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river_cooke's review against another edition
challenging
dark
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
There is so much to think about in this revisionist feminist* retelling of the Children of Lir story. Overall I liked it, but the nature of the beast is that it splits into three very different parts that vary widely in how much I get into it.
Part of it is a matter of the story. The Children of Lir does sit within an Irish mythical context (which this book richly engages with, to my delight) but for the most part it starts with the children as youths, and consists mostly of their cursed time on water before ending with their conversion to Christianity. To make the narrative structure work around their step mother’s journey, structural changes were necessary.
To be specific, act one involves a great deal of table setting, laying out the context in which Aife and her sisters grow up, explaining how, for example, Aife comes to grow virtues such as ambition which o-so-easily twist into pride and greed. This part is told with a certain remove, almost akin to a documentary, ymmv on how much the detached voice (which is likely the product of the narrator reflecting on a time from so long ago) impacts your experience. Personally, I found it worked well, particularly given the tendency to offer deconstructions and metacommentary on myths mentioned in parallel. It’s very introspective, and favours telling you that events happen without showing you, in this section especially. Still, it was well written enough for me to accept that there is so much table to set in this part that a bit of this is necessary.
The second act feels incredibly brief, a matter of days between the children being cursed (an act for which Aife routinely describes herself in terms of unforgivable wickedness, an act of petty hope for her husband’s attention, no attempt is made to dress this up or justify it) and Aife herself being cursed in punishment. This is part of why the restructure is so important; per the myth, Aife would be leaving the story at this point, however she is instead cursed with obscurity paired with immortality, which sets up a third act where she shadows and watches over the children for 900 years while we watch them, as much as they can, grow into the imitations of people they could have been.
I’ll be honest, the long first half of act 3, which follows the cursed children and their part in the myth beat for beat, at time felt like it lacked momentum, and were it not for the specific characterisations that emerged during this period I definitely would have felt overcome by the period of the children textually waiting around for centuries. Thankfully, there is interesting stuff going on around the children’s shifting relationship with their father, but this just papers over the issue of narrative drive leaving the building.
Coming to the second half of act 3, I was uncertain, but then! The ending, to a degree unlike almost any book I’ve read in a while, really ties the whole thing together. No spoilers, but by shifting the focus of attention to the attitude of the swan-children as people rather than as totems of lost innocence the author actually pulls off a very satisfying look at what redemption can look like for someone whose wrongdoings metaphysically cannot be redeemed. It’s genuinely touching, and pulled my right out of the late act 2 doldrums. It’s worth a letter-grade improvement in its final score, and makes the preceding half book worth it.
It does interesting stuff as well with chapter interludes where it has ogham-patterned text summarising the “sceal” as it is popularly told to draw a contrast with the changes to the narrative this story introduces, which is helpful throughout but is especially emotional in the final chapter, where you feel like history itself arcs towards something kind and loving and just.
*it makes a big deal in its publication and promotion of being a specifically feminist text, in the tradition of recent novels Heir of Venus or Clytemestra. I think the nature of the story makes that difficult, but there is definitely a lot of attention paid to putting this story in a more human context. Much of the first third of the book is table setting that forms the why of the curse. It’s not justified, even within the text itself acknowledges as being the product of Aife’s pride, greed and self-declared wickedness, but I think there is room for looking at this as a text that humanises the evil step-mother trope while still acknowledging her flaws. All the same, it does at times feel like the “new perspective” amounts to “people said I was greedy and those people were correct”, though this is just a passing impression. Moreover, women having flaws is not reactionary. It’s just the nature of a story where her role was originally “step wife arrives and ruins everything”, and I do think the story does an admirable job at applying a new lens to this.
It wasn’t world changing, but I’m glad I read it.
Part of it is a matter of the story. The Children of Lir does sit within an Irish mythical context (which this book richly engages with, to my delight) but for the most part it starts with the children as youths, and consists mostly of their cursed time on water before ending with their conversion to Christianity. To make the narrative structure work around their step mother’s journey, structural changes were necessary.
To be specific, act one involves a great deal of table setting, laying out the context in which Aife and her sisters grow up, explaining how, for example, Aife comes to grow virtues such as ambition which o-so-easily twist into pride and greed. This part is told with a certain remove, almost akin to a documentary, ymmv on how much the detached voice (which is likely the product of the narrator reflecting on a time from so long ago) impacts your experience. Personally, I found it worked well, particularly given the tendency to offer deconstructions and metacommentary on myths mentioned in parallel. It’s very introspective, and favours telling you that events happen without showing you, in this section especially. Still, it was well written enough for me to accept that there is so much table to set in this part that a bit of this is necessary.
The second act feels incredibly brief, a matter of days between the children being cursed (an act for which Aife routinely describes herself in terms of unforgivable wickedness, an act of petty hope for her husband’s attention, no attempt is made to dress this up or justify it) and Aife herself being cursed in punishment. This is part of why the restructure is so important; per the myth, Aife would be leaving the story at this point, however she is instead cursed with obscurity paired with immortality, which sets up a third act where she shadows and watches over the children for 900 years while we watch them, as much as they can, grow into the imitations of people they could have been.
I’ll be honest, the long first half of act 3, which follows the cursed children and their part in the myth beat for beat, at time felt like it lacked momentum, and were it not for the specific characterisations that emerged during this period I definitely would have felt overcome by the period of the children textually waiting around for centuries. Thankfully, there is interesting stuff going on around the children’s shifting relationship with their father, but this just papers over the issue of narrative drive leaving the building.
Coming to the second half of act 3, I was uncertain, but then! The ending, to a degree unlike almost any book I’ve read in a while, really ties the whole thing together. No spoilers, but by shifting the focus of attention to the attitude of the swan-children as people rather than as totems of lost innocence the author actually pulls off a very satisfying look at what redemption can look like for someone whose wrongdoings metaphysically cannot be redeemed. It’s genuinely touching, and pulled my right out of the late act 2 doldrums. It’s worth a letter-grade improvement in its final score, and makes the preceding half book worth it.
It does interesting stuff as well with chapter interludes where it has ogham-patterned text summarising the “sceal” as it is popularly told to draw a contrast with the changes to the narrative this story introduces, which is helpful throughout but is especially emotional in the final chapter, where you feel like history itself arcs towards something kind and loving and just.
*it makes a big deal in its publication and promotion of being a specifically feminist text, in the tradition of recent novels Heir of Venus or Clytemestra. I think the nature of the story makes that difficult, but there is definitely a lot of attention paid to putting this story in a more human context. Much of the first third of the book is table setting that forms the why of the curse. It’s not justified, even within the text itself acknowledges as being the product of Aife’s pride, greed and self-declared wickedness, but I think there is room for looking at this as a text that humanises the evil step-mother trope while still acknowledging her flaws. All the same, it does at times feel like the “new perspective” amounts to “people said I was greedy and those people were correct”, though this is just a passing impression. Moreover, women having flaws is not reactionary. It’s just the nature of a story where her role was originally “step wife arrives and ruins everything”, and I do think the story does an admirable job at applying a new lens to this.
It wasn’t world changing, but I’m glad I read it.
msjayteerattray's review against another edition
dark
emotional
informative
reflective
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
bookaneer808's review against another edition
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
Fierce and wild and lovely - an inspired and passionate retelling of the ancient tale of the Children of Lir.
Not only is the writing superlative, the book is a beautiful object; handsomely bound and beautifully illustrated by Karen Vaughan.
A book to treasure.
Not only is the writing superlative, the book is a beautiful object; handsomely bound and beautifully illustrated by Karen Vaughan.
A book to treasure.
melaniedctx's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
reflective
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Save Her Reply has absolutely beautiful prose and is a gripping retelling of the Children of Lir story. What struck me the most is the continuous reiteration of the legend/tragedy being Lir's alone and not his children's or anyone else connected with the story. This hit me hard because were his children or his wives not worthy enough for their importance to shine through in the traditional tellings?
I loved that each chapter began with a poem and each part of the story told from Aífe's perspective is not black or white but so many shades of grey and she never shies away from her own faults & culpability of the events as they played out. This book is going on my re-read shelf and I am looking forward to exploring more from the author.
Thanks, NetGelley and the publisher for providing a copy of this gem for an honest review.
I loved that each chapter began with a poem and each part of the story told from Aífe's perspective is not black or white but so many shades of grey and she never shies away from her own faults & culpability of the events as they played out. This book is going on my re-read shelf and I am looking forward to exploring more from the author.
Thanks, NetGelley and the publisher for providing a copy of this gem for an honest review.
morethanmylupus's review against another edition
medium-paced
3.0
Mythology retellings, especially feminist retellings, have become one of my favorite genres, and I was excited about this one even though I had to look up the story ahead of time as I wasn't familiar with it. I'm glad I looked it up, because I think I would have been kind of lost otherwise.
This book started off really strong. Brine and Tanglewood were great, Aife, meanwhile, started out as a strong woman and then became seemingly focused only on the husband she didn't care about a few chapters earlier. This was frustrating to watch play out and didn't fit with the feminist retelling aspect of the story. It seemed like a bait and switch to me, and while I appreciated that Aife maintains some moral ambiguity, this detracted from the overall story impact.
I loved the poems at the beginning of every chapter, but the prose felt fussy and overwritten.
This book started off really strong. Brine and Tanglewood were great, Aife, meanwhile, started out as a strong woman and then became seemingly focused only on the husband she didn't care about a few chapters earlier. This was frustrating to watch play out and didn't fit with the feminist retelling aspect of the story. It seemed like a bait and switch to me, and while I appreciated that Aife maintains some moral ambiguity, this detracted from the overall story impact.
I loved the poems at the beginning of every chapter, but the prose felt fussy and overwritten.
A huge thank you to the author and the publisher for providing an e-ARC via Netgalley. This does not affect my opinion regarding the book.
svangleboyer's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
relaxing
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
chamomile1's review against another edition
dark
hopeful
inspiring
mysterious
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
cheriepie's review against another edition
emotional
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
I'm such a sucker for retellings and also stories that are about stories and how they are told.
lollymac's review against another edition
dark
emotional
informative
reflective
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
Content Warnings
Minor: Death, Murder, Pregnancy, Sexual violence, Abandonment, and Violence