Ah, yes, the whole “get downstairs and clean up before everyone else comes down and pretend to be normal when they do” thing.
And then the yew tree suspiciously being Exactly Where It’s Supposed To Be.
It was totally a dream the night before, except for the tree needles all over the bedroom floor because of course there are. Because wind.
Of course the mom does come down for breakfast. And more of the “yeah, you totally heard the wind last night.”
So, apparently the mom’s really sick, and right now it’s at the point of being “it’s serious cancer but we’re not actually going to say serious cancer yet.”
Oh, fun. The grandma’s coming over. And apparently she’s one of those strict and judgemental grandmas.
“It’s only gonna be for a few nights.” Yeah, sure it’s “just a few nights” when things are this bad.
OK, so this is… in Eastern Australia in the distant future (prologue is 2505). OK.
We’re already starting with the “dark and stormy night” trope. Cool. (Also, having the main characters’ last names be Tempest seems like a bad pun right now.)
Grace and Connor live in a lighthouse. That’s actually cool in a not sarcastic way.
So, apparently the twins having “emerald green eyes just like their mom” is… Apparently Significant. For some reason. (Please don’t make this be throwaway information to have the characters be a Mary Sue and a Gary Stu. On a related note, instead of “emerald green” eyes, I’m getting “fanfic green” eyes.)
Also, whenever there are a pair of siblings as the main characters, why is it that like 90% of the time, they’re twins? I mean, there’s nothing wrong with twins, it’s just like why the hell are Very Important Siblings Always Twins? (Also… not only are the siblings twins, there’s always a Huge Prophecy Involving Them involved. I’ve already forgotten if this is the case in this book since it’s been so long since I’ve read it.)
So, Grace likes the sea and storms, but Connor doesn’t. That’s gonna be an interesting contrast later, isn’t it?
The vampirates are known as the demons of the ocean. Not sure if I like this title drop or not.
This shanty about the vampirates probably doesn’t go to the tune of “The Word I Couldn’t Keep” from the Nancy Drew game Sea of Darkness, but I’m gonna Make It Fit Anyway.
Also, why do I get the feeling that the storm plus this particular shanty are both Serious Foreshadowing That’s Totally Not Forced.
Oh, look, now that the storm’s starting to clear, there’s a ship that’s Totally Not The Vampirate Ship.
Why’s the dad waving at the ship? Does he know more than he’s letting on?
Random final thoughts for the prologue: I remember loving this book and thinking the second was dumb but I still wanted to continue with the series. I still need to go past book two. (My feelings for the series are “this started out better than Twilight but based on reviews for the later books in the series, I’m probably going to start hating it more the longer the series goes on like I did with Maximum Ride when I attempted to get into that series in high school.)
“I was too young to remember the trial of King Charles II and was too young to understand all the political and religious stuff involved. All I cared about was having awesome parents and toys and stuff.” Sounds about right for a little kid.
OK, who’s Danes? They just… up and introduced a character with no explanation as to who she is?
Based on context, I’m guessing she’s some sort of servant, because at the time, Coriander’s family is loaded because of Grandpa Fairy.
Yeah, here comes the Strings Attached To Grandpa Fairy Repaying Kindness: The effects of political and religious changes under Cromwell coming to fuck over Coriander’s family.
Woo! Winter festival! Fun!
Also, this dude jumping around on the frozen Thames is an idiot. Even if it is an unusually cold winter, jumping on ice when it’s not 100% proven to be completely frozen over is a Bad Idea.
Yeah, a taxidermied alligator would be pretty terrifying to a young child, baby or not… Wait, hold up… Fairies. Right. At some point, this alligator is totally gonna come back to life, isn’t it?
OK, where did these silver shoes come from? OH… THIS IS THE FIRST OF THE ATTACHED STRINGS, ISN’T IT?
No, but really, if they do have a C on them, of course Coriander’s gonna think they’re labeled for her.
Also, apparently the mom doesn’t understand Child Logic. Saying Coriander can’t have the shoes because they’re bad but giving no explanation as to why is just gonna make Coriander want the shoes more… and do Absolutely Anything to get them.
So, Coriander’s writing down sort of an autobiography. Is this story about her life so far in her past that the baby she mentioned is hers?
Coriander’s house sounds really nice. And her mom’s… an apothecary or something?
And her mom apparently is the one who introduced Coriander to fairy tales.
Ah, yes, Coriander’s parents meeting sounds like one of your standard “Meet A Fairy And Help Them Out And They’ll Marry You Or Give Them Their Kid To You To Marry And Also You’ll Be Rich And Have Awesome Luck” stories. Also, isn’t there usually some sort of strings attached in this sort of thing? Because fairies?
The background of the mom’s wedding painting is eerier than it should be. That’s not suspicious at all. Again, because fairies.
Oh, fun. Mom Has A Dark Past. Because of course she does. Or did?
OK, so there’s something extra screwy about Morgan’s admittance and her possible powers. Yeah, that’s gonna be fun.
So, Wolfe wants to Talk To Jess after the raid. That’s… not concerning at all.
Oh, that’s… not too bad? I guess? Wolfe’s just like “yeah, that was my bad not warning you how seriously draining this is.”
Even still, Jess’ quick recovery from the Tagging Drain was Unusually Quick. Apparently.
OK, what’s up with showing Jess the restraints? And why are they at the warehouse from the first(?) day?
Wolfe and Santi are apparently on First Name Basis. Hm…
Also, the teasing… I totally ship it. Hard. Even though at this point in the book, it’s mostly subtext.
Wolfe’s having Jess track Santi for a new test. OK…
And Jess is used to this sort of running because of his smuggling days. This isn’t suspicious at all…
Jess passed out from his headache that the test was giving him just after using a shortcut to catch Santi. OK, fun.
And why does it have to be Morgan to be there when Jess wakes up just because she’s got the wonky school schedule because she showed up late?
Also, it’s been so long since I’ve actually read this, but I can’t remember if Morgan/Jess was an actual thing. I don’t really ship Jess with anyone, but if I had to Force A Ship That Isn’t Wolfe/Santi, I’d pick Khalila/Jess.
While Jess was unconscious, apparently Everyone Failed The Last Test, so now there’s going to be a really big candidate cut.
OK, the whole thing with the books they shipped back to the Library does sound kinda wonky…
So, groups two and four were called during the cut (leading everyone to think they were going) and the people who refused to draw for the cut were the ones to be sent home instead of anyone who drew tiles? This whole bait-and-switch was another test? OK…
And now there’s only nine candidates left, with three of them about to get cut. OK.
Megan's Book Blog 