Are you serious, or is my sarcasm meter broken?

 

Alexandra is like her father. We all know Abraham seems to be a bit of a Ladies' Man. 4 wives, unknown other affairs... etc. I know it's not really connected, but that was my first association.

Also, it's not like Alexandra is a cheating slut, just circumstances and teenage hormones, but I still can't help but disapprove of a girl who at the age of 14/15 has kissed 3 boys (or been kissed and then led them on), wants to have sex with one of them, and never bothered to break up with any of them while kissing the other.
Then again, she's kinda low on emotional IQ and has bigger problems... still, I disapprove (and yes, part of it is probably because my OTP for AQ is Alex/Anna).

 

Right idea; wrong 'friendly', I guess.

I'm still torn as to whether opening this can of worms makes sense- I mean,it makes sense that adolescence would drag Alex's attention away from the overall plot, but this feels like the character wrote the direction, exceeding the author's original intent. In other words, Inverarity added this in to his plans only when we started bantering about her possible sapphic bent.

It plays realistically, but that doesn't make it right for the story or wrong for the character. The whole romance angle might not seem so 'from out in left field' if earlier in the story Alex mentioned her growing interest in getting some touch, or others teasing her that this obsession with Manuelito might have another, more intimate, driving motivation. Instead it's like she wants to make her own family, in defiance of all the broken relationships she's uncovered in the last few weeks. If that's what's going on, she hasn't even realized it herself, yet.

Structurally, this reminds me of an annoyance I have with the second book, where we're 2/3 through the story and suddenly the game changes from discovering family and role models to soul swapping in the Lands Below. Too much of what went on before, where Alex was barely handling the uncovering of painful truths, has been set aside to whiplash us into the Manuelito conspiracy, and now we're being jerked in another direction to play boarding school romance.

I don't see how these three very different arcs will tie together into a single meaning in the space of six more chapters, and even if it does, it'll be whiplash again.

There's unpredictable plotting and then there's haphazard. With the first, you lean back and nod in appreciation of the layers of meaning, once it's all told. With the other, you shake your head and mumble, 'but what about... and what's with... but why did we even go there...?'

 

I don't do fan service. Any ships that happen have been planned from very early on.

If they don't work, or they distract from the plot, then it's something I'll keep in mind for the next book, but I never think "Well, I'll show you!" when writing.

 

I forgot to include the sarcasm smiley- I've never had the impression that fanservice was your thing. You are about as far from those type of writers as can be offered.

Still, I stand by my impression that it's a quick shift in her psyche and in the focus of the story. It's like we missed a conversation where someone she respects told her to not rush into adulthood and she actually agreed and/or decided internally to try being a teenager and student for a while.

 

I totally agree. There are a million realistic reasons why Alex might do what she is considering doing. But, it wasn't set up very well and seems kind of thrown together. Even that might be understandable, especially considering her impulsiveness, if it was a spur-of-the-moment or rebellious thing. But this seems oddly premeditated, without much in the way of irresistable hormonal urges or other teenage motivations. Not that I'm a fan of angst, but without understanding more of what is motivating Alex this almost becomes a throw-away sub-plot, which is kinda sad.

 

Since when has that stopped 14 year olds?

 

Just so long as Alexandra doesn't find herself pregnant & then having to deal with that drama.

Would feel too much like Holly Evans for my taste....

 

So Alexandra is becoming a fucking cumdumpster? Do not want D:

 

Yeah, that reason did occur to me. Not only would I understand that reason, I would probably support it. There's an awful lot of living to do, if seven years is the limit. Maybe that's where it's headed. I'll go along with the benefit of the doubt.

I think what has been bothering me the most is that Alex has been almost completely asexual so far. I would guess that for most girls there is more than a few weeks time between their first kiss and bumping uglies in a broom closet. But heh, Alex ain't most girls.

 

Eh, I think the ambiguity is good. Still.. the book seems to have a rather different tone from the last 3. Still have to see how it ends, of course.

 

I am simultaneously excited to see where the story goes in the next few chapters and already dreading that this will be coming to a close relatively soon and then I'll have to wait another big chunk fo time to read the next book.

 

I don't think the Claudia grudge has been overdone at all. Look at the Brian situation. Once she gets a chance to sit down with her, have the inevitable blow up and after chat their relationship should start getting packed up.

 

True, but to be fair, Claudia hasn't been handling this particularly well either, being, in her letters, rather nonchalant about it.

So, while Alex overdoes it a bit, it's not like I don't see where she is coming from.

 

Great chapter.

I'll be honest, though, I can't even imagine what sort of climax the book is leading up to.