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Where in most books the concept of love is regarded as a positive and uplifting thing, here the love between Conor and Beth is frowned upon. The excuse given was that it broke the convent between Piasa and the Roan. I disagree with this view immensely. Their love broke the agreement and the evil-doings of Cate and the Doc didn't?? In fact, I thought the reproaches were absurd, not to say hypocritic.

Jace saw the love between the two as a personal betrayal of him. I think he took his rage it too far. He knew the two were going out after all, and what they did was a natural development of their love. To look upon their act as a personal betrayal is a bit old fashioned and unreasonable. I understand he was protective of his sister, but I found his rage unjustified and unbelievable.

Thoughts?

I agree with you that it seemed very strange to me that their love was considered so inappropriate and was a betrayal of a pact that his father made with Piasa that he didn't even know about. I thought it was strange because the kids seemed to fall in love so immediately. I thought it was quite strange that Jace and Beth were even concerned with Conor to start with, since they didn't even know him. I thought that was somewhat unrealistic and the making love came on so suddenly, when there had been hardly any other physical contact between the two of them. I agree that I thought Jace blew the whole thing out of proportion when he found out. That is not a normal kind of rage that he was experiencing about his sister sleeping with someone she has been dating. Perhaps he was more angry because somewhere inside himself, he felt that something more was happening. But I found the whole situation sort of odd.

Rachel1019 wrote:I agree with you that it seemed very strange to me that their love was considered so inappropriate and was a betrayal of a pact that his father made with Piasa that he didn't even know about. I thought it was strange because the kids seemed to fall in love so immediately. I thought it was quite strange that Jace and Beth were even concerned with Conor to start with, since they didn't even know him. I thought that was somewhat unrealistic and the making love came on so suddenly, when there had been hardly any other physical contact between the two of them. I agree that I thought Jace blew the whole thing out of proportion when he found out. That is not a normal kind of rage that he was experiencing about his sister sleeping with someone she has been dating. Perhaps he was more angry because somewhere inside himself, he felt that something more was happening. But I found the whole situation sort of odd.

Good points! I agree with the points you made.

I also thought their love was too sudden, but it didn't bother me that much.

Yes their love was too sudden I have to agree, however, it seems to work differently when being teenagers. As for Jace being protective of his sister I see it as just a big brother doing his job by being protective of his sister. However, I do agree he may have gone overboard. Love happens for a reason not because of betrayal. For him to say that makes me think it was out of jealousy.

ebeth wrote:Yes their love was too sudden I have to agree, however, it seems to work differently when being teenagers. As for Jace being protective of his sister I see it as just a big brother doing his job by being protective of his sister. However, I do agree he may have gone overboard. Love happens for a reason not because of betrayal. For him to say that makes me think it was out of jealousy.

I just want to ask, do you think that it was jealousy of the relationship that the too seemed to have? Or do you think the jealousy was from the fact that there is now another guy in Beth's life?

I did think that Jace went a bit overboard in his anger. But, maybe that's more real to life than we would think. In books, we seem to expect behavior less typical of reality. We want things to work out nicely, the bad guys to be punished, the good guys rewarded, and everyone becoming friends again. But, life doesn't really work that way. The sudden attraction between Conor and Beth was more in line with what we expect from books. It definitely seemed unfair to have such severe consequences as a result of their love, but seeing as this was in line with the mythology, the integrity of the story overall would have suffered if everything was "A-okay" with Conor and Beth, even given the fact they had no idea such a pact even existed. Anyway, at that moment, Conor was still in denial that he was going to be something inhuman.

I also agree that Jace over reacted but I'm conflicted on how I feel about that. In some ways I feel he's acting the way a parent/protector would but at the same time the only "real world equivalent" I can think of points to the author's personal views and relationship with religion.

The more I'm reading (only 75% done) the more I'm wondering how much Conor is supposed to represent the idea of a Biblical savior and the concept of original sin. There are very clear similarities between Mary/Jesus and Conor/his actions with Beth.

It leaves open some interesting ideas for the sequel but I have to finish this book first to see if I'm even partially right.

[quote="Gnome]

The more I'm reading (only 75% done) the more I'm wondering how much Conor is supposed to represent the idea of a Biblical savior and the concept of original sin. There are very clear similarities between Mary/Jesus and Conor/his actions with Beth. [/quote]

. ?

In the Bible, Mary was a virgin birth so that she would be "pure enough" to give birth to Jesus. Conor is meant to be a savior in his own right. He is also "forbidden child" who shouldn't exist for various reasons who fathers a second "forbidden child."

I made a poor connection that it is possible Connor is not meant to actually be the savior but merely pave the way.

We frown at young love because we have standards for love which is not supposed to be. Love is immeasurable. It must not set hierarchy because love is love . What is important for two persons loving each other is the completion of each one. Though I would say that since there is young love, there must be mature love. Which is sweeter? is it young love or mature love?