Random Reading - Jigsaw Puzzle by HG

[byslantedlight]

Comments

[bodiecuddle]

I read it a while ago and now I`m remainded to get it on my e reader and read it again. ;-) Thanks!!!

And I liked it too. It`s worth to read it more than once.

[byslantedlight]

It is worth reading more than once, isn't it - so glad you're up for a re-read! *g*

[carbonel]

I love this story. It hits a lot of my hurt/comfort buttons, it has the Lads in their own milieu being competent, but it also has them taking control of their own destiny. And it has interesting subsidiary characters.

The other thing I find interesting about it is the structure. It's almost perfectly symmetrical -- things go down and down and down until they hit bottom around the middle, and from there things steadily improve, with a few small bumps in the road.

(It must be the right time for this; someone on the ProsStoryFinder list asked about a story with Doyle and a sculptress [sic], and it was this one, though that's a smallish plot element in the overall arc.)

[byslantedlight]

That's very much how I feel about it too - the hurt/comfort buttons, but the lads still being in control of themselves and their destiny...

And hee - I saw the ProsStoryFinder question just as I got up to the part of Jigsaw Puzzle with Kate Holden, the sculptor. It must be the right time indeed for this story! *g*

[gilda_elise]

I love this story and have read it several times. As you say, they are totally in character. I think my only quibble is that it's hard for me to think that Bodie wouldn't have noticed that he was hurting Doyle as much as he was during his almost-rape-or that he would even think if raping Doyle in the first place, no matter how mad he was at him.

[byslantedlight]

For me the lads have both been hurting so much that I can see them doing something through these emotions that would seem out of character for them normally... the impact they had on each other went so much more deeply than just mad, it was that... love/hate when they're both the same thing somehow, so... so it worked for me, even that part... But I do like fic that delves into the darker sides people have too, so... *g*

[franciskerst]

So what would you say about Bodie's behaviour in "The Chameleon Dish" by Kitty Fisher! (Not intending to move the discussion astray toward another story; it just came to my mind as a counterpoint). And about Doyle's behaviour in "Choosing" by Kate Maclean? In comparison I don't find Bodie so nasty in HG's story. Though I should maybe read it again, me too...

[gilda_elise]

I found Bodie's behaviour in "The Chameleon Dish," a bit extreme, though I really like that story, too. It's been awhile since I've read "Choosing," but I'll assume that I had the same response since I really enjoy Kate's work. I guess it comes down to that I can enjoy a story, even if there's a particular scene that doesn't work for me. In these scenes I don't see either, no matter how angry they are, resorting to rape.

[mab_browne]

I can maybe comment later, as I downloaded it on to my e-reader earlier this week. :-)

[byslantedlight]

Excellent! It's coming up all over the place at the moment, this story! *g*

[garettgal]

This is one of my all time favourite Pros stories and makes for a long, angsty, but ultimately enjoyable, read.

I did find Bodie deliberately cruel in some of his dealings with Doyle but on the whole I like how the relationship is deconstructed and slowly rebuilt.

I agree too that there are a couple of very good original characters in this story.

I am a big fan of HG's writing and would happily recommend any story by her.

[byslantedlight]

HG's stories are fab, aren't they!

I think I know what you mean about Bodie being deliberately cruel, but for me HG's built up such hurt between them that I can see it coming out in all kinds of ways, and I think it makes sense for Bodie here...

And yes for the original characters too! Something else that makes a good writer, I reckon, even if I am really here for the B/D... *g*