Thoughts on TWOTQ (spoiler alert)
Hello to anyone reading this huge comment. If you’ve had a chance to read what I wrote on TWOTQ, I hope you didn’t take it the wrong way, either way; don’t worry this is the last time I write about this.
This past week, I’ve realized that I haven’t been able to properly close the cycle of the From Blood and Ash saga, so I’m writing to be able to move on and think about whether or not I want to continue the series. Everyone is invited to comment if they decide to do so and thus create a space for dialogue.
So… I read TWOTQ, and after thinking about it for a long time, I came to the conclusion that I didn’t particularly love it and didn’t particularly hate it. Am I one of the very few people in the fandom who thinks like that? I believe my problems were with the plot, there came a point near the middle where I felt that rather than wanting to read I just wanted to get through the book.
When I finish reading TWOTQ, I must admit that I gave it a star, as I said I have done a reflection exercise and removed the star that I gave it… because to be honest that was my frustration speaking. If you haven’t read Yaz the bookish review I highly suggest you do, everything she said is on par with many people’s feelings, including my own.
Something that is a strong point of contention in the community is the Joining. I was part of the group of people who thought it was going to be something more spiritual and symbolic than having sex. I knew it was going to happen and well… I read it fast. As it progressed I got the impression that Poppy and Kieran were morphing into something more. Don’t get me wrong, I know, their relatioship was always more that a friendship and less of a romance (at least I think that’s their relationship), but now I don’t know; the way the book is written leaves you open to interpret the relationship however you want. Are they a threesome now? Are they in a polyamorous relationship?
I think JLA, should (in my personal opinion) give a clear answer on that. Because let me tell you, I saw the interview she did on Instagram and what she gave wasn’t necessarily a clear answer, it was something along the lines of: “Think about the relationship that Wolves have with touch.” That got me thinking, so I went and did some research and it turns out there isn’t that much info. on it, what I was able to discover is that it is a relatively new field and so far the the specialists belive, that Wolves either 1) Use physical contact to gauge the strength of the opponent and 2) They use physical contact to reduce stress and strengthen bonds. This comes from Harrington and Asa (in case any of you were wondering)
On a personal level, I have no problem, if it turns out to be that they are in this polyarelationship; all I can say is: fine, amazing, more power to them, but I do want to know clearly what they are. Because if so, I can stop reading this book saga. I know what I’m saying seems hateful, but it’s far from it, in my opinion many people who complained (me included), we just resent the lack of clarity in which things were left, we have nothing personal against JLA or its characters or the story and most importantly we have nothing against the community that has chosen this kind of personal relationship.
We just want a straight answer, I think the discomfort comes, because some of us have had bad experiences with books that develop this kind of relationship and because of that, we have had enough of bad expiriences, to realize that this kind of books are not something we particularly like.
Why JLA can’t give a clear answer? I know it’s not an obligation and given that JLA received horrible comments and I think threats (to say the least), I doubt she’s going to answer any of our questions just yet or she is going to wait to book 5, but she must have realized that we’re not all on the same page and we don’t think alike about the current situation between Poppy, Kieran and Casteel.
She’s the only one who knows how couples work, how history works and how all will end.
Thank you for reading this and I hope I didn’t offend anyone
I have the same question. Also, I need to understand what the author is trying to say about her characters.
