Maggie Stiefvater, who once made waves online with her “I just don’t get romance” post and then a year later sold a big fat werewolf romance to Scholastic (releasing this fall!) has put up a very thought-provoking post furthering her thoughts on love and romance. I think it’s safe to say that Maggie’s opinions on the matter have shifted somewhat in the past year and a half. However, I don’t agree with her current thesis that large gestures don’t work, and only by writing around romance do you get romance. (Updated to add: Maggie has amended herself to “earned” big gestures, which I agree with absolutely — see below.)
For instance, the scene in The Village that she points out as an example of a “small gesture” of love is, in reality, anything but. Here we’ve got Joaquin Phoenix’s character, as stoic and silent as ever a character was, finally breaking through after half a movie’s worth of teasing and being told he’s in love for the “things he refuses to do” and revealing a concrete example of his love — GRABBING her hand, not “refusing to catch her” which she claims he’s done for years. Then he admits in a moving, impassioned, grand speech a few scenes later:
“Why can you not stop saying what is in yours? Why must you lead, when I want to lead? If I want to dance, I
will ask you to dance. If I want to speak, I will open my mouth and speak. Everyone is forever plaguing me to speak
further. Why? What… good is it to tell you you are in my every thought from the time I wake? What good can come
from my saying I– I sometimes cannot think clearly, or- or do my work properly? What gain can rise from my telling
you… the only time I feel fear as others do, is when I think of you in harm? That is why I am on this porch, Ivy
Walker. I fear for your safety above all others. And yes… I will dance with you on our wedding night.”
These things work in tandem with each other. We believe the impassioned speech and we thrill at the big hand grab because of the small gestures that lay the groundwork. And those small gestures all build up to what romance fans like to call “the gut punch moment”: the declaration, the realization, the proposal or the reconciliation, or the love scene, the kiss on the dock in the rain or the “you pierce my soul” letter or “I know” before being lowered into carbonite or any of the thousands of grand gestures that leave the audience breathless and elevated in every romance ever told. You need ‘em both. You need ‘em all.
Shanna Swendson actually has an excellent seriesof posts on this, in which I think she gets to the heart of why “you complete me” doesn’t really work (for Maggie and me, at least). It’s not that it’s the “big gesture” — it’s that it’s the big gesture without the small one. Tom is a shit to Renee, who loves him because, I don’t know, he’s got some kind of idealistic outlook on life that attracts her? His last-minute realization that she actually is worthy of his affection, and not just her kid, is false and hollow, because no “small gestures” accompany it. In fact, the “you complete me” shot is even cropped so that you can’t see Tom is doing the sign language for it as well, which would be a sign that he at least PAID ATTENTION to something Renee showed him once upon a time. Shanna’s point is all about romantic comedy filmmakers focusing on these big gestures without the small ones, or thinking that if you line up the right order of events and a big misunderstanding, you’ll wind up with a romance.
Maggie’s other point is an interesting one, about how the reader is dying for two characters to make a romance happen, and that is, I think, why filmmakers can get away with crap like 27 Dresses and, to an even greater extent, Prince Caspian. Hey, look, we have two attractive people who are not related to one another in this film. Let’s put ‘em together! People will buy it. We don’t have to work on that.
Ugh.
I am always surprised by the attempts made to ’ship my characters. After Secret Society Girl, people were all after a romance between Malcolm and Poe. Lately, I’ve been hearing rumblings about one between George and Jenny, which, I’m sorry, is about as likely to happen as Malcolm and Poe. But the point is that people like it when characters fall in love. But that doesn’t mean that storytellers should just go ahead and toss any old random people together, Because then you end up with, well:
WRONG! Ewwwwwwww…..
Now, this can get a little sticky, because I’m also a huge believer in following chemistry, which is, of course, indefinable. Some people may see massive chemistry between two characters where others don’t. I don’t know how much chemistry the actors in Prince Caspian might have had to whoever made that stupid, stupid decision, but there certainly wasn’t enough to overcome the canon of “eww” that accompanied their romance. I never found there to be any chemistry between the leads in the short-lived TV series Moonlight, which probably accounts a lot for why I found the show lacking. But other people completely loved that romance. On the other hand, I applaud show runners like Rob Thomas for following the chemistry of Logan and Veronica to its natural and delicious conclusion on Veronica Mars. I really don’t think they imagined a romance between those two, but when it became clear that she and Duncan were flat as pancakes on screen, while she and Logan crackled like summer lightning — well, where do you go?
And different types of romance are necessary for different characters. For instance, Maggie derides “common interest” as a reason for romance, and yet, in some cases, it’s why we are rooting for two characters, particularly in stories where you meet each character on their own long, long before they ever encounter the other. I still remember my first reading of Lord of the Rings. When I got to the part where Eowyn (bless her shield-maiden soul) kicks the Witch King’s enrobed hiney and falls into a magical coma, I remember exclaiming, “No! She can’t die. She must live and marry Faramir!” Sailor Boy, reading in the next sleeping bag over (we were in a tent in Australia at the time) was all, “Wait, she doesn’t even know Faramir and is in love with Aragorn.” But you can’t fool this romance reader. Eowyn is awesome and all, but Aragorn is a demigod. It was never going to work out. Meanwhile, Faramir is equally awesome, equally noble, equally mortal, and equally in need of someone to try a little tenderness. They needed to live happily ever after and root the orcs out of Ithilien. You knew that they would be perfect for one another when they finally met and a big part of that was their common interest. they were twin souls, serving twin purposes in their respective cities (the young, intelligent, brave noblemen who pushed the leaders of their city to betterness). They belonged together.
So before I wrote SSG, I wrote four romance novels, none of which were published, and one of which received a rejection letter praising my characterization and writing, but regretting the lack of , well, romance. Ah well, I was still learning the ropes. And perhaps the editor in question didn’t find my romantic gestures (grand or otherwise) as romantic as I do. For instance, I find it profoundly romantic that Poe saved the mouse because Amy said she liked it. I like even more that she doesn’t find out about that for months and months. Now, not a lot of people think of mice as romantic, so…
Right. My point was…something. It was that I wasn’t such a huge success at writing romance novels, but I wrote novels that were not shelved as romance novels and received heaps of reviews praising what RWA likes to call the “romantic elements” of my books.
The last three books I’ve written have been more blatantly romantic than the first two. In Rites of Spring (Break), Amy’s love life goes front and center in the plot line, and I remember half-joking with my romance writer friends that the structure of the story maps to a romantic suspense. Rampant, killer unicorns aside, is a love story. And those of you who have read the first chapter of Tap & Gown in the back of ROSB know that the question of Amy’s spring break romance looms large. But those were vastly different projects, in both conception and execution. In SSG, I had a very different denouement to the love story in mind, but those two crazy kids were like magnets. So I just went with what felt natural — though actually, ridiculous chemistry aside, it took a whole book to make it work in any rational manner (and their trials aren’t over, because these two have a HUGELY rough row to hoe if they really want to date). In Rampant, I had always intended on a love story to get in the way of Astrid’s duty, but I had to “cast” her love interest several times before I had the right kind of chemistry. The first time, he wasn’t interested in her. The second time, she wasn’t interested in him. But then I landed upon Giovanni, and they clicked, and it was gorgeous. It was also really interesting to write, because Giovanni is a markedly different kind of hero than any I’ve written before, and way, way different than Jamie. Oh, Giovanni. I’m a little bit in love with him.
Yes, I just finished writing a big scene between Astrid and Giovanni for KU2. Why do you ask?
Unfortunately, I can’t really talk about their “small gestures” vs. “big gestures” or “common interests” though their romance is the one on my writerly mind, because no one has read that book yet and I am spoiler-averse and it’ll be months and months (and months and months and argggggggh… don’t mind the crazy author in the corner). But I can talk about Rites of Spring (Break) — look away if you have not read the book yet. Look perhaps, to this page, and order yourself a copy (my shameless plug of the day) — and mouse over white text to read ROSB spoilers:
In ROSB, we’ve got this slow-burn romance going on for the first half of the book, but I keep it on the DL, even from the narrator. She has no idea what I’m doing to her. In fact, she’s under the mistaken impression that I’m getting her together with some other guy. Poor girl. Meanwhile, Poe keeps popping up, starting in the first chapter, and showing that the events of Under the Rose have permanently changed their relationship, and that a lot of their antagonism is more based on the fact that they are used to it, rather than actual negative feelings or even disagreements. In fact, they are pretty much on the same page — they have the same sense of duty about the society, the same concerns and insecurities about their future, etc. Who knew? (Ahem. me.) The events are a prelude, meant to disarm and discomfit her around him. Long looks, tete-a-tetes, and odd moments of tenderness — none of which add up to anything taken on their own, but set the stage for Amy’s upcoming “duh” moment, which happens when Poe, after saving her life, drops her off at the cabin. “Big gesture” alert: Amy looks out the window and what should she see? Poe pacing in front of her cabin, undecided between coming back and saying — something, but what? — to her, and leaving, letting things stay as they are.
Unbeknownst to Poe, his indecision is moot. Amy instantly grasps what he would be saying were he to come back, and knowing that is enough to change things. Poe likes her.
And really, knowing is half the battle. Because Amy? Not so much with the pretending. She can’t go back to her former antagonist relationship with him. Not given what she knows. So she needs to confront Poe either way: tell him no way is that shit going down, or okay, you’re cute, let’s make out in the sand. (Which they do — “big gesture again”.)
The interesting thing about how their relationship played out, though, to me, is that the power dynamic was not what I expected. Adolescent understanding of a power dynamic is that the person who knows how the other person feels is the one with the power. (This is why you kept your crushes a secret in high school.) Amy knows Poe likes her, therefore, she should be the one in control. And she is for about one chapter. It’s in her hands if things go any farther — if they have a date, if they kiss. After that, the power shifts rather dramatically, and I wasn’t expecting it, though I felt that, in the end, it made for a much more mature romantic storyline. Poe wasn’t going to be embarrassed to be “discovered,” as Malcolm was sure he would. He was going to own it.
I remember seeing an interview with Kristen Stewart, where she was talking about her vision of Bella in the Twilight movie, and how she had the power in that relationship because there was no question of what she wanted; Edward might be torn, but she knew. She wanted to be a vampire and to be with Edward. Well, Poe wanted to be with Amy, and once he thought there was a chance of that happening (which he didn’t back at the cabin, but with the date and the making out, well, he went for it), he had all the power. The power of conviction and of clarity. Yes, he could still be rejected, he could still be hurt by her, but there is a core of strength to honesty that can’t be touched by those things, and it’s a core that Poe hadn’t often had a chance to display in the series. He’s sneaky and manipulative, but not, apparently, when it comes to love. And it trumps any card that Amy attempts to play. I really, really liked that. He could be a deeply flawed person and he could even be wrong about their relationship, but he was absolutely forthright about his own feelings, and that’s incredibly powerful, especially compared to Amy’s wishy-washiness. Honestly? She didn’t stand a chance. He had to be rewarded for such a big step for his character, though also in keeping with his character, who despite his manipulative nature, is very blunt honest and dedicated. And those were all small gestures, but together, they were a tidal wave.
But because of that, in the end, Poe didn’t have to do a lot of “winning” of Amy, and it was Amy who had to go to Poe’s house for the big romantic gesture and reconciliation. And, if I’ve accomplished my goal, you believe her (and Poe believes her, which is a more difficult prospect) because of all her small turning points coming up to that — how she looks for Poe, and thinks of Poe, and is deeply, deeply, fundamentally hurt when she thinks Poe doesn’t trust her — which hurts even more because of how nakedly honest he’s been to her– so hurt she makes herself vulnerable to Darren. That what is going on here is something more than gratitude, and might need to be explored.
Which brings us up to Tap & Gown, where the story is far from over.
I feel that I’ve perhaps wandered far from the original purpose of this post, but what can I say? I’m a hopeless romantic. I love it all, the character perfection and the gut punch moments and the big romantic gesture and the tiny, infinitesimal moments that add up to a love story.
Given that people have been alerting me to the fact that this baby is up on Amazon for a few days now (where the colors are ALL OFF), I guess I can show it here as well…
Top secret societies…bizarre initiation rites…campus love triangles…political shenanigans…Diana Peterfreund has dazzled readers and critics alike with her Ivy league novels, hailed as “impossible to put down”* and “witty and endearing”** In this final installment, Eli University senior Amy “Bugaboo” Haskel and her fellow Diggers are preparing to face real life in worlds far beyond the hallowed halls of Eli.
For Amy the countdown to graduation has begun, and suddenly the perfect ending to a perfectly iconoclastic Eli career is slipping from her grasp. Her new boyfriend’s been made an offer he just can’t refuse. Her fellowship applications haven’t even been filed. And the student she’s chosen to take her place in Rose & Grave – the country’s more powerful and notorious secret society – seems to come complete with a secret life already intact.
Lunging toward the finish line, Amy finds trouble around every corner, from society intrigues nad unlikely stalkers to former flames and mandatory science credits. Surely it couldn’t get worse…until Initiation Night explodes into a terrifying scene and into a last test of wits for a young woman just trying to make it out of the Ivy League in one piece.
* Publisher’s Weekly
** New York Observer
Things I Love about this Cover:
The Ampersand. I admit I wasn’t truly sold on the title until I saw the ampersand in the brand new title treatment!
The pin! It’s back! (I designed these pins myself, so I’m glad they keep incorporating them into the covers.)
The color scheme. (Someone has been visiting my website!)
How confident and adult Amy looks in this one.
Secret Trivia About the Cover:
The model’s hair was originally more blonde, and was darkened in Photoshop.
The model was originally wearing a huge honking diamond engagement ring, but my editor very wisely realized that might cause some undue speculation (especially given who Amy is dating, their relationship status, and his monetary situation).
I wrote Amy’s graduation outfit in the book to match the cover.
In related Secret Society Girl news, I caught this guest blog by Angie of Angieville over at the Booksmugglers, in which she presents a Bard Award to Poe in Rites of Spring (Break) for “Best Performance of an Antihero in a Leading Role.” Of said performance, she writes:
“He’s just so snippy and awkward and fun to hate. I love him so very, very much.”
Hee hee.
Angie then put Tap & Gown on her list of “2009 Must Be Mine” books. Woo hoo! (Angie, there shall be much more Poe.)
In other news, I have the third booksigning in the Rites of Spring (Break) tour today. Come see me in Reston, Virginia. Food! Goodies! More books than you can shake a stick at!
*Virginia Signing*
WEDNESDAY, JULY 16, 7 PM
Barnes & Noble
1851 Fountain Drive
Reston, VA 20190
703-437-9490
And the workshop is going strong over at Romance Divas. If you ever wanted to see the nuts and bolts of plotboarding, check it out! (link below).
Upcoming debut author Jessica Burkhart (Canterwood Crest), is running a series of “beach read” video reviews on her blog, and yesterday, Rites of Spring (Break) was one of them! Check it out (mildly spoilery):
Cute, huh?
So last night I had the weirdest dream. In the dream, you only got tapped for Rose & Grave if you had the potential to develop superpowers (like on Heroes) except for not all of the taps had developed their superpowers or knew what they were. Naturally, Amy was one of the underdeveloped ones. Anyway, there was a whole big show down with the members of Dragon’s Head, who not only all knew what their superpowers were, but had been trained to use them to kill the Rose & Grave members.
And there was special flame retardant underwear. And one of the DH powers was to light concrete on fire. Seriously. My dreams are bizarre. Someday, I’ll have to share the killer unicorn one.
Anyway, to make a long story short, after all the dust settled, we found out that George had the “bend space and time” power of Hiro, except without all that unfortunate dorkiness, clumsiness, and the weird constipated look Hiro gets every time he’s about to warp. But my subconscious seemed to mix it up a tad with The Terminator, because if George takes a person with him through the warp… well… she loses all her clothes. And he may or may not lose consciousness, depending on the degree of the warp. So I suddenly transferred into George’s heading, waking up on a misty hillside with a totally naked Amy lying next to him.
Those of you who have read any of the books may realize how that’s problematic. Those of you who’ve read all of them realize how excessively problematic that is. Still, it was fun to live in George’s brain. Let’s just say that the things he thought when he saw the naked Amy were not what I’d been expecting him to think at ALL.
I wonder what my editor would say if I tried to incorporate time travel and superpowers into the story at this late date. I wonder what Amy’s superpowers would be.
So it’s been a week of highs and lows Chez Diana. Low: We didn’t get the house we offered for. High: Booksigning! Low: Another house we were interested in went into contract before we found out about not getting the first house, so we couldn’t even offer on that one. High: New York Observer put me on a list with Salman Rushdie!
We capped off the week with a Fourth of July Trip out to the Eastern Shore, and an afternoon spent waterskiing, tubing, wakeboarding… (I’m really only good with the tubing). Sailor Boy took me sailing. These are all highs. Last night we were supposed to go watch a midnight showing of The Goonies but everyone involved was far too worn out to attempt it.
In other news, Angie of Angieville has read Rites of Spring (Break) and commented on it, here.
A highlight of the review (which is happily spoiler-free):
This book…how I loved this book. I loved the increasingly mature way Amy deals with her friends. Her experiences with Jenny in the previous volume have made her more sensitive, I think, to the delicate emotions and motivations at work among her fellow Diggers. Despite their rank, wealth, brains, looks, or attitude. I loved how the class of D177 coalesces in this book. They stand up for each other. They notice things. They’re not so quick to judge.
Nice words on a rainy Saturday morning. I really enjoy Angie’s reviews. Even if I don’t agree with her take (she was not as big a fan of Keturah and Lord Death as I was), I find that she always picks really fascinating parts of the story to comment on. They aren’t what most reviewers choose to mention and they always make me think.
Not much focus to the blog today, is there? I’ll probably be spending the bulk of the day housekeeping and working on SSG4, that is, if I’m well-behaved. If not, I’ll be experimenting in the kitchen and reading. I have a whole bunch of new books. What are you all up to?
…lovely signing last night…Stephany and Kathy of the Borders at the White Flint Mall were gracious hosts, as always… Kathy even went so far as to run out in the middle of the Q&A to track down the Through the Wardrobe anthology…. great crowd of friends, family, and teens… made sure everyone got one of the kicky Rose & Grave tattoos I’ve been sporting ’round town of late….
…There’d be pictures, but I seem to have misplaced my camera… we had sweets there, little summery cupcakes to match the cover…the reading went well, except when Stephany accidentally grabbed my marked-up copy off the podium, sending Sailor Boy and me on a frantic search to find it so some poor customer wasn’t stuck with one that had stage directions inside…oops.
If you’re looking for signed copies (or temporary tattoos), check out the stock at Borders at the White Flint Mall!
As promised, a post for you to talk to your heart’s content about Rites of Spring (Break). Comment here if you want to register your surprise that George turned out to be an alien,* your excitement that Amy switched from Literature major to Pre-Med,** and your enthusiasm over the fact that Demetria stole Lydia’s boyfriend.***
Or, you know, whatever really happened.
______________________
* Um, no.
** Hell, no.
*** Can’t even tell you how much no.
Pretty, huh? Poke around. It’s an all new website, with lots of fabulous goodies and more on their way every day. For instance, in the “coming soon” category:
a revamped conspiracy theorist website, complete with podcast!
More behind the scenes information about the creation of the SSG series
New author photos, press kits, and goodies
CONTESTS!!!!
And in “available now”: new reviews of ROS(B), excerpts, upcoming appearances, and all this lovely unicorn stuff.
And not that I want you to click away from my gorgeous new site (courtesy of the fabulousness of Austin Design Works), but I’m guest blogging again today — about the unusual setting in my latest novel.
Head on over to the Plotmonkeys and check it out! (There’s a giveaway, to sweeten the deal…)
And come back this afternoon, when the Rites of Spring (Break) spoiled thread goes live.
Rites of Spring (Break) is out today! I’ve already got one “wild spotting” from Patrick, and Trish Doller says she’s read it, so it’s out there!
In honor of my release day, I’m guest blogging over at the Manuscript Mavens. Head on over there and read my post about the challenges of writing this book and more — the challenge of releasing it while in the midst of writing the fourth!
(Yes, comments are off. We’ll talk more about that tomorrow… in the meantime, hold your spoilers, and leave comments on the Manuscript Mavens page. Prizes to be given… over there.)
Hey, guys! Brand shiny new modem here, which means I’m back on line. Thank goodness. I’m such an addict.
I’ve heard from several people that Amazon, at least, has been shipping copies of RITES OF SPRING (BREAK), and it should be appearing on bookshelves everywhere tomorrow. (Or maybe today. Some places jump the gun.)
I’m having a small contest (though it doesn’t take much to win): Send me photos of your copy of ROSB in the wild and I’ll send you a special treat. What treat, you ask? Well… the hint is in the cover of the novel itself.
Meanwhile, there are some reviews coming out. Night Owl Romance gave the book five hearts and a “top pick” and I’m not linking to the review, since it’s spoilertastic, though I will quote from some of the non-spoilery sections:
I loved this book. Ms Peterfreund’s writing style is easy to read and you just want to see what will happen next. She brings just the right feel to college life, the worry of what next along with the fun of not having any real responsibilities… The characters are excellent. Amy is the main character and you feel as though you know her. She is confused and still trying to do the right thing at all times even if it’s not what the majority want…This is the third book of a series. I haven’t read the previous books and still loved this one. While things that happened in the previous books are mentioned, you don’t really have to know exactly what happened to enjoy this book. In fact, I’d love to go back and read the previous books as this one was so good.
And Publisher’s Weekly has this to say:
The third installment to Peterfreund’s Rose & Grave series follows the Diggers—members of Eli University’s elite, secret society Rose & Grave—on a spring break trip fraught with intrigue. Amy “Bugaboo” Haskel can’t wait for her first visit to the society’s private Florida island, Cavador Key: a prank gone awry against a rival society has loaded Amy’s spring semester with petty revenge plots. The pranking takes a sinister turn at Cavador, where Amy nearly drowns after her lifejacket appears to have been tampered with. And there’s a small band of weirdos on the periphery, as well (a disgraced government official and his family are on the island, and a gaggle of Rose & Grave conspiracy theorists are camped out on the next island over). As tension escalates, Peterfreund adds an appealing romance subplot. While the stakes are uneven and the climax is predictably soggy, the novel moves fast, packs some laughs and does its job as a light diversion.
Darn tootin’ it’s soggy! I would consider myself remiss, as a storyteller, if I sent a girl who rather famously cannot swim to an island and didn’t take plotly advantage of that. To start with, when I go to that great Algonquin Round Table in the sky, how would I ever look Chekhov in the face?
Speaking of Chekhov, his weaponry, and Yale, I watched Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull last week. It was not my favorite of the IJ movies, sadly. Or even my second favorite. Though I still love Karen Allen, and am once again impressed with Shia LeBeouf. Unfortunately, this movie reminded me far too often of Peter Jackson’s horrific King Kong — I feel like they pretty much used the same sets, and recycled whole set pieces. And I couldn’t figure out why Indy hiked toward the mushroom cloud in the opening scene. And there was a big ol’ gun on the wall that they never managed to use, which mystified me. However, all the scenes at Yale were fun to watch, especially when they drove into the Library and ended up in the Commons Dining Hall, or appeared to be driving down Elm Street from one shot and College Street from another. You also got a couple of seconds of the Skull & Bones tomb, so, fun!
I also went to SilverDocs (which is the American Film Institute’s documentary film festival) last week, and watched All Together Now, which is about the collaboration between Cirque de Soleil and Apple Records to make a Beatles-themed Cirque show called “Love.” Very very cool film, about the nature of collaboration, and artistic respect, and the Beatles. (I had no idea how much Dhani Harrison looks like his dad. Exactly. It’s eerie.)
Sailor Boy and I also went to see This Beautiful City, which is a documentary play put on my The Civilians theater company about the evangelical Christian communities in Colorado Springs. Yes, it’s a documentary. Theater. And a musical, to boot. Very unusual creation, but extremely well done.
And I read. I read four historical romances last week:
A Rake’s Guide to Seduction, by Caroline Linden. First book for me by this author, but certainly not the last. My favorite part was the author’s inclusion of diary entries by the characters. I love that in books. It was one of my favorite parts of Betina Krahn’s RITA-winning Book of True Desires, too.
Secrets of Surrender, by Madeline Hunter. I won Maddy’s latest at a recent WRW meeting. This one is about a ruined gentlewoman who is given one opportunity for redemption: to marry a lowborn-made-good engineer, thereby making her respectable and giving him a boost up the social ladder. Totally fell in love with the hero of this one. Kyle. Sometimes you need a break from all the dukes and viscounts and such in historical romances. Kyle was not a gentleman, and he wasn’t a secret one, either. No one was about to die and make him an earl. So refreshing!
Forbidden Shores, by Jane Lockwood. Historical erotica, with a splash of romance. Gorgeous, gorgeous atmosphere in this one. The first half of the book is set entirely ship board, and with none of the niceties you usually see about ship board-set books. This one is gritty. Really, really down and dirty. And then they get to the Caribbean, and you meet the slaves, and Lockwood does not let up on the setting realism one little bit.
Rumorsby Anna Godbersen. This is a YA, a sequel to last year’s Gossip-Girl-meets-Edith-Wharton’s The Luxe, which I loved. So dishy. This one was even more about social niceties and frocks. I remain confused about the ending, but it’s clearly in the groove of series now, so I bet each successive book is going to be more and more of a cliffhanger ending.
