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judassilver's review against another edition
Graphic: Classism, Death, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Colonisation, Misogyny, Xenophobia, and Sexism
Moderate: Injury/Injury detail and Miscarriage
annasusan's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
2.25
But on a more serious note, just very dull, it is clearly inspired by Margaret Fountaine's adapted diaries, 'Love Among the Butterflies', and I would recommend you read that. Weirdly, Fountaine has a way more feminist start - she became independently wealthy when her father died so didn't need a husband to tag along - trying to avoid the class issue isn't a valid excuse because she was still upper class.
Structurally, this divides a memoir into a series format with an adventure per book, versus an adventure per chapter, and that just doesn't work.
There's about as much examination of natural history's colonialism as in Fountaine's work, that is to say none. I think the choice to set it in fantasy-Siberia was an attempt to avoid it at least in this first book (I cannot comment on the sequels), despite the fact the Indigenous peoples of Siberia have similar histories of colonial oppression. I think the author intended the locals to be poor white Russians, as there would certainly be some, undertones, if one were to read them as Indigenous people.
If you liked the setting and want a cool old timey lady who acknowledges colonialism, Ethel Lindgren's story is pretty cool; she was an anthropologist and refused to publish her PhD thesis on Indigenous Siberian religion due to the Soviet crackdowns on religion at the time.
Graphic: Animal death and Xenophobia
Moderate: Murder and Death
madzie's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.0
However, Brennan creates a nicely written plot with a good twist at the end. Throughout, I got bored with the lack of details. Although seemingly purposeful due to attempting to draw in scientific writing, it leaves me again wanting more and never really feeling like part of the story. Perhaps more of a success is her incorporation of Victorian writing, which echoes history while still being accessible to modern audiences, as well as less pretentious. Occasionally, I felt the sentence variety was lacking, especially in action scenes. Lady Trent herself is an intriguing character, who did leave me feeling for her by the end of the novel. Overall, I felt like the book stayed in the middle ground, perhaps rising above for other readers, especially those more interested in scientific explanations and writings over story flow and details.
Graphic: Death, Sexism, Xenophobia, Animal death, and Misogyny
Moderate: Violence, Murder, Classism, Grief, and Miscarriage
squinnittowinit's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.5
It's written as a memoir, so the fictional author as the narrator is writing about a time in the far past, and she does say that she finds some of the sexism to be ridiculous now, but she still makes weird "men vs women" statements that just reinforce harmful gender stereotypes.
She also read as very Victorian British, in that she was a noble from a colonizing nation
Still, I enjoyed the dragons and I enjoyed the mystery plot. I just wish it had more modern values.
Graphic: Misogyny and Sexism
Moderate: Injury/Injury detail, Racism, Classism, Violence, Mental illness, Blood, Gun violence, Xenophobia, and Death
Minor: Colonisation, Addiction, Animal cruelty, Kidnapping, Body horror, Cannibalism, Confinement, Medical content, Grief, and Murder
nassuada's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.75
Graphic: Xenophobia, Violence, and Slavery
Minor: Miscarriage
meganpbell's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.0
Graphic: Death and Animal death
Moderate: Miscarriage, Xenophobia, Violence, Religious bigotry, Colonisation, Kidnapping, Classism, and Sexism
bea_reads_books's review against another edition
Graphic: Xenophobia, Blood, Animal death, and Animal cruelty
Moderate: Colonisation, Alcohol, Classism, and Adult/minor relationship
Minor: Child abuse
novella42's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
Graphic: Animal death, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Blood, Violence, Xenophobia, Death, Grief, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Gore, Gun violence, and Pregnancy
Moderate: Classism, Medical content, and Religious bigotry
flyingryndeer's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
Graphic: Sexism and Misogyny
Moderate: Miscarriage
Minor: Xenophobia and Murder
ok7a's review against another edition
- 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? Yes
4.0
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Violence, and Grief
Moderate: Xenophobia and Sexism
Minor: Miscarriage