#book thoughts

MINOR SPOILERS IF YOU CARE:

There were a few chapters detailing what Whit was doing during this time, though k didn’t care to read them cause like…. Yes it’s lore but ew boring? I don’t want to read about Whit during the Jack Allen era? Thank you? (I mean I do get the appeal so if you ever were curious about that, it’s in there).

Anyway, here’s a couple things regarding the rougher stuff, the gang related stuff and the Jellyfish related stuff that I actually care about:

1. Bovril’s first name is Thaddeus.

2. It was confirmed @missdrummond, that Jellyfish is in fact not much older than Rodney as we had discussed.

3. We get an actual physical description of Jellyfish! And I actually kind of like it? It works for me?

4. Rodney wears a watch.

5. Bart had a secret telephone in his office inside of a cabinet.

6. Rusty is taller than Butch, (which I already headcanoned anyway) but that Butch was a bit heftier, with Rodney being both taller and larger than both of them. I’m…. Not so sure about that but it’s canon or whatever I guess.

7. RODNEY DRINKS A LOT OF SODA.

8. The Bones’ hideout is a “shack” in the woods, even though in the Audio it’s an “abandoned house near the cemetery” which is WAY cooler imo.

9. We get more insight into the gang bang scene with Butch. Rodney (as I expected) was feeling conflicting emotions here. He also participated by grabbing onto Butch or “bear hugging” him so he couldn’t move. Yikes. I guess he is rather strong.

10. Jellyfish touches Rodney’s face at one point….?

11. Oh yeah, not that there was any speculation but “Bones of Rath” IS a play on the name “Rathbone”. Nicky knows this. We get this exposition from him of all people.

12: Rodney has a couple extra lines, some good some not so good. There was one that was kinda funny where Rodney’s talking to Bart about the Bones running into some bad luck, and he throws a soda can at a trashcan to land it in there but misses and goes “sEe?!” I thought that was funny.

I've mentioned before that I have a book club with my IRL friends, and we just picked this months book {with only half the month left, I know, but life gets busy}

And the book that was chosen?

A DARKER SHADE OF MAGIC BY V.E. SCHWAB

Author: Natasha Pulley

Summary of The Watchmaker of Filigree Street: In 1883 London, Thaniel Steepleton mysteriously receives a beautiful watch that he knows he didn't buy and cannot afford. When the watch saves him from a bombing, he tracks down the watchmaker who created the watch: Keita Mori. Grace Carrow is a physicist whose path crosses with Thaniel, and therefore Keita, and Thaniel must decide who he believes more.

Thoughts: While that's a pretty dry summary of the first book, I don't know how to give more information without spoilers. Generally I am not great at interpreting relationships that have any element of romance in them, whether in books or in real life, so I just thought that Thaniel and Keita were in a super weird tenant-landlord situationship, which may or may not be accurate. I didn't really understand Grace's actions in the first book very much, and she was generally pretty abrasive. I also didn't really care for the kid that much but I also didn't dislike her. I remember liking the second book significantly more because the conflicts were easier to understand. Overall, good book duology that I would recommend if you're willing to commit to reading both, but not really one of my favorites. More thoughts with spoilers below

Ongoing Thoughts

About halfway through I started to roll my eyes every time a man was revealed to be cheating on his wife. And it was most, if not all, of the men. Having a serial cheater/self-proclaimed womanizer say another man's cheating, which involved both sex and romantic love, was him not understanding and respecting "the game" was a huge eye roll. Every man was a cheater and every woman was being cheated on, but I liked the agency that Garricks gave most of these women. Some women stayed because they knew their husband was the kind to cheat before they even got married and had different expectations for their marriage as a result (and different ways of handling the cheating); some of them left his ass, kicked him out, froze him out of their life, and some of them cursed their man to never be able to get it up for anyone except his wife. Queen behavior lmao.

Reading further, it's fascinating hearing Kokoma also refer to the process of cheating in a relationship as understanding the game. This exchange is between Kokoma (first one speaking) and Wobia, whose husband recently cheated on her:

"In the early days, he was a bit sloppy, and I found out a few. I felt so disrespected that I played my equalizer."

"What's that?"

"It's complicated to explain. First, you need to understand the power you have over a man who truly loves you and has given himself to you. You know his core, the thing that contains his essence, the place of his biggest fears and insecurities. You hold it in your hands every day, nurse, and nurture it. An equalizer is basically you holding a knife to it. Cut wisely. Do you nick, slash, or saw through his soul so deep that he bleeds out? It's up to you how you use your power. It's different for every man. For Tonse, I told him that I slept with my ex in revenge after I found out about his girlfriends."

My hands flew to my mouth to stop it, but the loud gasp had already escaped. "You slept with your ex?"

Half smiling, she gave me a cryptic, "What do you think?"

I gasped again. "How did he take it? What happened? Did he throw you out?"

Her laugh was a beautiful, pearly thing. "That's impossible. He's not that kind of man, and we both knew we can't function without each other. Plus, he understands the game. Long story short, eventually we talked, cried, forgave, had make-up sex, and everybody promised to be of good behavior. He still carries on sometimes, but he's smoother now, so there's no disrespect." (pg 129-130, "Beautiful War"

I guess, even though it gets annoying as hell to read about every man being a cheater, the game of chess everyone seems to be playing is interesting to experience. And Garricks clearly isn't afraid of a mess. There is, ironically, an honesty with which he writes, a genuine exploration into how chaotic people can behavior in relationships, love, and sex. Revenge, forgiveness, the break down, the rebuilding, and the evolution of a person and a couple who is trying to move forward.

I also just fuck with this quote:

"Fifteen minutes later, you are sitting in your car, but you can't bring yourself to drive. You are hollowed out, desolate. You realise a truth so profound, it breaks your heart—you've lost the Wobia you knew, and though this new Wobia will love you, it will be a cold, jaded thing, a sorry substitute for the life force her love was to you. You need the old Wobia, and it would take a miracle to bring her back.