The Ending of Deerskin...

I have finished the book and am kind of confused with the ending in the book.  I didnt really understand why she was bleeding all over the place and her sister/mom was there.  I think she was reminded of her mother through the portrait, but it seemed weird when they said something about a sister.  I have to say I love Ossin!!! What a sweet ass guy! Im glad the king got what was coming with him.  I hate him, what a disgusting father.  He is so vain and crazy.  And what is up with lissar's mother... what an evil b*tch.  Lissar really lacked the mother and father she should have had, but in long run she made out.  She got a handsome prince, a dog that loves her so much, and the relief of her father out of her life.  All together, I really enjoyed Deerskin.  I really enjoy a good love story but this has some darkness and twist which made it enjoyable.  I could have went without the disgusting descriptions of the food her and Lissar ate in the hut!  Nasty, rotting foods, but she did what she had to do.  My favorite part of the story is the love between her and her dog.  I am also a dog lover and my dog cooper is awesome!  There is something about a dogs personality that is so fun-loving!

Interested in what happens next...

So I am to page 300 and I have to say I have been enjoying reading this book as well.  At the part where the grown dogs and puppies attack the monster, I was terrified that one of the puppies was going to get trampled or eaten or something!  But thank goodness that didn't happen.  I relate to this because I am also a complete dog lover!  I have a golden retriever named Cooper and a shar pei/ lab mix named Duke.  Dogs are such wonderful pets to own because they have so much character and personality.  For something to happen to one of them would be horrible.  That is why I can relate to Lissar when it comes to something happening to our loving pets. I felt horrible for Lissar when her father threatened to kill Ash in 3 days!  Sad, her dog is her best friend and closest companion, that would be awful.  I think Ossin being such a dog lover and Lissar as well, would make an awesome duo, friends or maybe lovers?? I am excited to see what happens next!  I wonder what is gonna happen with the boy her and the dogs found and napped with?  Who is he and how is he connected to the story?  I guess I will just have to find out...

Deerskin

Wow, I dont know how to even start!  The story really makes me sad.  I truely think that the king and queen were very in to themselves, leaving their poor daughter out of their lives.  The queen was especially into her self and extremely vain.  After Lissar's so called mother died, she did not care very much...can you blame her?  Her father, the king, is a disgusting human being.  For you to think it is ok to rape your daughter and then want to marry her is absurd!!!!  I thought when the rape was happening that her dog, Ash, was dead for sure.  Thank goodness they both survived and left that situation right away.  To be honest, after the announcment of the father wanting to marry her and threatening to kill her dog in 3 days, I would have left immediately after that!  I am having a hard time understanding how she can completely not remember anything about herself.  I felt soo bad that they both were so badly injured and had to walk for so long and fend for themselves. I was glad when Ash led them in the direction of the small, abandoned hut/cabin.  I was amazed that they both survived on what they had in that hut.  Old, moldy food and a fire.  I am a bit confused buy the lady that gave them the gift of time and cleaned/healed them both up.  Who is she??  I am now at the part of the book when she is in the yellow city and I believe is about to meet Ossin... dun dun dun.... I am excited to see what happens next.

Enjoying very much...

         I think it is really cool that Katsa has now realized that her grace is life and not killing.  But actually survival because Katsa thought that saying that her grace was life, was ridiculous.  Po agreed with Katsa that the grace of survival makes much more sense.  Po told Katsa, " You've saved many lives with your grace." (254)  Katsa returned with saying, " Not as many as ive hurt." Then Po came back with an awesome response saying, " Possible, But you have the rest of your life to tip the balence.  You'll live long."  That is exactly why I think that Po is perfect for Katsa.  He has already encouraged her to embrace her grace, and teach to her to learn to begin to be more positive about her life in general.
        In the book, Katsa has been given the duty to flee with Bitterblue to save her from her father and leave Po behind to hide and get well/better.  It was sooo hard for Katsa to do that but she realized that at that moment, Bitterblue was to be safe and taken care of.  Even though the most important person for her to keep safe is Po.  She loves him and is fearful that they will not see each other again. 

So far...

After reading pgs 82-143 in The Graceling, I've now gotten addicted to this book!  I can't seem to put it down!  I am way farther in the book then this but I didn't want to ruin it for anyone who hasn't read farther yet. So far in the book, Katsa was teased by others because she had absolutely no idea that Giddon was in love with her!  She was completely clueless of it.  Po had also told Katsa that he was going to end up proposing to her and she was very upset about that.  She didn't even know how to act around Giddon now that she knew he loved her.  Randa wanted Katsa to bring back a wife for some under lord and she had decided she did not want to go through with his task.  She gave Oll a bruised cheek and Giddon a cut on his neck so that they would not take the blame and it would all be on her.  Later in this section, Katsa finds out that Pe also has very good spatial awareness which allows him to know who is around him and when.  Katsa and Po would make an awesome duo because they can relate to one another.

Happy :)

I have to say I really enjoying the book Graceling.  I really like Katsa the main character.  I understand she is upset about her grace because she doesn't really get to live a "normal" life, but I think she is kick ass!  I am to the part of the book when Po is leaving and Katsa runs away from the king.  I am really looking forward to seeing what the king does/doesn't do with Katsa.  I love her and Po's little romance.  I think they compliment each other really well because they both have special gifts.  I think it is funny that Giddon is in love with Katsa and she had no clue!  I like the fact that Po kind of talked Katsa into being herself and not do whatever the king asks her to.  She needed to stand up for herself because she is the one who controls what she does and her own future.  I enjoy hearing Kristen Cashore talk about the different courtyards and extravagant scenery.  I wish I was there.  I do think Katsa had a right to be upset about Po not telling her about the partial mind reading, but after a while give him a break!  He can't help the fact that he is graced with something out of his control, just like Katsa herself.

Graceling: The beginning...

So far I have read to chapter nine in The Graceling.  I really like how Cashore brings us into the story.  I really like the main character Katsa.  She's a kick ass chick.. literally, but I think it is kind of cool that she was graced with awesome fighting skills.  She's an interesting girl who is looked at in a very fearful ways by others because of her behavior influenced from Randa the king.  The main reason why others are so scared is because she killed her cousin by punching him the face.  Many find her intimidating, until you look into her beautiful eyes, as others have said.  She has already kidnapped the grandfather Lienid, and now has, in my opinion, interest in a Lienid herself.  I think the part when Katsa and Po fight each other was cute because they were like enjoying it with there laughs in between each punch...I just had it pictured in my mind and it was funny!  I am looking forward to the upcoming events in her life.  Is she going to have a relationship with Po?  Get in trouble some how?  I am interested in finding out what all happens with the grandfather...

The After Thought

After reading the ending to the The Left Hand of Darkness, I feel somewhat bummed out.  Estraven and Genly Ai go through this amazing journey and then Estraven dies!  It was hard to hear because Genly Ai and Estraven had really grown to like, even love each other.  I thought it was really cool that Genly Ai taught Estraven and to mindspeak and he heard Estraven's brother, Arek.  I wonder why that happened?  The encounter with the black tenticle creature caught me off guard because at first your not sure if it would cause harm or not.  But, it was a nice feeling that after all they went through to make it to Karhide, they didnt get eaten by a big ugly black creature. After that encounter, Genly Ai and Estraven were welcomed into the couple villages not knowing who they were.  It was nice they offered them clothes, food, and a place to stay.  But only because the village people had no clue who they were at first.    I enjoyed in the book when they referenced the yin yang as the left hand of darkness.  It was a neat way of thinking about the title of the book and what Genly Ai meant by saying it.  "Light, dark.  Fear, courage.  Cold, warmth.  Female, male.  It is yourself, both and one, a shadow on snow".  That is an awesome way of explaining in their terms the yin yang.  I felt that Genly Ai telling the story to Estraven's son from his brother was an interesting twist that I wasnt expecting.  Overall good book, except for several confusing parts.  Im looking forward to reading Graceling.

The Journey Continues

So after reading pages 221-240 in The Left Hand of Darkness, It really got me thinking that if I were along for this journey what the scenery would actually look like.  Ursula Le Guin does a really nice job describing the setting in this book.  They are trying not only to survive vocanoes and ice but all the bad conditions such as ash from the volcano and the cold from the winter weather.  I mean come on, they "butt their heads on cliffs of ice in a cold dusk full of ashes!"  I felt bad when Estraven talks about Mr. Ai's condition in this cold torturous weather for him.  He talks about how his face was badly frostbitten.  It really seems like Estraven has a greater respect for Mr. Ai because of the way he describes how Ai has shown much strength and endurance through the journey.  Estraven states in his own log about how their lungs are raw from breathing in all the ash and fumes.  He talks about how Mr. Ai was "exausted and enraged" but even though he felt very ill and weak, he continues to progress forward.  I found it interesting how Mr. Ai describes women to Estraven.  Kind of funny!  Not only do they eat less and have children, and are less muscular, but are NOT stupid!  I am looking forward to seeing if they make their destination safely.

The adventure in many different ways...

After reading The Left Hand of Darkness (123-220), I have a new little outlook on how I feel about the book.  I have to say I had a real hard time enjoying the book in the beginning but now I have been enjoying the book a bit more.  I like a story with a lot of action that keeps me interested and until this section I just read , I wasn't really enjoying the reading.  I enjoy the two main characters Genly Ai and Estraven/Harth.  I think they both bring something interesting to the book.  I like that they are completely different characters and begin to understand each other a bit more.  I think it is so interesting that it shows both sides of their thoughts as a narrator, but at times got very confusing on who was talking.  I at times would be reading and thought it was one character, when actually it was the other one.  Something would not make sense and then I had to kind of think back what I had just read and that can get a bit annoying.  I now find it very cool that Genly Ai and Estraven are on similar thought processes, or at least for this moment in the book.  I am much more involved and excited to see what happens on their journey back to Karhide.  I like the fact that they have almost become somewhat friends and now look out for each other.  Estraven I think is really trying to provide and help Ai in surviving and making their way back, hopefully for all the right reasons, and not selfish ones.  The only other little complaint I have about The Left Hand of Darkness, is that many of the words are difficult and I don't understand the meanings.  Yes, some words can be looked up but many the sci-fi vocabulary can be very confusing.  Many of the names are so odd and sometimes similar, it at times left me wondering who that person was.