Retro Friday (17) - Love is Blind by Lynsay Sands

Retro Friday is a weekly meme hosted at Angieville and focuses on reviewing books from the past. This can be an old favorite, an under-the-radar book you think deserves more attention, something woefully out of print, etc. Everyone is welcome to join in at any time! 

If there is an author that can me Historical Romance funny is Lynsay Sands, and for this week I chose one of my personal favorite books by her: Love Is Blind (... or it should be).

At First Sight: Lord Aidan Monfort, Earl of Mowbray hasn't been back in London in over ten years, not since he put on an appearance shortly after he was injured in the war and the scar on his face managed to scare off everyone. 


But now he's back, maybe looking for a wife; though sure everyone still sees him as a monster. So, when his cousin points him toward Lady Clarissa Cambray during the first ball he attends, Aidan can't believe his luck: Clarissa is funny and sweet and is practically blind without the glasses her stepmother won't allow her to use. 


Clarissa's season in London, so far, had been rather dull and right down miserable, thanks to her stepmother, who insists no man will offer for her if she wears her glasses and is constantly scolding Clarissa for the all scrapes she gets into due to her lack of sight. 


But that changes when she meets Aidan and they strike a friendship that quickly turns into love.

And, to top it all off, it seems like some of those scrapes Clarissa has gotten into might not have been accidents after all. 


Second Glance: Love is Blind is a silly, cute little book. And I mean it in the best way - the characters are nice and sweet, and they do fall cutely in love with each other and who they are under their flaws. 


There is a bit of a mystery that has something to do with something in Clarissa's past, but it's really a small part of the book. And I really liked how Aidan takes Clarissa's past in stride (you find out what early on). 


The book is not very historically accurate, and there is not much to the book other than a cute love story; but it is fun to read.


Bottom Line: I don't think Love is Blind is one of the best historical romances ever, but it's funny and sweet and very fluffy, and if you're in the mood for something like that, I highly recommend it.


Favorite Quote: "Oh, do stop gawking at Clarissa," his mother said impatiently, apparently put out. "She will be your wife soon enough, and you might gawk at your heart's content." (Chosen because it sums up the tone of the book).

1/2

Story of My Life #7: Dear Mr. Potter

So, a couple of weeks ago Dear Mr. Potter: Letters of Love, Loss and Magic was released. It's a book that compiles letters from fans telling how Harry Potter influenced them and their lives. I've previewed some of the letters and I was quite touched by them, and I decided to write a letter myself, so here we are.

Fair warning, though, I might get a bit personal.

--

Dear Mr. Potter,

You came into my life at a time of upheaval.

One of my favorite uncles had died months before, I was struggling as a college freshman, trying to face the fact that I had chosen the wrong university and the wrong major. But you helped me get through that first semester of hell.

And then, in the middle of it all - and before I started book 3- my grandmother died.

Grandma Sophie was sort of the center of my family... and without her, I had the hardest time dealing with just everything in general. She wasn't a walk in the park, but she was my Gran and losing her that year, six weeks before I turned 18 shattered me.

Life went on.

Few weeks after the funeral, my Mom and Aunt took my sister Boo, my cousin Betty and me to go see Harry Potter and the Philosopher Stone on opening night. It was the first fun thing we did as a family after Gran Sophie died. That December Mom - who doesn't really approve of my reading so much - bought me Goblet of Fire and I was reading it when my Dad got a call, on Christmas day, that resulted on the four of us going to Spain next spring.

The Prisioner of Azkaban was with me as I stood as far away from home as I have ever been, and it comforted me in knowing it was there, all tattered and with food stains all over because I wouldn't put it down to eat. 

Then Order of the Phoenix came out and I nearly got flunked out of school - after Spain, I switched schools and majors - because I wouldn't stop reading it after I got it, not even in class and I had midterms around the corner. For Half Blood Prince, I had to pace myself, because it was finals week, I was older and trying to get over a mid-college crisis.

When Deathly Hallows came out... boy wasn't that crazy! I remember I was on holiday with my family when I sneaked off to check my email and saw the announcement of the title. And on the release date, I made my dad drive me to one of the bookstores selling it at midnight. He was sure there wouldn't be anyone around and couldn't believe there were over 400 people at that store alone, with another good 300 in the store next door which was selling the UK edition instead of the US one. My sister actually told me "I never thought there were that many crazy people like you."

There were. But I still got all the collectible bookmarks (the ones with the seven questions that would be answered) and even a special, super cool bookmark the store was giving away with each purchase. It's a night I still remember and it makes me smile.

When I think about it, the girl that went to buy that book at midnight was quite different to the girl that read the first book, in between I had lost my Gran, gone to Spain, dropped out of college, got into a different college, realized I had chosen the wrong major again, but also that I had to see it through or I would keep hopping from one thing to the other, career wise, forever. I had made friends a world over, in great part because of HP and fanfiction (I was relatively well known in the Spanish Lily/James fics circle of writers, back when it was still quite small).

In many ways, it was because of you, Mr Potter, that I began to find my own voice as a writer.

Now, I'm getting ready to watch movie 7 part 2. I still find comfort in your adventures, Mr. Potter; and I thank you for it, and for all the friends I've made through you.

All the best,

Alex.

Not my best pic, but that's me the night I bought HP7!

Girls Acting Catty by Leslie Margolis

At First Sight: Having gotten the hang of boys at her school, six grader Annabelle is about to face a tougher adversary: sixth-grade girls!

So far, Annabelle has been oblivious to the other girls in sixth grade, happily enclosed in her group of friends, until they land on the sights of the mean-girl clique of their grade: Taylor and the Three Terrors.

At the beginning, Annabelle doesn't want to get into it, as she doesn't know the other girls well enough to like them or dislike them; and she has her mom's wedding to worry about, not to mention the fact that she might be crushing on her soon-to-be stepbrother. 

But soon, Annabelle realizes that whether she wants it or not, she is in the middle of it all; and that dealing with girls is far more difficult than with boys.

Second Glance: I really liked the first book about Annabelle's adventures - Boys are Dogs - but I have to say that I didn't find Girls Acting Catty quite as charming, though I've totally been on Annabelle's shoes when your friends are telling you to dislike someone though you're not sure you do, sometimes they are right and somethings they aren't but it's very annoying anyway. 

And I think the book captures that very well. How even good friends can act questionably specially when you're 12 and being a girl feels so complicated, but other than that I didn't feel there was much to this book.

Bottom Line: Girls Acting Catty is a nice MG read, though I don't think it's my favorite.

1/3

At the Movies: Jane Eyre (2011)

Orphaned at a young age and left in the care of an aunt who ended up sending her to a rather harsh school; Jane Eyre didn't have a happy childhood. But as a young woman with a good education, she gets a job as a governess at Thornfield Hall.

Thornfield is a place of many secrets and mysteries, the biggest of which is it's owner, Mr. Rochester.

Meeting him by accident, Jane is intrigued by him but knows him to be out of her league. But she and Rochester do become friends; despite their differences - in age, temperament, station - but there is one thing about secrets... they are always revealed at the worst possible time.

*Sigh* I feel kind of silly writing the summary for Jane Eyre because - in the words of my father - this is the story all other love stories are based on, but it needed to be done.

As you can probably guess, I'm a bit of a Jane Eyre fan. It's one of those books to which I have a very visceral connection - I still remember the first time I read it - and I love to watch TV/movie adaptations of it; and I do take it kind of seriously, which is why I'm going to say that I didn't like this version of it.

The production values - costumes, art design, etc - are great, but I don't think the script and direction were very good. I was put off by the constant back and forth of flash backs, it didn't work for me, and gave it a very sluggish pace. And there were scenes were it was just awkward. Plus, while I found Michael Fassbender to be a terrific Rochester; I sort of confirmed my suspicion that acting isn't exactly Mia Wasikowska's forte (or at least that she's not yet a mature enough actress to carry a title role) (And no, I didn't like her Alice either).

See, for me, the whole point of Jane is this young woman who has so much passion in her but who was forced by the circumstances of her life to hide all those feelings... until she meets the man who recognizes the longing in her soul and helps her bring the feelings out. But all I got from Wasikowska was awkward at best and blank/flat at worst.

She looked the part but she didn't act the part; and you can't have Jane Eyre without Jane.

So... I'll give it a D+ because yes, Michale Fassbender is that hot, but Mia sucks that bad.

Luv, Alex.

Welcome (back) to the Darkside

So... this is the second and final part of Welcome to the Darkside (or my thoughts on YA is too dark). You can check out the first part here. Let's just jump into it, continuing from yesterday...

Oh, So Glamorous!

Another thing that was addressed in the article and in the radio talk two days ago, was whether or not these books glamorized certain behaviors, like cutting or drugs or eating disorders or even incest. If it was such a good idea to expose young people to these kind of things that might not have touched them otherwise.

That's nuts. Talking about something is not endorsing it or advertising it - these are real issues that touch many people's lives and I can't imagine  a world where not talking about something is better, it just becomes an elephant in the room and that never helps anyone.

Darkness touches people every day in many ways. Look at me: I'm a college educated 27 year old, firmly middle class, with two loving parents who still love each other after 30 years of marriage, never had to wonder where my next meal was coming from, and other that fighting with my sister, I've known no violence. On paper, it's a perfect life. And I think I'm one of the luckiest people ever, but I've had to deal with overwhelming anxieties and crippling fears and that's my reality and it had nothing to do with the books I read.

As a side note, I think there are far more disturbing things happening on YA these days, such as Bad Romance. Personally, it worries me that so many books portray lust, stalker-like behavior, and obsession as True Love - I had a guy stalk me when I was 13 years old, and it's not fun, it's not romantic and to be honest it was right down terrifying. Do I think these books should be censored? Hell, no! But I think more people should talk about it.

It's Not a How To Manual

Another part of the argument is how these books can get very graphic and descriptive and how that might put ideas in people's heads. I suppose everything is possible but for me that sort of stinks of blaming the media for people's actions.

Just as I think you can't blame certain types of music or films every time some wacko goes and opens fire at a mall, you can't blame books for putting the idea of anorexia on a teen's head. Those people are sick, it's an illness as much as cancer, and blaming it on what they read and listen to it's the cowards way out, and it's a lie. 

Age-Appropriate is Not Censorship

This topic is very dear to me. I don't believe in censorship, I don't think books should be kept off the shelves on terms of subject matter. But I do believe there is such thing as age-appropriate.

There are books that I wouldn't feel comfortable giving a thirteen year old, because of they way certain things are handled, the language, whatever, but I wouldn't mind if they read it at, say, fifteen or sixteen once they were a little more mature. 

But I believe that parents have the right to make that call for their children (though not for other people's children) - it's their right and I'm all for it, but they HAVE TO do their homework and read what their kids want to/are reading. It's called parenting, people. Do it!

In general terms, I use the Meg Cabot approach: "If you are wondering if you're old enough to read it, you probably aren't old enough."

And In The End...

After all of this, I have two things to say. First: It's time adults stop condescending younger readers - they can differentiate fact from fiction, they can handle difficult topics and there is no reason to think they can't just because they are younger.

And second, that I think the discussion is good. I would love to see more parents involved on what their kids are reading; I would love to see mature and fair dialogue about the things happening in literature these days.

I think it's on everyone's best interest to discuss it - though never censor it.

And I'll like to end this all by quoting author Geoff Herbach, whom I had the pleasure of hosting on the blog a few weeks ago: "The more I write, the more I love everybody. Writing makes me see other peoples’ perspectives and follow chains of mistakes that get people into big trouble and I have empathy and I just start loving to whole freaking world for all the disaster and sadness we all have to make it through… There’s good stuff, too, of course. Thank God."

Think it over, it applies to reading too.

And, in conclusion... COOKIES!

Love, Alex.