Vexation

Much of the subject matter is dark and depicted in raw, blunt language, there is a vein of hope which winds its way through the novel, making the reader feel compelled to keep turning the for the hope of a turn of events. This is well- counter balanced with chapters sporadically flashing back to either Devin's memories of her captivity or scene of the boy was trapped with Cole, in his struggle to keep Devin safely away from Grandfather. The uncertainty of it all is reinforced by the piecemeal way in which the reader receives the information about Devin's captivity with at first only vague references and memories from Devin and short scenes with Cole. By the end, everything is questionable from what is real love to the morality role of writing a novel. Grandfather plays god with real people in order to write his stories. This experience deeply affects the way Devin views her own writing and writing in general. When asked one day why she stopped writing she thinks, “Writing is dangerous; it gets inside of you. You first write someone up; then you give then feelings. Suddenly, they become alive. Real as you and me. You are controlling them, their destiny. Playing God. What happens when you lose sight of if you are real or the character is real? What happens when you forget that you are sitting at a typewriter and not inside a book?” This question is left unanswered by Devin and one the reader is forced to confront by the unescapable fact that the worlds of fiction and reality have been merged.                   *Diary of a Book Nerd