Five thoughts after reading the final chapters of The Rose Labyrinth
1) Guess who didn't figure out until Chapter 33 that the font had been changing in the chapter numbers? THIS GIRL.
2) "When you make the two into one...then shall you enter the kingdom" (367). OH, FOR FUCK'S SAKE. _Again_, I know I'm SUPER SENSITIVE to this these days, to the point of irrationality sometimes, but no. No. You do not let anyone - particularly not people who have been dead for four decades - pressure you into getting married. Fuck that. FUCK. THAT.
If Lucy and Alex had - together and with no help from anyone else, living or dead - decided a) they were ready to get married and b) they wanted to open the chest after they had done so, that would be perfectly acceptable. This coercive bullshit, however, is NOT OKAY. And ESPECIALLY not when given the air of authority by coming from a long-dead ancestor. Compare this to the end of Good Omens. (I FUCKING LOVE Good Omens. IT IS THE BEST BOOK EVER.)
3) Even if Alex did coach Max heavily, I refuse to believe that a kid his age would have delivered the speech he did at the crystal demonstration. Also, having read the whole book, I am not okay with the way Amel was used as a sort of Othered Wiseman, and how Zarina's entire role was to have a colourful name to be thrown around from time to time. This is an exceptionally white book, those two names aside.
4) And yet, and yet... There's this:
"They each saw the world a little differently, each accepted the other's variance of vision. She was secure in what she saw, keenly sensitive to the world around her since her illness; but not being threatened, she had no need to browbeat others over it, no compulsion to convince Alex of her version of events....She couldn't fully explain it to Alex....He respected her intelligence enough to offer her largesse of spirit. He would always listen to her, was intellectually generous enough never to dismiss her perspective. This made him the only truly strong man she'd ever known" (373-4).
OH GOD, THAT IS BEAUTIFUL. That's all we can ask for, really, is someone who respects our right to have differences. THANK YOU FOR UNDERSTANDING THAT, MS HARDIE.
4a) That is slightly upset by the fact that EW, NO, I don't like that Alex has been reconnecting with Lucy's family behind her back and thought their wedding would be an appropriate time for a reunion...but I guess Lucy thinks it's sweet or something, so whatever. Still, NO THANK YOU, potential future Mr. Pudifoots. Please to not be doing this.
4b) "[Lucy's mother] had rehearsed the longed-for reunion for years, but didn't want to eclipse her daughter's most important day with tremendous dramas from their past" (377). THANK YOU, SOFIA, THIS IS WHY YOU AND DIANA ARE THE BEST CHARACTERS IN THIS BOOK. Although, somehow a reunion with a sister Lucy didn't even know she had wasn't too dramatic? Also, I would personally think it's possible that the day Lucy is reunited with her mother might be a more important day than her wedding day...but then, I have skewed perceptions of these things.
4c) I REALLY appreciate that the sister introduced herself, then stepped out of the way. She doesn't try to get all up in Lucy's plans and business and whatnot, which, YES, THIS IS HOW YOU BEHAVE.
5) "I'm so sorry your mother didn't come with Laura. It's one quest I truly wanted to see you follow to its end; to find her" (379). Oh, it's okay, Alex, because Lucy was never the main character, she was always just the conduit through which YOUR family shit went down. The whole book is the story of YOUR family, and the heroine LITERALLY had her heart replaced with your brother's at one point. Is it really any surprise that the only thing in Lucy's life not related to you was only briefly discussed in the closing chapters because YOU went on a side quest for her _without consulting her_? Is it really any surprise that Lucy's response to your nod to the fact that she has other things in her life is that she considers YOUR mother - who she never met - to be her own, not her biological mother? The whole book is about how her identity is subsumed by yours, after all.
Final, bonus thought) "To the plurality of faiths; and the avoidance of dogma about things we can have no certain knowledge of. But can people ever understand this?"/"Can controlling governments afford for them to?"/"...No single religion has a monopoly on bigoted fundamentalism. In Revelation, Jesus is the hero with a 'sword in his mouth'--and I hope we can mount a very effective counteroffensive with our own words." (380) YES. FOREVER YES.
And five more thoughts about my overall feelings about the book:
1) The "mystery" was not all that involving, despite the very interesting notepad that I worked with on a couple of occasions but didn't find all that integral to the book. There is some indication that a lot more exists in the notes than was revealed in the book (which would pretty much have to be true, since I honestly don't feel like much WAS revealed in the book), and that I would get more out of the experience if I put some more time into looking at the cards, but I find I don't really care all that much, as awesome as the cards are.
2) There were a few moments in this book where I found myself nodding vigorously and/or smiling broadly. Some of the ideas are exactly in line with my way of thinking.
3) There are also some major missteps in characterization, pacing, kyriarchical failures, and plot choices.
4) I was entirely mistaken in almost every expectation I had, from plots to characters to author's intentions, to how much I was going to enjoy it. I figured I would either despise it or become completely enthralled by it. In the end, it's just kind of something I read, unique in that it wasn't as formulaic as the majority of fiction, but otherwise largely forgettable. I read it; I probably won't read it again, and I doubt I would get excited about a sequel. That said, I can see myself returning to the note cards some day in the future.
5) Would I recommend the book? Eh... I'm certainly not going to dissuade anyone from reading it, and I probably wouldn't even go so far as to give out disclaimers if I heard someone was going to read it, the way I do with Dresden Files. But I am also unlikely to ever tell someone to read it, or even give out a general, "If you find this book on sale somewhere..." sort of quasi-recommendation, the way I do with Dresden Files.
The Rose Labyrinth is, in the end, an unexceptional book that stopped tantalizingly short of tailored-specifically-for-me brilliance.
And there's a new Wobbly Bits that sheds some light on why this took so long to post and why I'm likely to be a bit weird for a little while.