Annie Ward's Beautiful Bad is sure to be a best seller. Just from reading the excerpt, I can see that the title, which consists of two adjectives, is perhaps the best ever chosen for a book of this genre. It is, without a doubt, the most intense 'first look' I've ever read.
The excerpt consists of three parts, each an individual portion of the whole story, but essential to understanding of how events moved to the prologue, which seems to be pointing to a murder, or as Ms. Ward wrote, a "slaughter."
Oftentimes, an author will use adjectives and adverbs as filler. In Beautiful Bad, Ms. Ward used descriptive language so precisely and succinctly, that in twenty-one pages, I could picture three different times and places. Moreover, I could "feel" what a variety of characters were experiencing. Ms. Ward used words like a painter uses light and shadow--and I saw both while I was reading.
The first part of the book leads a police officer to what looks like a domestic situation, that has the hallmarks of a homicide. We don't get to know more than that. The way the author uses blood descriptors creates visuals that are intense and really disturbing.
The second part of the text introduces the main character, Maddie, who is seeking help in the form of writing therapy. There are so many interesting clues given in this part, it was tasking to find the kernels of the real issue Maddie is troubled with. I learned a new word which I am captivated by: castastrophizing.
I am an avid reader as well as a teacher of English, having taught in foreign countries such as Afghanistan, so perhaps the third part of the excerpt, which details how Maddie and Ian meet, really hit me. Maddie was an English teacher based in the former Soviet bloc nation of Bulgaria. Her best friend was in Macedonia.
When the women attend a Red Cross fund-raiser at a run-down tavern, and they are introduced to Ian and his partner, Peter. Ian reviews the menu and asks, "Crap or Throat?" It was a mistranslation of 'carp' and 'trout.' The scene was a meet-cute, very original and engaging for readers who love language. For me, it was memorable on an exponential scale.
I'll read this book once for the story. Then I'll read it again just to appreciate the author's use of language. Then I will read it at least once more, so I can discuss it in book clubs and on social media.
Then I will go see the movie and compare it unfavorably to the book.
The excerpt consists of three parts, each an individual portion of the whole story, but essential to understanding of how events moved to the prologue, which seems to be pointing to a murder, or as Ms. Ward wrote, a "slaughter."
Oftentimes, an author will use adjectives and adverbs as filler. In Beautiful Bad, Ms. Ward used descriptive language so precisely and succinctly, that in twenty-one pages, I could picture three different times and places. Moreover, I could "feel" what a variety of characters were experiencing. Ms. Ward used words like a painter uses light and shadow--and I saw both while I was reading.
The first part of the book leads a police officer to what looks like a domestic situation, that has the hallmarks of a homicide. We don't get to know more than that. The way the author uses blood descriptors creates visuals that are intense and really disturbing.
The second part of the text introduces the main character, Maddie, who is seeking help in the form of writing therapy. There are so many interesting clues given in this part, it was tasking to find the kernels of the real issue Maddie is troubled with. I learned a new word which I am captivated by: castastrophizing.
I am an avid reader as well as a teacher of English, having taught in foreign countries such as Afghanistan, so perhaps the third part of the excerpt, which details how Maddie and Ian meet, really hit me. Maddie was an English teacher based in the former Soviet bloc nation of Bulgaria. Her best friend was in Macedonia.
When the women attend a Red Cross fund-raiser at a run-down tavern, and they are introduced to Ian and his partner, Peter. Ian reviews the menu and asks, "Crap or Throat?" It was a mistranslation of 'carp' and 'trout.' The scene was a meet-cute, very original and engaging for readers who love language. For me, it was memorable on an exponential scale.
I'll read this book once for the story. Then I'll read it again just to appreciate the author's use of language. Then I will read it at least once more, so I can discuss it in book clubs and on social media.
Then I will go see the movie and compare it unfavorably to the book.