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4.01 AVERAGE
4.01 AVERAGE
adventurous
dark
emotional
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
I only finished this one as I was reading it alongside someone. I think if I had read this when it had just come out I would have enjoyed it more. I would have been a teen with less reading experience and the ideas in the book would have been fresher and more novel.
A lot of my disappointment is in thwarted expectations I believe. The book wasn't sensual or steamy or romantic or filled with political intrigue. The interesting historical/ mythological exposition that heavily featured in the first part of the book ultimately wasn't important. And what is an anguissette? Just Delaunay's marketing tactic it seems. Or else the Terre d'Ange term for a Mary sue, cause Phedre didn't seem to have a particular hunger for sex or pain, but everyone she met was in awe of her for no reason, a definite mystical power.
The book ended up feeling pretty generic medieval fantasy after all the interesting setups had no interesting follow though. A tougher editor was sorely needed as well. If it hadn't been so unnecessarily long I'd feel more favourably about it.
A lot of my disappointment is in thwarted expectations I believe. The book wasn't sensual or steamy or romantic or filled with political intrigue. The interesting historical/ mythological exposition that heavily featured in the first part of the book ultimately wasn't important. And what is an anguissette? Just Delaunay's marketing tactic it seems. Or else the Terre d'Ange term for a Mary sue, cause Phedre didn't seem to have a particular hunger for sex or pain, but everyone she met was in awe of her for no reason, a definite mystical power.
The book ended up feeling pretty generic medieval fantasy after all the interesting setups had no interesting follow though. A tougher editor was sorely needed as well. If it hadn't been so unnecessarily long I'd feel more favourably about it.
Absolutely amazing. Hard to describe how beautiful a book this was.
adventurous
challenging
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
mysterious
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Expected it to be a romance, but it’s more of an emotional political intrigue novel. Still good though!
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
adventurous
dark
emotional
funny
hopeful
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
reflective
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
Come for the BDSM priests, stay for the richly layered political fantasy and luxurious prose.
I needed to wash the taste of bad contemporary romance out of my head and this worked. I read it before in college and I'm impressed with how well it holds up. I have a little more than half a sticky note of notes on a 900 page book, that's how into it I was. I'm going to try to keep this review as spoiler free as possible because I love this book and if anybody is interested in it, I would like them to experience the delight and heartbreak that I did. Just check the trigger warnings first at times, it gets dark dark.
I 100% understand why people would bounce off of it. You have to be onboard a much more sexually open society pretty quickly, along with the fact that the main character is a divinely appointed masochistic submissive trained to be a spy and sex worker.
It is at times a little drawn out. The prose is rich and luxurious, however there are parts where it is looking a little purple and Carey could get to the point faster. That being said, the best descriptor I have for Carey's prose is luxurious.
I like how the author takes care to flesh out all the different cultures, the Skaldi feel like a whole people instead of a faceless horde. The different tribes of the Albans have distinct feelings and cultures. My biggest complaints are pretty much centered around some outdated depictions of Romani people.
The book takes its time to flesh out its complex characters and their motivations. Like, there is a character I despised. He is a traitor and an all around not great guy. But when the book got to his last stand and inevitable death, I was nearly moved to tears. Jocelyn starts out as a grumpy stick in the mud, but you get to see him change and grow beyond that initial characterization, but still retain the core parts of who he is.
And our star of the show Phedre is just incredible all the way through. I love how the older version of her narrating the story will point out that she was being dumbass/a dramatic bitch. I just love her so much, she's one of my favorite characters of all time.
I know I said in my review of that shitty contemporary romance that I was so sick of submissive women. That has now been amended to be, "I am so sick of submissive women, except for my girl Phedre no Delaunay. She can get on her knees for the flogger. As a treat." And make no mistake, for her it is a treat.
That being said, the author takes care to differentiate between rough, kinky sex, which Phedre enjoys and is an enthusiastic participant in, and sexual assault. It takes the time and attention to say that just because her body reacted a certain way, it didn't mean she wanted it.
Also, I am but a humble trash bisexual so I am right there with Phedre, Melisande might be one of the hottest characters ever put on page. Like yeah, she did all that shit, but ladies and gentlemen of the jury, ambitious lady hot. That being said, I also cheered during her last scene with Phedre because Phedre is my girl and she owned her.
Again, I love this book. I had such a blast reading it, but it's probably not for everybody.
I needed to wash the taste of bad contemporary romance out of my head and this worked. I read it before in college and I'm impressed with how well it holds up. I have a little more than half a sticky note of notes on a 900 page book, that's how into it I was. I'm going to try to keep this review as spoiler free as possible because I love this book and if anybody is interested in it, I would like them to experience the delight and heartbreak that I did. Just check the trigger warnings first at times, it gets dark dark.
I 100% understand why people would bounce off of it. You have to be onboard a much more sexually open society pretty quickly, along with the fact that the main character is a divinely appointed masochistic submissive trained to be a spy and sex worker.
It is at times a little drawn out. The prose is rich and luxurious, however there are parts where it is looking a little purple and Carey could get to the point faster. That being said, the best descriptor I have for Carey's prose is luxurious.
I like how the author takes care to flesh out all the different cultures, the Skaldi feel like a whole people instead of a faceless horde. The different tribes of the Albans have distinct feelings and cultures. My biggest complaints are pretty much centered around some outdated depictions of Romani people.
The book takes its time to flesh out its complex characters and their motivations. Like, there is a character I despised. He is a traitor and an all around not great guy. But when the book got to his last stand and inevitable death, I was nearly moved to tears. Jocelyn starts out as a grumpy stick in the mud, but you get to see him change and grow beyond that initial characterization, but still retain the core parts of who he is.
And our star of the show Phedre is just incredible all the way through. I love how the older version of her narrating the story will point out that she was being dumbass/a dramatic bitch. I just love her so much, she's one of my favorite characters of all time.
I know I said in my review of that shitty contemporary romance that I was so sick of submissive women. That has now been amended to be, "I am so sick of submissive women, except for my girl Phedre no Delaunay. She can get on her knees for the flogger. As a treat." And make no mistake, for her it is a treat.
That being said, the author takes care to differentiate between rough, kinky sex, which Phedre enjoys and is an enthusiastic participant in, and sexual assault. It takes the time and attention to say that just because her body reacted a certain way, it didn't mean she wanted it.
Also, I am but a humble trash bisexual so I am right there with Phedre, Melisande might be one of the hottest characters ever put on page. Like yeah, she did all that shit, but ladies and gentlemen of the jury, ambitious lady hot. That being said, I also cheered during her last scene with Phedre because Phedre is my girl and she owned her.
Again, I love this book. I had such a blast reading it, but it's probably not for everybody.
