Fantasy Book Club discussion

Andrea, many reviewers said, is a strong protagonist.

I didn't mean to create a strong protagonist. I just wrote the story and let Andrea react to it. What would Andrea do now? I would ask and in my mind it was my spirited boy who answered the question. My boy would never take no for an answer and stubbornly followed his mind, disregarding any advice.

But although I thought about my boy, when creating Andrea. She has also a lot of my own personality as, I must confess, my boy and I have more in common that I want to admit.

Besides I don't think stubbornness is in itself a bad thing. It was pure stubbornness (persistence is the politically correct term) that brought me to America, carried me through the inanely difficult first year and pushed me to learn a foreign language as if it were my own.

Andrea is not perfect. No one is. But her character is true to the boy I modeled her after. And I believe her actions and reactions, whether logical, flawed or even contradictory, parallel those of any teen trying to make his/her way through life.

I love Julian for many reasons. He is loyal, brave and smart. And his desire for revenge is, as we learn half way through the story, justified.

John has a naive enthusiasm I find endearing, and a little maddening.

As an adult, I identify with Andrea's mother and Tio Ramiro's take in life, even when Andrea sees them as repressive.

I suppose everybody will see all these characters differently according to his/her experiences.

What about you? Did you identify with Andrea? Julian? John?

I liked Julian, as I found him to be "real". He was flawed (vengeful nature, struggling with saying the right things) and tried to work with those flaws to the best of his ability.

I didn't have much use for John at all. He didn't really impress me in this world or Andrea's. I have to admit, I was hoping that Alfonso would kick his ass when they had their duel. (I did like the way Andrea handled that scene, though!).

Tio Ramiro was a character I wanted to like. He just struck me as so hot and cold and I had a hard time pinning him down. One minute he'd act proud of Andrea and seem affectionate, and the next minute he'd be cold and critical.

As a parent/adult, I think I can relate to Jimena the most. She wants to teach her girls what they're "supposed" to know, wants to protect them from the world(s), but also wants them to blossom.

I mostly liked Andrea, but some of her outburts didn't always seem to make sense - especially in intensity. She was a bit naive and slow on the uptake, which makes sense, but I related to her, for the most part.

Julian, as Chris said, seemed to be one of the most real of the characters. I also liked how he's originally portrayed as one thing, and you learn that he's actually something very different.

I disliked the Queen a lot. I had a hard time thinking of this woman from the modern world so easily bending to the conventions and restrictions of the other world, not to mention forcing her daughters to do the same. Not just forcing them, but being a right bitch, it seemed, when Andrea did not conform. I would've expected her to be more understanding and sympathetic.

I agree with Chris, again, that Tio Ramiro was hot and cold. I liked him at first, but I liked him less and less as the story progressed.

I got tired of everyone scolding Andrea all of the time about everything. I got tired of them constantly telling her to grow up, when they insisted on treating her like a child and keeping her in the dark. A lot could've been averted if they'd only talked to her, instead of just expected her to obey.

Chris, Colleen,

Thank you for your comments.

I just wanted to point out that we see the story from Andrea's point of view and she is an unreliable narrator. She sees things colored by her thoughts, expectations, wants. She may have misunderstood or ignored what her mother and uncle were telling her.

Yes, Andrea is an unreliable narrator. Yes, she is a teenager. Yes, that gives her a natural selfish nature and perspective.

But here's my issue. She absolutely adores Tio Ramiro. She thinks he hangs the moon. If anything, her unreliableness would have painted him as the next coming of Obi-Kenobi. He would have appeared perfect. But he was hot and cold and often downright rude to her. She still adored him, without getting that peeved about it. As warm as she felt towards him, we should have seen more of it coming back.