Mockingbird

by Chuck Wendig
Angry Robot Books
August 28, 2012

Miriam is trying to keep her ability—her curse—in check.

But when Miriam touches a woman in line at the supermarket, she sees that the woman will be killed here, now.

She reacts, and begins a new chapter in her life—one which can never be expected to go well.

My thoughts:

Let me start by sharing a little about my reading schedule. My days are spent working on my art or writing/researching/editing. I do all my reading for pleasure at night, usually after 9 p.m. I began reading Mockingbird on August 1st. I finished on August 3rd.

I am not a speed reader.

The only time I can read a book that fast is:

A. When the plot consumes me so much I’d rather read than sleep, even if it means I will be a zombie the next day and inevitably bite someone’s head off.

B. When an author writes a book that is a perfect fusion of plot and character, where everything happens in 3D, an unstoppable chain reaction of events.

C. When a character is so original I can’t help but love her.

Sometimes a book might hit one of the criteria above, but Mockingbird hit all three. Miriam Black is strong, but also fragile. She is dysfunctional but also driven. She’s a testament to first impressions–what you see (and hear) are just the surface of her character, her shield.

Here’s a little something I made using themes from Mockingbird. It might be considered a spoiler, so cover you eyes if you don’t want to know anything about the book.

The downside to reading a book as fast as I did and loving it as much as I did, is now I have to wait!!

Oh, the pain… And excitement too!!

**Something occurred to me after publishing this post (isn’t that always how it goes?). Miriam Black is my favorite character of the year. If there isn’t an award for that, there should be.