Ash

This book has rendered me stupid. I requested it from the library because I was craving fantasty, something light and airy and romantic, and a little mysterious. By the time it came in, I thought the mood had passed, but I was wrong. This was exactly what I needed.I love the use of fairy lore, its a fantastic element to embellish in the Cinderella story. Malinda Lo manages to maintain its danger, while never specifically articulating why. I think that's one of the core elements of a fairy tale, that distance, its what allows them to grow and take on new shapes in our minds. The magic here is unspoken and unruly, beautiful and curious but with doom and destruction laid all over it. This is also what I liked about [b:Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell 14201 Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell Susanna Clarke http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1327945902s/14201.jpg 3921305], and if that book had this kind of romance I would have been much more partial to it.Girl love makes me a little giddy. Maybe its because its so hard to come by in fiction, maybe it has to do with how my attraction to women is far more emotional than my attraction to men. Or maybe its just that the idea of falling in love with this regal huntress, in all her glory gives me the vapors. Seriously, I cannot stop smiling right now, I think my ears are turning red. Stupid, I tell you, I have become stupid.I don't really want to dissect this. Ash had everythign I was looking for. It reminds me of that scene in Legend, when Tim Curry all ripped and painted in red attempts to seduce Mia Sara with a pretty jewels and a dress, which I was obsessed with as a kid and still kind of am and have never been able to properly articulate why. This book just made me happy is all.