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I might sneak in one or two extra titles before the end of the year, but this is pretty much it! It feels good to be reading so much again. I read a lot of genre fiction (as is my general wont) and I'm still mad that I was bamboozled into reading a Kristin Hannah book lol I will never fall for the hype ever again! :D

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Ok Perrin and Faile’s relationship has been fixed and I’m enjoying it again! It’s cute and sweet and flirty and she’s stern and stubborn but it’s not over the top and mean! They’re communicating openly!! She knows about the wolves and he knows she’s a fancy ✨ lady ✨

She’s supporting him as he fumbles through his new role of general and Perrin Goldeneyes (and he seems to have calmed down and accepted that he loves her)

So yes! More of this! This is good!!

Oh I am NOT liking how Faile and Perrin’s relationship is being written :( I really hope it gets better but this whole “she abuses him and he seethes” thing is not cute. (And neither is Jordan’s weird thing with spanking???)

There’s a cute dynamic hidden in there somewhere - she is bold and strong headed and quick to act while he likes to take his time and think things through before acting. And I feel that some of how their dynamic is being written could be cute but it’s just MEAN. Why are they in a bad, toxic relationship? And why isn’t anyone telling them that it’s bad and toxic??

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Robert Jordan how DARE you wait FOUR BOOKS to tell me about Perrin’s baby brother and sisters and cousins and the farm they all live on only to then turn around and tell me that they’re all dead ;;

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Oh I am NOT liking how Faile and Perrin’s relationship is being written :( I really hope it gets better but this whole “she abuses him and he seethes” thing is not cute. (And neither is Jordan’s weird thing with spanking???)

There’s a cute dynamic hidden in there somewhere - she is bold and strong headed and quick to act while he likes to take his time and think things through before acting. And I feel that some of how their dynamic is being written could be cute but it’s just MEAN. Why are they in a bad, toxic relationship? And why isn’t anyone telling them that it’s bad and toxic??

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I can’t with Mat doing a Looney Tunes bit before heading into Rhuidean, pulling weapons out of his pockets for, like, five solid minutes while the Maidens and Wise Ones and his friends just stand there and watch the pile get comically bigger and bigger.

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As much as it delights me when The Boys are big dumb dumbs when it comes to girls and not knowing what to do about girls and not knowing when girls are very obviously attracted to them, I do heave a bit of a sigh any time the girlies are fighting over/about boys.

I can already tell I'm probably not going to like it when Elayne and Min figure out they both love Rand (and, like, do you love him?? or is he just tall???) I really didn't like the whole Berelain thing with Rand and Perrin. I mean, who cares that she tried to seduce Rand - that makes sense - and I'm not mad at that character type (the beautiful woman who uses her body as currency/leverage for political/personal gain/protection) but MAN. I could definitely do without Elayne calling her a slut! And being mad at Rand that she was in his room!!

Girliepop - you have no say over what this grown man does or who he hangs out with. You're definitely allowed to be jealous but that's it. And Faile!!! GIRL. Do you not know 1. Berelain's reputation? and 2. PERRIN???? What would make you think that Perrin would be stepping out on you???? Why not just ASK what's going on or using your brains???

It's just all very dated and does such a disservice to what are - broadly speaking! - really well-written and developed female characters. But man. The '90s were a long time ago.

(at least Egwene and Rand split maturely! and I really liked that - them both realizing that their feelings had changed and that both of their lives had taken drastically different paths and it didn't include a romantic relationship anymore. more of that please!)

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I think Aviendha might be one of my favorites <3 Her friendship with Egwene is really cute and sweet and I love how just out of sorts she is with everything lol

Like, when she accidentally walks in on Egwene taking a bath her reaction isn't "Oh! She's embarrassed because she's naked" it was "Oh! she's embarrassed because I'm NOT naked!" and then she took off her clothes and sat down to hang out. How can you not be endeared by that??

Again, here's a relationship with so much potential and depth and I have a sneaking suspicion that I'll be providing alot of that, in my head, as I think too much about girls being friends and supporting each other.

(sorry not sorry I'm a relationship girlie, I don't really care about the action - like, it's cool and well-written, but I am here for interpersonal relationships and kissing lol) (which is unfortunate since I'm reading Wheel of Time by Robert Jordan lol)

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Something something Perrin going to Rand - the freshly minted Lord Dragon - thinking he's finally gone insane, ready to confront him about a possible attempt on his life, but instead finding a bloody and exhausted mess of a man and immediately helping him because it's still RAND and he's badly hurt and it - for right now - doesn't matter that there's a prophecy and they've all changed.

IDK man, I got the bit where Perrin is gently holding a wadded bit of cloth to Rand's side and I've been quietly going feral for days at the thought.

Again, I think there are such DEPTHS to this friendship that could be plumbed (tbh I think this is true of all the relationships in WoT) but I suppose that's what fan theories and fan fiction are for!

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I will never get tired of these dumb boys being DUMBFOUNDED by the fact that a pretty girl wants to jump them.

IDK, Rand, why would a beautiful noblewoman who's been a political hostage want to seduce you, the magical liberating one-man-army from prophecy who is also handsome and tall?? It's a real head scratcher, just a real puzzle, that one.

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Here, have a collection of random WoT thoughts as I am 2/3 of the way through DRAGON REBORN:

I do love that Nyneave is always ready to fight someone in a WWE Summer Slam Rage in the Cage match. Like, if she had access to folding chair technology, she would be unstoppable.

I've gotten to a (the??) part of THE DRAGON REBORN that broke my heart </3 Rand is so utterly alone and broken and in the throes of plots and powers he doesn't fully understand and I just want him to have his pals (and for those pals to, you know, talk to him and support him lol) and for him to stop fighting SO HARD against EVERYTHING. :(

I liked Perrin's meetcute with Gaul <3 I hope he and Gaul get to be pals :>

And on that note, I'm really liking the Aiel! Honestly, I'm enjoying all the different cultures and nations we keep meeting. The Seanchan are still my favorite, I think, for how alien they are, comparatively speaking.

I can't wait for everyone to meet up in Tear and for everything to be OK UuU

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“Why is this pretty girl, who is my age, staring at me????” Says Perrin Aybara, certified beefcake babe, a man who is always described as having heavy shoulders and a gentle demeanor.

I love how dumb these boys are. Just absolute dumbos 🩷

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"I'm the only sane one!" says Mat Cauthon, the guy who's just been cured of possession by evil dagger, speaks in dead languages he does not know, and remembers leading armies from thousands of years ago. "All of my other friends are crazy!"

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I got to the part where Perrin sees what could happen to him if he were to ever forget himself, if he ever became more wolf than man and again I am going FERAL at the thought of a singular conversation between him and Rand!! Both of them carrying the knowledge that what they are can damn them!! Both of them unable to seek guidance, alone as they fumble through their learning and growth and acceptance!!

Is this what’s going to drive me back to reading fan fiction? A desperate search on AO3 for Perrin/Rand conversation fic???

I'm in the throes of a WHEEL OF TIME melt-down and I'm loving it <3 I've visited the first book - EYE OF THE WORLD - at least twice before and I'm pretty sure I've read the first three novels once, more than twenty years ago (to, uhhh, date myself) tho I don't remember anything about them.

I'm on the third book now - THE DRAGON REBORN - and so far the second book - THE GREAT HUNT - has been my favorite <3

Perrin is my favorite boy, Nynaeve is probably my favorite girl (tho I will give Jordan kudos for giving me a feast of female characters with varying personalities and motives!)

The only thing that's really killing me is I wish Rand and his pals would sit down and TALK to each other! Rand!! Perrin!!! Talk to each other!! Maybe find some comfort and understanding in your friend who is also finding himself carrying a gift he never asked for! A gift which is frightening and alluring all at once! A gift which marks him out as Other and may be misunderstood and lead to his being hunted and hated and possibly killed!! I know Rand's got a whole prophecy and Perrin has wolves but still! They're still boyhood friends from the Two Rivers ;;

I'm very excited to probably have my heart broken by this series <3

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I'm in the throes of a WHEEL OF TIME melt-down and I'm loving it <3 I've visited the first book - EYE OF THE WORLD - at least twice before and I'm pretty sure I've read the first three novels once, more than twenty years ago (to, uhhh, date myself) tho I don't remember anything about them.

I'm on the third book now - THE DRAGON REBORN - and so far the second book - THE GREAT HUNT - has been my favorite <3

Perrin is my favorite boy, Nynaeve is probably my favorite girl (tho I will give Jordan kudos for giving me a feast of female characters with varying personalities and motives!)

The only thing that's really killing me is I wish Rand and his pals would sit down and TALK to each other! Rand!! Perrin!!! Talk to each other!! Maybe find some comfort and understanding in your friend who is also finding himself carrying a gift he never asked for! A gift which is frightening and alluring all at once! A gift which marks him out as Other and may be misunderstood and lead to his being hunted and hated and possibly killed!! I know Rand's got a whole prophecy and Perrin has wolves but still! They're still boyhood friends from the Two Rivers ;;

I'm very excited to probably have my heart broken by this series <3

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I'm nearly done with THE DEVIL MEMNOCH by Anne Rice and I just passed the part where Lestat drinks the menstrual blood from a woman and while I was aware this happens, I didn't know he just kind of ... does it in front of his kind-of boyfriend, David Talbot, and his ex-boyfriend, Armand. Like, he's just back from a tour of Heaven and Hell (where he also witnessed the crucifixion of Christ and, at the behest of Christ, drinks Christ's blood and makes him moan in the process) and then he just kind of falls into/onto this woman.

This has been my least favorite of the Vampire Chronicles so far (but not for the aforementioned reasons) but I am ROOTING for the TV show to make it to this book because I am FASCINATED with how they would make this work. The entirety of the book is basically Lestat listening to the Devil tell him the history of the world, Heaven, and Hell so it's not a great vampire book lol

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The Women | Kristin Hannah

I fell victim to the hype around a book and, friends, it was not worth it.

THE WOMEN by Kristin Hannah is a book about the women who served in Vietnam and their experiences in the war and afterwards. Specifically, it's about Frances "Frankie" McGrath a nursing student who enlists in the Army and goes to Vietnam to serve as a combat nurse. While she's there she makes friends, falls in love, and finds her true calling in nursing. When she comes back home, she struggles to adjust to a civilian world that is, itself, struggling to understand this war.

Great! Good! I like this premise! There's alot to work with here! Frankie is a fairly naive young woman who goes into war with a very idealistic world view - War is honorable, the US is doing the correct thing, she will be helping people - and then immediately has it shattered by the realities of combat in Vietnam and its aftermath.

The problem is Kristin Hannah is not a good writer. She is either lacking the ability - or the desire - to closely examine any of this. The Vietnam War is presented without comment or examination (which is WILD to me) and in a very shallow "This Is Vietnam. It Is Hot. It Is Raining." sort of way. Frankie sees horror after horror in the operating room and doesn't form ANY sort of opinion about the war machine that is killing and maiming young men and boys.

You know what she DOES have thoughts on? The married surgeon who wants to sleep with her! We got more moralizing and examination on the rights and wrongs of a wartime affair than we did about the actual war itself.

The whole book is written in this weird shallow, superficial way. There's pop culture references and fashion descriptions so you know it's the late 60s or the 70s - there's hippies and protestors - but it all feels so empty. Nothing has any substance! Hannah continually TELLS you things but she doesn't seem interested in SHOWING you anything or digging into any idea or anything more complex than "should Frankie sleep with this guy?"

Like, OK, one of Frankie's friends from Vietnam is a fellow nurse named Barb. Barb is a black radical - She's got posters of Malcolm X and Muhammad Ali. After the war, she joins various protest groups and is incredibly outspoken about the war. Hannah also has her spouting dialogue that is - straightforwardly!! - a conservative talking point from Ronald Reagan!! What are you doing!!

Related to this, the only real view point that Hannah seems to hold and make is this - the only moral and correct protests against Vietnam were the ones held by veterans. Civilians - especially college students - should not have been protesting because they were not affected by the war. This is a point that Barb explicitly expresses (and a point that Reagan argued to end free college in CA) and it is implicit throughout the book as a whole. It's gross!

This book's other great sin is that Frankie is an unlikable, uninteresting, uncompelling main character. She drifts through her own story, propelled only by the men around her. A man gives her the idea to go Vietnam. She's given the self confidence to be a combat nurse by a man. She's saved from addiction by a man. She gets her final validation from a man. For a book that purports to be all about women and centering them, men sure do play an outsized role.

I'm not even going to get into the final third or so which is just an unending soap opera revolving around a man and whether or not he's going to leave his wife for Frankie - it dragged on and on and on and I hated it!

1/5 stars - do not recommend - at least it was easy to read - I will never read another Kristin Hannah book ever again!