little tradition
Jun. 30th, 2025 01:58 pmProbably more than ten years ago now, I was at the library and picked up The Raven Boys from the Teen section. I fell wildly in love with it and by the time Blue Lily, Lily Blue came out I asked my parents to buy me a copy for Christmas. They did, and got it signed. Since then, every time Maggie Stiefvater has had a new book released, my parents KNOW that they will be getting me a copy.
The Listeners came out earlier this month.
I'm in Dallas visiting my grandparents (staying for a few days before heading off to Denver for BHS International tomorrow (!)) and... while I have a good relationship with my grandparents, and they're relatively young compared to the grandparents of most other people my age, there isn't exactly a lot of "leaving the house" that they do, so spending time with them is a lot of "we sit on the couch and read quietly". Hence I finished this book in two and a half days. Spoilers from this point onward.
It's about a magical hotel with water that can hurt, or heal. During the onset of WWII, the hotel is asked by the FBI to house Axis diplomats who are being detained. The hotel's general manager, a WV holler girl who ingratiated herself with the hotel's wealthy owning family, tries to balance her dedication to the hotel's reputation for service and luxury against a growing moral objection. Meanwhile, the lead FBI agent, a coal miner's son, struggles with whether to remain in his job (and he also knows about the magic water and is scared of it because he thinks it'll fuck him up), and the autistic daughter of one of the detained German attaches watches the hotel guests and learns to get a sense of the water. It's a classic Maggie novel in many ways. It's Appalachian, it's about class difference, it has this subtle folk magic that's normal but also isn't, it has the same kind of rhythm and form. It's also her first real adult novel, which... should have felt more jarring to me, I think. It's like I've grown up with her protagonists, a bit. I'm a good eleven years younger than June Porter Hudson but nevertheless I started reading her YA books as a teen and now that I am, for the first time, feeling like a Real Adult, she comes out with an adult novel. You know?
I wish June and Tucker hadn't gotten together, but other than that I really think the plot WORKED. I was questioning the inclusion of Hannelore for a bit (is she trying to be PC? not sure if she's succeeding. that kind of thought, you know) and June's subsequent reveal that she, too, was like that as a kid and functionally "grew out of it". But it was actually necessary to move the plot along. June needed the moral conflict of "this girl, who is Like Me, is going to be sent to her death if I don't Act". Fundamentally this book is about the cost of keeping up appearances, and how sometimes we need to do things to protect not only ourselves but the community around us. I think that's timely, now. At this point in my life, where I have an office job and I'm starting to think hard about my future and just when the world is falling apart more than usual, I struggle sometimes with doing the "right thing" versus doing the thing that will rock the boat the least. June learns that she needs to rock the boat a little more, as do I.
The Listeners came out earlier this month.
I'm in Dallas visiting my grandparents (staying for a few days before heading off to Denver for BHS International tomorrow (!)) and... while I have a good relationship with my grandparents, and they're relatively young compared to the grandparents of most other people my age, there isn't exactly a lot of "leaving the house" that they do, so spending time with them is a lot of "we sit on the couch and read quietly". Hence I finished this book in two and a half days. Spoilers from this point onward.
It's about a magical hotel with water that can hurt, or heal. During the onset of WWII, the hotel is asked by the FBI to house Axis diplomats who are being detained. The hotel's general manager, a WV holler girl who ingratiated herself with the hotel's wealthy owning family, tries to balance her dedication to the hotel's reputation for service and luxury against a growing moral objection. Meanwhile, the lead FBI agent, a coal miner's son, struggles with whether to remain in his job (and he also knows about the magic water and is scared of it because he thinks it'll fuck him up), and the autistic daughter of one of the detained German attaches watches the hotel guests and learns to get a sense of the water. It's a classic Maggie novel in many ways. It's Appalachian, it's about class difference, it has this subtle folk magic that's normal but also isn't, it has the same kind of rhythm and form. It's also her first real adult novel, which... should have felt more jarring to me, I think. It's like I've grown up with her protagonists, a bit. I'm a good eleven years younger than June Porter Hudson but nevertheless I started reading her YA books as a teen and now that I am, for the first time, feeling like a Real Adult, she comes out with an adult novel. You know?
I wish June and Tucker hadn't gotten together, but other than that I really think the plot WORKED. I was questioning the inclusion of Hannelore for a bit (is she trying to be PC? not sure if she's succeeding. that kind of thought, you know) and June's subsequent reveal that she, too, was like that as a kid and functionally "grew out of it". But it was actually necessary to move the plot along. June needed the moral conflict of "this girl, who is Like Me, is going to be sent to her death if I don't Act". Fundamentally this book is about the cost of keeping up appearances, and how sometimes we need to do things to protect not only ourselves but the community around us. I think that's timely, now. At this point in my life, where I have an office job and I'm starting to think hard about my future and just when the world is falling apart more than usual, I struggle sometimes with doing the "right thing" versus doing the thing that will rock the boat the least. June learns that she needs to rock the boat a little more, as do I.