Okay, so I didn't get a lot of reading time this week. Even though the chapters in this book are super short, I didn't make it very far. But that's why we have the new rules!
Anyway.
I'm guessing that this is a thing that Ruth Ware likes to do, where she starts the book with a scene that clearly comes from later in the book.
So, the first seven chapters seem to be a lot of set up.
We meet Hal, who is barely scratching out a living as a psychic on the boardwalk? Is it a boardwalk if it's in England? She's living in the worlds shittiest apartment, which may or may not have heat depending on the moment, and she's barely eating. She's getting threatening notes from a loan shark and wow, you find out later that his rates are super not reasonable.
But I guess that's why they're loan sharks.
So she borrowed $500 from Mr. Smith back months ago and the interest rate is just insane, so even with having paid him back what she estimates to be something like $1500 she still owes him over $3000 according to his math.
She's got no money to pay him, no money to pay her rent, no money to pay the lease on the booth that she uses to make her living, such as it is, and no idea what she's going to do. She's a 'psychic' in the cold read, let people answer their own questions kind of way - she does tarot out of preference, and I get the impression that her mother held the same trade, though she did palm reading and the other usual psychic tricks as well. Hal will do them if she has to, but she prefers the cards.
Hal's mother has passed away, back when Hal was still in British high school (listen, all I know about British schools comes from Harry Potter and I'm going to assume Hal did not go to Hogwarts) and Hal has been on her own since. She's got no other family, not really any friends.
She is alone and she is progressively getting more and more in debt and she sees no way out.
And then, in the midst of a pile of bills that she cannot pay, she receives a letter telling her that she is an heir to some fortune, according to the Will of one Mrs. Hester Mary Westaway. Which would be great, except that she is 100% sure that she is not related to this dead woman, who is ostensibly her grandmother.
And Hal is arguing with herself, trying to tell herself that there has been a mistake and they got the wrong Hal. After all, she dug through her mothers papers and her grandparents are definitely not Mrs. Westaway. At least, on her mothers side. She knows nothing about her father, but given that Hal's name is Harriet Westaway and that Westaway was her mothers maiden name (we assume) it seems unlikely that this would be from her fathers side.
However, the loan shark is sending people around and Hal is getting very desperate.
And after all, if anyone could pull this off, it would be someone who makes their living cold reading strangers and telling them what they want to hear.
I do find it interesting that the first reading that we see in detail is where Hal is reluctantly doing a tarot reading for an older woman who sort of forces her way in after Hal has closed shop. The woman is trying to decide what to do about her son who is a drug addict. And Hal, who tries very hard to not tell people things that aren't true - she doesn't tell them about messages from long dead relatives, etc. reads the cards and basically tells her that she needs to go with her instincts - that she knows what she needs to do.
And the woman pays her with apparently way too much money, but is gone before Hal can give her the excess back. And when Hal chases after her, she's long gone off the promenade. So Hal donates the excess money to the charity of the month on the boardwalk, which just happens to be one for addiction recovery.
I mean I think we're meant to understand that Hal is a generally nice person who has found herself in an impossible situation.
But that's as far as I've gotten, so I guess we'll find out.
Sunday, September 30, 2018
Monday, September 24, 2018
Smoke in the Sun by Renee Ahdieh
Right.
So here's how it's going to have to go. It's just going to be, every Sunday, however far I've gotten in the chosen book, that's how far we are. Because three chapters a week is killing me slow, but some books that I have lined up are probably going to take me more than a week to read. And that's not even factoring in that some weeks I have less time to read than others.
There is no plan, we're just winging it!!!
Last week, I read Smoke in the Sun, by Renee Ahdieh. It's a YA book, and the second in a duology. I'd read the first one some time ago - I actually have three autographed books by this author, I got to meet her when I went to the RT convention back in 2017 with Texas Heather. :)
The first series by Ms. Ahdieh is sort of a retelling of the whole, 1,001 Nights conceit, which, I think everyone knows? But if you don't the whole idea is that there is this king and his wife betrays him. So in order to keep that from happening again, he marries a new wife every night and then executes her in the morning. And while this has SO MANY logical flaws, not the least of which is that you are definitely setting yourself up to get assassinated if you just keep murdering women left right and center, but that's not the point. A noble-woman named Scheherazade is next up and she's like, 'Okay, I get it, fine. But before we get to the wedding night and the executing and all could I please tell my little sister a bed time story?' and the king, WHILE A MONSTER, is not a monster and lets her tell her little sister the story and of course he gets into it and Scheherazade stops right in the middle so he's just...fine. You can live to finish the story tomorrow night!
And this goes on for a LONG time until he falls in love and stops planning to murder her.
So the first duology is The Wrath & the Dawn, and then The Rose & The Dagger and it's that general idea, but there's curse and yada yada. They're very good books, especially if you like romance and fantasy. They are YA, so there's no graphic sex or violence 'on screen' as it were.
Right.
So, this pair of books is set in....Asia. Maybe Japan? It's fantasy fiction so maybe not super important but I'm pretty sure it's meant to be Japan.
The first book, Flame in the Mist, is definitely necessary to know what the hell is going on in this one. I'm not going to go through the whole thing, but basically we start with a young boy watching his father be executed for betraying the emperor, and you know that'll be important, but then we jump ahead in time and we're with Mariko, the only daughter of a powerful daimyo who is on her way to the capital to marry the illegitimate son of the emperor. Or. I mean he's acknowledged, and he's the oldest, but he's the son of one of the emperor's mistresses, so he's not in line to the throne. Raiden, is his name and he's a big bully. His younger brother Roku (which is the name of my tv streaming box and I giggled the first couple of times I read it) is in line, since his mother is the empress.
So. Mariko is on her way to a life of luxurious captivity and she's not thrilled, but the honor of her family, etc. etc. And, of course, her caravan is attacked on the way to the capital and everyone is killed, including the maid that is riding in the little 'girls only' thingy. Mariko is the only survivor, and she winds up lost in the woods and has to kill a man to save herself - he deserves it, trust me. She believes, based on what happened, that the Black Clan (they be ninjas) attacked her and murdered these people that she knew and loved in some cases. So her plan is to infiltrate the ninjas and find out why and also get revenge.
And this goes swimmingly.
It does not go swimmingly.
However, through much trial, she winds up living with the ninjas and becomes 'one of them' while also disguised as a boy and having a sort of romance with the second in command of the Black Clan who *SPOILERS* turns out to be the actual leader and the kid from the beginning of the book and he's the son of the last shogun who was betrayed by his friend who was then killed by the emperor who hey, is a bag of dicks.
*waves hands*
Basically, we go through so many things and we wind up with Kenshin, Mariko's twin brother, on the side of the emperor and his beloved Amaya believed to be dead but she's not really dead because Kanako (Raiden's mother) has her magicked into a tree (she's inside the tree, not turned into a tree) and Mariko is in the hands of the emperor's forces, and they're the bad guys (not the ninjas) and Okami (shogun's son, leader of the ninjas) captured - also, hey, he maybe sold himself to a demon so he can turn into smoke and his best friend Asano Tsuneoki ALSO sold (maybe his soul? not clear) so he could be a night beast which is like...half bear half wolf? and all magical badass and Mariko is pretending to be on the side of the empire in order to find out who tried to kill her and also to save Okami.
AND.
The empress poisons her husband and puts Roku on the throne.
Whee.
Smoke in the Sun.
Right.
Mariko has to work the palace intrigue, which is tough, these people are mostly horrible. But she also gets to use her alchemical knowledge (she's smart, of course, but not allowed to use her brains in the society she lives in) and her ninja skills to try and save Okami.
Who is being tortured down in the dungeon by Roku who, apparently, takes after his father and is a monster. He really is.
Like, for example, he definitely enjoys torturing people. A lot. A lot.
And his father murdered and betrayed friends and family in order to solidify his empire. Which, is how empires are made, but still makes him a horrible person. Who died SO BADLY.
Mariko is in this weird, trusted but not position. On the one hand, her family is still rich and powerful and loyal to the emperor and she (as far as anyone knows) was a victim of the Black Clan and their vendetta against the emperor. On the other hand, she's a young girl whose 'worth' is in her virginity to a great degree and she's been living in the woods with a bunch of men for months.
However, everyone agrees to the same lie, that Mariko was just a captive.
Because it would be SUPER awkward to admit that she and Okami were in love. And also that she'd gotten rid of her virginity WAY before that in an act of rebellion.
There's a lot of intrigue and backstabbing and magical goings on.
Kanako (Raiden's mother) is....I'm torn.
On the one hand, she does some bad, BAD stuff. She murders people with magic, takes over other peoples' minds to make *them* commit murder. She causes the death of this innocent kid and she's causing so much chaos and destruction to get her son on the throne.
She 100% murders the empress, which I'm torn on. Not because she didn't deserve to die, because she kind of did, but Kanako's reasoning is a little off to me. She talks about how the Emperor was weak willed, and horrible, and blah, blah, but then she avenges him by killing the empress? Fair, she did poison him, and she needed to get killed, but just admit that she's in your way, Kanako!
Also, Kanako is sort of a support to Mariko? And it turns out that she raised a much less insane son.
Raiden is...not the nicest person out there, but he's also not a monster. Once he and Roku start pulling apart, you can see that Raiden is the better of the two.
Anyway.
Mariko manages to get herself married to Raiden, though they never consummate the marriage. And Raiden starts proving he's Not the Worst in good part when he protects Mariko from his brother who is the literal worst, and also lies to his brother about Mariko being a virgin. Which he doesn't have a damn clue about, because again, they did not have sex. There's an assassination attempt on Roku at the wedding, and Okami finally escapes, ninja clan to the rescue, thanks to Mariko's plan, and Okami makes it out of the city which is then surrounded by...kind of zombies?
Kanako has just been attacking towns and mind controlling the people. So they're not *zombies* but they're also not really all there.
Anyway.
Turns out Okami is maybe part dragon?
This is one of the things that sort of threw me.
Like, okay.
His mother might have been a dragon.
Was probably a dragon.
BUT I HAVE SO MANY QUESTIONS!!!!
As in, then where they hell did her family lands come from?
Why did she just NOPE back into the ocean at one point and never come back?
What does this mean for the deal that Okami made with a demon?
Can he turn into a dragon?
Was his fathers family also related to a phoenix?
There's a sword, it's a whole thing. I cannot say that it actually comes into play. Because it DOESN'T.
Did his dad know he was married to a DRAGON?
Honestly, the book is the book and I enjoyed it a lot.
But there's no surprises in it.
End of the day, Mariko and Okami are going to wind up together.
Tsuneoki winds up with no one because he's in love with Okami and just...exists. He was not given enough of an ending, dammit.
Roku winds up dead, because Raiden is done with his shit and realizes that his brother is a MONSTER.
Kanako also dies, in order to undo all the bad magic she's got flying around. She takes herself out, because magic has a price and she's too weak to stop it any other way. Still not sure how I feel about her.
Kenshin gets Amaya back? Maybe? I mean the magic keeping her secret hidden in the tree dies with Kanako, so maybe? I know she gets out of the three. Don't know if she winds up with Kenshin.
And Okami gets his fathers shogunate back.
BUT I HAVE SO MANY QUESTIONS!!!
Like, DRAGON.
Like, as I understand it, Okami's deal with the demon means he can't ever have children, can't leave a legacy in the world. Which maybe isn't a problem, maybe he and Mariko don't care about that.
Look, most of my questions revolve around why would you tell me he's MAYBE PART DRAGON and then have it MEAN NOTHING!!!!
*sigh*
Maybe there are short stories out there that get more into it? But that annoys me. You can either throw in that HE'S A DRAGON and use it or leave it the fuck out.
And Tsuneoki deserves better.
*grumbles*
Dude is part dragon and it just means nothing, lets not do anything with it, why bother....
So here's how it's going to have to go. It's just going to be, every Sunday, however far I've gotten in the chosen book, that's how far we are. Because three chapters a week is killing me slow, but some books that I have lined up are probably going to take me more than a week to read. And that's not even factoring in that some weeks I have less time to read than others.
There is no plan, we're just winging it!!!
Last week, I read Smoke in the Sun, by Renee Ahdieh. It's a YA book, and the second in a duology. I'd read the first one some time ago - I actually have three autographed books by this author, I got to meet her when I went to the RT convention back in 2017 with Texas Heather. :)
The first series by Ms. Ahdieh is sort of a retelling of the whole, 1,001 Nights conceit, which, I think everyone knows? But if you don't the whole idea is that there is this king and his wife betrays him. So in order to keep that from happening again, he marries a new wife every night and then executes her in the morning. And while this has SO MANY logical flaws, not the least of which is that you are definitely setting yourself up to get assassinated if you just keep murdering women left right and center, but that's not the point. A noble-woman named Scheherazade is next up and she's like, 'Okay, I get it, fine. But before we get to the wedding night and the executing and all could I please tell my little sister a bed time story?' and the king, WHILE A MONSTER, is not a monster and lets her tell her little sister the story and of course he gets into it and Scheherazade stops right in the middle so he's just...fine. You can live to finish the story tomorrow night!
And this goes on for a LONG time until he falls in love and stops planning to murder her.
So the first duology is The Wrath & the Dawn, and then The Rose & The Dagger and it's that general idea, but there's curse and yada yada. They're very good books, especially if you like romance and fantasy. They are YA, so there's no graphic sex or violence 'on screen' as it were.
Right.
So, this pair of books is set in....Asia. Maybe Japan? It's fantasy fiction so maybe not super important but I'm pretty sure it's meant to be Japan.
The first book, Flame in the Mist, is definitely necessary to know what the hell is going on in this one. I'm not going to go through the whole thing, but basically we start with a young boy watching his father be executed for betraying the emperor, and you know that'll be important, but then we jump ahead in time and we're with Mariko, the only daughter of a powerful daimyo who is on her way to the capital to marry the illegitimate son of the emperor. Or. I mean he's acknowledged, and he's the oldest, but he's the son of one of the emperor's mistresses, so he's not in line to the throne. Raiden, is his name and he's a big bully. His younger brother Roku (which is the name of my tv streaming box and I giggled the first couple of times I read it) is in line, since his mother is the empress.
So. Mariko is on her way to a life of luxurious captivity and she's not thrilled, but the honor of her family, etc. etc. And, of course, her caravan is attacked on the way to the capital and everyone is killed, including the maid that is riding in the little 'girls only' thingy. Mariko is the only survivor, and she winds up lost in the woods and has to kill a man to save herself - he deserves it, trust me. She believes, based on what happened, that the Black Clan (they be ninjas) attacked her and murdered these people that she knew and loved in some cases. So her plan is to infiltrate the ninjas and find out why and also get revenge.
And this goes swimmingly.
It does not go swimmingly.
However, through much trial, she winds up living with the ninjas and becomes 'one of them' while also disguised as a boy and having a sort of romance with the second in command of the Black Clan who *SPOILERS* turns out to be the actual leader and the kid from the beginning of the book and he's the son of the last shogun who was betrayed by his friend who was then killed by the emperor who hey, is a bag of dicks.
*waves hands*
Basically, we go through so many things and we wind up with Kenshin, Mariko's twin brother, on the side of the emperor and his beloved Amaya believed to be dead but she's not really dead because Kanako (Raiden's mother) has her magicked into a tree (she's inside the tree, not turned into a tree) and Mariko is in the hands of the emperor's forces, and they're the bad guys (not the ninjas) and Okami (shogun's son, leader of the ninjas) captured - also, hey, he maybe sold himself to a demon so he can turn into smoke and his best friend Asano Tsuneoki ALSO sold (maybe his soul? not clear) so he could be a night beast which is like...half bear half wolf? and all magical badass and Mariko is pretending to be on the side of the empire in order to find out who tried to kill her and also to save Okami.
AND.
The empress poisons her husband and puts Roku on the throne.
Whee.
Smoke in the Sun.
Right.
Mariko has to work the palace intrigue, which is tough, these people are mostly horrible. But she also gets to use her alchemical knowledge (she's smart, of course, but not allowed to use her brains in the society she lives in) and her ninja skills to try and save Okami.
Who is being tortured down in the dungeon by Roku who, apparently, takes after his father and is a monster. He really is.
Like, for example, he definitely enjoys torturing people. A lot. A lot.
And his father murdered and betrayed friends and family in order to solidify his empire. Which, is how empires are made, but still makes him a horrible person. Who died SO BADLY.
Mariko is in this weird, trusted but not position. On the one hand, her family is still rich and powerful and loyal to the emperor and she (as far as anyone knows) was a victim of the Black Clan and their vendetta against the emperor. On the other hand, she's a young girl whose 'worth' is in her virginity to a great degree and she's been living in the woods with a bunch of men for months.
However, everyone agrees to the same lie, that Mariko was just a captive.
Because it would be SUPER awkward to admit that she and Okami were in love. And also that she'd gotten rid of her virginity WAY before that in an act of rebellion.
There's a lot of intrigue and backstabbing and magical goings on.
Kanako (Raiden's mother) is....I'm torn.
On the one hand, she does some bad, BAD stuff. She murders people with magic, takes over other peoples' minds to make *them* commit murder. She causes the death of this innocent kid and she's causing so much chaos and destruction to get her son on the throne.
She 100% murders the empress, which I'm torn on. Not because she didn't deserve to die, because she kind of did, but Kanako's reasoning is a little off to me. She talks about how the Emperor was weak willed, and horrible, and blah, blah, but then she avenges him by killing the empress? Fair, she did poison him, and she needed to get killed, but just admit that she's in your way, Kanako!
Also, Kanako is sort of a support to Mariko? And it turns out that she raised a much less insane son.
Raiden is...not the nicest person out there, but he's also not a monster. Once he and Roku start pulling apart, you can see that Raiden is the better of the two.
Anyway.
Mariko manages to get herself married to Raiden, though they never consummate the marriage. And Raiden starts proving he's Not the Worst in good part when he protects Mariko from his brother who is the literal worst, and also lies to his brother about Mariko being a virgin. Which he doesn't have a damn clue about, because again, they did not have sex. There's an assassination attempt on Roku at the wedding, and Okami finally escapes, ninja clan to the rescue, thanks to Mariko's plan, and Okami makes it out of the city which is then surrounded by...kind of zombies?
Kanako has just been attacking towns and mind controlling the people. So they're not *zombies* but they're also not really all there.
Anyway.
Turns out Okami is maybe part dragon?
This is one of the things that sort of threw me.
Like, okay.
His mother might have been a dragon.
Was probably a dragon.
BUT I HAVE SO MANY QUESTIONS!!!!
As in, then where they hell did her family lands come from?
Why did she just NOPE back into the ocean at one point and never come back?
What does this mean for the deal that Okami made with a demon?
Can he turn into a dragon?
Was his fathers family also related to a phoenix?
There's a sword, it's a whole thing. I cannot say that it actually comes into play. Because it DOESN'T.
Did his dad know he was married to a DRAGON?
Honestly, the book is the book and I enjoyed it a lot.
But there's no surprises in it.
End of the day, Mariko and Okami are going to wind up together.
Tsuneoki winds up with no one because he's in love with Okami and just...exists. He was not given enough of an ending, dammit.
Roku winds up dead, because Raiden is done with his shit and realizes that his brother is a MONSTER.
Kanako also dies, in order to undo all the bad magic she's got flying around. She takes herself out, because magic has a price and she's too weak to stop it any other way. Still not sure how I feel about her.
Kenshin gets Amaya back? Maybe? I mean the magic keeping her secret hidden in the tree dies with Kanako, so maybe? I know she gets out of the three. Don't know if she winds up with Kenshin.
And Okami gets his fathers shogunate back.
BUT I HAVE SO MANY QUESTIONS!!!
Like, DRAGON.
Like, as I understand it, Okami's deal with the demon means he can't ever have children, can't leave a legacy in the world. Which maybe isn't a problem, maybe he and Mariko don't care about that.
Look, most of my questions revolve around why would you tell me he's MAYBE PART DRAGON and then have it MEAN NOTHING!!!!
*sigh*
Maybe there are short stories out there that get more into it? But that annoys me. You can either throw in that HE'S A DRAGON and use it or leave it the fuck out.
And Tsuneoki deserves better.
*grumbles*
Dude is part dragon and it just means nothing, lets not do anything with it, why bother....
Tuesday, September 18, 2018
Proud by Ibtihaj Muhammad (with Lori L. Tharps)
Right, so, best way to establish what we're doing is to do one book with the stated theme (murder) and then do something else.
So I decided to read a non-fiction memoir about an Olympic medalist.
You're welcome.
I have what is possibly a problematic thing going on with Islam. On the one hand, I find it fascinating and want to support Muslims (especially women) in being able to live their lives in the US without having to apologize for their own existence. On the other hand, I am Catholic and firmly believe that they are...misguided in their faith. The problematic part of this comes in when you factor in my irrational love of hijab and my ability to focus on it like it's a shiny penny. *sigh*
So I feel like I should admit, up front, that I saw Ms. Muhammad in the 2016 Olympics, and while I care nothing for fencing as a sport, I was like, "YES!!!! HIJABI ON THE FIELD!!!"
And when I heard that she was writing a book I jumped on that too, because I felt that I should support her - for example I was offended when I went to buy her book and there was no display for it. I honestly think that another Olympic medalist would have had a little display for their books debut, but the rules of book display have been explained to me and maybe I'm wrong but maybe not.
Even though biographies/memoirs and non fiction are not my normal bag, I was really looking forward to this.
So here we go.
First, over all, I enjoyed the book.
I enjoyed reading the little bits we get about Ms. Muhammad's family, especially her parents who were both converts to Islam for the peace and stability that they found there. Her parents pulled themselves out of a rough background and went on to be a teacher (her mother) and a police detective (her father) while also raising five children. They worked to make sure that their children had the best set up to succeed in life and that takes a lot of work and dedication. I could read a whole book just about them, no kidding.
Finding out that Ms. Muhammad picked up fencing as just another sport for part of the school year (her parents were very in to the extracurriculars as a means of keeping their children active and also with an eye to scholarships, etc in the future) and did not like it after one lesson. I guess you always get the impression that someone who makes it to the Olympics just...picked that sport and it clicked and they knew that they were meant to do this thing.
Ms. Muhammad did not click, and did not know that she was meant to do this thing. She actually only picked it back up in high school because it was a sport she could play when volleyball was off, and the uniform meant that she could remain covered without having to make extensive changes to the uniform. And even then, though she used it to help her get into the college of her choice, she did not take it up as her career, or her life. That all came later, after she graduated and failed to get a job in her chosen field.
So I found that all very, very interesting and I enjoyed the stories of her interactions with fans, and her family, and the almost accidental way that fencing became more and more important to her. Not that she just lucked into being able to compete in the Olympics, please, she worked impossibly hard to make it, just like any other Olympic athlete has to.
However.
I find it hard to put 100% in the fact that literally almost everyone that Ms. Muhammad ever worked with in the fencing world was against her, or eventually failed her because they weren't as invested in her as she was. Which, okay, that sounds odd but we'll get back to it.
I cannot think of anyone on any of her own teams or groups that Ms. Muhammad ever says were friendly towards her or just even polite. It seems like at every turn she is getting snubbed and insulted and even the coaches are trying to sabotage her. And even coaches who at one point are ideal and important and helpful in getting her to the next level fall away and suddenly aren't there to support her anymore. Because they have other students and their own lives and a family, which all seem like reasonable things.
And I just don't know...it seems like a lot? Admittedly, I am not African-American. I am not Muslim, and I am not a hijabi. I am also not involved in competitive sports. But it just....
Literally everyone?
Everyone?
Only her family ever fully supported her?
It's a lot.
And I think....from the impression she gives in her own words, Ms. Muhammad is incredibly focused and driven and perhaps that is not the best combination of traits to win friends? Certainly she mentions a couple of friends, but I know some people who are hyper-driven and they are exhausting and while I love them they find that most people fall short of their own self defined goals and aren't able to keep up with them. So I can't help but wonder if part of the problem is that. Mind you, I am certain that she has faced and will continue to face a lot of backlash and prejudice.
Maybe I just don't want to believe that so much prejudice can be so pervasive and widespread.
So.
I recommend the book, it's a fairly quick read and it's well written. It's an interesting story, especially if you like getting a look into how much work it takes to hit Olympic level and the fact that it's not just a magical talent - it's effort and will and your whole life on the line for this one chance.
So I decided to read a non-fiction memoir about an Olympic medalist.
You're welcome.
I have what is possibly a problematic thing going on with Islam. On the one hand, I find it fascinating and want to support Muslims (especially women) in being able to live their lives in the US without having to apologize for their own existence. On the other hand, I am Catholic and firmly believe that they are...misguided in their faith. The problematic part of this comes in when you factor in my irrational love of hijab and my ability to focus on it like it's a shiny penny. *sigh*
So I feel like I should admit, up front, that I saw Ms. Muhammad in the 2016 Olympics, and while I care nothing for fencing as a sport, I was like, "YES!!!! HIJABI ON THE FIELD!!!"
And when I heard that she was writing a book I jumped on that too, because I felt that I should support her - for example I was offended when I went to buy her book and there was no display for it. I honestly think that another Olympic medalist would have had a little display for their books debut, but the rules of book display have been explained to me and maybe I'm wrong but maybe not.
Even though biographies/memoirs and non fiction are not my normal bag, I was really looking forward to this.
So here we go.
First, over all, I enjoyed the book.
I enjoyed reading the little bits we get about Ms. Muhammad's family, especially her parents who were both converts to Islam for the peace and stability that they found there. Her parents pulled themselves out of a rough background and went on to be a teacher (her mother) and a police detective (her father) while also raising five children. They worked to make sure that their children had the best set up to succeed in life and that takes a lot of work and dedication. I could read a whole book just about them, no kidding.
Finding out that Ms. Muhammad picked up fencing as just another sport for part of the school year (her parents were very in to the extracurriculars as a means of keeping their children active and also with an eye to scholarships, etc in the future) and did not like it after one lesson. I guess you always get the impression that someone who makes it to the Olympics just...picked that sport and it clicked and they knew that they were meant to do this thing.
Ms. Muhammad did not click, and did not know that she was meant to do this thing. She actually only picked it back up in high school because it was a sport she could play when volleyball was off, and the uniform meant that she could remain covered without having to make extensive changes to the uniform. And even then, though she used it to help her get into the college of her choice, she did not take it up as her career, or her life. That all came later, after she graduated and failed to get a job in her chosen field.
So I found that all very, very interesting and I enjoyed the stories of her interactions with fans, and her family, and the almost accidental way that fencing became more and more important to her. Not that she just lucked into being able to compete in the Olympics, please, she worked impossibly hard to make it, just like any other Olympic athlete has to.
However.
I find it hard to put 100% in the fact that literally almost everyone that Ms. Muhammad ever worked with in the fencing world was against her, or eventually failed her because they weren't as invested in her as she was. Which, okay, that sounds odd but we'll get back to it.
I cannot think of anyone on any of her own teams or groups that Ms. Muhammad ever says were friendly towards her or just even polite. It seems like at every turn she is getting snubbed and insulted and even the coaches are trying to sabotage her. And even coaches who at one point are ideal and important and helpful in getting her to the next level fall away and suddenly aren't there to support her anymore. Because they have other students and their own lives and a family, which all seem like reasonable things.
And I just don't know...it seems like a lot? Admittedly, I am not African-American. I am not Muslim, and I am not a hijabi. I am also not involved in competitive sports. But it just....
Literally everyone?
Everyone?
Only her family ever fully supported her?
It's a lot.
And I think....from the impression she gives in her own words, Ms. Muhammad is incredibly focused and driven and perhaps that is not the best combination of traits to win friends? Certainly she mentions a couple of friends, but I know some people who are hyper-driven and they are exhausting and while I love them they find that most people fall short of their own self defined goals and aren't able to keep up with them. So I can't help but wonder if part of the problem is that. Mind you, I am certain that she has faced and will continue to face a lot of backlash and prejudice.
Maybe I just don't want to believe that so much prejudice can be so pervasive and widespread.
So.
I recommend the book, it's a fairly quick read and it's well written. It's an interesting story, especially if you like getting a look into how much work it takes to hit Olympic level and the fact that it's not just a magical talent - it's effort and will and your whole life on the line for this one chance.
Wednesday, September 12, 2018
The Woman in Cabin 10 Ch. 29 - End
Okay, so...I finished the book.
Let's see.
Lo is locked below deck but she works slowly and gets the trust of pseudo-Anne, who turns out to be named Carrie.
Maybe.
Trust nothing.
Nothing.
Lo does eventually worm out the story of the night that Anne Bullmer was murdered, and I was wrong. So Carrie, assuming that her story is the truth, did not *intentionally* murder Anne Bullmer. Supposedly, she was seeing Lord Bullmer for a while and oh, wasn't it just a stunning coincidence that she could pass for his ailing wife with just a little effort. And oh, hey, wouldn't it be a lark if I snuck you on the boat and when my wife got off the boat you could pretend to be her and we could be together in the light of day.
Because that was DEFINITELY not a setup at all.
Sweetie.
So anyhow, in a stunning turn of 'bad luck' that no one could have predicted, that first day on the boat, Bullmer and Anne have a fight and he 'accidentally' kills her. And then hauls her body to the cabin in a suitcase for Carrie to dispose of later.
Only, and here's where the 'Carrie didn't do it on purpose' thing comes in. Because when she goes to dispose of the body, as instructed, the suitcase pops open and there's Anne Bullmer's body and hey, Carrie thinks she might not be dead, but she's startled and scared and screams and drops the suitcase over anyway.
Spoiler: Anne Bullmer was not dead. She drowned. So.
Lo and Carrie bond over Winnie the Pooh (is now a bad time to admit that I have literally never read any of these books?) and they exchange stories that make them both more human to one another.
Eventually, Lo realizes that she is alone on the boat with Carrie and some of the crew, even Bullmer is off the boat and it's hard for Carrie to get her food sometimes. More being trapped and determined to get out, and trying to convince Carrie that they can turn Bullmer in, blah, blah, look, you both know that he is going to murder you both that is the only way this scheme works.
Carrie eventually, when Bullmer is about to come back on board, sets Lo free. She gives Lo her 'Anne' outfit, because wow its lucky they all sort of vaguely resemble one another enough that with their hair covered and in the flowy outfits they can pass. -.-
Carrie is clearly the brains at this moment, because she is running things and trying to get Lo to make it look good by hitting her to make it look like she got knocked out and Lo escaped on her own. Admittedly I can't blame Lo for not being at her best. This is a weird situation and she's been locked up and on not her full dose of meds or getting all the food she should be getting. Either way, Carrie winds up having to brain herself on the bed and wow, I feel you.
I stood up one time beneath the overhanging top of my bunk bed - I had a metal frame bunk bed where the bottom was a futon - and I clocked myself right on the top of my head with the edge of the bottom of the top bed. Have you ever hurt yourself so badly that you laugh? Like, I HURTS and you are bleeding and there are tears, but your body just goes, NOPE! WE CANNOT DEAL WITH THIS STIMULUS!!!! LAUGHTER!!! Because that's how hard I hit my head. It was surprising.
Anyway.
Lo eventually scoots out, but while she's trying to sneak around the boat to get to Bullmer's cabin to get money, passport, etc., turns out Bullmer is back on the damn boat!!! She gets the money, finds a gun that she leaves behind and then hell, there's Bullmer inside the cabin.
Lo winds up out on the verandah thing and...well. She tries to scoot over to the next verandah, like had been done to break into her room, but she is not wearing the right shoes for this and she slips and falls into the ocean.
And you're reading, and wondering if she dies, because there was a body and her clothes were found in the water and I was concerned, I really was, but Lo makes it to land.
She makes it to land, and to a hotel, and the busboy or whoever working the desk who speaks English *definitely* calls Bullmer. Lo should have believed Carrie when she told her about what sort of influence Bullmer has. So Lo smartly scoots the fuck out of there, but she's left her money behind. She starts just walking, and eventually she slips into a ditch and there's a car that turns out to be a cop.
And she's maybe leaning towards trusting him, but then he says her name and she is not going to fall for this twice! Lo books it across country and I do not blame you, sweetie. You go!!!
She winds up sleeping in a barn and then after...I think it was a day and a half? Poor Lo was so exhausted. But a nice little old man shows up and she gets in the car with him because she is out of options.
BUT!! Little old man is safe, and lets her use his cellphone when there is service to call Judah!
Woo!
So Bullmer is fucked, but throughout this whole thing we find out that a second body was found when looking for Lo.
*waves hands*
The wrap up is that Anne Bullmer's body was found - she drowned. Poor Anne. Poor Carrie.
Ballmer's body was found, supposedly he'd shot himself in the head. And the gun was found wrapped in Lo's clothes. Which were not, in fact, found on a body.
And just...listen.
Here's a thing.
It's just...a fact.
If someone commits suicide, they are not, by definition, capable of hiding the damn weapon after the fact!
*sigh*
But let's ignore this, for the fact that Carrie's body is never found.
Because she lives!
Tigger's bounce!!
Okay, she definitely killed Bullmer.
But in fairness, he was a terrible person who murdered his wife and was 100% going to murder Lo and Carrie to cover his own ass.
Turns out Ben is....not as big of an asshole as he could have been?
He helped raise the alarm. Of course he also apparently implied that he and Lo had *just* broken up. So. Still an asshole.
We never get confirmation that Chloe and Cole where a thing, but they were and you all know it.
Carrie is off living her best life - she wires Lo some money and that's lovely.
And Lo and Judah are moving to New York.
I mean I have questions about this sudden life changing choice when Lo has been through some trauma, but I also and down for her and Judah being together and her getting to also live her best life, so I'm going to allow it.
Let's see.
Lo is locked below deck but she works slowly and gets the trust of pseudo-Anne, who turns out to be named Carrie.
Maybe.
Trust nothing.
Nothing.
Lo does eventually worm out the story of the night that Anne Bullmer was murdered, and I was wrong. So Carrie, assuming that her story is the truth, did not *intentionally* murder Anne Bullmer. Supposedly, she was seeing Lord Bullmer for a while and oh, wasn't it just a stunning coincidence that she could pass for his ailing wife with just a little effort. And oh, hey, wouldn't it be a lark if I snuck you on the boat and when my wife got off the boat you could pretend to be her and we could be together in the light of day.
Because that was DEFINITELY not a setup at all.
Sweetie.
So anyhow, in a stunning turn of 'bad luck' that no one could have predicted, that first day on the boat, Bullmer and Anne have a fight and he 'accidentally' kills her. And then hauls her body to the cabin in a suitcase for Carrie to dispose of later.
Only, and here's where the 'Carrie didn't do it on purpose' thing comes in. Because when she goes to dispose of the body, as instructed, the suitcase pops open and there's Anne Bullmer's body and hey, Carrie thinks she might not be dead, but she's startled and scared and screams and drops the suitcase over anyway.
Spoiler: Anne Bullmer was not dead. She drowned. So.
Lo and Carrie bond over Winnie the Pooh (is now a bad time to admit that I have literally never read any of these books?) and they exchange stories that make them both more human to one another.
Eventually, Lo realizes that she is alone on the boat with Carrie and some of the crew, even Bullmer is off the boat and it's hard for Carrie to get her food sometimes. More being trapped and determined to get out, and trying to convince Carrie that they can turn Bullmer in, blah, blah, look, you both know that he is going to murder you both that is the only way this scheme works.
Carrie eventually, when Bullmer is about to come back on board, sets Lo free. She gives Lo her 'Anne' outfit, because wow its lucky they all sort of vaguely resemble one another enough that with their hair covered and in the flowy outfits they can pass. -.-
Carrie is clearly the brains at this moment, because she is running things and trying to get Lo to make it look good by hitting her to make it look like she got knocked out and Lo escaped on her own. Admittedly I can't blame Lo for not being at her best. This is a weird situation and she's been locked up and on not her full dose of meds or getting all the food she should be getting. Either way, Carrie winds up having to brain herself on the bed and wow, I feel you.
I stood up one time beneath the overhanging top of my bunk bed - I had a metal frame bunk bed where the bottom was a futon - and I clocked myself right on the top of my head with the edge of the bottom of the top bed. Have you ever hurt yourself so badly that you laugh? Like, I HURTS and you are bleeding and there are tears, but your body just goes, NOPE! WE CANNOT DEAL WITH THIS STIMULUS!!!! LAUGHTER!!! Because that's how hard I hit my head. It was surprising.
Anyway.
Lo eventually scoots out, but while she's trying to sneak around the boat to get to Bullmer's cabin to get money, passport, etc., turns out Bullmer is back on the damn boat!!! She gets the money, finds a gun that she leaves behind and then hell, there's Bullmer inside the cabin.
Lo winds up out on the verandah thing and...well. She tries to scoot over to the next verandah, like had been done to break into her room, but she is not wearing the right shoes for this and she slips and falls into the ocean.
And you're reading, and wondering if she dies, because there was a body and her clothes were found in the water and I was concerned, I really was, but Lo makes it to land.
She makes it to land, and to a hotel, and the busboy or whoever working the desk who speaks English *definitely* calls Bullmer. Lo should have believed Carrie when she told her about what sort of influence Bullmer has. So Lo smartly scoots the fuck out of there, but she's left her money behind. She starts just walking, and eventually she slips into a ditch and there's a car that turns out to be a cop.
And she's maybe leaning towards trusting him, but then he says her name and she is not going to fall for this twice! Lo books it across country and I do not blame you, sweetie. You go!!!
She winds up sleeping in a barn and then after...I think it was a day and a half? Poor Lo was so exhausted. But a nice little old man shows up and she gets in the car with him because she is out of options.
BUT!! Little old man is safe, and lets her use his cellphone when there is service to call Judah!
Woo!
So Bullmer is fucked, but throughout this whole thing we find out that a second body was found when looking for Lo.
*waves hands*
The wrap up is that Anne Bullmer's body was found - she drowned. Poor Anne. Poor Carrie.
Ballmer's body was found, supposedly he'd shot himself in the head. And the gun was found wrapped in Lo's clothes. Which were not, in fact, found on a body.
And just...listen.
Here's a thing.
It's just...a fact.
If someone commits suicide, they are not, by definition, capable of hiding the damn weapon after the fact!
*sigh*
But let's ignore this, for the fact that Carrie's body is never found.
Because she lives!
Tigger's bounce!!
Okay, she definitely killed Bullmer.
But in fairness, he was a terrible person who murdered his wife and was 100% going to murder Lo and Carrie to cover his own ass.
Turns out Ben is....not as big of an asshole as he could have been?
He helped raise the alarm. Of course he also apparently implied that he and Lo had *just* broken up. So. Still an asshole.
We never get confirmation that Chloe and Cole where a thing, but they were and you all know it.
Carrie is off living her best life - she wires Lo some money and that's lovely.
And Lo and Judah are moving to New York.
I mean I have questions about this sudden life changing choice when Lo has been through some trauma, but I also and down for her and Judah being together and her getting to also live her best life, so I'm going to allow it.
Monday, September 3, 2018
The Woman in Cabin 10 Ch. 22 - 28
Okay, I was sick last week, sorry.
Babysitting the nephew, who kindly shared all of his baby germs with me. How are baby germs 10,000% more virulent than regular germs?
Anyway, rather than split it up, I just decided to do the six chapters in one post.
Lead with, Lo has gotten herself captured and locked somewhere on the ship. Because she...she was every dumb woman in every horror/thriller ever.
Bad guy is somewhere out there, out to get you.
Knock comes on the door and you...answer it.
Like an idiot.
I mean, I guess it's sort of like I told a friend, if no one was dumb in a horror movie, it'd be a very short movie.
"What, that noise in the basement? Hell no. We out. Investigate NOTHING."
Not today, Satan.
But wow, is it frustrating. We were all rooting for you!
*facepalm*
So we sort of pick up where we left Lo, sitting on her couch knowing that she is Not Fucking Safe. And there's a knock on the door.
She tries to be all sneaky and stealthy about checking the door, but all sense goes out the window when she sees that it's the Woman! And then she follows the woman, who is acting creepy and suspicious and Lo, Lo, really this is the worst of ideas, and hey, she gets knocked out in a dark stairwell in the bowels of the ship and wakes up some indeterminate amount of time later locked in a tiny fucking room.
I don't blame her for the panic attack, I too would be peeing myself. Though maybe less from the 'being trapped in a small space' and more the, 'I am at the mercy of a killer and am going to die, also I WAS THE DUMB CHICK IN THIS MOVIE'
Though I question the logic of not just killing Lo. I mean, sure, separate her 'disappearance' from wherever you're going to dump her body, but why is she still alive? This is not smart. You could totally keep a body hidden in this tiny room for a day or two if you had to. Logistics of the smell might be difficult, but I don't know what resources they have access to.
It would definitely be smarter to kill her right off.
*sigh*
So, Lo is locked in, panicking, and also having withdrawals from her antidepressants which is....not going well.
The Woman pops in to feed her, and there's obvious messing with the lights and her sense of time and day, which is just standard 'I have a captive' evil laughter inserted wherever. Lo tries to fight her way free, and also sort of realizes that she just accidentally got caught up in this by accidentally giving the Woman the secret knock she was expecting from her accomplice.
Lo also pegs Ben as the accomplice and she is...*sigh* much as it pains me. She is wrong.
It's not Ben. It was never Ben.
I still hate him.
Hates.
But he's not a murderer.
FINE.
Lo and the Woman reach a sort of agreement.
Lo won't try to escape and the Woman gives her her meds.
Which is good, from Lo's description, she cannot afford to loose the focus that it sounds like she loses without the meds.
ALSO, hey, guess who the Woman is?
Anne Bullmer.
Or.
Well.
She's playing Lady Anne Bullmer.
Who, one must assume, went overboard that first night.
I mean it makes sense.
Ambitious man marries woman with money.
Woman looks like she's about to die and leave him with all of that glorious money.
Then lo, (ha ha), she is not going to die, and she gets to keep controlling all of her own money.
Man suddenly needs a plan to get money into his control.
Know what would help with that?
Less wife.
*shakes head*
Dude.
Everyone kills for money. Or rage.
Or serial-killer-ness.
People are people, even when they're stupid rich.
Lo puts it together because she is Not Dumb, in spite of her earlier behavior. Especially when the Woman wipes blood from Lo's attack off of her face and also cleans off an eyebrow. Like Lo says, she's a good actor to pull it off, but Lo knows - also they have different eye colors. Anne Bullmer had grey eyes and the Woman has dark eyes.
Which is...a sign that this is not a long term plan.
Like, I'm certain that Bullmer has sold the Woman on the fact that he loves her and his wife was just awful and they could be together now but damn, man, you could spring for some colored contacts if you wanted to keep the charade up for long. But, as Lo point out when she's working on getting the Woman on her side, this is not going to end in a happy ever after for her and Bullmer.
He's used her to murder and dispose of his wife.
He is definitely going to get rid of her as soon as he doesn't need her anymore.
Because she is the only person who can tell his part of the events - Lo knows that he was involved, but that's just from putting things together. I would bet actual money that the Woman has evidence. And money spends so much more easily when it's just you spending it.
I kind of feel sorry for the Woman, even though she is totally a murderer, because she seems trapped. She's in love and she has gotten way too far in to back out now. In spite of her assurances that they're not going to hurt Lo, or that Bullmer loves her. She has to know that neither of those things are true.
Bullmer is going to kill them both, eventually.
Because it's the smart thing to do.
And he's probably also a sociopath.
We get another insert from an email that Jude sends out, announcing that they have identified some of the clothes that were fished out as Lo's, and they seem to be accepting that Lo is the body that was fished out of the ocean.
*sigh*
I really hope Lo makes it through this.
I've read books before where the, or one of the, main characters gets killed and it's interesting, but I like Lo in spite of her lapse in judgment from earlier.
I also like the Woman.
So....
Maybe they run off together and Thelma and Louise it, but without the finale?
What's another pair of female criminals that get to ride off into the sunset?
I can't think of any.
So, I think I'll finish the book for next week. Three chapters is too slow, I'll do the next book a bit faster.
I'm torn between reading Proud by Ibtihaj Muhammad or Smoke in the Sun by Renee Ahdieh. Non fiction or YA? Probably less murder in the non fiction, one can hope.
Babysitting the nephew, who kindly shared all of his baby germs with me. How are baby germs 10,000% more virulent than regular germs?
Anyway, rather than split it up, I just decided to do the six chapters in one post.
Lead with, Lo has gotten herself captured and locked somewhere on the ship. Because she...she was every dumb woman in every horror/thriller ever.
Bad guy is somewhere out there, out to get you.
Knock comes on the door and you...answer it.
Like an idiot.
I mean, I guess it's sort of like I told a friend, if no one was dumb in a horror movie, it'd be a very short movie.
"What, that noise in the basement? Hell no. We out. Investigate NOTHING."
Not today, Satan.
But wow, is it frustrating. We were all rooting for you!
*facepalm*
So we sort of pick up where we left Lo, sitting on her couch knowing that she is Not Fucking Safe. And there's a knock on the door.
She tries to be all sneaky and stealthy about checking the door, but all sense goes out the window when she sees that it's the Woman! And then she follows the woman, who is acting creepy and suspicious and Lo, Lo, really this is the worst of ideas, and hey, she gets knocked out in a dark stairwell in the bowels of the ship and wakes up some indeterminate amount of time later locked in a tiny fucking room.
I don't blame her for the panic attack, I too would be peeing myself. Though maybe less from the 'being trapped in a small space' and more the, 'I am at the mercy of a killer and am going to die, also I WAS THE DUMB CHICK IN THIS MOVIE'
Though I question the logic of not just killing Lo. I mean, sure, separate her 'disappearance' from wherever you're going to dump her body, but why is she still alive? This is not smart. You could totally keep a body hidden in this tiny room for a day or two if you had to. Logistics of the smell might be difficult, but I don't know what resources they have access to.
It would definitely be smarter to kill her right off.
*sigh*
So, Lo is locked in, panicking, and also having withdrawals from her antidepressants which is....not going well.
The Woman pops in to feed her, and there's obvious messing with the lights and her sense of time and day, which is just standard 'I have a captive' evil laughter inserted wherever. Lo tries to fight her way free, and also sort of realizes that she just accidentally got caught up in this by accidentally giving the Woman the secret knock she was expecting from her accomplice.
Lo also pegs Ben as the accomplice and she is...*sigh* much as it pains me. She is wrong.
It's not Ben. It was never Ben.
I still hate him.
Hates.
But he's not a murderer.
FINE.
Lo and the Woman reach a sort of agreement.
Lo won't try to escape and the Woman gives her her meds.
Which is good, from Lo's description, she cannot afford to loose the focus that it sounds like she loses without the meds.
ALSO, hey, guess who the Woman is?
Anne Bullmer.
Or.
Well.
She's playing Lady Anne Bullmer.
Who, one must assume, went overboard that first night.
I mean it makes sense.
Ambitious man marries woman with money.
Woman looks like she's about to die and leave him with all of that glorious money.
Then lo, (ha ha), she is not going to die, and she gets to keep controlling all of her own money.
Man suddenly needs a plan to get money into his control.
Know what would help with that?
Less wife.
*shakes head*
Dude.
Everyone kills for money. Or rage.
Or serial-killer-ness.
People are people, even when they're stupid rich.
Lo puts it together because she is Not Dumb, in spite of her earlier behavior. Especially when the Woman wipes blood from Lo's attack off of her face and also cleans off an eyebrow. Like Lo says, she's a good actor to pull it off, but Lo knows - also they have different eye colors. Anne Bullmer had grey eyes and the Woman has dark eyes.
Which is...a sign that this is not a long term plan.
Like, I'm certain that Bullmer has sold the Woman on the fact that he loves her and his wife was just awful and they could be together now but damn, man, you could spring for some colored contacts if you wanted to keep the charade up for long. But, as Lo point out when she's working on getting the Woman on her side, this is not going to end in a happy ever after for her and Bullmer.
He's used her to murder and dispose of his wife.
He is definitely going to get rid of her as soon as he doesn't need her anymore.
Because she is the only person who can tell his part of the events - Lo knows that he was involved, but that's just from putting things together. I would bet actual money that the Woman has evidence. And money spends so much more easily when it's just you spending it.
I kind of feel sorry for the Woman, even though she is totally a murderer, because she seems trapped. She's in love and she has gotten way too far in to back out now. In spite of her assurances that they're not going to hurt Lo, or that Bullmer loves her. She has to know that neither of those things are true.
Bullmer is going to kill them both, eventually.
Because it's the smart thing to do.
And he's probably also a sociopath.
We get another insert from an email that Jude sends out, announcing that they have identified some of the clothes that were fished out as Lo's, and they seem to be accepting that Lo is the body that was fished out of the ocean.
*sigh*
I really hope Lo makes it through this.
I've read books before where the, or one of the, main characters gets killed and it's interesting, but I like Lo in spite of her lapse in judgment from earlier.
I also like the Woman.
So....
Maybe they run off together and Thelma and Louise it, but without the finale?
What's another pair of female criminals that get to ride off into the sunset?
I can't think of any.
So, I think I'll finish the book for next week. Three chapters is too slow, I'll do the next book a bit faster.
I'm torn between reading Proud by Ibtihaj Muhammad or Smoke in the Sun by Renee Ahdieh. Non fiction or YA? Probably less murder in the non fiction, one can hope.
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