Recent Reads: Ever After and Hit List

One of the things I do love about working freelance lately is having plenty of time to do as I please when Im not on assignment. Just last weekend I wrapped up reading my beloved copy of Ever After, Kim Harrison's latest work, and the latest Laurell K. Hamilton novel of her Anita Blake series, Hit List.

Hit List I began first, as I was waiting eagerly for my preordered copy of Ever After to hit the stands. That I pre-ordered the Hollows book, and checked out Hit List from my local library should tell you something.

Hit List was alright. I love the interplay and the atmosphere Edward and Anita create together. I don't think the book would have been half as good without it. I like that we FINALLY brought up the big baddie of this series, but, honestly, I thought the end was a bit of a let down. Sometimes I think the plot for her series lately could be a lot more well-written than it is. There are things that could be done to crank up the suspense, and a few things I truly wish would happen, and a few others I think it could have done without. Its not a large book, and I feel like a lot of it is just people standing around talking about a whole lot of nothing.

And then there also moments when the magics and the metaphysics just don't ring clear to me anymore. That's something I understand very well is different for everyone, but for me it just feels...off. There were scenes I would get through and just go "What was the point of that? What did that do for the story?" Also I have read almost 20 books about Anita trying to be one of the guys, and that's fine, but when it comes up every fucking chapter its a bit fucking repetitive. And I don't think Anita needs to be a guy to be strong, she's a fucking succubus, use it.

I won't say too much more without it being spoilery, but I don't think I'll be rushing in line to Kiss the Dead. I will calmly wait and see when it hits the shelf of the Richard Sugden Library.

I've been looking forward to Ever After for months, and the lovely Kim Harrison did not disappoint. The plot is racing, there is not a moment that appears slow or unnecessary on the page. She just has a very terse writing style, the less is more, and its something I truly love. I always worry when I trying something like Kim's quick and dirty chapter intros from one place to the next, but then I read another Hollows book and see it isn't awkward, its just good pacing. 

There's a lot of juicy details and more world development to be had here. Characters come back that we weren't expecting, and tragedy had tears in my eyes. Change is huge in the Hollows series, and I do mean HUGE. I cannot even speak a word of this series to others because just the tagline would ruin the plot for so many of my friends! I think what also makes this series great is the same thing that has all of her loyal readers in tears - it has an end. Two more books are all that is left of this series, but it makes the plot push harder, I think. It gives it a solid foundation. Kim's writing never meanders, never wanders. It pushes and burns and destroys. Like a certain demon in a velvet green frock coat. 

Monster and mask alike

Some souls on this planet are not one person, but two.

They wear masks, voluntary or no, they are there. Floating over the surface, moving flesh, morphing thoughts and feelings and lies, they stir. They fool easily. And we are all made fools for it.

I am one of them.

The first time I met him, it was there. I didn’t see it for what it was, I should have, but I didn’t. I saw only the swagger and the cocky smile and the sarcastic self-assurance of one who is used to getting his way, used to winning. And I was alright to let him win, perhaps, every once in a while. This one is open, confident, and daring. He is intoxicating, and I want him more than I crave my next drawing breath.

But then the sun comes up. And that person is gone. He leaves with the morning rays without a trace, a fragment, or a memory. I move and he tenses. I freeze, flinch, and draw back. Don’t you remember, I ask. Don’t you remember wanting me? Don’t you remember the things you said? Don’t you…

A fraction of the smug grin whispers “Sure, the important stuff.”

It’s anything but.

The other man is quiet. He is self-degrading, uncertain, and has a skill for evading answers that outmatches anyone I have ever met. The man that greets me in the morning is shy and skittish, avoids the connection we share.

One is softer.

The other is anything but.

One I want to strike out at.  

The other brings tears to my eyes.

And it is the one that is darkest that I crave. Not out of fear, or danger. The high I feel is not from any adrenaline rush of terror.  It is the way that confident one undoes me with one look, torments me with only a word, and brings me to my knees with a single smug fucking grin. It is the monster I want. And it is the monster, I believe, to be real. 

It should frighten me. It should disgust me. And yet I feel none of it. Every thought is dominated by that wicked mouth pulled into a smirk, eyes regarding me darkly, and that voice calling out my name in the dead of night. He is depraved, and somehow, he is all that I desire.

Others try to rationalize it. I am meant to save you, they say, that is all. I am driven by that need to pull you back from the edge of damnation and return you to your life and love. But if saving you means destroying that person, I want no part of it. Not a single damn bit. If this makes me monstrous, then so be it. I go to hell gladly, defiance in my eyes, and head held high.

But which is mask and which is truth? Is it the confident demon, or the uncertain man?

I’m not sure which of us is insane, and which sees the truth.

But I think it’s both, both of us.

Monster and mask alike. 

This piece is what happens when ElSea doesn't check her assignments list and realizes that she has to write a flash fiction piece for class the following day. I'm not sure how I feel about this one, its a bit more creative non-fiction than I am used to working with. Yet every time I edit and read it over again, I like it a little bit more.