Fair Play by Eve Rodsky

Title: Fair Play

Author: Eve Rodsky

Pages: 352

Finished: April 12, 2022

Premise: Rodsky begins the book discussing the domestic labor so many partners do all by themselves at home. This labor tends to go unrecognized and can eventually cause enough resentment for couples to split. Rodsky decided to figure a way to break this system and came up with the Fair Play game method. 

She breaks the domestic labor into 100 different tasks. Partners are to take time to discuss which of these tasks they value in  their home, discuss what full conception, planning, and execution of those tasks are, discuss what the minimum standard of care for those tasks are, and then deal them out in ways that make sense. Once one person holds a task, they hold all of that task from conception to execution with a minimum standard of care. 

Of course, no card is meant to be held forever and partners are encouraged to meet once a week to review and redeal as necessary.

Thoughts: I really like this idea. My partner and I are fairly equal in what we do around the house. The problem is we both handle everything, which means we both are doing full conception, planning, and execution of many duplicate tasks. This means we’re harried all the time AND things fall through the cracks when we assume the other has taken care of things. I think a system like the one described here where we know who is responsible for each task is fantastic and would really lighten our mental load. 

I also love the fact that the author stresses the Minimum Standard of Care. This means that both partners can do the task without it being a problem. I foresee that being crucial in the discussions.

I just need to schedule a time with my partner to talk about this now!

The Road by Cormac McCarthy

Title: The Road

Author: Cormac McCarthy

Pages: 241

Finished: April 2022

Summary: The Man and the Boy walk south on The Road, hoping to find food and a warmer climate before winter. In the post-Apocalyptic world, food is scarce and other humans are more likely to be cannibals than friendly helpers. Everything has the potential to be dangerous, and time is most definitely against them.

Thoughts: Bleak. So bleak. I did appreciate every time McCarthy put in a scene of reprieve from the struggle. Especially considering some of the scenes are so disturbing that I had to put the book down and walk away occasionaly. 

This was my first McCarthy novel. The lack of punctuation made for a difficult read, but it also really changed the tone of the book for me. Without those clues, I read most of the story in a monotone in my head. It seemed very fitting to the book. 

This was not a fun read, but it did hold my interest to the very end. 

The Beast's Heart by Leife Shallcross

Title: The Beast's Heart 

Author: Leife Shallcross

Pages: 416

Finished: April 2022

Summary: For countless years, the Beast has spent his days destroying everything in his forest until he dreams of the fairy who cursed him, leading him back to his castle. There, he learns to become civilized again, but realizes he will only be able to break the curse by finding someone who can truly love him for who he is. And thus, the tale of Beauty and the Beast begins.

Thoughts: What I Liked - The magic. One of the fun things about retellings of this story is seeing how the magic in the Castle manifests. This one seems to come about in three different ways. Unseen servant type magic, something from the fairy, and then magic from the character’s thoughts. 

I appreciated the use of the magic mirror to tell the story of the rest of Imogen’s family while she was staying with the Beast. Speaking of her family, I appreciated that the sisters were really goodhearted.

And I LOVED how, even though she was brought to the Beast’s castle under false pretenses, he immediately lets her go and she decides to stay. She’s not stuck there under duress. 

What I Would have changed - The Beast. He comes across as super whiny. As the book goes on, he seems to become less sure of himself and goes about everything in what feels like the worst way possible. His excuse is the curse and his explanation is past trauma, but it feels like he doesn’t even try to figure out a smarter way. Just falls into, “This is how I am.”

I don’t know that this is my favorite retelling of Beauty and the Beast, but it was definitely a fun, lighthearted read.