery so I don’t know.
And, sad moment to remember Cinna.
Snerk. Johanna doesn’t like Katniss mostly for the reasons I didn’t like Peeta so much in the last book.
Hey, Katniss just said something truly insightful. Gale’s preemptive strike thinking is the same kind of thinking that helped develop the Hunger Games. Good on you Katniss.
Finnick and Annie are getting married? That’s… kind of creepy actually. She keeps being referred to as “the mad girl.” If she actually is insane then she has diminished capacity and can’t give informed consent. I haven’t seen her enough to know exactly how impaired her thinking is, but I’m still icked out. I trust Finnick not to hurt her, especially since he’s been abused, but still…
And District 13 just keeps getting creepier. They don’t have any entertainment or holidays. That’s just disturbing. They have been hidden for almost seventy-five years. There’s no reason they couldn’t have celebrations of some sort. It all sounds like the stereotypical Soviet model.
Ok, and some of my anxiety is relieved. She’s “less mad than unstable.” Still not great, but better.
The dancing is a nice touch, although I was expecting Katniss to sing.
Peeta worked on the cake. I think that’s lovely, but I’m not sure.
“He frosted under heavy guard.” That’s kind of an awesome line.
Hmm… The reunion with Peeta. It’s harsh and it’s ugly, but it’s also more honest. Most people aren’t going to be so overwhelmed by their love interest that they’d tolerate the waffling that Katniss did. This is not to say that Katniss was at fault. She wasn’t cheating on either guy or anything like that. But most people would get tired of waiting for a decision. That Gale and Peeta never did seemed a little contrived.
Chapter 17
Now they’re not letting her go to the Capitol because… why? Is it wrong that I’m assuming Coin is planning to use her like Snow used the victors?
I like the bonding moment with Johanna.
The training sounds not that bad, but I couldn’t do it. (I’ve actually just started trying to exercise. I did 2.5 miles today and it took me over 40 minutes. I won’t be storming the Capitol anytime soon.)
Finnick and Annie seem happy. That’s nice.
It’s also nice to see Delly back and taking an active part in Peeta’s recovery. I’m still worried something bad is going to happen to her though. I don’t see many nice people surviving this book.
Guess who’s coming to dinner. So, angry Peeta. And then Gale admitting that he kind of hated Katniss when she was kissing Peeta. Not surprising, but more bitter than I expected, I guess.
Katniss’s self-esteem issues are cropping up again.
Why does Johanna seem to be afraid of water? I’m guessing something that happened in the Capitol, because I don’t remember a reluctance about the water in the Arena.
Chapter 18
I’m glad Katniss got into a squad, but does it seem too easy?
The Capitol as the ultimate Arena. It works.
The military haircut doesn’t make much sense to me at this juncture. They didn’t trim anyone’s hair before going into the districts, so why now? For uniformity? Which is also going to make Katniss stand out as much as the officers of yesteryear with big-ass plumes in their helmets.
And Joanna’s fear of water is explained.
The bundle of pine needles makes me like Katniss a little more.
What a shock, they’re putting the squad with Finnick and Katniss behind the scenes and on-camera.
How did the rebels take the train tunnels so easily? It seems like the Capitol would be able to seal those. Or am I just thinking that because they sealed in the movie?
Also, why hasn’t the Capitol used the nuclear option?
Coin sent Peeta in? Well, I already knew she was a terrible person, so that makes sense. As does Katniss’s downgrading.
And so we come to the end of Part II. I’m curious about how it all ends up, but I’m not significantly invested still.
Mockingjay Chapters 13 – 15
My finger is much better so I’m hoping to get back on a daily schedule. It now just looks like I have two parallel papercuts, which is kind of disappointing. I’m a believer in impressive scars or bruises. If it hurt that much I want something to show for it!
Chapter 13
So, Peeta is hijacked. That works, whatever it actually means.
Prim standing up for herself and for Katniss is endearing.
Peeta’s stylist and prep team were executed. Not entirely unexpected, especially after Cinna. But we don’t know what happened to Effie. I wonder if we’re saving that for a later horror or if she managed to hide.
Beetee and Gale’s bombs… They’re playing on compassion. I don’t assume most of the Capitol’s military forces have any compassion. Which would indicate that they’re to be used against a civilian population.
And Gale just keeps going down in my estimation.
Delly seems nice. I have to assume something horrible is going to happen to her because it’s that kind of book.
So, Peeta is convinced Katniss is a mutt. I wonder if he thinks she’s always been one or just since the games.
Katniss goes to war. I wonder how District Two will fare.
Chapter 14
District Two’s military is housed inside a mountain. Anyone else getting flashes of Stargatge: SG1?
“It’s like kissing someone who’s drunk. It doesn’t count.” If it were rephrased as “it’s wrong” it would make me like him more. But it isn’t. So, its just interesting.
Gale is turning the Nut into a death trap. And Boggs, interestingly enough, is the one who points out the risk of killing everyone.
Chapter 15
Yep, Gale doesn’t care if he kills people. Even people that are related to or dear to his allies. I really don’t like him.
Oh, great, Gales’s always been a terrible person. Great taste, Katniss. He’s said worse things than, “hey, let them suffocate and think about how much they deserve it for being closer to the Capitol?” That’s… yeah, Gale’s kind of a monster at this point. There’s not that much difference between him and Snow. Only, Snow does things because he’s calculating. Gale wants to kill people because he’s angry at everyone who hasn’t suffered the exact same thing that he has.
Katniss is remembering the mine accident that took her father and blaming her mother for being more worried about him than the kids. I get that. But, on the other hand, she knew that Katniss and Prim were safe. The accident was at the mine, not the school, so of course her focus was on that. I don’t know. I’ve also never had kids, so I can’t really judge.
We’ve finally hit something I can totally identify with, Katniss missing her father. The emotion still seems distant, but she’s also half in shock, so that’s appropriate.
Katniss’s speech is stirring. And then she gets shot. Although, I’m not yet sure it’s the boy on the ground who shoots her.
Mockingjay
For those of you who don’t follow me on Twitter or Facebook – I cut my pinkie finger pretty badly yesterday. I’m fine and it was my fault for trying to rush a job without proper safety equipment. (Always wear proper safety equipment!) But, it’s making typing remarkably difficult. You’d think that just a pinkie being out of commission wouldn’t throw me off this badly, but it does. So this may be a short update depending on how long my patience holds out.
Part II
Chapter 10
Coin is too cool. It doesn’t matter if you don’t think the Capitol will attack. Someone in the Capitol just risked his life to warn you. You take that seriously.
“Even the children don’t resist.” I’m assuming the ominous wording here is deliberate.
How did I know Prim would go back for the cat? Of course, I’d go back for the cat too. I’ve long since resigned myself to the fact that I’d never survive a major disaster because I’d be trying to save my pets. Also, I can’t outrun zombies.
Prim has grown up while Katniss wasn’t looking.
The notion that even after warning them about the attack Peeta won’t be killed is very scary.
Chapter 11
Of course everyone is excited about the cat. I assume they’ve never had pets.
I like that we’re getting more of Finnick. He wasn’t my favorite in Catching Fire, but I do like him. And I still really don’t like Gale, so his nose being out of joint that Katniss is talking to Finnick doesn’t bother me one bit.
The roses are a nice touch.
And then Gale has to go and volunteer to get Peeta. Hmm. I’m not sure how I feel about that.
Chapter 12
As much as I’m sure I’d fall apart in the situation Katniss finds herself in, I absolutely agree with Finnick. Having a definite end changes things. Uncertainty and waiting can drive you crazy. And there are times it’s better to know a loved one is gone rather than trapped in some sort of hellish limbo.
So, Snow whores out the victors. Katniss’s life would have been hell if she’d simply won.
Hmm, Snow has sores in his mouth from poison. They say. I assumed consumption or stomach cancer. I’m not sure why.
They got Joanna out! Now to find out if she’ll be ok.
Gale is alive.
Annie is ok. And slightly more aware, at lest of Finnick, than I’d expected.
Peeta’s alive… and trying to strangle Katniss? Brainwashing maybe? I guess I’ll find out tomorrow.
Medusa's Library 