#book rant

I was recently re-reading the Six of Crows duology, and I came across that one rhyme thing. You know? The Komedie Brute one that goes:

"Mother, Father, pay the rent!"

"I can't, my dear, the money's spent!"

it's also really ironic to imagine what heathcliff himself would think about how he's portrayed in media. he hates everyone and would hate more than anyone the fans who romanticize him, just as he canonically hates isabella for adoring him and wanting to believe that he's better than he is — that he is the romantic hero she's made him out to be. how ironic is it that most fans of the work embody isabella? and on that note, how much do you want to bet that isabella will be written out of the story along with most of the other characters plotlines, like how the colonial rhetoric is written out by the fact of elordi's mere presence?

HOW I FEEL TRYING to remind people that lucy gray wasn't the only one to haunt narrative, but sejanus as well. I'm sure every time Snow saw a mockingjay or jabberjay, he would think of Sejanus, too, the moment that he pressed the button record and the moment he chose power over love and compassion.

District 2 itself was haunted by Sejanus. Snow made it lose all the compassion it ever carried because he would see that boy on the playground among the people. District 2 produces some of the most vicious and cruel tributes we have ever seen. Most of them volunteer to enter the Games. Take Enobaria, who volunteered TWICE, like the games were just a sporting tournament, killed someone by ripping out their throat with her bare teeth, then went and had her teeth modified like an animal, like a monster. Oh? Did that sound familiar to you? “You're monsters! All of you!" I wonder who said that. Who had more compassion, more humanity than all of the Capitol combined? District 2 was the last to join the rebellion. They supplied the Capitol with weapons actively, until they were beaten and surrendered. You cannot tell me that vile man didn’t do it on purpose. Because he couldn’t stand the hope Sejanus had. He couldn’t stand the compassion Sejanus held for his people. So what did he do? He twisted the one thing Sejanus loved - his District - into everything he hated. My poor boy would be rolling in his grave right now.

And I'm sure Snow saw much of Sejanus (and Lucy Gray) in Lenore Dove and Haymitch, which he ruined with gumdrops…. is it a coincidence that when Snow first met 8-year-old Sejanus, he clutched a bag of gumdrops? That a young girl who quietly rebelled was taken away by gumdrops? That he ruined a young boy who defied him multiple times, because I'm sure when he looked in Haymitch's eyes, he saw Sejanus. And Haymitch is haunted by Sejanus, as the boy who never won. The boy who failed. Haymitch failed as the Mockingjay; luck was not on his side. Just like Sejanus, who failed in his rebellion, and the only luck he felt was the quick death of a tightening rope. They both had the chance to change something for the better and failed. But, at least Sejanus never had to see the monster he once shouted about take over his 'friend'. And at least Haymitch got to see the sunrise.

Snow will forever be reminded of his 'friend', later in Peeta, who was awkward like Sejanus, but compassionate. Who never wanted to change, and spoke his thoughts out loud. Who acted when he thought something was wrong. But look at what Peeta became. Something so similar to District 2. I also think Tigris haunts him, and may be why he pushed her away so much later on. The cousin who sacrificed so much for him became a reminder as well to what he lost. Tigris was probably the last smidge of humanity he had left.

The worldbuilding?? Insane. It’s layered and rich and somehow feels both ancient and brand new. And the descriptions?? So vivid you can taste the air in Prague, smell the scorched earth of battlefields, feel the ache of magic in your bones.

It’s whimsical. It’s tragic. It’s haunting in the way old fairy tales are. And the writing?? Some of the most beautiful, lyrical prose I've ever read in YA fantasy. And yet?? No one talks about it.

I need people quoting “once upon a time, an angel and a devil fell in love” like their lives depended on it. but it’s like everyone collectively forgot one of the most original and magical stories ever written.

I'm sorry but this book deserves a fandom revival IMMEDIATELY.

Okay but Frankenstein genuinely makes me feel insane every time I think about it because people keep calling it a “man creates a monster” story and I’m like. Did we read the same book. Or did you skim the sparknotes and run.

Because the Creature is not born evil. He is born confused. And in pain. And the very first thing he does is look for Victor like a child looking for the only face he knows. He tries to speak. He tries to be understood. And Victor sees him and immediately goes “absolutely not” and runs away.

Which is. Kind of everything actually.

Victor wants to be a god so badly until the second being a god requires responsibility. He wants the accomplishment, not the aftermath. He creates a life and then abandons it because it’s ugly and inconvenient and doesn’t fit the fantasy he had in his head. And that moment sets the tone for literally everything that happens next.

What kills me is how hard the Creature tries to be good.

He doesn’t start out angry. He starts out hopeful. He watches the cottagers because he wants to understand people. He learns language. He learns kindness. He genuinely believes that if he proves he has a good heart, someone will accept him. That goodness will be enough.

And then he saves a child from drowning. Like, no hesitation. Pure instinct. Pure empathy. And for that he gets shot.

That is the moment where something breaks, I think. Because it’s not just Victor anymore. It’s everyone. The world looks at him doing something undeniably good and still decides he’s a monster. His voice doesn’t matter. His intent doesn’t matter. His actions don’t even matter if his body is wrong.

And that’s when Frankenstein stops being subtle and just starts screaming at you: monstrosity is not inherent, it is assigned.

The Creature keeps reaching for connection and keeps getting punished for it. Every door is closed before he even learns how to knock. Every attempt at softness is met with violence. And eventually he realizes he’s never going to be Adam — he’s always going to be the outcast they think he is.

The second creature is what finally makes Victor irredeemable to me. Because the Creature isn’t asking for power or revenge or domination. He’s asking for one person. One being who won’t recoil from him. Someone to share exile with so he doesn’t have to be alone forever.

And Victor destroys her. On purpose. After promising.

He doesn’t just deny the Creature love — he denies him a future. He decides the world would rather the Creature suffer alone than risk a world where someone like him gets companionship. And in doing that, he locks them into this horrible, mutual destruction loop that Victor pretends he didn’t create.

“If I am a demon,” the Creature basically says, “it’s because you made me one.”

And that’s the part people ignore. Frankenstein isn’t asking “what if science goes too far.” It’s asking what happens when you create something and refuse to care for it. When you abandon a being and then blame it for what abandonment turns it into.