AdminRec: The Cynical Goldfish

greeen goldfish
A War of Cynics - M/R
Drama/Romance
51 Chapters, 126,381 Words
11-1-09 - Completed
[ FFN ]

Edward's intrigued by a mouthy girl in his class, but prefers his solitude. Bella tends to be judgmental, but keeps bumping into Edward and is forced to reevaluate. OOC, AH, BxE. Warning: the aftermath of date rape is discussed.

So, I was recently sick, and even though Pastiche offered me a perfectly awesome cache of amazing Harry/Draco slash, I was looking around for a good story to read.

I came across A War of Cynics in the oddest way.

The author PM'd me a month or so back, and she was so witty and made me laugh/snort so much that I'd already determined I'd like her shit. Fast forward a month or so to my awful week of flu fuckery and I was ready to hunker down and get to the nitty gritty of Greeen Goldfishism. Not Green Goldfish. GREEEN. Three E's. That's funnily emphatic.

Anyway, the summary to War of Cynics intrigued me and, as it was completed, I decided to give it a go first.

It had me from SnarkWard.

I closed my eyes again. The humiliation was raging inside my head. After a few seconds, it started to subside, and I couldn’t help but smile. When I opened my eyes, I grabbed the joint out of Emmett’s hand and took a long draw as I looked at Bella. This made her laugh.

“Well, let’s see. She was witty,” I offered. Bella smiled, knowingly. She fucking knew she was witty.

“Smart, man. Stick with that shit. Whatever you do, don’t talk about her rack,” Emmett coached.

“Great fucking rack.” I couldn’t help myself. Either she was gonna knee me in the balls or laugh.

She laughed.

Yesss.

“Bold move, bro.”

“You have no idea,” I said. She laughed again. Emmett looked confused. “I think she might be a bit of a bitch, though.”

“Oh?” Bella was still playing along. And she was enjoying it. I could see it in her eyes.

“Yeah, but it’s cool. I like the ones with some spunk.”

So, Edward is a little socially awkward, but he's got snark and a bit of bite. Bella is... hmmm... how do I describe Bella? I think one of the characters described her best as "fem-nazi." She's got serious rage issues. She jumps to conclusions and is painfully judgemental. BUT... well, she's also relateable. I mean, in this world nowadays, you almost have to be, right?

Anyway, I digress. Needless to say, after series of very non-annoying miscommunication (they're usually resolved same or next chapter), Bella and Edward fumble their way into a relationship. I say "fumble" because they are bumbling in the ways of compromise, communication, and all of other grown up things that make relationships run smoothly.

The sub-plot involves Rosalie, who was raped and is dealing with a lot of shit--both emotional and legal. The gang sort of comes together to help her through her time of crisis, and in doing so, begin uncovering certain truths about themselves, their relationships, and the dividing line between genders and unfair presumptions.

I think what I loved most about this story was Greeen's exploration of the aforementioned theme. Rosalie's rape was treated with the respect it deserved, as was her character, who was so well developed. The whole situation was approached with care, but still manages to visit the aftermath of such an event. It really resounded with me.

Aside from the explored theme above, we watch as Bella and Edward mature into two people who grow to not only love one another unconditionally, but to give each other the benefit of the doubt when necessary.

All in all, it was a very satisfying read for me, and even though there were moments when I wanted to shake and bitchslap the characters, I was pleased with how they grew over the course of the story, and it left me with a feeling of resolution. I also felt as though I came away from the story with a renewed love for strong, yet flawed Bellas.

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AngstGoddess003 is an admin on this blog, a master bitcher-slapper of Photoshop, a dry hump aficionado, and a dear friend who will read HP slash even though she hasn't read the books... (heh) She is the author of Wide Awake, and currently writing Company Loves Misery and Rising.