"Chime"

[hazelwillow]

I just finished reading "Chime" by Franny Billingsley.

It was extraordinary.

I read all day. I read all night.

I was not in control of this. Sometimes, I wanted to stop to eat. It was hard. I couldn't pull myself away.

I could relate to it so very well. I, too, have convinced myself I am bad. And had to re-stomp those pathways in my brain. I

Comments

[beth_shulman]

I loved it so much. The voice is addictive. I'm STILL annoyed the Printz didn't even recognize it with an honor. It was such a complete, lovely lovely book. I've never really articulated why I love it, which seems to be a common problem with books I love.

Did you just read both books recently? I read Graceling a while ago and didn't like it much, and Fire I couldn't stand.

[hazelwillow]

Thanks for your response!

Oh my, yes. Addictive is a good, good word for it. And it is the voice that sucks you in, isn't it? It wasn't the plot, or even the characters (although of course I loved both plot and characters, especially Rose. I preferred Rose

[beth_shulman]

I didn't especially like Graceling, but I didn't really figure out why until after I read Fire. I think the author's presence/agenda is a little too blatant for me, if that makes sense. Also, someone pointed out that if their roles were reversed, if Katsa were male, she'd come across as pretty abusive in the way she treated Po. So a) she herself isn't looking for any committed relationship, which is fine, except in conjunction with b) not treating Po well and c) coming across as the author's mouthpiece

[hazelwillow]

One thing I can say about Chime is how it got being a little girl right. I know the character is seventeen, but I would say she is still a girl. The way she in some ways wanted to be a witch because it gave her power, the way she sometimes feels powerful like a wolfgirl, that wildness that she has. How sometimes she feels connected to that part of herself, and sometimes she doesn't; she's changeable, so are her moods and the way she sees and imagines herself. That rang true for me as an evocation of what being a growing girl is/was like.

As a girl, I was also obsessed with witches. So, I'm biased with that. I have yet to decide whether the witch as an archetype is something reclaimable for little girls, whether it can be something powerful for them that's not evil. I think as a girl I found it freeing to play at being something that doesn't have to be purely good.