Hello everyone!
I've been so busy trying to keep up with everything that's suddenly popped up now that spring's officially here that it's actually laughable how much I manage to forget, even though I make detailed lists.
At this point, my lists have lists!
But anyway.
Tonight's blog post is another fairy tale re-telling, which I went through a period of devouring everything I could possibly get my hands on for a bit.
I will say that I never really branched out too far from the popular favourites, however, so The Ugly Duckling is a story I recall only vaguely, and I kind of had to immerse myself in it again to fully be able to understand some of the nuances of this story.
It's not necessary, however, that's just me being pedantic. This book can very well be read on its own! So why don't we have a look at it?
Alluring in Autumn - me wildly missing the seasons here - is up next.
As this is another book I got off BookSirens I don't really have anything from this author that I could link to so I'll just let it stand on its own merit, really.
Alluring in Autumn is set in a Jane Austen kind of era where Helen, who I suppose could probably be a mix of Elizabeth and Jane Bennet here, returns home to her partly-Greek family for a bit of vacation. She's otherwise staying in London with her aunt and learning all the fine things a young woman ought to learn, like astronomy and managing accounts and how to converse intelligently etc.
She also happens to dread the studying she has to do during this vacation which her aunt has dropped on her shoulders, not to mention she doesn't really like coming home because her siblings (and there's a small army of them!) are always inevitably cruel to her, excluding her from their outdoors-y pursuits and generally mocking her for her scholarly ways.
Listen, I'm done with families like this, you know? The ones who seem to think that communication can only happen through cruelty? Yeah, no, that was a huge miss for me already.
THANKFULLY there's a family friend, Jonathan, who's been in love with Helen since forever and who manages to drag her with them every once in a while (which Helen actually WANTS but is continuously prevented from doing so by her parents saying they'll leave her in peace to study, and her siblings never remembering to take her along anyway), and luckily he pays attention, too.
Because when Helen's would-be suitor arrives from London, she gets kidnapped, and only Jonathan's quick thinking gets to her in time.
Of course it's later revealed this wasn't ACTUALLY a kidnapping and her own mother orchestrated everything so that the suitor could show his merit or whatever, which is one of those insane things that not even Mrs. Bennet ever concocted!
Anyway, with extended family coming to visit, everyone decides to put on a play which Helen will write. Helen throws herself into the task with gusto, but it's soon revealed that she's basically got no idea how normal human beings actually interact and Jonathan edits practically everything, from her writing to the characters she assigns to people.
Still, the play IS a huge success in the end if nothing else, and Helen also manages to figure out she actually prefers Jonathan to that would-be suitor, who couldn't even find the time to come watch the play she'd put on.
This leads to some very naughty scenes and some confusing conversations, but overall the bottom line here is that Helen realizes she needs to boot the suitor because she can't imagine living the rest of her life with him.
He's not happy, of course, because he's literally been chasing her only because she'd make a 'fine' match not because he really wanted her for her, but while he's huffing off there's a landslide - I couldn't make this up if I tried! - and she ends up at the bottom of it.
Again, it's Jonathan that galvanizes her siblings into action when he realizes she hasn't come back, and we FINALLY get some semblance of sibling relationships that actually look like relationships in the aftermath.
And a really nice boot to the bottom of the aunt that waltzes in, proclaims her disappointment that Helen hasn't finished her studies, and sniffs that, really, a near-death experience? That's such a tall tale, Helen, you mustn't make things up for the sake of drama!
Luckily, the army of siblings and the rest of the family know to come together now to give her the kick, Jonathan and Helen are engaged to be married (with the benefit of living in the neighbourhood so her mother can have her close-by) and we get a nice little happily ever after for everyone.
The end!
Overall, I liked the book. The premise is sound and the question - is the ugly duckling actually happy once out of its own pond and with the swans? - makes sense, to look at it from a different perspective.
But some of the execution didn't quite land.
Helen - and we continue to call her Helen despite her reverting back to Eleni pretty much permanently, which is slightly confusing to begin with - is a bit of a mixed bag for me. I COULD love her, because she has a backbone, finds her voice, and sets her course to sort out her life. But she also has the most confusing conversations sometimes, as if she's hard of hearing and doesn't understand what they're saying.
Prime example: when Jonathan is telling her about THEIR marriage, and should they tell her family? She immediately vetoes that option, but then the next day in her own private thoughts is wondering about the progress of their relationship since he had, apparently, never spoken of anything!
I feel like this has to be an editing mistake. It's either that or Helen yo-yo-s back and forth between being silly and quite lovable, and I'm not sure that's for the best.
The thing I have a huge problem with though is this notion that siblings are supposed to be cruel to one another. In juxtaposition to this, we have one of Helen's brothers literally going out on a limb for Jonathan - the family friend, by the way - to help him in his predicament (I'm not saying what it is, because I think it's a neat twist you should experience yourselves). Sure, they all seem to come together for the near-death experience, and appear to be protective, but for the most part it's cruelty after cruelty.
I was cheering Jonathan on when he finally lashed out and told them that it's little wonder Helen prefers staying in London (something her siblings ALSO complain about!) where she hates it, when coming home means the constant petty pricklings by people who are too afraid of making something of themselves.
My personal favourite was the cousin, Ioulia, who I initially thought I was going to hate, but who turns out to be the most sensible person in the entire bunch and helps pretty much any time there needs to be help. We could use more characters like her in this one, though the epilogue with a bit of closure as to what each specific sibling is up to is definitely appreciated.
However, I do have a question. What length is Helen's hair supposed to be? I was under the impression that Ioulia attacks it with a pair of scissors and cuts it short, but later on there's a part where it's supposedly falling right down her back?
All in all, an entertaining, if sometimes frustrating read, though I doubt I'll be reaching for another book from this series.
Overall, I liked the book. The premise is sound and the question - is the ugly duckling actually happy once out of its own pond and with the swans? - makes sense, to look at it from a different perspective.
But some of the execution didn't quite land.
Helen - and we continue to call her Helen despite her reverting back to Eleni pretty much permanently, which is slightly confusing to begin with - is a bit of a mixed bag for me. I COULD love her, because she has a backbone, finds her voice, and sets her course to sort out her life. But she also has the most confusing conversations sometimes, as if she's hard of hearing and doesn't understand what they're saying.
Prime example: when Jonathan is telling her about THEIR marriage, and should they tell her family? She immediately vetoes that option, but then the next day in her own private thoughts is wondering about the progress of their relationship since he had, apparently, never spoken of anything!
I feel like this has to be an editing mistake. It's either that or Helen yo-yo-s back and forth between being silly and quite lovable, and I'm not sure that's for the best.
The thing I have a huge problem with though is this notion that siblings are supposed to be cruel to one another. In juxtaposition to this, we have one of Helen's brothers literally going out on a limb for Jonathan - the family friend, by the way - to help him in his predicament (I'm not saying what it is, because I think it's a neat twist you should experience yourselves). Sure, they all seem to come together for the near-death experience, and appear to be protective, but for the most part it's cruelty after cruelty.
I was cheering Jonathan on when he finally lashed out and told them that it's little wonder Helen prefers staying in London (something her siblings ALSO complain about!) where she hates it, when coming home means the constant petty pricklings by people who are too afraid of making something of themselves.
My personal favourite was the cousin, Ioulia, who I initially thought I was going to hate, but who turns out to be the most sensible person in the entire bunch and helps pretty much any time there needs to be help. We could use more characters like her in this one, though the epilogue with a bit of closure as to what each specific sibling is up to is definitely appreciated.
However, I do have a question. What length is Helen's hair supposed to be? I was under the impression that Ioulia attacks it with a pair of scissors and cuts it short, but later on there's a part where it's supposedly falling right down her back?
All in all, an entertaining, if sometimes frustrating read, though I doubt I'll be reaching for another book from this series.
xx
*image not mine
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