Guest Rec: Mrs.TheKing Goes Down the Rabbit Hole

Shalu
Down the Rabbit Hole - M/R
Hurt/Comfort/Romance - All Human
23 Chapters, 76,182 Words
09/06/09 - WIP
[ FFN ]

AH/AU Alice/Jasper: Alice has traumatically lost her memory, only to discover she possesses the ability to glimpse the future. Her memories unreachable, Jasper drifts through a life with his memories and emotions locked tightly away... or so he thought.

Mrs.TheKing's

I began writing about a year ago. Before I was a writer, I was a reader. I loved reading. I was the kind of kid that read my entire literature book before the first week of school was over. To me, reading is an intimate behavior. I could care less if a story has Edward and Bella in it, if it grabs me by the throat, I read. I was recently intimate with shalu’s Down The Rabbit Hole. Lucky, lucky me. God, I love a great story. Lucky, lucky you, because you can read it too.

Reading shalu’s Down The Rabbit Hole makes Jasper so freaking sexy. I know what you’re thinking, “I only read Edward and Bella.” I’m not talking to your head right now, but to your lady bits. Jasper is dangerous, loving and has a TWANG (for God's sakes)! Alice is very addicting, but it is Jasper that turned my tail. Shalu writes his point of view in lower case only, unless the words are exceedingly important. I can only imagine what her word doc looks like during editing. She must put up with many little red squiggles, I have to appreciate the dedication it takes to keep him in lower case. Shalu never explains this little literary quirk, but I can’t even tell you how effective it is. Somehow, ignoring grammatical rules adds to Jasper’s character, immersing you in his mindset immediately.

i paid the driver, slid out of the cab and quietly shut the door. my bag over my shoulder, i headed toward the boards to find my train. the night air was thick, humidity clinging to my throat as i breathed. i focused on that. my breathing. i could seal the cracks if i focused.

The story itself is so much more than Alice meeting Jasper. There are layers of brotherhood, friendship, and danger that are all equally gripping. But the big moment, the one we are all looking forward to when it comes to Alice and Jasper, does not disappoint.

“You must be an angel,” he said, and I felt a dance shimmer through me. His shaggy blonde hair was falling in his eyes. His smile lit an inferno in my stomach, and radiated towards my fingertips. My fingertips. He was holding my hand. Electricity was flowing through us in a continuous loop. It was almost visible. I reached with my other hand and tucked the hair behind his left ear. He breathed out like he’d been holding it in all his life.

The plot is seamless, each chapter totally necessary and inspiring you to hit the next button quickly. Little descriptions do big things for your imagination.

the look she was giving me could bring the titanic to the surface. my heart buoyed.

I have so much more I want to quote, but it seems brutal to lift only certain sentences, when really, they all belong together. I’m afraid you won’t understand how exquisite they are without the context.

Shalu exceeds in lovers’ dialogue, mixing the meaningful and playful so well. But my hands down favorite is the dude-speak. She nails the dudes * snicker *

I happen to be a huge fan of how men talk to each other. They are basic, demeaning and hilarious. To portray them accurately, the writer has to be able to replicate it. She does this masterfully and I found myself looking forward to each chance the brothers had to interact. Shalu could be a man, if she wanted, in her head anyway.

In DTRH, I found the lemons used all of my senses. I can actually smell and taste the citrus in this fic. (Go clementines!) The tub scene is so effervescent and glorious, I’m going to go back and read it again when I am done writing this.

Our other regular characters all make appearances. Shalu also plays with our love of Twilight, slipping little quotes from the books into her story so the reader’s brain is tickled with recognition. I often wondered what an Alice point of view would be like in Twilight, and I think shalu has answered that question for me. She describes the ‘visions’ so astutely, I feel settled in my hunt.

I read this story all in one glutinous sitting. Right now, my ass is flat, my back hurts and the chicken I was going to serve for dinner is still simmering in the Crockpot (I made Mr. The King buy at Panera.) So, my chicken is going in the trash and it was totally worth it. Go read it, your ass won’t thank you but I will.

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Mrs. The King twitters mostly about her ass and vagina. In her downtime from this Illustrious pastime she writes the Twilight fanfiction Poughkeepsie.