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lucyp21's review
dark
emotional
3.0
This book I picked up for a readathon as I have been meaning to read it for a while. I got it in an indie book box and every time I read the blurb on the back of the book, I would have forgotten it by the time I picked it up again.
This book is about a 21st century farmer's daughter who ran away from her family and then doesn't know what to do from there. An old man sits next to her on the bench and starts to tell her a story about his friend, an Irish man who is tasked to go to Wales and pick up six raven chicks to help keep up moral in WWII Britain. This is also a retelling of a not so well known myth, which I didn't know much about until I read the myth at the end of the book.
There isn't much to say about this book. I read it very quickly and I did end up enjoying it in the end, it wasn't boring and it was well-paced, though the raven chicks weren't as important as I thought they would be. Considering I didn't know the myth very well, I found the sudden scene of graphic animal abuse disturbing and out of nowhere, but considering it was what the author wanted to highlight in the original myth, I can well understand why it was still there. I really liked the ending, where we found out how everything connected and I would read more in this series, though I probably woudln't reread this book again.
3.5 stars!
snoakes7001's review
5.0
I love Owen Sheers writing. This re-imagining of the Mabinogion is a real gem, and his afterword puts the whole thing into context and makes it doubly fascinating.
It shines the spotlight on the nature of story-telling; why we tell stories and why the old myths and legends are so enduring. Bringing the story of Branwen up-to-date without slavishly sticking to the original he highlights universal themes - how violence perpetuates violence and how we punish those we love when things go bad for us.
Beautiful.
It shines the spotlight on the nature of story-telling; why we tell stories and why the old myths and legends are so enduring. Bringing the story of Branwen up-to-date without slavishly sticking to the original he highlights universal themes - how violence perpetuates violence and how we punish those we love when things go bad for us.
Beautiful.
leerazer's review
3.0
An acceptable re-imagining of a medieval Welsh myth, the Second Branch of the Mabinogion, in which the Welsh princess Branwen is given to the Irish king Matholwch, whose mistreatment of her results in a war leaving only seven men alive to repopulate Ireland. This version, in which an old man in the present day tells a story from WWII to a young woman, putting me in mind of The Princess Bride, leaves out the genocide and royalty but translates the rest pretty effectively. Unfortunately the first 50ish pages are used to set up the young woman's part in the "reveal" at the end which dumbs down the myth's story by trying to too literally neatly present the reader with an Important Moral Lesson. However the main purpose of this series seems to be to spread knowledge of the stories of the Mabinogion outside of Wales, and that this book did, for which I'm glad. Probably better just to read the original though.
judenoseinabook's review
3.0
Despite my love of folk tales, I don't know the stories of the Mabiogion very well. But those I do know of all seem so sad.
This is an updated tale and very well told. Love Owen Sheer's books.
This is an updated tale and very well told. Love Owen Sheer's books.
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