There is clearly something in the air this week, for I have been reading like a mad person. It is going to be a two-post week, I think.
Some have said that books like Twilight or Fallen or Ironside or even City of Bones have spoiled their female readership for human men. Only eternally faithful vampires or angels or faeries or Shadowhunters will do. I would argue the following: Sarah Rees Brennan, in creating Alan Ryves, has saved us from this malaise. I have met onions with fewer layers than Alan. But whereas onions have, at their cores, tear-gas bombs which are tasty when cooked, Alan has loyalty and immense protectiveness for those he loves–in short, a heart of gold. Like onions, he kinda makes me cry.
I decided on Sunday that I simply couldn’t wait for the libraryto finish processing our copies, so I bought both books 2 and 3 and read them back to back. I now miss all the characters.
Book 1 of this phenomenal trilogy (The Demon’s Lexicon, about which I have written before) is told from Nick’s perspective, which is awesome because seeing prickly Nick struggle with his feelings makes him actually lovable. Book 2 is told from Mae’s perspective, which is great because not only is she really cool, but her brother Jamie is the funniest, most awkward rambler-on there has ever been. (For more proof, read “Nick and Jamie Go To The Movies” on Brennan’s website.) Book 3 is told from Sin’s perspective, and while the last book is sometimes less completely successful than the others (she eavesdrops more than any human is truly capable of), it’s worth it because, without spoiling anything, we get to really see Alan in his best light. Alan who is the greatest human being ever devised because his greatest flaw is how much he loves his brother. “HHHHHHHRHGGFSG^%*,” is what I said at the end.
Go ahead and read all three of these books for their heart, their humour, and their HHHHHHERGFHGJHS*^^ factor. Also gay magicians. Also muscled torsos. Rated V for violent and T for tearjerky.
