Hickey of the Beast Wednesday, 10/5/2011

(Link - although if you haven't started reading the book til now ... you're probably one of my students.)

Chapter 30

This is it, the end of the book. Connie deals with repercussions, Edward deals with repercussions, and the student float a number of rumors. About what you would expect. This was a nice bit of realism:

You want to know something weird, Amanda? I mean, weird in a different way than all the rest of this? After the incubus had taken its power back, Edward still looked pretty good, or would have if he wasn't insane. It wasn't an instant hormone rush to see him any more, and his eyes were still a little beady, but he really had filled out over the summer, and I bet his hair would've looked fine, too. I think he could've been popular on his own. Maybe not captain-of-the-hockey-team popular, but he could've gotten invited to parties, and girls would have liked him; he could have done perfectly fine for himself. I wondered if he'd wanted more than that or just to be sure—or if he thought the other way would've taken more work.

The book ends in such a way that a sequel is not out of the question, but no one will feel cheated out of a resolution if no sequel is forthcoming. But, Izzy, a sequel, please?

Some final thoughts. A solid novel, a little predictable in a couple of places. There were two or three places where a twist could have gone. Mind you, twists for their own sake are cheap ways of making an author look smarter than hir audience, so perhaps the straightforward approach has its good points too. As a serial novel, I think this mostly worked. The couple of places I think it missed were probably a result of the fact that the book existed in its finished form before being presented in its serial form. There were a few places where chapters could have ended in a more cliff-hanger-y way. I think had Izzy been writing the book as it was being published - had she been dependent on retaining readers from one installment to the next - the chapters would have ended more breathlessly. I'm not sure this would have been an overall improvement, though. Serially written novels (as opposed to serially published novels) lend themselves to numerous abuses, not the least continuity errors. I'm glad we avoided those. So. Final thoughts - I would read a sequel, and I'm looking for Izzy's other work, No Proper Lady - a romance novel. My local library HAS a copy, but it's check out. (which is good news, I think! It's in demand and stuff!). Further, I would happily read another serial novel, and review it in this way.

So, now my weekly reading project is done. I really like having something like this, and I'm open to suggestions. Right now, all I can think of is to read some book deliberately one chapter a week, but I don't know that I could do that, knowing that I didn't have to do that, you know? Perhaps if someone else were reading along with me, like some sort of virtual book club?

Hickey of the Beast Wednesday, 9/28/2011

(Link of DOOOM)

Chapter 29

This is the penultimate chapter. All must be revealed here, because the next chapter is only going to be denouement. So, we learn, alas, that Edward is, in fact, the big bad. But, as Connie says:

I was realizing that Edward was kind of pathetic, as bad guys went. He wasn't even really evil, not in a stylish Hannibal Lecter sort of way. He was just...a dickhead. And a dumbass. The problem was, he was also controlling an incubus.

Indeed.

So, Connie manages to get the upper hand, and she vanquishes the incubus, and, in the end, it's kinda anti-climactic. I mean, it's what you would expect - there isn't much point to getting this far and having Connie fail to vanquish the demon, but I'd kinda like the fight to have been a bit more drawn out. Except, that might have turned Connie into a "spinny killbot" (to totally steal Scalzi's neologism) instead of portraying her as an actual human girl type character? It's not like she's been presented as some sort of martial artist up to this point; it would be wrong to have her turn into Buffy all of a sudden. She does rough up Edward a bit, physically and emotionally. Perhaps there could have been some reference to soccer here - she could have kicked the demon in the shins or something? I don't know.

Here's what I hope for from Chapter 30. I hope for some glimmer of a sequel. If this can be the "first fight, dear deity, how did I win that, knowing what I know now" sort of character back story, I think this fight scene works. But as the culmination and termination of a character arc, it's kinda lacking...

(Belated) Hickey of the Beast Wednesday

(Link of linkiness)

Ummmm, so, today is Thursday? And I should have posted this yesterday? But there was a convergence of schedules and stuff, so instead, I ate pizza with my wife and watched a bunch of Dr. Who? So I'm going to do this now.

Chapter 28

The week before finals is, perhaps, not the best time to be sneaking out of the house at midnight, but Connie has to do it. That being the case, it's lucky that her parents are "generally sound asleep by one in the morning. (Unless there's a party or an emergency, actually, they're generally sound asleep by eleven at night, and they wake up at six without any alarm clock. Being an adult looks scary as hell sometimes.)" (Yes, being an adult DOES look scary as hell. I'm glad I've planned on never becoming one.)


Anyway, it's a short chapter - on night one, Edward doesn't show up. Connie spends the next day all jittery from caffeine. Edward does show up on night two, and the incubus appears as well, so things look bad for Edward... It's still possible he's on the side of the angels, some how, but I'm not seeing it at this point, and there's not a lot of room left to introduce some new villain at this point in the story.


Nice cliffhanger ending this week.

Wednesday Hickey of the Beast Post

(link of DESTINY)

Chapter 27

Connie and the Scoobies discuss their options. Jenny opines:

"At least we can be pretty sure Edward's the one doing it—unless there's another reason a guy might save someone's bloody Kleenex. And if there is, I don't want to know about it. If you're that gross, you deserve to have people think you summon demons."

and it is agreed that someone will have to follow Edward the next time he sneaks out, around 1. It is assumed that he's going to the gardens for a little incubus summoning. It is agreed, reluctantly, that Connie should go, and that she needs to go alone. She doesn't even have one of these:

I think there's still plenty of time for the whole Edward thing to be a red herring - perhaps he's sneaking out at 1 to watch whoever it is who is summoning the incubus - but we shall see.

I note that Candlemark and Gleam (who are publishing Hickey) have an exciting new product coming soon - a re-envisioning of Alice in Wonderland. Four re-envisionings, really.

Hickey of the Beast Wednesday, 9/72011

Worry not, readers who read, I have survived my trip to Tennessee, and have returned to make my usual Wednesday post!

(link here!)

Chapter 26

A very quick chapter this time - lots of action. Chapter 25 ended on a cliff hanger, but Connie manages to evade her mother and get into Edward's room. In a TV show, I think the search of Edward's room would have been in real time - about 20 mins (assuming a 1 hour show). Here, it's just a couple of pages. Connie's friend, who gets her into Edward's dorm, suggests that Edward has spent a lot of time sneaking out all semester. He also suggests that Edward is a "douche". There is some additional circumstantial evidence in Edward's room - but no pentagram, or grimoire, or anything which might specifically point to Edward being the summoner. Nor, however, is there anything which would clear Edward of suspicion - very cagey. I'm still expecting some sort of twist ending. Maybe Edward IS summoning the incubus, but while he's asleep, and only by accident...

At any rate, I am a little surprised that this chapter didn't end a paragraph sooner, which would have been another cliffhanger. Instead, Connie succeeds in escaping Edward's room. Again, in a TV show, there would have been at least a commercial break there, to heighten tension. Tension is already pretty high, but it could have been cranked up another notch here.

Hickey of the Beast Wednesday, 8/31/2011

(linkedy link link)

Chapter 25

The girls decide that all of the evidence pointing to Edward is highly circumstantial. Plus:

Besides, a guy named Edward being some sort of energy vampire? How cliché could you get?

So Connie decides that she has to break into Edward's bedroom and see if there's anything solid there; and possibly some way of stopping him if he is summoning demons from his dorm room. Most of the chapter is sort of cloak and dagger stuff as Connie gets a cover for her being in Edward's dorm building, and then the skeleton key her parents have so that they can get into dorm rooms in case of an emergency. It's all very nail-bitey, and exceedingly well written. But it's also only chapter 25 - we need further complications! So, maybe Connie's mom has caught Connie in the act...

Hickey of the Beast Wednesday, 8/24/2011

(Linky!)

Chapter 24

Hmmm. Well, the girls are all back together again, and discussing what Connie learned over Thanksgiving. They come to the conclusion that kids can dream of the incubus because they are more likely to scrape themselves on the ground, and thus more likely to bleed on the ground, which connects them to things. Or something of that nature. This raises some questions:

Does this guy have the same connection to the land that Connie does? Does sacrificing an animal give you a weird version of the connection or something else? Why didn't Connie get an incubus?"
"Because I didn't want one—"
"Well, now I'm going to have to return your Christmas present," Jenny said.

They try to warn the current victim - but she's already in the hospital - the incubus is taking more out of the victims, more quickly. With some further discussion, the girls decide that the summoner must be a guy.Having deduced that, they figure he must be getting something from the incubus. Based on Connie's impression of him from her dreams, he's probably an upperclassman - so they decide to look for upperclassmen who were losers last year but have suddenly blossomed this year. And they conclude that the summoner must be Edward Tinsley. I knew we couldn't trust anyone named Edward.* But, as a reader, I'm thinking this is only Chapter 24 of a 33 chapter book, so maybe this is a red herring. Maybe it's too obvious. We shall have to see.

*Yes, that's a Twilight reference. No, I haven't read it.

Hickey of the Beast Wednesday, 8/17/2011

(This is a link)

Chapter 23

Plot plot plot...

Connie figures out that her younger brother, Julio, is having the same dreams she is, more or less (which, I think, we all figured out several chapters ago, but we have the excuse of not being recently awakened from scary dreams ourselves, so...). The images are geared down to his level, and he isn't seeing real people, but he registers a cloud which is eating people. Connie calms him down:

 Police are there to make sure nothing bad happens to people. And being eaten is bad, right?" He nodded. "So there you go. Nobody's getting eaten. That cloud's just your mind showing you a scary movie. That's all." I stroked his hair, and held up the other hand Boy Scout style. "I promise, if anything's out there trying to eat people, someone will make it stop."

That part was, well, more or less true. I would've felt a lot better if "someone" hadn't been me, though.

Isn't that the point, though? I mean, isn't that what growing up is all about - the idea that, eventually, the "someone" who has to do something - wash the dishes, scrub the floor, take out the trash, kill the incubus - that "someone" is just as likely to be you as it is anyone else? Being grown up means killing your own incubi.

Also note that Connie's history teacher is, btw, a lesbian in a committed relationship with kids. Izzy slips that in as a total aside, because she's cool like that.

Hickey of the Beast Wednesday, 8/10/2011

(Link goes here)

Chapter 22

In this chapter, Connie does some research. Her scoobies are all away, so she has to do it herself. She turns up some interesting stuff:

Good old Isaiah had been something called a "Swedenborgian," which the book basically said meant believing God wasn't three separate people, that you got into Heaven through doing good works instead of just believing in God, and that everyone could get into Heaven as long as they lived a good life, even if they weren't Christian. Like I said, crazy's pretty relative.

Swedenborgian? Seriously? Izzy, you rock!

Isaiah had talked about how the glory of God was to be found in the beauty of Nature, and how boys who had someplace to live an active outdoor life would grow up into worthy citizens of this new Republic. He'd probably been spinning in his grave for at least fifty years by now—though I'm sure a lot of people who went out to the forest called on God, and maybe some of them even saw him. Especially in the Seventies.

Ha!

So. The upshot - someone is clearly summoning an incubus, it probably has something to do with Isaiah's gardens, especially next to the chapel, and Connie has not actually learned anything about stopping incubi yet. For all that the chapter lacked action, I think I liked it better than the past three - perhaps there's just a better level of snark here, which I appreciate. Perhaps I'm just a sucker for obscure colonial Christian sects.

Hickey of the Beast Wednesday Post, 8/3/2011

(Linkage)

Chapter 21

This chapter describes the set up for Thanksgiving. In the academic calendar, American Thanksgiving (which is towards the end of November, unlike Canadian Thanksgiving, which is in October) is an odd holiday. Although it's officially only one day long, it's also always a Thursday (actually - it turns out that it wasn't a fixed date until after World War Two, but that's another story), so Thanksgiving turns into a three day break before a weekend - most schools give their students the Wednesday off for travel, and don't expect them back on the Friday after. (And, of course, students routinely ask for the Tuesday and the Monday off - often they start doing this as early as September.) In a semester system, Thanksgiving falls towards the end of the first semester, which means you really need a break by then, but there really isn't quite enough time to pick up the threads when the students come back - Thanksgiving happens and then, suddenly, the semester ends. It's this weird breathing space, right when you feel a need for a breathing space, but there isn't enough of the semester after the break to justify the break.

I bring this up, because this chapter feels like that break. There's 9 chapters after this one, and nothing much happens in this one. Connie gets some really nice character development - she goes back to the garden (the one with the dead dog or raccoon from the beginning of the book) and learns some important things about herself - but she doesn't get access to the book she needs (not yet, anyway), and the rest of her Scoobies are either off home or busy with their own Thanksgiving prep. So, a breather. And the next nine chapters are going to be a headlong rush to the end of the semester - and the end of the adventure.

Hickey of the Beast Wednesday, on a Thursday, 7/28/2011

Sorry, yesterday evening got swallowed by a viewing of Watchmen, which Netflix delivered and we were able to watch because the big kid is out of town. So we did.

(Link)

Chapter 20

We're into the home stretch here - the last 10 chapters of the book. Time for some solutions. The girls gather to ponder motives. Surely, they figure, an incubus, acting alone, wouldn't care what happened to his victims? What if someone else were using the incubus to get something - money, power, a boost on their grades (this is a prep school)? The solution seems to come down to the Thanksgiving break - 1) that will mean that, if the summoner is a student, the attacks should stop and 2) it will allow Connie, hopefully, to get at a book in the library in the "Restricted" area; something on the occult that the school's founder had in his personal collection, and that the school admin doesn't want to admit they still have.

Hickey of the Beast Wdnesday, 7/20/2011

(linkage)

Chapter 19

You know, Buffy has it kinda easy, in that Giles is there to tell her how to deal with monsters (except when he's not, because that's the complication de jour). Connie is trying hard to piece together what to do with her new found ability, which isn't all that useful, it turns out.

I could've been talking to fairies, dammit. Or turning into a magic warrior in a sailor uniform and saving the world with crystal tiaras. Instead, I got gray men and red lines. If this stuff did run in my family, there were a whole bunch of people who weren't getting Christmas cards ever again.

It's clear that silver has a negative effect upon the incubus, and it's clear that Connie can see the incubus feeding while she's asleep - but if she's not sleeping in the same room as the feedee, how can she stop the incubus? What follows, in the chapter, is somewhat awkward from Connie's point of view - delightful to see a heroine not immediately on top of her game! Plus, I like that Izzy has considered the real world aspects of her character's lives - how will a school react to sudden "illness"? How will the students react to the sudden emotional and spiritual stress that an incubus will place on them (especially since they don't know it's an incubus!) Good stuff - can't wait to see where this goes!

Hickey of the Beast Wednesday, 7/13/2011

(Linky!)

Chapter 18

A critical meeting of Connie's Scoobies - but Connie has to be both Buffy and Giles, because she's the one with the vampire knowledge. Only, maybe it's an incubus? Connie, Autumn and Jenny reject the idea of an exorcism, because it seems silly, and, anyway, who would do it?

Father Donnell was Springden's Catholic chaplain.  ...  He also looked like an accountant and had a thick South Boston accent. 

"The powah of Christ compels you!" said Jenny. "Now go pahk your cah..." 

"I think you have to do exorcisms in Latin," I said, "and I bet he doesn't have the accent there." 

"Bet he does. ..."

 Basically, the girls conclude that they don't know enough about what's going on to accurately and effectively address the situation, and yet they feel the situation needs addressing, because this thing - vampire, incubus, whatever - probably needs to feed regularly, so it'll be back.

This is chapter 18 - we're coming to the end of the rising action, so I'm expecting some sort of narrative climax soon, before this story turns a corner and we head into the home stretch, as Connie and her friends figure out how to deal with the monster. It's been a fun ride thus far, and I anticipate only good things for the last third of the book...

Hickey of the Beast Post, 7/6/2011

(Link here - I seriously want a button or something I can add to my sidebars)

Chapter Seventeen

This is a momentous chapter, in which we meet the Big Bad. And he is a vampire. Sort of. I don't think that's a huge revelation - we know that Connie wrote a report on vampires, we know that there are hickeys involved (it IS in the title); hickeys = neck sucking = vampire. But this is a creepy ass vampire - we are NOT going to have a vampire romance, I don't think. So that's a nice change of pace. Indeed, this is not a traditional vampire at all - I'm not sure yet if this some non-western vampire variety, or if it's something that Izzy has cobbled together - either way, kudos. Let's hear it for non-traditional blood suckers, right? Anyway, if you needed another reason to buy this book, there you go!

I am relieved, a little, that the plot did not revolve around Connie mentally (and subconsciously) siccing supernatural doom on people who dared show affection for someone she liked - that would have been interesting, but it would have made Connie a much less likable character.

Oh, and as I predicted, Jenny goes kinda ballistic when she finds out that Connie and Autumn have been having conversations without her...

Tangent - I'm a little sad that the copy of the chapter that arrives in my e-mail inbox does not have the snazzy font that e-book has - check out the title page in the free sample here - a beautiful use of font to indicate whimsy and menace all at once, and entirely perfect for the book. What I get in my inbox is Georgia for the chapter number and Comic Sans for the first line of the chapter - less cool.

Hickey of the Beast Wednesday, 6/29/2011

(Link to subscription page here)


Two chapters today, because I missed last week. This week we have Chapters 15 and 16.


Chapter 15 is the big Red and White dance. Connie explains about the social cycle of the school year thusly:

The Red and White is different. Like I said, it's one of three real dress-up-and-ask-someone dances we have at Springden. The others are the Snow Ball, which is the dumbest name ever but better than It's February in New England, So Let's Pretend We Don't All Want to Kill Ourselves, which would be the truth ...

The chapter focuses entirely on the dance. Connie dances with her date, and it's all nice. There is a disappointment for Connie:

The upperclassmen usually sneak off and hook up somewhere, and so do the more popular sophomores and even a couple freshmen. 

Jenny and Autumn and I? Not that cool. Or maybe our dates just weren't cool enough to ask us, or didn't know how. (Not that I'd know how. Maybe you get a course in it sometime sophomore year.)

Based on what I remember, that sounds pretty much like high school, yeah.  God, I'm glad that's over. I don't recall a course on interacting with the desired gender in sophomore year, though - that might have been useful. Anyway, the dance is lovely, Connie has a good time, and then she goes home and, of course, she dreams.

Chapter 16

It's the dream again. But, after Chapter 14, readers are probably expecting things to go a little differently. And they do, of course, off in a direction I had not anticipated. Which is probably a good thing - if the book were predictable, it wouldn't be as worth reading, right? Anyway, we go into Chapter 17 with none other than Jenny in peril...

Hickey of the Beast Wednesday, 6/15/2011

(Link Here)

Chapter 14

So, after the last chapter, Connie now sees red lines everywhere, connecting everything. I'm sure that will all be explained before the book ends.

Two big important things happen in this chapter. First, Tony asks Connie to the Red and White, the big winter dance. "Psychic stuff is beyond amazing, sure—even I think so now—but boys are fun, too." Second, we get a fine piece of foreshadowing - Connie notices Jenny talking to Edward Tinsley (who, we've been told, is hawt with a capital haw). Jenny says, at the end of the chapter, "'Well, I wouldn't read a lot into it,' said Jenny, as we passed out the doors and into the cold night. 'I mean, I'd like to, for sure, but I don't think I've got anything he wants.'" Only your immortal soul, Jenny. Only that. Have I mentioned that I think that Edward is probably the big bad here? Cuz I do. 


Other than that, not a lot happens in this chapter. Last chapter was build-up, this one contributes to the whole rising action that we should see here. We're almost half way through the book, and the pacing is spot on thus far. I think we've met all of the important characters (although I suppose it's possible that there's a shadowy antagonist lurking in the background somewhere), the plot has taken root, solidly - this is a well written book! Well, so far - I suppose it's possible that it will all fall apart in the second half.


Tangential: One of the things I looked at last week was microfilm of newspapers from Kansas City. I noticed that they ran serials daily - they alternated between something romance-y "Should Doctors Marry?" and something adventure-y - something cowboy; I don't really remember (that wasn't really what I was looking for). Each story ran about a week and a half, with multiple chapters per day. I wonder if circulation would improve if newspapers tried something like that again? Probably not. 

Wednesday Hickey of the Beast Post, 6/8/2011

(Link here)

Chapter 13

Connie goes to the chapel, alone - without Autumn, so my prediction from last week - entirely false. Well, so far. I suppose Jenny could still feel bent out of shape that Connie went to Autumn instead of Jenny. Weirdness is there - Connie experiences a trance, and there's a big glow-y ball thing. That's about it.

Some nice touches though. 1) Connie crashed her bike here in the summer - this we know from before - and bled a lot. Bets on that being significant later - blood tying Connie to a specific location of mystical significance? 2) "with the wind cutting through my wool coat and the fuzzy blue hat abuela Maria had knit me." a subtle reminder of the fact that Connie is Hispanic. Izzy isn't beating her readers with a sledgehammer, because that's not the point. Connie is a woman of colour - and that's totally normal. But we, as readers, should not allow ourselves to forget that and begin picturing her as a blonde blue-eyed white girl, because she isn't. Finally, 3) - a perfect description of epiphany:

It was looking at a Magic Eye painting and seeing the sailboat. It was running down the soccer field with the ball in front of me and Tisha at my side, knowing exactly where I needed to be and knowing that my body would do what needed doing, no questions. It was hearing the beat in a new song. It was the smell of chili when you walk into the house on a winter Saturday, a million different ingredients making up one scent that reaches right into your stomach and practically drags you to the kitchen. It was the feel of Autumn's afghan under my hand. It was everything. Everything broken into parts, and everything put together. I could see how it all fit.

The writing in this book - hell, I only paid $5 for this, and it's clearly worth more than that. If you haven't got a copy yet, when you click on the clicky link above, spring for one of the more expensive packages and get the bonus stuff, because you won't be disappointed.

Hickey of the Beast Wednesday, 6/1/2011

(link to serials page here)

Chapter 12

This is mostly character building, establishing and strengthening the relationship between Connie and Autumn, and complicating the relationship between Connie and Jenny. Because Connie twigs to the fact that there's no way that she can think of to rationally explain why she would have dreamed about Amy (who may not even be named Amy) getting sick, but she knows that Jenny will continue to look for a rational explanation. Autumn, however, will be willing to accept that there's something un-, sub- or super-natural* going on.

There's not a lot of action here. Connie limps across campus on crutches, and then has a short heart to heart with Autumn. They discuss the possibility that Connie is pyschic or has precognition of some sort. This is not the sort of thing that normal people talk about - at least not the sort of people that I hang out with. Perhaps I'm hanging out with the wrong people.

In the midst of the chapter, we get this entirely awesome exchange:

It's not like I know a whole bunch about this stuff," she added, sighing. "I've seen a couple bad movies, that's all, and I've read some books. Probably not good books, either. You need...Obi-Wan."
"Yeah, but I don't think Springden admits Jedi."
"I thought you were equal-opportunity," she said, with a nervous little laugh that made me laugh too. "Someone's going to sue you over that one."
Laughing, even at that tense little joke, felt good, like a knot in my back was slowly starting to untwist itself. "That'd be the best trial ever," I said, picturing Luke Skywalker in the witness box and giggling some more. I took a sip of cocoa and actually tasted it this time. "Except wouldn't they use the Force on the jury?"
"Nah. Code of ethics."

which is exactly the sort of thing that real people say (at least, the real people I know would engage in exactly that sort of debate. Perhaps I'm hanging out with the wrong sort of people.)

The chapter ends with this:

"Okay," I said, and remembered the conversation I'd had with Jenny. "So maybe I need to check out the real-world stuff from my dream some more. Julio was a wash, and I've been in my living room without anything happening... but maybe the old chapel gardens?"
"It couldn't hurt," said Autumn.

Which is entirely ominous, neh? Those chapel gardens, where the dead animal was found at the beginning of the book, which seem to be central to the oddness which Connie is experiencing - nothing could possibly go wrong there, right?

My prediction - things will go wrong, and Jenny will find out, and be torqued off that she wasn't included to begin with.

*[Rosencrantz has been flipping coins, and all of them are coming down heads] 
Guildenstern: Consider: One, probability is a factor which operates *within* natural forces. Two, probability is *not* operating as a factor. Three, we are now held within un-, sub- or super-natural forces. Discuss. 
Rosencrantz: What? 

Wednesday The Hickey of the Beast Post, 5/25/2011

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Chapter 11

And cue the rising action...

The bulk of this chapter was a description of Connie's big soccer game. It's difficult to describe sporting events - witness the lengthy (an occasionally superfluous) Quidditch chapters in Harry Potter - and I'm afraid this chapter drags a little. But, only a little - the description is lovely, and mostly focused on the players, not on the game - not a lot of description of how the ball is passed, or anything like that. Izzy does a good job of using the soccer game to build secondary characters (in the locker room, on the field), and to present further expansion of Connie's character (she's competitive, and she really loves playing soccer - when on the field she loses track of everything else)  and moves fairly quickly through the (necessary) description of the game to the plotty meat of the chapter - Connie sprains her ankle and ends up in the infirmary, where she sees a girl she thinks she knows a little.

In the last chapter, Connie had a dream featuring this girl she thought maybe she knew, but not well - in other words, not someone that she consciously subconsciously had any ill will for. The working theory behind Connie's dreams (as presented by her friends) is that her dreaming mind is a) allowing her to work out her ill will for others and b) she is subconsciously picking up on early symptoms for flu. This chapter seems to disprove that, which means she'll need a new working theory, which will slowly build towards what is actually happening, which will almost certainly generate a huge burst of climactic action towards the end of the book.

Hickey of the Beast Wednesday, 5/18/2011

(Link to the Serial Page here)


Chapter Ten. We're now officially 1/3 of the way through the book. Connie is starting to notice patterns, and she's clearly starting to question what's going on. Becky is still in the infirmary, and the doctor issues a warning that flu may be starting early this year. In the midst of this, we get this astonishing statement about growing up, which is simply brilliant:

You're just hanging out, doing your own thing. Then you're somewhere else. Someone else, maybe. Someone who doesn't expect to sit with her family in Commons, who speaks a little bit of French, who knows the smell and the feel of the team bus practically by heart now. Or maybe that's not Springden, or even boarding school. Maybe that's just how growing up works. Hell if I know.

And then, you know, I was just thinking it's been a while since Connie had a bad dream about giant mosquitoes... This time, she realizes why she recognizes the scene outside the living room window - it's the church yard on campus. The church yard where, in the first chapter, we learned that there was some sort of dead animal that needed removing. That church yard. Clearly, Izzy has read her Chekhov - do not introduce a partially rotted animal corpse in the first 1/3rd of the novel if you do not plan to have your characters investigate the partially rotted animal corpse before the final 1/3rd of the novel. I paraphrase a little.

If this were a play, we would have, I think, just finished Act 1, and are now moving into Act 2. If I recall my high school English, Act 2 is rising action, which means that things look bad for Connie in the next 10 chapters or so.

I must say, I'm really enjoying this book. A lot.