"Rust and Stardust" | T. Greenwood

This novel hit me like a curveball. "Rust and Stardust" by T. Greenwood is beautiful, harrowing, and chilling, something I needed to read when I did.

Before I dive too far into the review: it tells the true crime story of Sally Horner, an eleven-year old in Camden, New Jersey who was kidnapped by Frank LaSalle—a mechanic who had just gotten out of jail for a previous kidnapping and sex crime charge. Though it does detail real events, the author wrote in her acknowledgements that a lot of the expansions and characters in this novel are fictionalized, and the sentiments are imaginings based off of what she knew of the story.

That being said, this novel tug at my heartstrings like I never expected it too. I picked this up off the shelf on a whim a couple weeks ago, thinking nothing of it, and only even seeing it because the cover caught my eye. But as I fell into the story two days ago, I found myself fascinated.

The plot was dark and disturbing, and at times had me putting down the book so that I could take a breather, calm down, and remind myself that this was all over. But that is the thing; there is little solace to take in reading this story, for it was real. It happened. And it is happening today, in some form, somewhere in the world. That kind of reality to the darkness that is smattered across the pages makes it a difficult, but also compelling read. Rarely do we see authors daring to dive so deep into the psyche of people who have gone through such horrors.

And in her fictionalization, Greenwood built in characters and moments that were almost beautiful, shining stars of happiness to allow Sally, such a young girl, to survive such horrors. For it is logical that for an eleven-year old to come out alive after a two year ordeal filled with unspeakable terrors, there must have been bright moments, figures and images to cling onto that allowed her to see something other than the silky darkness of her situation. And it was these—characters such as Ruth or her teachers—that made this novel not just bearable to read (well, that and the fact that a lot of abuse scenes were written around, dodged or using vague language so we didn't have to fully confront the awful details), but also a fascinating and twistedly beautiful piece of work.

It helps, of course, that Greenwood was able to craft this story with a deft hand, her writing that of an expert as she traverses various viewpoints and situations. She's not flashy with it, drawing up tight connections and details and syntax that make the story ebb and flow at her will rather than drafting long paragraphs stuffed with purple prose. She describes the world in a unique way, weighs in and holds back, and switches perspectives at the perfect time. It is the combination of this, the subtleties in her writing that make it so wonderful, and so fitting to write this novel.

There were moments throughout the book where things felt disjointed or glossed over, days that were written that seemed to perfect and painted Sally as too unbothered to ring true with me, and that presented the only real issue I had with this novel. I worry that it bordered on the edge of romanticizing such a situation, not intentionally but because in an effort to highlight the way people cling onto beauty and light in times of darkness, the darkness began to get edged out of the story. However, these moments were few and far between, and not enough to discount the novel as a successful work.

Despite the dark subject matter and the level of reality to it that makes it feel even more daunting, this novel is, undeniably beautiful. It tells of some of the worst horrors of this world, while still highlighting its beauty. It shows the vileness of humanity, but also the resilience of it.

Greenwood handled the story and subject matter with ease, encompassing exactly what it means to be a writer, hitting the nail right on the head with this one.

Characters: 95%

Plot: 100%

Depth: 100%

Style: 100%

Intrigue: 100%

Overall Rating: A+

"Kingdom Of Ash" | Sarah J. Maas

I'm writing this review far in hindsight, so some of the details might be vague and some of the feelings muddled, but boy do I have a lot to say about this novel.

"Kingdom of Ash" is the seventh and final novel in Sarah J. Maas' popular "Throne of Glass" series, and it tells the story of Aelin and her friends as they embark in the final war against the dark forces that threatened them and their world. I won't go into much more detail, for it would get far too complex and take up the entire page just trying to explain each and every plotline.

Going into this, I was a little bit wary, as I liked A Court of War and Ruin—the only other novel we have from Maas that ended a series, but I found myself with lingering dissatisfaction when I thought of the novel. I wasn't sure how she would end this series, but I was unsure if she could do it well; everything seemed so scattered, too many loose ends flailing too far from one another, and her track record not incredible in my opinion.

To say I was pleasantly surprised is an understatement.

On the whole, I was very happy with this novel. Despite being nearly a whopping 1,000 pages, I didn't feel like I was drowning in pagecount while I read the novel, and between following Aelin's terrible journey in the hands of Maeve, to seeing reunions of characters who'd been long separated, to watching the epic final battle, I felt engrossed for the most of the time.

To keep it simple, I was satisfied with the loose ends Maas tied up, the ending a tear-jerker, though a bit dragged out if you ask me. A good chunk of the novel was dedicated to the final battle, which I really appreciated (particularly as a reader who has read too many novels that shove the climactic scenes into thirty pages and call it a day), and some of the revelations made in this novel tied back to details laid out early in the series, which I adored.

However, I think the truth of it is, Maas was juggling a few too many point of views and storylines. Though I think she did the best she could, and don't get me wrong, her writing was good in this novel, however we were split into so many points of view across so many parts of the world that I found myself confused or at times wondering about other characters. We had Aelin being locked away with Maeve and Rowan on his search through the continents to find her, Aedion and Lysandra fighting battles away from the rest of the characters, Yrene and Chaol sailing back from the Southern continent and then returning to Chaol's home, Dorian and the Thirteen hunting for the Crochan witches, and that is just a summary, leaving out a lot of other main characters who had perspectives in the same settings as some of the above listed. Any author, no matter how skilled, would have trouble juggling so many different settings and characters and storylines, and the thing I think I felt the most while reading this novel was wonder about the other character's whereabouts.

Though I loved the scene where they all met in the end, it felt tiring at times to switch to another point of view in another setting and try to remember what had been happening with them. There were times where I felt confused about who was where, or lacking backstory or depth to some of the short snippets we got. And those shortcomings are inevitable with any novel trying to deal with so many different storylines at once, however it was frustrating to get brief glimpses of Chaol and Yrene—who I had grown to love after "Tower of Dawn"—interspersed, or to get a random point of view from Lysandra that didn't seem to contribute too much, where I spent more time trying to remember where and who she and the army were fighting than I did paying attention to what was happening.

All of that being said, I do think the character arcs in this novel were done brilliantly, and I found myself barely resenting Aelin and Rowan, a big step up from where I left on in Empire of Storms. Their love felt more deep, their bond feeling realistic and mature in this novel, a big step outside of what they'd been in past installments. Watching Dorian grow as a character, develop a willingness to sacrifice himself for his people and his country, and grow into the King he was meant to be was a pleasure, and Maas wielded him beautifully. The scenes in Morath with him were perfect, just what I needed leading up to his reunion with the rest of the characters and the final battle.

Reading the scene where the Thirteen sacrifice themselves was absolutely heart-shattering, the description of the loss Manon felt after that and the pain that the whole army seemed to suffer in awe of their death was done so well I practically felt like I lost people myself.

There were so many moments of this novel that were beautiful, Maas flowery writing shining through with a couple lines that I know will stay with me for a long time.

And at its heart, this is a novel about dreamers, people willing to fight tooth and blood and sacrifice themselves for these dreams, for a world that was better than the one they'd been born into. And at its heart, I think I could never hate a book with those themes because they resonate so deeply with me.

To end this review, I'll leave you with a quote that embodies what I just described.

"There's a better world out there, and I have seen it."

~~

Characters: 85%

Plot: 90%
Depth: 85%
Style: 90%
Intrigue: 95%
Overall Rating: B+

Why I Love NaNoWriMo

As November drew to a close, I got thinking on the idea of NaNoWriMo—the very popular organization that facilitates writing a novel (50,000 words) in a month.

It takes the literary world by storm, thousands and thousands of authors, some published, others teens trying their hand at novels for the very first time, sitting down to work on their NaNo novel. And amidst all of the buzz, I found myself reflecting on it.

I've been participating in NaNo for years now, and every time November begins, I giddily plan and write until my wrists ache.

However, I'm going to let you in on a little secret: I almost never win. I've had years where I rocket through the word count in the first three weeks, but most of the time, I don't even reach the 50,000 words. So why do I do it, year after year, knowing I likely will get busy and fall short of the word count?

There are a few reasons:

First and foremost, it is a prompt to write. Even if you won't get to the 50,000 words, even if you barely write 2,000 that month, it gets your creative juices flowing, lets ideas begin marinating, and forces you to sit down at your computer and at least try.

And in my experience with writing, that is almost 80% of the process. Once you're on that creative wave, once you have the words flowing, the rest is easy. And having something to get you over that hurdle, something that gives you a specific reason to write, is incredibly helpful in getting those words going.

Many of my favorite pieces have come out of NaNo projects that, though bad when I first wrote them one cold November night, had kernels in them that were golden and spawned a beautiful story.

Second, a community of writers come together for NaNo in ways they rarely do other times. When you're doing NaNo, you're doing what writers across the world are doing, and the energy that comes from that, the community that is raised, is a feeling that will get you motivated and inspired unlike anything else in my experience.

To have that scaffolding, that backing of writers who are doing what you are and want you to succeed just as bad as you do is unique and something to be treasured. It's rare in an industry like ours to find so much love and support, and getting to see that has been fulfilling in ways I never expected it to.

Third, it reminds me how to be creative. I know, it sounds dumb, seeing as I write consistently, but as writers, we can become pageblind; we can forget the process, forget how organic it is, and fall into the syntax and the characters of the one idea we are working with. It's easy to lose inspiration and to stop mining for ideas, and NaNo helps me get out of that.

In October of every year, when I know it's time to start planning for my November novel, having to dig up ideas, draw on the events of the past year of my life for inspiration, and piece together a new story so quickly, I remember what it is to be creative; I remember that creative high. And during NaNo, if you hit a hitch in your novel, you must work around the issue to finish on time, rather than put off that plot issue or character fault. Working so quickly, being forced to confront these things, reminds me how to be creative, and it consistently re-teaches me why I love what I do so much.

So despite the fact that I know I likely won't win, every year when November rolls around, I sit down begin writing my NaNo novel, because even if what I produce is messy and unfinished and beneath the word count, it's something, and the experience every time makes it beyond worth it.