Wednesday, May 18, 2011

French Fries, French Dressing, French Bread...and to drink; YOU!

Spoiler Alert - Don't read unless you have read Chapter 18 in A Discovery of Witches.

OK so we have arrived in France on Edward's - I mean Matthew's private plane...and have shown up at the home of his "Other Mother" - Ysabeau.  (How many of you could pronounce that on first site?  Me neither.)  I say "Edward" because - c'mon - sometimes this book is sooooo Twilight it makes me a) giggle, b) wonder if Stephenie Meyer's lawyers are involved - KIDDING - and c) miss Edward and then remember "Oh Shit - Matthew's just as hot and way more rich!" 

So - Ysabeau - who I will now refer to as OM (other mother) out of sheer laziness because the shiz is hard to type - is a total and complete beotch.  And we knew that going in, right?  Yes, yes we did.  HOW all of these vampires have such an allegiance to the people who turned them is somewhat beyond me.  I guess it's because - under all that "Waaaa, I've been alive for centuries and everyone knows I'm differenttttt", they truly think they're a superior race - and can accept having been turned into a monster.  (Except on Vampire Diaries, y'all...where the vamps hate being vampires.  Oooooh children...mama can't WAIT until September...no she can NOT!  Stefan, party of MEAN?  LOVES IT!)

So anyway - I - I mean Diana - is feeling all kinds of under-dressed...and you know what?  Girlfriend SHOULD.  Pooooor thing...can't be bothered shopping for anything but black pants and turtlenecks (what is with THAT???) because she has no time in between obsessive-rowing, power-reading and witch-offending.  I mean, really.  Get your ass to Loft, girl!  They have those stupid 30% off sales all the time!  If I were OM, I'd be annoyed with your "I'm too smart to dress well" ass, too!

Off to read.  This is so much fun! 

13 comments:

  1. You know when I first heard about this book I want to say late last year or early this year the write up I read actually called it a "Twilight for adults"!

    Anxiously waiting for you to read more...so much I want to talk about!

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  2. Brandy - I am cutting and pasting the following from an email I sent to Tracey at 1:08 PM Eastern time - today. And I'm laughing whilst doing so. ;)

    Honestly - it is getting really good. It's Twilight for grown-ups with a little True Blood and Harry Potter thrown in.

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  3. All I can say is............yes, of course it was a GREAT idea to take a witch to a witch-killer's house. I'm sure there was NO OTHER PLACE IN THE ENTIRE WORLD to take her afterall. No other possibilities. No sir. I'm sure this will end well.

    I do feel for poor Diana. I too, am wardrobe-challenged. Allergic to shopping. (Except in book stores. That's fun.)

    Vampire Diaries? Never seen it. I'll have to investigate that further. I'm on season 4 of Monarch of the Glen. Thanks sooooo much for recommending it!

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  4. How funny Carol! I actually found the blurb about it. I remember typing it up and emailing it to my bff.

    "The debut novelist is a history professor who teaches courses in magic and alchemy, so her subject matter came easily. Inspired by her life's study, as well as a fondness for Anne Rice's vampire Lestat, Harkness set out to write "a fairy tale for grown-ups." Her heroine is Diana Bishop, a gutsy Yale historian - and witch - who stumbles upon an enchanted manuscript in Oxford University's Bodleian Library, attracting the smoldering attentions of a 1,500 year old vampire. Viking bid big for Harkness' first book in a planned trilogy. This might just be a Twilight for the tweedy set."

    Jennifer - you should check out Vampire Diaries. I ♥ it! And especially the books. They were my "Twilight" back in the day when I was a teenager. My friend and I were obsessed with the books and read them so many time. I love there is a show now 20 yrs later even though it's nothing like the books! A lot of people that have watched the show first really hate the books because they are really cheesy teen books but I'm very nostaligic about them. :)

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  5. Did anyone want to know more about OM's maid/friend/cook/nice vampire woman? (I cannot remember her name for the life of me) The one that feeds Diana. That one. I was really curious about her. Why was she nicer than most of the vampires who've encountered Diana? Did she have a past experience with a witch? I need more info!!! I need it now.

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  6. Hi all--can't remember what the back story is on the the vampire cook. she's just nice, and that's the bottom line. has to be some sort of balance for the meanies. and yes, diana does always seem to be dressed in yoga pants or some other slouchy items, and the descriptions of matthew's clothing just goes on and on and on--and always the same. likewise the descriptions of wine (the author has a thing for wine blog) and tea and yoga. small digressions, and no biggie as the author is too busy thinking up clever plot twists and subgroups. don't give up on mama OM...vampires don't live to be 1500 years plus by being too nice, but she loves her matthew and will do anything for him. OM turns out to be pretty a-ok. wait until you get to the part about the witchy aunts and their house--what a hoot! --Julie

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  7. Carol, where in the world is your sista?

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  8. Listen, the Edward-Matthew connection is massive - some of the language is startlingly similar! the "I feel very protective of you" is almost repeated, and the dinner scenes feel so twilightly. That said, I like Witch Bella (Sorry, Diana) far more than Bella :-) and I like Matthew so much more than Edward! He sounds hot and grownup - like a tall, hot Robert Pattinson 10 years from now :-) I'm just at the part where they've arrived at Ysabeau's Hogwarts fortress - and I am loving that Ysabeau is slightly younger than Matthew. That has to be the most horrific mother in law nightmare of all time!

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  9. Ok - so how *do* you pronounce Ysabeau anyway?? Is it Sae-bow, or Sah-bow, do you say the "y"....I have the "beau" part anyway. In 11 years of studying French I never came across a name like that!

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  10. From what I've read, it's Hebrew and is pronounced "Ee-sa-Bo" or "Ee-sa-bow". It's related to Isabel.

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  11. I can't wait for mean Stefan either!!!! I loooooooove when the good vamps fall off the wagon.

    Oh I am so mad Diana's literary wardrobe too. I remember her saying something like, "I have nothing to wear to my dinner with a vampire..."
    I do! Therefore I should take her place on said date.
    But yes, her ubiquitous yoga pants bothered me as much as Sookie's book wardrobe. Dress with detachable sleeves? Oh Sookie.

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  12. Carol,
    I COMPLETELY agree! She knew she was going to meet the mother of the man she is dating and yet she only packed the basics?! Seriously??? Of course she felt under-dressed!I believe at this point she knows that Matthew is always well dressed, so why did she expect his "mother" (or whatever) to be any different? This part didn't make any sense to me. It would almost be like going to a job interview wearing a T-shirt, jeans and flip flops!
    Regarding the Twilight similarities, I honestly don't know why aren't SM's lawyers on this yet (but I'm not a lawyer so what do I know!). Not that I'm complaining. I loved Twilight and this almost feels like reading it for the first time. Except in this version Bella and Edward meet when they are older, and I like it better because I can relate to it more than Twilight (since I finished high school quite while back)
    By the way, I only found out about this book because I saw it on your Outlander Purgatory Blog, so THANKS for the recommendation!
    Allie

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  13. Oooh Awesome, Allie! I love to spread the Matthew love. :) I ranked on the non-sex sex...but honestly, I didn't mind so much. There were a few hot parts...and it makes waiting for #2 that much more interesting. :) PS - WHY do these heroines wear such shabby clothes?! Great comparison with the job interview!

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