1. Name a ship that feels like home.
Bitterblue/Giddon from the Graceling Realms series by Kristin Cashore! It reminds me of this quote from Anne of Avonlea:
Perhaps, after all, romance did not come into one's life with pomp and blare, like a gay knight riding down; perhaps it crept to one's side like an old friend through quiet ways; perhaps it revealed itself in seeming prose, until some sudden shaft of illumination flung athwart its pages betrayed the rhythm and the music, perhaps. . . perhaps. . .love unfolded naturally out of a beautiful friendship, as a golden-hearted rose slipping from its green sheath.
It just makes me happy and content and has since I read the book where they first become best friends. That book came out nine years ago, and I reread it recently (to prepare for a new book in the series) and all my cozy feelings about the ship havenāt palled at all.
10. Name a ship that is funny.
21. Name your favorite ship from a book.
Okay, well, I have read Anna Smaillās The Chimes twice since last October and I still havenāt stopped thinking about the main pairing, Simon/Lucien, so Iām gonna have to go with them at the moment.
Itās kind of a miracle Iām even talking about them because theyāre in a novel with tropes Ā I normally avoid ā 1) a dystopian world and 2) where the government rules over the people via memory loss (transmitted through music). I have a major squick for anything involving memory loss and I generally find Ā dystopias depressing, but I think the reason I loved this book is because itās also a grown up fairy tale where our heroes are making off to set the world to rights by bringing back stories and memory. Without giving too much away, itās also a fairy tale the of Farmboy who leaves on a heroic Quest and falls for the Prince whoās ran away from the tower ā and I loved their relationship a LOT.
The book is in Simonās (the Farmboy character) POV and I enjoyed how I could kind of see him fall in love bit by bit just based on his narration thatās like:
āI look at his fierce, hooded, unseeing eyes. Lucien springs fully formed out of the Thames. Lucien emerges clean and pale, untouched by Chimes. Lucien leads us with his miracle hearing under the cityā¦ā
And how itās extra poignant because Lucienās partially sighted and has to rely on sounds and body memory to get around and lead people, and Simon finds his physicality beautiful (which: words like beauty or attraction are never really said, I believe, but you just know it based on the words chosen, and thatās an authorial skill that I like!) And I love how a huge draw for Lucien is the way Simon can determinedly build words and memory together despite the music!memoryloss erasing them every day, which is some neat meta in itself ā Simon is narrating this story, to you the reader, in first person POV, and his ability to do so is one reason Lucien falls for him? Idk, thatās how I interpreted it.
Itās also just a really tender and loving friends-to-lovers romance. I love that the author said she didnāt quite realize she was writing a slow burn friends-to-lovers at first and it just happened.
And yeah, like it tends to go in dystopias, their ultimate goal is to take down the government and bring memory and the sense of linear time back and without spoiling anything, both of them realize they have key roles Ā ā Chosen One type roles (though the actual identity of *a* Chosen One is pretty debatable) that make it unclear whether theyāll actually survive setting the word to rights.
But Simon and Lucien approach it like: Okay, but for as long as we can, letās have our love ā we both know full well we could die saving our world and we are fine with dying for a good cause, but right now, in this moment, letās have our love.ā Which is another thing I was SUPER INTO. I basicallyā¦donāt often see love stories where both halves equally understand that for their significant other, the greater good has to first, but they love them even more for putting it first?
ALSO SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER
They both survive and are together in the end, and thereās still a long way to go for their world, but you somehow know theyāll both be okay. Ā It isnāt the way youād usually expect this type of story to go (I mean: dystopia and also theyāre both guys ā I donāt have to spell it out, right?), but I for one am very happy this is how it went.
