My Poinsettia review:
One Christmas Eve, long ago, in a brothel in Rome, Søren might have spent the most peaceful and moving Christmas ever - in the company of a sadist madam, who wanted to teach him to keep his masochists alive... And that was a very powerful, beautifully written tale shared for free with The Original Sinners fans. I'm not going to say much about this, the quotes (which could have been many more!) can speak for themselves. The prose is absolutely gorgeous, and seeing a vulnerable side of Søren was almost magical. And Magda... I think I'd like to meet her again in the future *hint, hint*.
Poinsettia can be read even if you're not up to date on the series, because it's a story where only Søren from the original cast is present, and this glimpse into his time of training to become a priest won't spoil anything at all - it will only make you want to buy all the books and settle in to enjoy. Even this short novella made me cry...
Some of my favorite Poinsettia quotes:
“People want to obey anyone. If you act like you’re in charge, people will follow your orders simply out of relief that someone else is leading the way. It’s easier to follow than to lead. Leading takes courage which is why so few people want to do it.”
“People like leaders. They do not like tyrants.”
“I can be a benevolent dictator, can’t I?” He set his wine glass down on the end table and went to work on her fireplace.
“You’re already a dictator. Now let’s work on the benevolent part.”
Magdalena tried to convince herself she let Marcus into her home and her life because she found him attractive. She did but that wasn’t why. Usually male sadists repelled her. It wasn’t personal. Like repelled like—she and Marcus were two north ends of a magnet. But while Marcus was a sadist, he was still nothing more than boy. He wasn’t competition, nor was he a threat. He submitted to her not as a slave to a Mistress, but as a student to a teacher. Better he learn from her than on his own. An untrained boy of his strength and intensity with that level sadism could kill someone by accident.
“But I don’t want to know your secrets,” she said. “I want you to tell me your secrets. The secrets aren’t the prize. You giving up your secrets to me—that is the prize.”
“There is a spark of something inside you that’s as beautiful as the outside. Since I can see that spark, I feel it’s my duty to blow on it and start a wildfire.”
You can read Poinsettia online on Tiffany Reisz's website.