I recently watched THE THINNING and while it’s a great movie (it’s a prime example of great story tension, for one), there’s just one little thing that bugged me:
Despite believing a lot of things, I can’t believe nobody thought of an “in case of failing” escape plan. The writer in me was just incredulous, and spent the rest of the movie coming up with a hypothetical escape plan. I mean, if failing the test means losing your life, and you think you’re going to fail, you should come up with a backup plan. And this isn’t a case of learned helplessness either. These kids were cheating, fighting, and running when they got a chance. (But it was all random, impulsive decisions when then the opportunity struck, clearly not something planned out in advance.) I get not trying to escape before you take the test, but after the results are announced, you’re definitely going to die anyways. What’s the downside of fighting for your life? You might fail (though you probably wouldn’t if you had a decent plan), but what’s the worst that can happen? They’ll kill you twice?
So, I spent the rest of the movie imagining what my characters and I would do. Oh, the joys of being a writer. My never-resting, overactive imagination is a blessing and a curse. Finally, I gave in and wrote this little post.
Maybe I’ll make this a regular thing, maybe I won’t, but for now, I hope you enjoy this little thought experiment and writing exercise.
Behold, the failing students of the Novel class of 2017:
Me: Failed because I was writing stuff on Tumblr instead of studying. I’d know that and smuggle a knife (but one of those cool glass ones from YA Fantasy) and various other weapons into the school during all the non-test days and stash them in various places. Like the air vents, because nobody ever checks there. Oh, and also a drill/other power tool to drill through the metal lockdown sheeting. Then stab, drill, and otherwise fight my way out of there. And lockpicks. After some practice, I can pick a simple lock in about fifteen minutes. (Which isn’t practical in the real world, but Movie Logic will take care of everything.)
Nea, from my YA Snow White retelling: She’s a resurrected sociopath vampire with a thirst for blood and revenge. ‘Nuff said.
Helena, Felicity, and Rosalyn from two different YA Fantasies: They’re not from the same book but the books are companion books, so I’ll talk about them together. Helena and Felicity are both skilled thieves/con artists, so they would hatch an intricately planned, SIX OF CROWS-Style plot to break out. Rosalyn wouldn’t fail, but she’d help her sister escape.
Evelyn from my android Rapunzel retelling: She’s an android made out of metal. She’d just sit there quietly, knowing that she’s not easily killed, until they give up and let her go.
Mira, Dante, Kit, Lili, Fabian, and Alice from my Alice in Wonderland retelling: Mira would blow something up with her magical powers, and the others would take the opportunity to run and formulate their own individual plans, which all include working against the others. Except for Fabian, who is a ghost and would be laughing at the living characters the whole time.
Via and Ana from my Julius Caesar retelling: One of them is a blood witch (meaning she can control any living thing’s blood to kill them in a lot of different nasty ways) and the other is a necromancer. There’s really not a lot of ways ANY exit plan they come up with could fail.
Gina, Henry, Emma, Jess, and Logan from my Paranormal Giselle/Stanford Prison Experiment retelling: Gina would make a deal with the angry ghosts of all the other people killed in the room, and unleash havoc upon everyone. The rest of the group would team up to stop her from killing innocents and also find a way to avoid dying themselves…which is exactly what happens in the book. I should probably stop now.
To end this post, I would like to say that the abnormal frequency of murder in all these escape plans are due to me being a YA dark Fantasy writer, not a serial killer.
Rayna’s Revent Reads February 2017
So…Remember when I said that the March edition of Rayna’s Recent Reads would be on time?
It doesn’t exist. I was so busy writing in March that I didn’t actually finish any books.😬🙈
So here’s a gif of a dog goofing off to tide you over till April.
Welcome, welcome, to another edition of Rayna’s Recent Reads! This one is also late, but hey, it’s only by one two days! I’m getting better. At this rate, I’ll actually be able to get the March edition posted in March.
These are the books I read in February:
Jingo by Terry Pratchett
This was an interesting book, and certainly timely. This is probably the most political of Terry Pratchett’s books that I’ve read, and I’m not entirely sure how I feel about that. But political or no, this is still a Pratchett book, which means I of course enjoyed it immensely.
And, I mean, come on. A secret agent Vetinari? (Even if he got less screen time than I wanted.) This was me when I first read the description, along with every time he came on.
I finished my most anticipated read of 2017 in just two days. And it does live up to the hype. The writing is beautiful, the setting is wonderous and magical, and it has tons of gorgeous illustrations inside as well. Some scenes are chilling (looking at you, chapter 2), some are beautiful and heartwarming, and all of them are wonderful. Caraval reminds me of one of my favorites, The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern, with the same gorgeous writing and mesmerizing circus setting. But Caraval definitely has a faster-moving plot (not that The Night Circus wasn’t interesting, it just had a slower buildup and a more literary feel) which definitely grabbed my interest immediately and held on to it till the end.
One small quibble: I wasn’t too fond of the ending. Anyone else feel this way? Leave your thoughts down in the comments!
Pinocchio by Carlo Collodi
I actually read this book for research purposes, as opposed to pleasure reading. (Not that this wasn’t an interesting read.) I’m writing a dark YA retelling of Pinocchio and Peter Pan with a creepy island and murderous fey that live there. Think Caraval meets A Court of Thorns and Roses, but less magical and more creepy.
Pinocchio was quite short, with chapters only a few pages long, which really helped me speed through this. One thing that really surprised me was how dark this is; I haven’t watched the Disney version, but I’d be surprised if all of it made it into the movie. Within a span of 262 pages, we have:
- Breaking and entering that results in murder
- Pinocchio accidentally burning his feet off while sleeping (he didn’t feel anything, but still, that’s some nightmare fuel right there.)
- Pinocchio almost being burned alive as firewood, ending up having his plea for mercy granted and almost getting his friend burned alive in his place (This is horrible but I’m so using this in my retelling)
- Pinocchio getting attacked, beat up, and hung to a tree
- The Land of Toys/donkey transformation
- Lampwick’s death (this made me unusually sad because I was imagining Thomas Brodie-Sangster as his role in this movie)
And did you know that in the book, Jiminy Cricket (called the talking cricket) is the ghost of the anthropomorphic cricket Pinocchio murdered? I’m going to have a field day with this one.
The morality messages were a bit too on the nose, but then again, this was from a time when that was the norm. All in all, it was an interesting read, and more importantly, gave me tons of story fodder. Keep your eyes peeled for more updates about my project, and be sure to subscribe to either my Tumblr (right here), Twitter, or newsletter to get the news first!
Peter Pan by J.M. Barrie
I read this for the same reason as I read Pinocchio, and while the level of darkness was about the same, Peter Pan had better writing (in my opinion) and an older, more nostalgic feel.
Let’s talk about the writing first. If I was to use one word to describe the writing of the two book, Pinocchio would be functional and Peter Pan would be lyrical. What do I mean? Well, the writing of Pinocchio feels to me like merely a vessel for the story. Which, I mean, is what writing at its heart should be. It gets the story across clearly and concisely, while the simple, no-frills writing fades into the background. It’s not bad, but there’s nothing special either. It’s just there, and supposed to fade into the background while the story shines through. There is nothing in that book that I can quote on demand. There’s nothing wrong with that, of course, just different than what I’m used to.
Peter Pan, on the other hand, has beautiful writing that shines on its own. It has beautiful phrases that would look great on a poster (and there are plenty out there), and other quotes that people love to quote or embroider or draw or tattoo onto themselves. I read the free Kindle edition, and one of the neat features of Kindle is that it shows you quotes that a lot of people highlighted. There are a ton in Peter Pan, and tons on Goodreads as well. For example:
“All children, except one, grow up.”
“To die will be an awfully big adventure.”
“Stars are beautiful, but they may not take part in anything, they must just look on forever.”
“I’m youth, I’m joy,” Peter answered at a venture, “I’m a little bird that has broken out of the egg.”
“Just always be waiting for me.”
These are all beautiful and deep, and worth repeating and pondering for a long time.
Towards the end of Peter Pan, there’s a sort of haunting, nostalgic sadness hanging about the book. There’s something about growing up, changing your view of the world, and having to let some things go forever. To move on, to forget, to know that you’ve moved beyond certain things, and the only way you can experience them again is through memory, which you are also slowly losing. Like looking at a faded old photograph decades later, being a little scared at how faded it is, and a little sad at how you can’t ever make the colors bright again, no matter how hard you try. But also a little proud that you’ve come this far, and happy that you at least have these little gems of your memories to stay with you, albeit in their wistful, faded state, forever.
This feeling soaked the last chapter, and that was the only part that made me genuinely sad. Because I hate the thought of losing something, of letting go.
And that’s what growing up is, really; letting go.
And, I’ll admit, I’m a little bit afraid of that.
I think a lot of people are. That’s why this book speaks so strongly to so many people.
And that’s exactly the feeling I want my book to capture, the nostalgia, the wistfulness, the fear and grief and joy all melted into one confusing mess. And the feeling of faded, shifting memories, which can’t always be trusted. In short, I want it to feel like growing up, and then being yanked straight back into childhood, with your mind stuck somewhere between those two places.
Also, on a less wistful note, does anyone else think Peter’s a delusional psychopath? I present my evidence:
“’There’s a pirate asleep in the pampas just beneath us,’ Peter told him. ‘If you like, we’ll go down and kill him.’”
“And when [the Lost Boys] seem to be growing up, which is against the rules, Peter thins them out.”’
“The difference between him and the other boys at such a time was that they knew it was make-believe, while to him make-believe and true were exactly the same thing. This sometimes troubled them, as when they had to make-believe that they had had their dinners.If they broke down in their make-believe he rapped them on the knuckles.”
“But you never exactly knew whether there would be a real meal or just a make-believe, it all depended upon Peter’s whim.”
“I forget them after I kill them,’ he replied carelessly.”
Oh, and I don’t have a quote for this since it’s a whole scene, but let’s not forgot the massacre on the pirate ship. Yes, they were pirates, yes they kidnapped the Darlings and the Lost Boys, no, that shouldn’t justify a killing spree. And he doesn’t even feel a modicum of remorse or empathy afterward.
So in conclusion, Peter Pan is a haunting, beautiful, and slightly sad piece of literature, while Peter Pan is a remorseless, unstable, delusional, kind of abusive, and violent murderer who sees everything–especially killing–as a game and in many instances literally can’t empathize with his victims.
Cross that with an immortal, amoral fairy and you get a whole lot of fun. For me, at least. Not for my characters.
This one was actually an unexpected read for me, since, unlike 90% of the book lovers on the internet, I actually am not a huge fan of Harry Potter. (*Gasp!*) Don’t get me wrong, I liked the books and they were an enjoyable read, but as far my all-time favorite books, or childhood defining ones go, Harry Potter isn’t on the list. (In case you’re curious, my all-time favorite is Terry Pratchett’s Discworld series, and the books that defined by childhood were Rick Riordan’s Percy Jackson and the Olympians series.)
However, when my parents dragged me with them to Sam’s Club, I made a beeline for the books section (mainly ‘cause there was no food, my other great love) and found this gem. I had heard a lot about it, and it seemed interesting enough, so I figured, hey, why not? and picked it up.
I was really surprised at how much I liked it.
This story, as other reviewers have pointed out, is less magical than the original series, instead more character and relationship driven. There are still spells and magical creatures and trinkets and all sorts of cool stuff, of course, but those don’t take center stage. The characters, especially Albus and Scorpius, do. And I loved them. Especially Scorpius, who is an adorable innocent ray of sunshine that I want to hug.
The Cursed Child also dealt a few surprise kicks in the feels as well. J.K. Rowling really knows how to pull at your heartstrings, and I think a main reason for this is that the stakes and problems are smaller in scope (say, hurt feelings instead of dying) and more emotional. And I genuinely care about the characters, especially Scorpius, the aforementioned innocent ray of sunshine. Basically any time Scorpius was sad, my heart crushed a little bit.
A lot of people have said that they don’t like the play script writing style, but I feel the complete opposite. I absolutely adored it. I think one of the reasons I loved it so much because it was such a quick! I finished it in a few hours. Which I guess makes sense, since in the play, everything is happening/being spoken in real time, and you can’t exactly keep people in a theatre for twelve hours. (Well, Rowling probably can…she could probably keep people on the Titanic for twelve hours if she did a book signing or talk or something.)
I wasn’t bothered at all by the lack of detailed descriptions, and in fact I think that enhanced the reading experience for me. Something most people don’t know about me is that I have a weird habit of reading the summaries/synopses of a lot of books and movies before I read or watch them. I mean, there are so many great books and movies and I won’t have time to read them all, so it makes sense to maximize my reading time by only reading the books that are interesting enough to be worth reading. For everything else, I get some enjoyment out of the summary and get to find out all the big reveals and see everything resolved, on a fraction of the time it would take to read the whole book. And how does this apply to The Cursed Child, you ask? Well, reading The Cursed Child felt like reading a (really well-written) summary. The plot isn’t bogged down by a ton of writing, the few descriptions (for stage directions and setting) were short, and the whole plot happens in the form of dialogue, which was a breeze to read. It’s like getting all the juicy plot in half the time because you cut out all the unnecessary trimmings, like writing.
(Yes, I’m a writer and I just said that.)
All in all, The Cursed Child is a quick, fun, but also surprisingly emotional and deep read.
Well, that’s the end of the February edition of Rayna’s Recent Reads. Be sure to follow me here or on Twitter to get updates, and check back at the end of this month for the March edition!
Have you read any of these books? What did you think about them? Any other thoughts about books, writing, or anything else? Let me know in the comments!
This year I’m trying something new called Rayna’s Recent Reads, which is basically a monthly roundup of all the books I’ve read in the month, along with some brief commentary. Full-length reviews aren’t really my thing so my comments will usually be a few sentences or so, but if I read a gush-worthy book, I might write more. (Though there’s no promise it will be a thoughtful, coherent, and well-written review instead of hopeless fangirling.)
So without further ado, welcome to the inaugural edition of this new blog post series! (It’s a bit late because I procrastinated and then spent the end of January sick with the flu.)
What I read this month:
Twilight by Stephenie Meyer
This is probably one of the most controversial books in terms of how many people love it and how many people hate it, not to mention (in?)famous. Which made it the perfect book to kick off my reading year with. I will admit, I was pleasantly surprised. I didn’t go into this expecting high literature (which it is most definitely not), and because of that I was able to enjoy it for what it was: a quick, fluffy, and more importantly fun read. Sure, the writing rubbed me the wrong way at first (as a writer, I never thought there was such a thing as too many adverbs; now I know there is.) but I got used to it. The book held my attention and entertained me the whole time, which I’ll count as I win. I’ll probably check out the sequel when I have time.
As a side note: one thing that surprised me was that the “sparkly vampire” thing was literal. I’ve heard the phrase before, but I always thought it was metaphorical, referring to “pretty” or “tame” vampires. I guess you learn something new every day.
A Court of Thorns and Roses and A Court of Mist and Fury by Sarah J. Maas.
I read these two with a ten-minute gap in between, so I’ll talk about them together.
Or not. Because I’m honestly not sure I can think of anything to say, beyond Sarah J. Maas is a genius, writing something like this is one of my #writergoals, and I would sell my soul someone else’s soul (I think the YA dark fantasy genre is a bad influence on me…) to get my hands on A Court of Wings and Ruin. May, why can’t you come sooooooooner….
But I’ll try to sum up my thoughts the best I can. The one word that comes to mind when I think about this book is haunting. You know those books that stay with you once you put it down, that make you feel like the story is real and the real world is only a hazy dream? That hang around your memory like a cloud for days, weeks, and months after you read it? This book is one of them.
This is the book that made me have to reorient myself when I took a break. It’s so vividly written that I momentarily forgot myself, and was surprised to find the bright lights of a classroom around me instead of snow and forest.
This is the book that I skipped homework, skipped classes, even skipped sleep to read, because I couldn’t put it down.
This is the book that made me wander around for a day after reading it with my head somewhere else, while real life felt like a hazy dream.
And this is the book that still hangs around in my memory a little bit, even now.
So in conclusion, this is probably going to be my favorite read of 2017, and also a reminder of everything I want to be as an author.
Everland by Wendy Spinale
I’m not sure how I feel about this one, to be honest. But since I don’t like saying stuff if I don’t have anything nice to say, this review will be short. It wasn’t the worst book I’ve read (not by a long shot), but I’m not sure I truly enjoyed it either. All I can say is that this is a great concept, but I didn’t particularly like the execution. In my opinion, it would’ve worked so much better as MG instead of YA, and if Gwen was aged down from 16 to 13 or so. Even the cover looks MG to me. But alas, such great potential that ultimately didn’t quite work for me.
I know other people have loved it though, so the author must be doing something right.
Well, that’s all for this time! Have you read any of these books? What did you think about them? Any other thoughts, about books or anything else? Let me know in the comments!
