Worrals on the War-Path
Aug. 15th, 2023 07:15 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
rosanicusAs mentioned I acquired my first ever Worrals during my adventures in London last Saturday, and having read it I can now confirm that I am 100% Team Worrals. She is a perfect character and I would lay down my life on her behalf.
I intended to read these books in chronological order but as with most things in life that plan did not quite work out. So instead I have started four books in with Worrals conducting an air operation in unoccupied France with the assistance of 1) her girlfriend, 2) her boyfriend, 3) her French not-dad, and 4) two gay French aristocrats. Before reading I'd seen some criticism that Worrals reads more like a male character who's had the pronouns Ctrl+F'ed, but I have to say that I disagree. Mostly she reminds me of Darrell from Malory Towers, a very formative character for yours truly. I think Johns is actually quite good at writing women when he remembers that they exist!
The hijinks:page ratio was very satisfactory and I found myself genuinely nervous about a few of the events in the book. Johns really is good at describing action as well as grand sweeping settings and both of them worked out very well in this story. The Cevennes really came to life, although I would always be down for more discussion of the caves. I'm pretty sure the Tarn and its related caves came up in Robert MacFarlane's Underland (which ROCKS) so it was nice to be reminded of that.
Regarding Worrals and her relationships, I have to say that I really enjoy both dynamics. She and Frecks are clearly bosom friends and care about each other a lot while still sniping at each other from time to time. They react naturally to stress and even level-headed practical Worrals freaks out from time to time when her plans don't quite come off. Meanwhile, Worrals and Bill have a fun and unconventional relationship and still care about each other a lot, even if it remains unspoken for a lot of the book. The part where Worrals thinks Bill's plane is going to crash and she covers her eyes is quite affecting! What I'm saying here is that Worrals has two hands.
The worst part of all of this is that Lucien and Raoul spend at least one night completely alone together in a cave awaiting rescue and no one has written fanfiction about what they did to pass the time...
I intended to read these books in chronological order but as with most things in life that plan did not quite work out. So instead I have started four books in with Worrals conducting an air operation in unoccupied France with the assistance of 1) her girlfriend, 2) her boyfriend, 3) her French not-dad, and 4) two gay French aristocrats. Before reading I'd seen some criticism that Worrals reads more like a male character who's had the pronouns Ctrl+F'ed, but I have to say that I disagree. Mostly she reminds me of Darrell from Malory Towers, a very formative character for yours truly. I think Johns is actually quite good at writing women when he remembers that they exist!
The hijinks:page ratio was very satisfactory and I found myself genuinely nervous about a few of the events in the book. Johns really is good at describing action as well as grand sweeping settings and both of them worked out very well in this story. The Cevennes really came to life, although I would always be down for more discussion of the caves. I'm pretty sure the Tarn and its related caves came up in Robert MacFarlane's Underland (which ROCKS) so it was nice to be reminded of that.
Regarding Worrals and her relationships, I have to say that I really enjoy both dynamics. She and Frecks are clearly bosom friends and care about each other a lot while still sniping at each other from time to time. They react naturally to stress and even level-headed practical Worrals freaks out from time to time when her plans don't quite come off. Meanwhile, Worrals and Bill have a fun and unconventional relationship and still care about each other a lot, even if it remains unspoken for a lot of the book. The part where Worrals thinks Bill's plane is going to crash and she covers her eyes is quite affecting! What I'm saying here is that Worrals has two hands.
The worst part of all of this is that Lucien and Raoul spend at least one night completely alone together in a cave awaiting rescue and no one has written fanfiction about what they did to pass the time...
no subject
Date: 2023-08-15 06:33 pm (UTC)And I was too distracted by Worrals’ adventures to spot Lucien and Raoul in the cave but you are very right :-D
no subject
Date: 2023-08-15 08:38 pm (UTC)Malory Towers did unfortunately have a huge impact on me but at least it means that now I have a few femslash fics to read every Yuletide!