By Sydney Loder
The month of August has ranged from English literature classics' dealing with the foundations of a heroine to a fantastical journey of love and the fight for a secret life. The month began preparing for school and reading Siddhartha and Their Eyes Were Watching God. Both of these historic novels display a quest for the self and the knowledge that comes with it. In Siddhartha we see this through the way the main character goes through the cycle of life and religion as he journeys to find enlightenment. This quest is seen in Their Eyes Were Watching God through Janie (the main character) and her walk to break societal norms while finding true love and true self in the process.
While summer reading finally finished its brutal process, I was able to read Lore and The Queens Secret, which happens to be the sequel to The Queens Assassin. Lore opened my eyes to the history of Greek mythology while it followed the themes of love, greed, and loyalty. It gave an ode to the structure of The Hunger Games as well as the idea's that formed the iconic Purge. Lastly, I was able to indulge in The Queens Secret that displays the ideas of a forbidden love, assigned status, a world of mystical hurt and terror, and the product of circumstance.
August was a month that allowed my mind to open up in various ways. However, looking back Siddhartha was not something I ended up loving or even really enjoying. The book followed an extremely similar thought process the entire time, and often ended up repeating ideas or themes. Their Eyes Were Watching God didn't completely strike me either, as modern feminism reacts differently during each time period. It felt as though Janie needed to have a lover in her life, or she wouldn't feel complete throughout the entire novel, and then the ideology switched at a rapid pace. Lore definitely got me acclimated back into my typical reads, but something about it didn't keep me indulged in the book. However, The Queens Secret had me from the beginning and made me feel as though I was inside the novel, going through each step with the main characters.
Overall, it was an okay month with a great ending.
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