Book Twenty-nine: Babylonne

Book Twenty-nine: Babylonne
Finished: May 31
Pages: 384

Okay, I'll be honest. I picked this up on a whim, when I was looking for the second book in the Mortal Instruments trilogy at the library. Since they didn't have the book that I was looking for, I decided to go with a random book that had intrigued me for a while. Since it's my last week in the library at school for three months, I've been picking up a lot of these books since they are fast reads and generally entertaining. Besides, if they aren't entertaining, I don't feel bad about just taking them right back downstairs.
So, I didn't realize that this book was part of a series when I first picked it up. It certainly stands on its own, but I will say this, it probably would make more sense if I had read the others first. The story is of a young girl named Babylonne who lives during the 1200's in France, and her travels of discovery, both of herself and her absent parents. My hope is that if I had read some of the other books I would have a better understanding of the culture and characters. Babylonne is a member of a sect of Christianity called Cathars, and knowing nothing about either that faith, or the politics of the time, I was lost for a vast majority of the book. The style of writing also takes some getting used to, as most of the book is written in a stream of consciousness style that interrupts itself interrupting itself. Very hard transition to make from the more straightforward narrative I had been reading the past few books. To be sure, Babylonne's voice is very apparent, and she does seem to come alive once you get past the first few chapters and get into the swing of things. She has an entertaining and sarcastic view of the world that certainly does not fail to amuse. For example, when describing her grandmother's snore she says "She has a snore like an armored corpse being dragged across dry cobblestones" (11). I mean, can you really be more descriptive?
I have many questions about her father, Pagan, who apparently is the main character in all the previous books. I think that these questions would be answered already had I noticed that there was a particular order to them. Whoops. Perhaps I will hold off all further judgment of the narrative and its plot holes until I have read the other books. After accustoming myself to the style of prose, I had a good enough time, but we shall see. I certainly enjoyed it enough to read the rest of the series.

Good Reading,
Caitlin