When High School Seniours Actually Have Love Lives (I Wish It Were Me But At Least I Can Read A Well-Written One)
"What's the opposite of an affair?"
I have never pondered the answer to that question until reading a snippet of These Deadly Prophecies and now I am miserably ensconced in a state of confusion. What, indeed, is the opposite of an affair, because while Andrea Tang painted a vivid picture of it would be like, she did not - or rather, Callum did not - directly answer the question.
But while I ponder, I also am overtaken with a very strong desire to meet Callum Solomon, because my love life is dead and he, in all his eighteen-year-old, baby-fat and Ivy League-destined glory (characteristics directly taken from the book) seems an excellent candidate. Since I cannot, and because he would probably never even look at me, I can only sigh over his chemistry with Tabatha, which was surprisingly sweet. Their banter, the way he drops his mask around her, the way she is openly jealous of the way he's been on honour roll since freshman year, and the fact that they are both juniour sorcerers in a fantasy/modern mash of a setting works well the way grapes and cheese would - totally unexpected, but wonderful nevertheless. With healthy doses of humour dropped into their conversations and a side of legendary crab cakes that I would want to eat if I weren't vegetarian, Andrea Tang has me hooked to her new book.
As a current high school seniour and a Chinese-American one at that, I also felt many parallels in my own life with Tabatha's, which occurs so rarely in literature that this book made me weep for joy. Almost. A non-STEM child with ancestors from the Middle Kingdom? Yes, please, I will read anything published on this character and praise them to the high heavens, and the fact that Tabatha is an actually likable and believable character is only the cherry on top.
I have never pondered the answer to that question until reading a snippet of These Deadly Prophecies and now I am miserably ensconced in a state of confusion. What, indeed, is the opposite of an affair, because while Andrea Tang painted a vivid picture of it would be like, she did not - or rather, Callum did not - directly answer the question.
But while I ponder, I also am overtaken with a very strong desire to meet Callum Solomon, because my love life is dead and he, in all his eighteen-year-old, baby-fat and Ivy League-destined glory (characteristics directly taken from the book) seems an excellent candidate. Since I cannot, and because he would probably never even look at me, I can only sigh over his chemistry with Tabatha, which was surprisingly sweet. Their banter, the way he drops his mask around her, the way she is openly jealous of the way he's been on honour roll since freshman year, and the fact that they are both juniour sorcerers in a fantasy/modern mash of a setting works well the way grapes and cheese would - totally unexpected, but wonderful nevertheless. With healthy doses of humour dropped into their conversations and a side of legendary crab cakes that I would want to eat if I weren't vegetarian, Andrea Tang has me hooked to her new book.
As a current high school seniour and a Chinese-American one at that, I also felt many parallels in my own life with Tabatha's, which occurs so rarely in literature that this book made me weep for joy. Almost. A non-STEM child with ancestors from the Middle Kingdom? Yes, please, I will read anything published on this character and praise them to the high heavens, and the fact that Tabatha is an actually likable and believable character is only the cherry on top.