#turnball root

Headings worked so well for me the last time that we're going to keep going with them here, because there is a lot to talk about for this book!

Turnball Root

They say that every good villain is the hero of their own story. You flip the perspective on Turnball's story, and it's a twisted version of Romeo and Juliet surviving to become Anthony and Cleopatra. Just with more black magic runes.

Turnball makes me so, so sad as an antagonist, because you don't fall in love and enthrall the object of your affection while hanging on to the signs of your glory days if you have any level of self-worth and self-respect. Opal Koboi revels in her own inflated sense of self-worth, but everything about Turnball screams that he has some deep unresolved issues with himself as a person. That makes it really hard to enjoy him as a villain the same way I enjoy Opal, but I appreciate the nuance and weight and depth to his character that the massive red flags herald. If something had gone just a little bit different, if Turnball had been confident in his worth and his value, he could have been much more like his little brother. Julius Root was not perfect, but self-worth was not an issue he dealt with.

Artemis says it himself at the end of the book: Nobody wins when Turnball is "defeated." Anthony and Cleopatra have died by their own hands, and neither Rome nor Egypt are better for it.

Leonore talking Turnball down and basically saying he can help her or stop her is also heartbreaking, because it's so, so clear that she would have loved him without the thrall rune and--again--if Turnball had had the confidence to let her love him on her own, they could have been happy without the evil schemes and separation while Turnball was in jail. Leonore doesn't get a whole lot of character development in her own right, which makes sense for a middle-grade/YA-ish book that just doesn't have the space to develop yet another secondary character, but she's compelling in the sketch we do get, and I believe that Turnball would actually throw everything over for her. His last words in the book are in service to Leonore and Leonore's well-being as he helps her. He couldn't have done anything else, and that choice says so, so much about what could have been.

For me, Turnball is ultimately a tragic figure who was covering his own insecurities and self-loathing with sheer drama and villainy. He absolutely does bad things, and I'd even go so far as to say that he's a bad guy, but the tragedy is that he simply did not have to be.

The Atlantis Complex: Artemis and Orion

Ok, so my book is literally about representations of physical and mental disability in Shakespeare, but this freaking book manages to be more nuanced and more real in terms of the fact that mental health is COMPLICATED. Experiencing it is complicated. People's reactions to signs and symptoms of mental illness is complicated (and often objectively ableist and shitty). Everyone involved is often trying their best, and often it's just not enough. Sometimes it is.

While I was conceptualizing this review, I spent so much time going back and forth on minutiae: What was a positive representation, what was a negative representation, who said what and was it hurtful or not, the nuances of having symptoms in life-or-death situations. It got to the point where I could have written an entire post just about this, but then it occurred to me: I don't have to do that, because if I'm going back and forth this much and if there is so much evidence for both positive and negative representation, then the book isn't trying to do one or the other: it's simply allowing Artemis's mental illness to exist in the story. Which is MIND BOGGLING since so many stories--if they deign to mention disability at all--make the disability the whole thing. Frankly, Colfer pulled off a story where Artemis experiencing psychosis during a life-or-death situation was just...part of the story. It wasn't the main focus, it didn't warp the rest of the world and the plot around it, and it acknowledged the complicated peice where it can be both a help and a detriment in the situation.

Basically, it was allowed to be messy. And it was allowed to be complicated. And it was allowed to be emotional. But nothing derailed the plot.

There was also something really interesting that I'm not going to articulate terribly well here because I'm still processing it, but I want to at least nod to it. In terms of negative and harmful stereotypes about mental illness, Colfer manages to do this thing where he acknowledges that they exist, and there are moments where characters lean into them, but almost as soon as they do, another character pops up to call bullshit on it. For example, at one point Foaly makes a (totally in-character) crack about Dr. J. Argon strapping Artemis into "the crazy chair," and then immediately calls himself out on having said something absolutely shitty. "Crazy" is an ableist term, but it gets tossed around all the time in the real world. For Foaly to make the crack and then immediately walk it back isn't something you see often, but I think showing the crack, immediate self-correct, and then improved behavior going forward is critical. Humans are imperfect, but to self-correct and change for the better is important, and showing that is rare and I really appreciate it.

Ok, I'm going to stop ramling in circles about something I'm still processing, and move on to talking about Orion. I'm going to treat Orion as a separate character here, partly because the book does and partly because I am a) not an expert in mental illnesses and b) do not personally experience any and I don't want to speak from experience I don't possess. What I do want to say is that writing Orion as a blatant charicature of a fantasy medieval hero is AMAZING and HILARIOUS and holy cow I loved it so much. The contrast with Artemis is excellent, and the fact that ORION took Butler's lessons to heart was fabulous.

Artemis and Angeline

The other amazing relationship in this book is Artemis and an Angeline who knows exactly what Artemis's deal is. Between telling Artemis that girls are frightened of him because he's "a 15-year-old in a bespoke suit and nobody died" and her insistence on him spending at least two days a week in the jeans and t-shirt she's bought him, Angeline is absolutely fabulous.

Artemis and the Butlers

Oh Butler...dear heart, you get done so dirty by the son of your heart in this book. You were hired to be a bodyguard and what Artemis needs more than anything in this book is mental health support. You've done well with his mental health so far, but this is so, so far outside your wheelhouse. And then Artemis is one of perhaps three people on earth who know how to actually hurt you, and he DOES. He pushes you away, he invents a threat to Juliet, and then worst of all, he takes away your trust in him. Butler needs therapy almost as much as Artemis does in this book, and it's just crushing to see their relationship take this pounding. When the bullet is your principle's brain, a bodyguard cannot stand between bullet and principle.

On top of all that, Butler has to make the phonecall to Angeline explaining that Artemis has Atlantis Complex. That is one of the worst possible phonecalls to make, but he does it and he does it with grace and compassion. Domovoi Butler is objectively too good for this world.

Juliet Butler is out here living her best life, and frankly we love her for that. She's loving the hell out of her professional wrestling career, and she's found her own feet to stand on, not only with Butler but also with Artemis. She quite rightfully calls out his bullshit a couple of times, which is just delightful. She marries the girly/feminine stuff with the totally badass (and traditionally coded masculine) beautifully in a way that finds joy in both. So many "strong female characters" are strong because they reject everything girly/feminine, but Juliet gets BOTH. It's my favorite thing.

And her match against a dickhead gnome at the end is A+ no notes.

Holly and That One Time She Dated Her CO???

Ok, so I don't actually have a whole ton to say about this except...OMG OMG OMG HOLLY AND TROUBLE WENT ON A DATE!!!!! Which has to be immediately followed up with "Is this how Holly's complex around beloved and respected commanding officers dying horribly on her watch manifests?" And then naturally we have to side eye the absolute hell out of Trouble Kelp because dating subordinates has got to violate workplace ethics. Not that either Holly or Trouble have a great relationship with the rulebook, but Trouble is in charge now, so....Broski. Meet rulebook.

Now, all of that said...I am so mad that this date happened off-page. I would have killed to see it. Especially if Grub showed up at any point in the evening.

Finally: Artemis asking if Holly and Trouble have any plans to bivouac in the near future is INCREDIBLE and deserves both a slow clap and a slap.

A Brief Moment to Hate on Ark Sool

Ark Goddamn Sool full-on went to the dark side. He is MERC-ING for Turnball Root. He doesn't even have the scrap of integrity or loyalty to join the crew properly, he's in it for the goddamn money. We HATE Ark Sool. So. Freaking. Much.

Butler crushing him to death is better than he deserves, but it is IMMENSELY satisfying.

Concluding Thoughts