Have you ever analyzed what you really love about a book? Is it the author’s voice, the intensity of the plot, or maybe the locale of the story? I plowed through three Rebecca Yarros books a couple weeks ago and absolutely devoured them. I was up till after 1am each night, then awake again at 6am to read before work, and would sneak in a chapter or three during my lunch break. I literally could not put the books down. I’m kinda surprised the dog and the cat survived, because I honestly don’t remember feeding them for about a week.
After I had finished them, Keely Thrall (another Rocker, check her out!) and I discussed (well, texted) our thoughts because she was reading the books like crazy too.
Conflict and angst – those are two of my favorite parts of a story, and Yarros is superty good at both of them. Just when you think things can’t get worse for the characters, they absolutely do. And somehow, the author always keeps it from seeming cheesy or contrived when another. terrible. thing. befalls our lovely heroine or hunky hero. And then she layers in all this emotion on top of the terrible thing and it’s this whirlwind of book-crack that I want to live in forever!
And, to be honest, the reality of her military setting kept me hooked. Yarros writes a New Adult series called Flight & Glory, which centers around newly minted Army lieutenants going through aviation school at Ft. Rucker, AL, to learn how to fly helicopters. By putting these characters into real military situations — not some “gone rogue, “off the res,” former CIA agent/Navy SEAL/Green Beret/Spaceship Door Gunner covert ops team not sanctioned by any formal government — my expectations are much higher that the author get the Army “right.” And Yarros definitely nails it! In fact, I tweeted her when I finished one of the books, “Too few romance authors understand the depth of emotion surrounding PT belts”. And it’s true, because if a reflective belt hasn’t literally changed your life, it’s hard to get why it’s a big deal in the first place.
Tell me about the latest author or series that you’ve binged! I would love to find more words that are amazing enough to make me forget to feed the pets.
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