Reviews tagging 'Mental illness'

A Multitude of Dreams by Mara Rutherford

1 review

directorpurry's review

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dark mysterious tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

2.0

I received a free eARC through Netgalley and Ink Yard Press in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.

Four princesses, the daughters of King Stuart, live secluded in a castle. The royals and nobles eat, sleep, and play locked within the walls while a great plague rages outside the walls – the mori roja. They do not know who is alive and who is dead outside. They do not where the food is coming from. 
But one of the princesses holds a secret. Princess Imogen, the youngest and the king’s favorite, is not who she appears to be. In reality, she is Seraphina, a Jewish girl taking the place of royalty. Can she survive both her secret and the illness that is sweeping not just the kingdom but possibly the world? 
 
CW: antisemitism, self-harm, blood, gore, description of injuries, mental illness, death, death of a child, death of a parent 
 
As a great lover of vampire fiction (obviously) and a Jewish person, I may or may not have literally screamed when I found out I got my hands on an ARC. So, I hope you understand how genuinely gutted I am when I say this was one of my biggest disappointments of 2023. 
 
I will say – I enjoyed the characters! Seraphina and Jocelyn’s relationship was sweet and interesting, and I was very engaged with interactions between the four princesses. The idea of a mad king/unwell patriarchal figure is something I also like in storytelling. It fits very well with the Gothic themes of a Poe-reimagining. 
 
I’m one of those really annoying people who needs my historical fantasy settings to be well established in a particular time period or be in on it with the reader, purposefully obfuscating when the story takes place through introduction of various mediums that don’t fit a particular period (think Steampunk inventions). Unfortunately, I felt that rather than being in on the joke, the establishing was just under-developed due to lack of detail. The kingdoms featured (Pilmand and Goslind) are never placed in space, though it is stated clearly that the language in Goslind is English. No time period is established either through clothes, ruling structure, dances engaged in at the masquerade, or description of available firearms. 
 
This is where my questions take on a Jewish bent. As a writer myself, and one who has been prominently featuring Jewish characters in my original work, I was disappointed with the overall world-building in the way that it incorporated Judaism. 
Traditionally, vampires are particularly susceptible to Christian-related religious paraphernalia, such as crucifixes and holy water. While I by no means require mentions of that in my vampire fiction, I was confused at the complete lack of references to Christianity throughout the story. Why, you might ask, is this being included in a discussion of Jewish representation? 
Well, because the story relies on tropes of persecution via Christianity that are glaringly lacking to my eyes. Why are Jews so persecuted in this country when there is no Christianity? The original antisemitism came from Christians believing Jews to have been the killers of Jesus, which was perpetuated when Jews were particularly difficult to convert. What is the “us” of this story to be set versus “them” (the Jews)? 
Rutherford touches on blood libels in her author’s notes but does not touch specifically on the theme within the actual prose. (For context – the blood libels are a fear perpetuated frequently around Passover time – in the late spring, near Easter, or in periods of great civil unrest, that Jewish people were kidnapping Christian babies and pouring their blood into Matzah or other ceremonial breads. While this is a conspiracy theory that began in the Middle Ages, it is an ongoing problem. There have been searches and arrests of Jews into the 21st century on conspiracy of blood libel.) I think this was a misstep, as the antisemitism in the story, rather than hinging on an unknown reason of, “well, I guess they just hate the Jews!!” could instead have interrogated the very real problems of blood libel. Giselle’s antisemitism could not only have been directly disproven as false, it would have given Seraphina a chance to expand on Judaism within this setting. 
I was also a bit confused as to why Yiddish is prominent within the community of Goslind, as it is a language that comes from an amalgam, usually Russian, Polish, German, and/or other Eastern European languages with Hebrew. Was the implication that this collection of Jews came from elsewhere? I don’t think that was it. Additionally, the word “pogrom” was used in reference to a great massacre of the Jewish population. While this word holds particular connotation – burnt houses, destroyed property, murders or arrests based on unfounded accusations, etc. – it is a Russian word. So why is it here? I think it would have been more powerful if the atrocities against the Jews were spelled out, not balanced on a word from another language that has cultural context outside of the setting of the novel. 
Unfortunately, I don’t feel that any of the antisemitic characters were made to face their actions. They mostly just… died. Lol. 
 
I was also a bit disappointed in the overall vampire lore in general. I am actually a bit of a fan of the “supernatural by illness/virus/bacteria/fungi” genre, but I especially like when stories play off tropes and themes within the traditional setting. There is not much context about why these vampires are different from all other vampires – or the same as others. (Ha – got a Passover joke in there for ya’!) 
 
There was so much promise in the imagery that this novel sold me with, but I found the historical details and elements of cultural Judaism really held it back for me. I spent much more time questioning the setting than enjoying the story. 
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