So an article appeared on my news feed featuring a man who is autistic, wants a cure for autism and is getting treated like shit by the rest of the autism community for wanting this. Well, better line me up in the shooting gallery because I want a cure too… FOR ME. I don’t want to cure you if you like having autism, I don’t want to cure your amazing son or daughter who has savant skills, I want to cure ME.
No one could understand what it is like to be in my head. It is a constant barrage of colours, sounds, smells and the other senses too. My brain and body struggle to coordinate. I hear the music in my head, beautiful music. I’ve always heard it and always wanted to get it out but my brain won’t let my body communicate. Attempts to play the full orchestral pieces I hear in my head usually result in a keyboard being thrown, or a page covered in black spots where I have tried (and failed) to write the music down. I see amazing images in my head but can’t draw them unless my brain decides that today is a ‘good day’. I feel like my skills in music and art are completely pointless with this autistic (and ADHD… I’d cure that too) mind I am stuck in.
The only thing I can do well is write, and even that is something I can only do sometimes. If you have followed my blog for a while, you may have noticed I often disappear for days, weeks or even months. This is because my mind is not allowing me to get my thoughts out. Chances are, I can’t get my thoughts and feelings out in real life either. Can you imagine how frustrating this is for me? So yeah, I’d give up my autism and ‘gifts’ in an instant and swap it for a life where I don’t suffer from constant anxiety and overload, can get a job without being a burden (I am a burden, not saying other autistics are), get a partner, actually HAVE feelings for another human being and go out to parties.
So if you have autism and you want to keep it rather than cure it, that is fine by me. I do not wish to ‘wipe out’ an entire group of people. Just myself. Is it really that bad to want to be cured when your life is so hard?
Thank you for your insightful perspective. It was very brave of you to acknowledge your struggles with autism.
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If you love fantasy like I do, then what are you waiting for ? This book’s got it all – sirens, Sea Queen, Pirate Prince who also happens to be a siren killer, mermen and mermaids and royal families with secret treasures.
I really liked the writing – simple, whimsical and perfect. No difficult plot lines to follow, just straight to the point without beating the bush. It did get a tad slow in the middle of the book but there were bigger things to consider like no instant love and too-much-romance. No sir, it was just enough, with a little banter here and there and no funny business.
Lira is the anti-heroine, sass personified and is a ruthless killer. She is of royal blood and goes only after the hearts of Royal blood – young princes, who are promised to rule a kingdom only to have their life snatched away and the kingdoms doomed. Thus she earns her name – Prince’s Bane. But let me remind you, she is the heroine after all, so has a tiny bit of humanity in her saved for her little cousin Kahlia, whose mother’s life Lira had to take. (Ruthless killer for you!!).
She wants to succeed her mother the evil Sea Queen because of which she is bound to please the queen by going after Royal hearts. (Do check the blurb for more!)
Prince Elian – though he prefers to call himself a pirate captain, loves the sea and adventure and wants to take revenge for all the royal blood wasted. Together with his unusual crew and his mission to kill all sirens, he is a murderer himself. His character is of the noble guy who gives up everything for the sake of a better world.
There are numerous side characters too – Princess Yukiko, Madrid, Kye – and there’s a tiny background story for all of them.
As I already mentioned, the writing is easy to follow, no big tough names to remember, and goes with the flow. The descriptions of the various Kingdoms and the sea journey in itself is beautifully written. The action scene with a pirate captain was the best written of all, better than the final war.
The only negative that I would say is, the little pit stops they make during the adventure were a bit dragging. Some might have found that zero tension between the two main characters was a little on the downside, but I felt that this was okay because these two were enemies and any sappy romance would have just spoiled the plot.
As danger circles, Vasilisa must defy even the people she loves and call on dangerous gifts she has long concealed–this, in order to protect her family from a threat that seems to have stepped from her nurse’s most frightening tales..
This was truly enchanting and beautiful. I loved the book and I’m glad to have read it at least a year after it was first published.
The book begins with Dunya, the nurse of Pyotr Vladimirovich and Marina’s kids, narrating a story about the Winter-King, Karachun also known as Frost or Morozko, the demon the winter. She tells them about his kindness and cruelty and the story of how he rewards a girl for her courage and punishes another for her greediness. That’s the first introduction we get to have of the mysterious, mythological Winter King.
The book is full of Russian and Slavic mythological creatures and this is the first time I’ve read about them. I googled most of them just to have an idea because when it comes to picturing the book’s characters, especially in fantasy, I find it hard. So Google to the rescue.
If the domovoi wasn’t real, then what about the others? The vodianoy in the river, the twig-man in the trees? The Rusalka, the polevik, the dvorovoi? Had she imagined them all?
I loved how spirited and determined Vasya was portrayed throughout the book. Never yielding, never the one to give up but at the same time kind enough to animals and household magical creatures and ofcourse, a strong protective feeling towards her family, even to the ones who hated her. As a matter of fact, so were her siblings, Alyoshka and Irina and the father Pyotr himself. I definitely hated the Priest – Konstantin and his religious fanaticism.
I loved how the story moved easily and beautifully. The writing was nearly perfect, that you can almost feel the chills of winter with Katherine’s visually descriptive prose. Also loved how the author , in a not-so-subtle way points out how fear is instilled into people’s mind through religion. All of the nightmares listed in the book sort of creeped me out and I had to close the book at night and continue by day 😀
… he makes men afraid. He eats their fear, gorges himself, and sleeps until he hungers again. Disorder he loves above all..
Now, coming to the little disappointments in the book. Nearly 3/4 of the book later, the title characters come in and I was wondering whether Vasya was the Nightingale , maybe it was a metaphor. *still wondering*. And there were few gaps as well which might be filled in the coming books but still made me wish to know more of Marina’s mother or the Winter King or Sasha.
The book is the first in the Winter night series trilogy and I cant wait to dive into the second book ‘The Girl In the Tower’ which I will be getting in few weeks (Yayyy). I cant wait to read more about Morozko !