RIP Suzy-soo-soo

I've been writing Luminesce for the last six years, and I do not exaggerate when I say that any and every time I was writing, whether in a notebook or on my laptop, my silky terrier Suzy parked herself next to me. She was my constant companion when I was at home, and she slept in our bed for years before my husband developed an allergy to dog hair.

Suzy's age was undetermined, but we'd had her since 2007 when my sister-in-law's friend was moving and couldn't take her. (Little did we know, she was already pregnant with a chow chow's puppies.) So she was at least 13 when she passed away a week ago. She'd started having seizures last November, and even with medication, they improved only slightly, so I knew even then she was not long for this world.

I wanted to publish Luminesce before she was lost to us, but last Saturday, I realized something was terribly wrong when she couldn't eat her favorite canned food. She then grew disorientated, lost her balance, and eventually couldn't walk or raise her head. On Sunday evening, she passed away, but not before we were all able to say our goodbyes.

We took her down to my parents' the following morning, and when we arrived, I was surprised to see my dad digging her grave with a backhoe (he collects such things). My son helped me lower her into the hole and we said goodbye to her with yellow roses.

RIP my sweet little doggie. We miss you. I don't believe in "heaven" but I do believe there's some kind of existence after this life. Whatever it is, I hope you're happy and at peace and bossing all the other dogs around as you did here at home.

J. L. Dodd

“Dogs are our link to paradise. They don't know evil or jealousy or discontent. To sit with a dog on a hillside on a glorious afternoon is to be back in Eden, where doing nothing was not boring--it was peace.”
― Milan Kundera

“If there are no dogs in Heaven, then when I die I want to go where they went.”
― Will Rogers

Links:

https://www.goodreads.com/quotes/tag/dogs

Review XP A Court of Thorns and Roses by Sarah J. Maas

Wow, do I have mixed feelings about this book.

 I was ready to quit about halfway through. The writing was atrocious, but I blame the editor or lack thereof. There must have been an editor, right? I bought this book at fucking Target. Really, creative license can only excuse so much. The similes and metaphors she used drove me bonkers. "A shiver spider-walked down my spine." So what? You might say. No, it wasn't that bad by itself, but they just kept coming. "A brush of ice slithered across my nape." And, just, word choice. Terror isn't "unabashed." You don't "peel back" from someone (unless you're literally stuck to them). These kinds of things. Little things, but they irk the shit out of me.

 The plot crept along like a legless zombie. No complaints about insta-love here people! With assurances from Sistertard it would get better, I tried my best to overlook the smirking and beholding and kept reading. The second half of the story was fast-paced, full of action and intrigue and interesting new characters. I'm not entirely sure I liked Feyre, although she surprised me again and again with her brutality and vulgarity. Tamlin? He was dull. As much fun as a rock. No, that's an insult to rocks. I prefer Lucien over him. Rhysand? Yes. Yes. Yes. Although I can already see how Maas is going to tease us with Rhysand and Feyre's relationship, even though there's no doubt she'll end up with Tamlin, who she lurves.

 All my whining complete, I should say I was impressed with Maas' imagination and her ability to wrap up all those annoying plot holes and weave together an ending that made sense of all the madness.

 What I enjoyed most of all was my inability to predict what would happen next. It's very rare that I read drivel and don't have a pretty good sense of how things will end up. I can't say I've read any lately that end with the heroine murdering innocents. Way to go, Feyre!

 I'll keep reading this series, but it's not a priority.

 Goodreads 3/5 stars

 J. L. Dodd

Review XP The Dragon Reborn By Robert Jordan

Sorry, Tyler. You are wrong.

Pardon my spoilers.

So again, 💙 reading. It's getting harder because there are so many things that Jordan does in his writing that irk me.

The character and worldbuilding in this installment allowed me to overlook the endless descriptions, unnecessary dialogue, annoying characters like Faile/Zarine, and convenient plot devices (ter'angreal much?). We didn't get to follow Rand as much, and that was okay, but I'm used to being inside his head. And as much as the changes in POV work, in another sense, as a reader, I'm used to sticking with a character. I found myself putting the book down when the POV changed.

I'm completely caught up in Nyneve, Egwene and Elayne's quest to find and defeat the Black Ajah. I fucking hate those bitches. I hope they all die.

The presence of the Aiel in this book really adds to the story, as they are oh so mysterious. On the other hand, what's the deal with this sword I never heard of?

Nope. Not impressed with this cover.

I wanted Mat (or Perrin! or Nyneve!) to do something amazing in Tear, but I was disappointed. All Mat did was open a cell door. Perrin didn't even make it into the Stone. And Nyneve only managed to get one punch in (although it was spectacular). I mean, don't get me wrong, it shows Mat's development that he followed the girls to Tear to begin with, and the growth of secondary characters is what this book is all about, but I still felt a bit let down in general with that ending. It could have been a hell of a lot better.

These fights with Ba'alzamon are getting old. You know Rand isn't going to die. I wish the Dark One would just kill someone already. Then there might be some risk in these conflicts.

So much for a review. This is literally just comments. On to book four!

Goodreads 4/5 stars 💔

J. L. Dodd