Apple
I knew this book was going to be good when it started off like this.
They don't make evil like they used to.
Politicians make policies putting children in cages and allow big companies to pour poison into our air and water. But they will say they are just doing it to support business, and that we'll all reap the benefit of the poison eventually. There are people who scream their hatred to the skies, burn torches and mock those who are different from themselves. Even they have their excuses, usually something about protecting a āway of life.ā There are no villains anymore.
On television, in movies, villains are easily recognizable. The bad guys wear long dark robes and have no noses, or wear tight-fitting suits and have red eyes. There is something comforting in this idea, that when you see evil, you will know it. That it cannot be hiding in the everyday faces of people you ride the bus with, or go to school with, or share a sandwich with at lunch.
Hannah Arendt, the political philosopher, coined the phrase āthe banality of evilāāthat evil is very often āterrifyingly normal.ā She knew, as many who have suffered do, that the worst things can happen in the blandest of placesābetween the lines in a textbook omitting large swaths of history or in the hushing of a child who has something important to say. All these things are done in the name of keeping our worlds safe, consistent, banal.
And when our villains have new costumes and haircuts in the latest styles, where will we say that evil lives? Will it be in the voices that dare to disturb that peaceful illusion? Pet asks precisely these questions. In a voice that is as clear and poetic as in any of their work for adults, Akwaeke examines the journey that evil has made, from monstrosity to mainstream. This adventure, set in anyplace America, thinks about language and communication, for versatility in listening and speaking is essential to understanding where we are in the world, to see past the lie that there are no longer any villains. Akwaeke asks us readers to reconsider our monsters, to look past the comforting illusions and, along with Jam and Redemption, hunt for the true villains in our midst.
I wanted to love this sooo bad, but it fell so short. Let me start by saying i love Arthurian-inspired books so this was right up my alley. but the fact that this book is sooo long and nothing is happening until the end did not help it. Nor the fact that even with the info dumping you're still confused, not to mention that I have a hard time with Ya fantasy anyway. I wanted to like Bree but she was boring to me, which is sad because i love the idea of a black girl being a descendant of King Arthur. Sel was more interesting and the love triangle was predictable. and now I'm upset because I've waited so long to read this book only for it to disappoint me
