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Holly Black’s Third novel featuring Roiben: The Cruel Prince Part 2, because otherwise this would be a long post. My sister gets to hit me if I let my boyfriend fool around with her unawares. I’d have to have said playboy boyfriend first, and not immediately dump him, but still. While the supporting characters in Tithe were already a little morbid, bent on ruining their innocence and accidentally ruining their lives (and the faries were very happy to help ), the characters in this novel? The inside cover let me know it was about to be a dark and weird ride. Within the first ten pages the patriarch of the family-you’re-supposed-to-hope-makes-it kills off the parents of a handful of little kids right in front of them. The oldest, nine, is his- the other two ( including the MC, Jude ) are brought along because he has honor. Great. Then, over time, it looks like they all develop a cute stockholm syndrome-esque affection for each other- except for the nine year old, Viviene, who isn’t that much older than her siblings ( as another rant pointed out ), and somehow has a better perspective on the murder of her parents. But, it doesn’t take long for us to accept this strange survival instinct the children now have. Because although the scenery is gorgeous, and it seems like he’s trying to make up for an unforgivable crime ( nice try though ), we get heavy reminders that this guy is not a hero in his own kingdom. He’s considered ruthless from the moment we meet him. There’s a check for me right here, because he never shakes it. He never gets forgiven for it, his kid hates him, and there’s a sense that everyone fears him at least a little. Oh, and he doesn’t die. That might have made the next story easier to write, but, there would have been some needed poetic justice to it. Now I’m just going to watch and see if someone doesn’t kill him in the next installment, because he’s bad for the MCs plans and a weird character to get around emotionally. Just die already so we can comfortably miss you, you sociopath. <3 Next on the list of characters I’m not drawn to, and really should be at the top of the list where I mentioned her: Taryn. Now, with a little bit pf perspective from the MC, we might have had some sympathy for her situation: she can’t defend herself; she needs protection; she had no other way of being in “faerieland”; she thought Locke might be the only faerie to ever think of marrying her; she understood something about her jealousy was twisted and wrong, etc. But that doesn’t give me any sympathy for how many times her heart is going to be toyed around with by this subversively evil boyfriend of hers. She has to know that he’s going to sleep around, right? She has to know he’ll never take her more seriously than other women, right? She knows that he likely wants a harem, right? She knows that out of everyone it isn’t fair to blame Jude for him being an asshole, right? Just- so many questions for this weak character. At least if she didn’t become jealous, there’d be hope that she was open to a polyamorous relationship. That seems to be a normal thing in Faerie ( never thrilled with the name, but I know it’s in the folklore ), and if she is supposed to be progressive and worth anything in this story, she should at least be unfazed. Psychologically strong at worst, perfectly paired with Locke at best. Just not this snobby, naively jealous, bratty courtesan she’s lining up to be. But, since these are two of the characters that actually live through the whole ordeal - I have to deal with them again in the next installment. I kind of hope they die and build up our main girl’s motivation. That’s the most backhanded thing to do to a character, right?

Part 1 { Here }, Part 3 { Here }

#the cruel prince #{ novice review }#{ the characters that deserve to die list }#{ because we're going to get to the characters that deserve to die but they aren't that lucky list }#{ don't worry I'm going to get to the - spoilers }

Holly Black’s Third novel featuring Roiben: The Cruel Prince Part 1, because otherwise this would be a long post. Thankfully, the title is my least favorite part of this book. I have to start this off by saying its been a long time since I’ve read a purely fiction novel. I’ve read a few text books here and there, the occasional religious book, and historical fiction. Nothing quite grabs at the heartstrings like fiction, though. It’s the one thing that doesn’t have to be touched by the horrors of reality- or, at least, we pretend it doesn’t. We can be whisked away from completely depressing things like terminal illnesses, world politics, the fact that you haven’t met “the amazing guy I will fall in love with, even though there are probably plenty I’d be happily married to”... etc. Tithe, when I first received it, was a sobering exception. The very first novel I read from Holly Black still sits on my bookcase after I stole it back from my sister. Even though I haven’t opened the pages in at least a few years, I remember the way Holly described the sunset as the sun slitting its wrists over the horizon. At around thirteen, there was no way of knowing the mystery would become at times beautiful, and at times incredibly disturbing ( in the way she intended ). There was a knight forced into service, implied rape of multiple characters, a murderous kelpie that took away the bright and reckless best friend of the MC, Kaye. Now, I will call this book something many people would laugh about - complicated. If I cannot explain to a person in one paragraph or less how a story unfolds, I consider it complicated. Between the amazingly stupid decisions some of the characters make, to the cool but not quite aloof Roiben ( you can tell from the title that he’s still my favorite ), I understood that this was more complicated than a fairytale most of us consumed as children. We loved it then, the rush of an imagination exploring unrealistic things, and we are taught to hate it now. Part 2 {Here} with at least five more to follow.

#the cruel prince #{ novice review }#{ roiben actually does stuff right away? }#{ whereas everyone else has to think about it? }#{ I promise I'm going to get to the - spoilers }

heaveninawildflower

Designs taken from ‘International Art Glass Catalogue’ by National Ornamental Glass Manufacturers Association of the United States and Canada.

Published 1914 by Shattock & McKay Co.

Winterthur Museum Library.

archive.org

#{art}

thefaeryhost

René Lalique __ Noël, 1905

#{winter images I love}#{still hate winter}

catholicconnect

“Holy Week Pilgrimage to Poland & Rome?! Registration is open till February 1st and we’d love to have you join us! We’ll be walking in the footsteps of St. John Paul II, St. Maximillian Kolbe, St. Faustina, and more! Easter Triduum in Roma with the Pope! The full itinerary is at the link in @sarahswafford18’s bio! Please share with anyone who may be interested - thanks so much! Know of our love and prayers for you all!❤️” -The Swaffords Follow @sarahswafford18 🕊🇻🇦 #CatholicConnect #Pilgrimage #Poland #Rome #Catholic #Catholicism #PrayTheRosary (at Poland)

#{catholicism}

justsomeantifas

call me ignorant but i genuinely don’t understand why sports have to be split up by gender.

robobun

@ everyone in the notes talking about physical performance: if that were the case, then sports would be divided by physical performance. that’s a thing you can measure. that’s a thing that varies by individual. a weak man and a strong man would be an unfair fight in boxing/wrestling/MMA, which is why they divide those sports up into weight groups based on physical performance. but they also further segregate them based on gender. chess is segregated by gender for no reason but sexism. if it’s actually about skill and physical ability, then measure those and separate people by those metrics. don’t do some bullshit gender segregation and pretend like men and women are inherently on different levels no matter their individual abilities.

justsomeantifas

💅

aggrokawaii

Remember that time a teenage girl struck out Babe Ruth? That’s fucking why. Men are afraid of being beaten by women.

amuseoffyre

Remember that time male swimmers were pulled out of training because Kate Ledecky was leaving them ‘broken’ by swimming better than them? Remember how she didn’t even notice, because she was busy actually training?

Extremely personal below the cut:

So, in case anyone was wondering if I am discerning any vocation, I had my heart set on one community... Unfortunately, the sister interviewing me saw a fear I’d pushed into the back of my mind for a few years now- I cannot trust men in any type of romantic relationship/dating/ marriage. Not only with myself. I become hostile towards them when they date my friends.

Since that wound exists, she believes it may be blocking me from clearly discerning my vocation.

#{personal}#{struggling with prayer life}#{completely closed off to romance}

catholicconnect

“America needs no words from me to see how your decision in Roe v. Wade has deformed a great nation. The so-called right to abortion has pitted mothers against their children and women against men. It has shown violence and discord at the heart of the most intimate human relationships. It has aggravated the derogation of the father’s role in an increasingly fatherless society. It has portrayed the greatest of gifts – a child – as a competitor, an intrusion, and an inconvenience. It has nominally accorded mothers unfettered dominion over the independent lives of their physically dependent sons and daughters. And in granting this unconscionable power, it has exposed many women to unjust and selfish demands from their husbands or other sexual partners. Human rights are not a privilege conferred by government. They are every human being’s entitlement by virtue of his humanity. The right to life does not depend, and must not be declared to be contingent, on the pleasure of anyone else, not even a parent or a sovereign.” —St. Mother Teresa #CatholicConnect #Prolife #WhyWeMarch #MarchForLife