Shield Me

Life has a way of throwing curve balls. Some, like AP classes and prep, are fierce, and not so easy to face square on. Some, like my work with the Daffodil Festival, are exciting, and give me the opportunity to hit it out of the park, by being a part of a very special game. However, this inning has been full of both hits and misses, and I've been praying for a chance to hit the bench and just read for a while.

(Please forgive me for the super-lame extended baseball metaphor. The thing is, my Dad is waiting for me downstairs to watch this night's episode of Castle, which means I have ten minutes to post this before he starts without me. Besides, I didn't like this book much anyways. )

Okay, okay, I liked it, a LOT actually, for it's deeply complex and twisting political intrigue, suspense, and, of course, just the fact that it was a really well-written fantasy, which is something I don't get to enjoy all the time. However, there were some severe issues I had with it, mainly having to do with the fact that it offended my modesty.

Going into reading the first in the Game of Thrones series, a friend had warned me, "Don't freak out, but these books are brutal." I heeded her warning... to an extent. However, as the daughter of a Roman Catholic Sunday School teacher, I don't think anything could have prepared me for the content of this book. All I can say is this: practically every other page was people humping each other or someone having their guts spill out of their stomach. I'm not a prude, I don't think, but I draw the line at a certain point.

But let me remind you, it was well-written and the relationships between characters were very interesting, and something you had to sort through. I also really enjoyed the fact that, at the close of the book (or at least at the last finger-swipe across the screen), I could only say that I even liked four of the characters, while hating the rest, but still managed to care what happened to everyone else. Barring John Snow, Tyrion Lannister, Bran Stark, and his brother Robb, I extremely disliked pretty much everybody else... and yet, I was emotionally attached to every single character - feeling empathy or hatred by turns, basically - and could appreciate the mechanics set in place, through them, by the author.

I would read the other books in the series... if the characters wouldn't act so gross.

(And don't get me STARTED on this Fifty Shades of Grey popularity trend... eccch.)

#22. Game of Thrones: A Song of Ice and Fire by George R.R. Martin