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4.25 AVERAGE
4.25 AVERAGE
adventurous
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
Questo secondo libro mi ha convinto un filo meno del primo: la trama traballa qua e là e spesso risulta forzata; la storia d'amore, anche se coinvolgente, è fastidiosamente insta love. Tolte queste due cose, restano comunque degli ottimi personaggi, tematiche gestite al meglio e una scrittura vivida ed evocativa che fa immergere completamente nelle atmosfere magiche del romanzo.
Recensione completa✨
Recensione completa✨
adventurous
dark
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
adventurous
dark
relaxing
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
My past week was full of frustration (it's so hard to watch all the secrets, distrust, and misunderstandings), tears (oh, Sorcha!), worry, magic, and love; all thanks to this book. I loved that Sorcha and Red were still a part of the tale, despite it following Liadan. It's always hard to give up the characters I originally loved and be forced to follow a new thread but Liadan was no disappointment, and the old and the new characters were weaved together beautifully.
challenging
dark
mysterious
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
N/A
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Sadly I didn't think much of the narrator. She felt too old for Liadan and her male voices actually took me out of the story they were so comically deep (and all sounded the same apart from the different accents).
This Sevenwaters installment is missing the charm of its predecessor - I found I didn't much care for Bran and Liadan.
I first read the book as a teenager and remember Niamh as spoiled but her and Ciaran's story is the one I was most intrigued by. I'll try and listen to all of the series but I'm most looking forward to SW 5.5 and find out more about Ciaran and Fiacha's background.
This Sevenwaters installment is missing the charm of its predecessor - I found I didn't much care for Bran and Liadan.
I first read the book as a teenager and remember Niamh as spoiled but her and Ciaran's story is the one I was most intrigued by. I'll try and listen to all of the series but I'm most looking forward to SW 5.5 and find out more about Ciaran and Fiacha's background.
adventurous
dark
emotional
hopeful
sad
tense
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
~18 years have passed since the close of the narrative action in Daughter of the Forest. Sorcha & Red--now known as Iubdan--have 3 children: 17-year-old Niamh, beautiful and vivacious; 16-year-old Liadan, following in her mother's footsteps as a healer and storyteller (& as our narrator); and her twin brother, Sean, Liam's protegee. Liadan, like Finbar, has the gift/ curse of the Sight, which she struggles to navigate throughout Son of the Shadows. She's a more interesting character than Sorcha, I think, because she's more outspoken, fiery, & even defiant.
There are many parallels between the first two novels in the series: Marillier continues to make compelling use of Irish mythology. I enjoyed the additional exploration of the Old Ones (the Fomhoire) and was definitely intrigued by how much their aims, or at least their strategies, clashed with the Fair Folk (the Tuatha De Danann), who remain hella meddlesome. The Lady Oonagh is once again, granted indirectly via her son, posing a threat to the stability of Sevenwaters. A couple very much in love, Niahm & Ciaran, are separated (though in extremely different circumstances and certainly sans a formal engagement), with the woman being forced against her will to marry another for political reasons, as with the Liam/ Eilis/ Eamonn (Sr.) triangle. Our POV character was perhaps on the road to marriage--Sorcha/ Simon and Liadan/ Eamonn (Jr.)--but has been led on a different path that involves being kidnapped--Sorcha / the Britons and Liadan/ the mercenaries. (Oh, and Eamonn is once again a total traitor!) We've got our central enemies-to-lovers thing happening-- Sorcha/ Red & Liadan/ Bran.
Still, the plot here is unique & interesting. I guessed pretty much immediately that Ciaran was the son of Lord Colum & Lady Oonagh and that Bran was the son of Margery & John, but I'm not sure this information was meant to be concealed from the reader just because Liadan didn't know. Regardless, there was plenty of other suspense & tension, much of it focused on how Liadan's personal decisions will affect the strength of the Sevenwaters alliance & the prophesy about Erin reclaiming the Sacred Islands.
I thought it was really clever the way that Marillier leads us to doubt Bran's assessment of Eamonn via how clearly wrong he is about Red & Sorcha. One twist I didn't see coming was exactly how evil Eamonn would turn out to be, and how much the truth would turn on its head Eamonn's report about the massacre perpetuated by the Painted Men.
Sorcha's death was so well done & destroyed me emotionally, leaving me a sobbing mess. I absolutely loved that she asked Red to tell her the story from their engagement on the beach, about the man who fell in love with the mermaid.
My main criticism of Son of the Shadows is the lack of any real foundation for the relationship between Liadan & Bran. It really seems to come out of nowhere & to be based on nothing, especially in contrast to Sorcha/ Red. Given how central their union is to the book, how much Liadan risks for him, and how much she gives up to stay with him, I would have liked to feel more ... convinced by the pairing.
There are many parallels between the first two novels in the series: Marillier continues to make compelling use of Irish mythology. I enjoyed the additional exploration of the Old Ones (the Fomhoire) and was definitely intrigued by
Still, the plot here is unique & interesting. I guessed pretty much immediately that
I thought it was really clever the way that Marillier leads us to
Sorcha's
My main criticism of Son of the Shadows is the
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No