It’s time for a new feature! (Really Asti? You don’t have enough features already??) Bookish WWAD (What Would Asti Do) is a discussion-based feature in which I speculate about what I would do if I were in a book I have read, whether as one of the characters or just in a general where-would-I-fit-in-this-world way. Though each edition will focus on a specific book, don’t worry – there will be no spoilers for the book being featured!
The Set-Up
Let’s start with the book that inspired this feature: The Raven Boys by Maggie Stiefvater. From the very first chapter Stiefvater draws you in with this amazing premise: Blue (the main character) will fall in love this year and if she kisses her true love, he will die.
“Blue Sargent had forgotten how many times she’d been told that she would kill her true love.” – p. 1
It’s one of my favorite first chapters I’ve ever read because not only does it set you up for a lot of drama in the series (Who is her one true love? Will she kiss him? Will he die?), but it also leads to some interesting thoughts about what you would do if placed in Blue’s shoes.
What Would Asti Do…
If I were Blue, I would re-identify myself as Poison Ivy. That’s right. I would dye my hair red, create a wardrobe of leafy greens, and warn all the boys that I have a lethal kiss. I mean, I’d still be irresistible, right? (Maybe even more so. Oh la la, Poison Ivy.) And it would definitely deliver the message that kissing me is dangerous (even if it is a bit of false advertising. My kiss isn’t lethal for all the boys, just my one true love). And if any boy tries to kiss me after finding out I’m Poison Ivy, it’s their own darn fault if they end up dead!
Oh wait, you want me to take this a little more seriously?
Well, I always operate with the belief that honesty is the best policy in any relationship. If I were Blue, I would just be upfront with any potential suitors about this crazy curse I have attached to me. (It might not look great on my Match.com dating profile, but what’s a girl to do.)(Note: I do not really have a Match.com dating profile.) If they are deterred from being with me because of that one little detail, then they probably aren’t my one true love anyways!
And really, I don’t think kissing is necessary for a relationship to survive. Now, I actually Googled this (such dedication and hard work is always put into my posts, of course) and I didn’t find anything stating that kissing is a requirement for being in a relationship (only articles talking about how great kissing is). There are so many other ways to show affection in a relationship that I feel like if it came to it, if there is a chance I could kill my true love through kissing, I wouldn’t kiss him! We could hold hand, hug, do… other adult-like romantical things. But kissing? I’d let him know that’s off the menu.
I mean, really, it feels like such a predicament while looking at it from Blue’s perspective, from in my eyes it’s quite simple. Sure, it would suck (what’s a wedding without a kiss to seal the deal??), but I wouldn’t rob myself at the chance of finding my one true love because of it.
What do you think? If you were Blue, what would you do? Do you like my response? And how do you like this new feature?
