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twistykris's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
funny
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
4.5
A uniquely funny, scary, dark book that was a joy to read. This is NOT a cozy fantasy by any means. There are elements of cozy fantasy: found family, adventure, humor. But there is a lot of dark content and some mid-high stakes. Please check the trigger warnings.
The world-building was fantastic and it felt like every character was truly fleshed out. The dust-wife was just an absolutely grumpy gem that I adored and her demon chicken made me laugh out loud multiple times (though I wish we could have seen more of what the demon chicken could do and how she came to have a demon inside of her). Marra was a great character, though sometimes her self-doubt got to be a little grating; it felt like every chapter had her inner thoughts of "I can't do this, I'm making a mistake, this is a dumb idea, these people don't want to help me." I understand it to an extent, but it just felt whiny at times.
Not exactly a page-turner at certain points- some of the pacing was a little off for me and it felt like it jumped from plot point to plot point in a weird manner that I only realized later on that it's meant to read like a fairy tale (which makes sense, I feel silly for not recognizing it earlier). Overall a very enjoyable read!
The world-building was fantastic and it felt like every character was truly fleshed out. The dust-wife was just an absolutely grumpy gem that I adored and her demon chicken made me laugh out loud multiple times (though I wish we could have seen more of what the demon chicken could do and how she came to have a demon inside of her). Marra was a great character, though sometimes her self-doubt got to be a little grating; it felt like every chapter had her inner thoughts of "I can't do this, I'm making a mistake, this is a dumb idea, these people don't want to help me." I understand it to an extent, but it just felt whiny at times.
Not exactly a page-turner at certain points- some of the pacing was a little off for me and it felt like it jumped from plot point to plot point in a weird manner that I only realized later on that it's meant to read like a fairy tale (which makes sense, I feel silly for not recognizing it earlier). Overall a very enjoyable read!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Pregnancy, Death, Miscarriage, and Physical abuse
Moderate: Toxic relationship, Abortion, Child death, Grief, Infertility, Medical content, and Misogyny
Minor: Cannibalism and Injury/Injury detail
fallandfox's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
fast-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? Yes
4.0
Princesa Marra após anos vendo sua irmã mais do meio sofrendo nas mãos do marido abusivo realiza que ela quem deve salvar sua irmã. Com a ajuda de uma bruxa de cemitério, uma fada madrinha, uma galinha possuída por um demônio e um antigo guerreiro. Juntos eles partem para libertar a família da Marra e o reino das mãos desse tirano.
Eu escolhi essa leitura como parte do meu semi objetivo de ler alguns dos livros que ganharam o goodreads choice awards do ano passado.
Eu precisava de uma fantasia diferenciada esses tempos então essa foi uma ótima experiência e pude entender porque muita gente estava gostando da leitura.
Quando eu terminei o livro só conseguia pensar em como eu queria ler ele de novo ou procurar outros livros da autora.
A escrita pra mim foi diferente do que estou acostumada em fantasias e de certa forma menos cansativa principalmente por não ter sido a minha leitura prioridade.
Eu não me senti muito conectada em relação ao ambiente mas não interferiu na minha leitura por estar curtindo a vibe do livro e ser fácil de ler.
Marra a personagem principal é uma princesa de um reino pequeno, e para este sobreviver a ataques precisa se unir por meio de casamentos com o maior reino, ela se encontra como uma freira como forma de o rei que era casado com sua irmã mais velha casou e depois morrei e agora sua irmã do meio casou com ele agora. Depois de observar o abuso que sua irmã esta sofrendo ela busca uma bruxa de cemitério para ajuda-la em sua jornada quando tudo começa.
A bruxa do cemitério é uma personagem bem interessante e de uma boa logica que as vezes faz falta nas aventuras, a gente não descobre sobre o passado dela porque não é importante para a historia mas isso não impediu de gostar dela, a galinha com o demônio nela foi bem engraçada mas não muito presente.
O guerreiro antigo era um homem que cometeu um ato bom mas que era considerado um ato imperdoável em seu povo e depois de escolhas que fez acabou sendo vendido por fadas onde foi comprado pela protagonista e a bruxa.
A fada madrinha é uma personagem engraçada que acaba modificando tudo oque a gente espera de uma fada madrinha na pratica mas ela se tornou minha favorita.
E uma historia com momento engraçados mas que não esquece de na sua jornada colocar o quão importante é a proteção que a princesa sente por sua irmã e sua vontade de salvar ela de um destino terrível que seria seu nas mãos do seu marido violento e abusivo.
Eu escolhi essa leitura como parte do meu semi objetivo de ler alguns dos livros que ganharam o goodreads choice awards do ano passado.
Eu precisava de uma fantasia diferenciada esses tempos então essa foi uma ótima experiência e pude entender porque muita gente estava gostando da leitura.
Quando eu terminei o livro só conseguia pensar em como eu queria ler ele de novo ou procurar outros livros da autora.
A escrita pra mim foi diferente do que estou acostumada em fantasias e de certa forma menos cansativa principalmente por não ter sido a minha leitura prioridade.
Eu não me senti muito conectada em relação ao ambiente mas não interferiu na minha leitura por estar curtindo a vibe do livro e ser fácil de ler.
Marra a personagem principal é uma princesa de um reino pequeno, e para este sobreviver a ataques precisa se unir por meio de casamentos com o maior reino, ela se encontra como uma freira como forma de o rei que era casado com sua irmã mais velha casou e depois morrei e agora sua irmã do meio casou com ele agora. Depois de observar o abuso que sua irmã esta sofrendo ela busca uma bruxa de cemitério para ajuda-la em sua jornada quando tudo começa.
A bruxa do cemitério é uma personagem bem interessante e de uma boa logica que as vezes faz falta nas aventuras, a gente não descobre sobre o passado dela porque não é importante para a historia mas isso não impediu de gostar dela, a galinha com o demônio nela foi bem engraçada mas não muito presente.
O guerreiro antigo era um homem que cometeu um ato bom mas que era considerado um ato imperdoável em seu povo e depois de escolhas que fez acabou sendo vendido por fadas onde foi comprado pela protagonista e a bruxa.
A fada madrinha é uma personagem engraçada que acaba modificando tudo oque a gente espera de uma fada madrinha na pratica mas ela se tornou minha favorita.
E uma historia com momento engraçados mas que não esquece de na sua jornada colocar o quão importante é a proteção que a princesa sente por sua irmã e sua vontade de salvar ela de um destino terrível que seria seu nas mãos do seu marido violento e abusivo.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Misogyny, Domestic abuse, Slavery, Murder, Violence, and Miscarriage
jj_tj's review
adventurous
dark
funny
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Domestic abuse, Child death, and Miscarriage
Minor: Misogyny and Murder
wardenred's review
dark
emotional
mysterious
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? Yes
4.0
Kania was hostage to the prince. Marra’s future children, if any, were hostage to Kania’s fertility.
Pretty sure this is the scariest book I've ever read by T. Kingfisher, and that has nothing to do with all the spooky parts of the worldbuilding. It's all about the situation at the heart of the plot. Marra's sister stuck in that awful abusive marriage; their mother impassively watching and letting it happen because politics; the implication that plenty of nobles, guards, and servants in the Northern Castle were quite aware of what was happening, were all right with it, and Kania's happy ending involves staying among them and working to be seen as someone as ruthless as her husband... I don't know. All of that just sent chills down my spine. Especially that happy ending. Because while the quest is successfully finished, Kania is saved, and the bad guy's gone, nothing has really change. The world is still the same place it has always been, where all the same things can happen again and again, and people keep playing by the same rules.
Maybe I missed some details. Maybe the odd mood I was in influenced my perception of the book. But really, it just felt so heavy and unsettling and for the most part lacking hope. There were trickles of it, sure, mostly in the scenes focused intensely at Marra and how Not Okay she was with certain things—not just her sister's situation. And there's lots of interesting worldbuilding here, a compelling magic system, one of the best, most original adventuring parties ever, and a very good bone dog. So many things to love! And I did love those, but it was difficult to do so for all the above reasons.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Domestic abuse, Miscarriage, Misogyny, and Medical content
astroprojection's review
dark
funny
hopeful
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
3.0
It was certainly an Experience to listen to this audiobook during this week in USA political hell, so there’s that. And, while I do genuinely enjoy a good chunk of Kingfisher’s work, I felt like the characters in this one were just reconfigured versions of those from her other novels (we get it, you loooove stoic bodyguards/paladins as brooding romantic interests!) and it just didn’t give me novelty or sustain my interest.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Misogyny, Pregnancy, and Miscarriage
wrensreadingroom's review against another edition
dark
emotional
funny
tense
fast-paced
5.0
Content Warnings
Minor: Toxic relationship, Violence, War, Adult/minor relationship, Alcohol, Blood, Bullying, Cursing, Infidelity, Misogyny, Infertility, Medical content, Miscarriage, Murder, Sexual content, Confinement, Death, Gore, Grief, Physical abuse, Pregnancy, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Cannibalism, Child death, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Sexism, Sexual violence, and Vomit
notthatlibrarian's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
funny
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Misogyny and Grief
Moderate: Animal death, Child death, Physical abuse, Pregnancy, and Misogyny
Minor: Cannibalism, Confinement, Sexual violence, and Abortion
eni_iilorak's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
funny
hopeful
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.25
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Miscarriage, Murder, Pregnancy, Violence, Physical abuse, Child death, Domestic abuse, Animal death, Death, Misogyny, and Trafficking
Moderate: Confinement, Cannibalism, Grief, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, and Suicide attempt
Minor: War and Torture
gardens_and_dragons's review
adventurous
dark
funny
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
5.0
Kingfisher delivered all of the classic fantasy, quest troops, I adored, while sprinkling in both horror and humor. And I loved the goblin market, the demon possessed chicken, the godfather, the witch, who ends up going with the crew, the heroin and her loyal companion. All of them really made the world come alive I really didn’t expect for such a heavy book about saving family, for this to be so funny.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Domestic abuse and Death
Moderate: Misogyny
Minor: Cannibalism
tallnecked_pancakeface's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
funny
mysterious
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? Yes
4.25
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal death, Physical abuse, Blood, Murder, Misogyny, Grief, Body horror, Confinement, Domestic abuse, Cannibalism, Child death, Death, Violence, Pregnancy, Miscarriage, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Torture, Death of parent, Suicidal thoughts, Sexual content, Pandemic/Epidemic, and Dementia