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It is a GLORIOUS MORNING AT MONTMARAY
I repeat, you all must read these books. I can't remember the last book series that I read that I loved as much as these. There's history, romance, adventure, drama, excitement, tragedy, but above all, these books are about family, and the FitzOsbornes are one of the greatest fictional families ever.
*ALL THE FEELINGS EVER: spoilers for The FitzOsbornes at War: basically an expansion of a long, rambling comment I left in![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
stepliana's LJ:
OH GOD THAT BOOK! It was everything I wanted it to be, and it was so much more than I imagined, if that makes sense? Like, I had high hopes and it was so satisfying in every way, but I just didn't know all the ways it was going be like that!
Oh, HENRY. I just was so blindsided by that and I guess that was the point, that like Sophie I was so busy worrying about Toby and Simon that I just never saw it coming. And coming on the heels of her letter, how happy she was at finally, FINALLY being able to do what she wanted, and how good she felt, being back on the water (she hadn't even known she missed it so much, oh Henry) and the letter was so her, her misspellings and her enthusiasm just jumping off the page and how the only thing that would have made her day perfect was Carlos. And the funeral, oh god, I started crying then and it was full-on ugly crying, sobbing over all the people who came for Henry, all the people she touched and left her imprint on. And poor Sophie, feeling so all alone, and being glad that they hadn't found Henry's body, that she was making her way back to Montmaray, just going home a little earlier than the rest of them.
And Sophie, how brilliant and wonderful she was! Not that she hadn't been already, but she grew into herself so much, with her brave spying and her bearing witness to everything, all the pain and suffering, not just her own, but the country, and the people around her. And not just the pain - the small moments of joy she could still find, even when there was so much despair. I loved especially when she got angry over Anthony (*sob*) and his horrible death, and her outrage over all the injustice she saw. And okay, Simon? It had to be, it had to happen that way, and how amazing and strong she was, saying no to his proposal, and that being okay for her. And I love love love how it didn't ruin her, how it wasn't a heartbreaking experience, the way it would have been in so many other books. And oh my god, the happiness of her love with Rupert, how it wasn't the whole book, how it was just something that grew naturally for both of them, and then was SO RIGHT, just when she needed it the most.
And of course, her relationship with Veronica - they were of course going to grow apart as they grew up, but it never felt like they were distant from each other. They each had their own thing going on - and how much do I love Veronica being somewhat ambivalent about Daniel (and wanting to be a disembodied brain, which is just so her, she was such a creature of the mind) because she wanted to remain independent and her own person, but still she loved him so, and together they made a life that worked for them. But still, even with Veronica going away and her doing her own thing, she and Sophie were still together so much. That moment after they left Toby in the hospital where they just turned and clung to each other, oh my heart.
Toby. TOBY. Poor sweet darling Toby. What a way to grow up. And he needed to grow up, and even before he went missing we saw how much the war was affecting him and changing him and still! Still he could propose to Julia when she needed help. (And how great was this book that it had THREE refused proposals, and no one fell apart over them!) And then when he finally made his way home, to be so injured and it was so unfair, but so real, the whole thing was so real, and of course Toby was determined to survive, even though he was so wounded in every way. And the way he fought back, the way he convinced everyone to take back Montmaray - oh Toby, the man you grew up to be. And they all needed Toby to pull them together, and he did, he even got Simon back.
And of course Simon came back for Toby and for Montmaray. From the beginning, those were the two things Simon was most devoted to. I loved Simon's changes in this book too, although I wished we could have seen more of him - understandable we didn't, because that is so Simon to close off and pull away and go through his changes on his own. But I loved his return, and how he wanted to put things right with Sophie and how he and Veronica resumed their bickering.
The end! With them taking back Montmaray, and everyone pulling together, and Julia and Rupert and Daniel all doing their parts too. And Sophie and Veronica thinking of Henry, and then Toby's message at the end. And the epilogue! I cried over Aunt Charlotte going after Barnes, and Sophie's bravery at bringing a new baby into the world, after everything that's gone by. And Julia is the Queen of Montmaray and still married to Toby and having babies with Simon! Sophie was so right, that Simon needed two people, and of course, Toby was always in love with Simon anyway, and the three of them living and working together as a polyamorous triad! And of course I loved that Toby still wasn't quite healed, not until Davey was born, because things are never that easy.
That last line - oh my god, I am tearing up right now thinking about it. Just like Sophie missed Henry every day of her life, I felt like I missed her every page of the book after she died, but she still was such a part of them, such a part of the story.
I just loved every single bit of it, and I never wanted it to end, but I am so glad they all ended up where they needed to be and were happy in the end. There's so much else - how Cooper did such an excellent job with the details and the setting and events of the time, the callbacks to the Montmaray and the first book that started coming up, and how there was romance and humor and excitement and adventure but it was a family story first and foremost, and omg, just every character. CARLOS! I mean, even the dog was a fantastic character. And a character has an abortion and isn't judged or vilified or eaten up with remorse, and the gay character's story arc isn't about coming to terms with his sexuality, as it might have been in other YA books, it's just his own personal story, and yes, he's gay, but that's not all there is to him.
And now I have to stop because I have written a book ABOUT the book.
*Seriously, I am going to spoil you totally if you click that cut.
*ALL THE FEELINGS EVER: spoilers for The FitzOsbornes at War: basically an expansion of a long, rambling comment I left in
stepliana's LJ:OH GOD THAT BOOK! It was everything I wanted it to be, and it was so much more than I imagined, if that makes sense? Like, I had high hopes and it was so satisfying in every way, but I just didn't know all the ways it was going be like that!
Oh, HENRY. I just was so blindsided by that and I guess that was the point, that like Sophie I was so busy worrying about Toby and Simon that I just never saw it coming. And coming on the heels of her letter, how happy she was at finally, FINALLY being able to do what she wanted, and how good she felt, being back on the water (she hadn't even known she missed it so much, oh Henry) and the letter was so her, her misspellings and her enthusiasm just jumping off the page and how the only thing that would have made her day perfect was Carlos. And the funeral, oh god, I started crying then and it was full-on ugly crying, sobbing over all the people who came for Henry, all the people she touched and left her imprint on. And poor Sophie, feeling so all alone, and being glad that they hadn't found Henry's body, that she was making her way back to Montmaray, just going home a little earlier than the rest of them.
And Sophie, how brilliant and wonderful she was! Not that she hadn't been already, but she grew into herself so much, with her brave spying and her bearing witness to everything, all the pain and suffering, not just her own, but the country, and the people around her. And not just the pain - the small moments of joy she could still find, even when there was so much despair. I loved especially when she got angry over Anthony (*sob*) and his horrible death, and her outrage over all the injustice she saw. And okay, Simon? It had to be, it had to happen that way, and how amazing and strong she was, saying no to his proposal, and that being okay for her. And I love love love how it didn't ruin her, how it wasn't a heartbreaking experience, the way it would have been in so many other books. And oh my god, the happiness of her love with Rupert, how it wasn't the whole book, how it was just something that grew naturally for both of them, and then was SO RIGHT, just when she needed it the most.
And of course, her relationship with Veronica - they were of course going to grow apart as they grew up, but it never felt like they were distant from each other. They each had their own thing going on - and how much do I love Veronica being somewhat ambivalent about Daniel (and wanting to be a disembodied brain, which is just so her, she was such a creature of the mind) because she wanted to remain independent and her own person, but still she loved him so, and together they made a life that worked for them. But still, even with Veronica going away and her doing her own thing, she and Sophie were still together so much. That moment after they left Toby in the hospital where they just turned and clung to each other, oh my heart.
Toby. TOBY. Poor sweet darling Toby. What a way to grow up. And he needed to grow up, and even before he went missing we saw how much the war was affecting him and changing him and still! Still he could propose to Julia when she needed help. (And how great was this book that it had THREE refused proposals, and no one fell apart over them!) And then when he finally made his way home, to be so injured and it was so unfair, but so real, the whole thing was so real, and of course Toby was determined to survive, even though he was so wounded in every way. And the way he fought back, the way he convinced everyone to take back Montmaray - oh Toby, the man you grew up to be. And they all needed Toby to pull them together, and he did, he even got Simon back.
And of course Simon came back for Toby and for Montmaray. From the beginning, those were the two things Simon was most devoted to. I loved Simon's changes in this book too, although I wished we could have seen more of him - understandable we didn't, because that is so Simon to close off and pull away and go through his changes on his own. But I loved his return, and how he wanted to put things right with Sophie and how he and Veronica resumed their bickering.
The end! With them taking back Montmaray, and everyone pulling together, and Julia and Rupert and Daniel all doing their parts too. And Sophie and Veronica thinking of Henry, and then Toby's message at the end. And the epilogue! I cried over Aunt Charlotte going after Barnes, and Sophie's bravery at bringing a new baby into the world, after everything that's gone by. And Julia is the Queen of Montmaray and still married to Toby and having babies with Simon! Sophie was so right, that Simon needed two people, and of course, Toby was always in love with Simon anyway, and the three of them living and working together as a polyamorous triad! And of course I loved that Toby still wasn't quite healed, not until Davey was born, because things are never that easy.
That last line - oh my god, I am tearing up right now thinking about it. Just like Sophie missed Henry every day of her life, I felt like I missed her every page of the book after she died, but she still was such a part of them, such a part of the story.
I just loved every single bit of it, and I never wanted it to end, but I am so glad they all ended up where they needed to be and were happy in the end. There's so much else - how Cooper did such an excellent job with the details and the setting and events of the time, the callbacks to the Montmaray and the first book that started coming up, and how there was romance and humor and excitement and adventure but it was a family story first and foremost, and omg, just every character. CARLOS! I mean, even the dog was a fantastic character. And a character has an abortion and isn't judged or vilified or eaten up with remorse, and the gay character's story arc isn't about coming to terms with his sexuality, as it might have been in other YA books, it's just his own personal story, and yes, he's gay, but that's not all there is to him.
And now I have to stop because I have written a book ABOUT the book.
*Seriously, I am going to spoil you totally if you click that cut.
no subject
According to Amazon, the 3rd book isn't available until October 2012! How did you get a copy of The FitzOsbornes at War?
no subject