Today I’m going to be talking about those names in books that every single one of your friends pronounce differently. The sort of name you (if you’re like me) just try ignore until you have to say it out loud and suddenly realise you have no clue how to pronounce it. Some well known examples are Chaol and Celaena from the Throne of Glass series, as well as plenty of others I can’t remember right now.
So how do we combat these tricky names no one can pronounce?
The first option is to just try and ignore them, which is probably my usual approach, however it can turn out problematic if you ever end up talking to your bookish friends and all pronounce it differently. Or, even worse you end up speaking to the other and can’t pronounce your favourite character’s name.
The second choice is to do some research. Often fantasy authors feel their readers’ pain when it comes to difficult names and add a little pronunciation guide to their novels or you can find it online, on the author’s website or even listen to the audiobook. This makes you look super professional and knowledgeable.
The third option is to have a debate. Ask your family and friends. Bookish or non-bookish. How would they pronounce that name? This option means the pronunciation you choose is the most popular choice so you’ll at least be in the majority, even if you do end up being wrong.
The fourth and final option is to pronounce the name a different way each time you say until you find a pronunciation you like and then stick with that one. That way you’ll have tried all the possible pronunciations and ruled the ones you don’t like out. At least you’ll be happy this way and it doesn’t require much effort on your part.
So which option do you go with? How do you tackle names you just can’t pronounce? What examples of unpronounceable names have you come across?
I’m a little bit late this time as I didn’t even realise Bloggiesta was on until I saw it on my Twitter timeline this morning. But since I could never miss a Bloggiesta, I’ve decided to join in now.
My To Do List:
- Rebel of the Sands Review
- Waiting for Callback Review
- Names you can’t pronounce post
- March 29th Top Ten Tuesday
- Update Review Archive
- Visit 10 other participant’s blogs
- Complete one mini challenge
- Join in with one Twitter chat
- One Feministas Post
- Update on this year’s reading challenges
So there we have it! My list for this Bloggiesta. Hopefully I’ll be able to achieve it all, but that hasn’t happened yet!
The Scarlet Letter meets Divergent in this thoughtful and thrilling novel by bestselling author Cecelia Ahern.
Celestine North lives a perfect life. She’s a model daughter and sister, she’s well-liked by her classmates and teachers, and she’s dating the impossibly charming Art Crevan.
But then Celestine encounters a situation where she makes an instinctive decision. She breaks a rule. And now faces life-changing repercussions.
She could be imprisoned. She could be branded. She could be found FLAWED.
In her breathtaking young adult debut, bestselling author Cecelia Ahern depicts a society where obedience is paramount and rebellion is punished. And where one young woman decides to take a stand that could cost her-everything.
I received this book as an ARC to review from Lovereading but this has not affected my review in any way. All opinions and views are completely my own.
About 3 years ago, I along with loads of others was absolutely obsessed with dystopia and read every YA dystopian novel I could get my hands on. I eagerly devoured them all, until I got to the point where I felt like they were all the same. The same evil government that everyone trusts is defeated the same one brave rebellious teen. I’m so glad to say Flawed wasn’t like that at all. It managed to incorporate some of the best elements of other great dystopians whilst putting a fresh spin on the genre. It had the chance of becoming a cliché but thankfully it didn’t and was instead a great read.
This novel had not only a great and intriguing plot, but a powerful message. It makes you question what is it that makes us human? How do our mistakes define us? And what qualifies as a flaw?
I adored the great cast of characters. They all had reasons and motivations behind their actions, even if I didn’t agree them, which goes to show how carefully Cecelia Ahern thought about each character and how they were all properly fleshed out. Speaking of characters, I just have to mention Celestine, our main character. She was a fab heroine because she didn’t mean to be. She struggled between right and wrong and in the end didn’t let society dictate her actions but instead just made the decision she felt was right in her heart. She didn’t want to be a rebel – far from it, she felt her life was perfect beforehand. And that is why I admire her. She didn’t try to be brave, it just happened because she wasn’t willing to stand by and let bad things happen.
This novel also has very little to no romantic subplot which I really enjoyed, because let’s be realistic whilst fighting an evil government, a girl doesn’t have time to fall in love. However the way the novel is written, there is definitely the potential in the next book and I’m quite pleased about that because I like the love interest. I’m definitely interested to see where that goes in the future.
Another thing I thought was a good change about this book was that the heroine was left irreversibly scarred which is often something authors are reluctant to do because everyone prefers a pretty girl, right? So good on Cecelia Ahern for that!
Overall it was a gripping read that I just couldn’t put down. It left me with lots of questions and I can’t wait for the next book!
alwaysopinionatedgirl 