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undersea's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Do yourself a favor and read a summary of Beowulf before reading this. You will get so much more out of some of the themes & points in the book.
I first read this in 2019 & I remember being fired up by the feminist themes & enamored with the prose. On rereading, I am still enamored with Headley’s writing, but the themes were a lot more complex & layered. I mostly felt a sad kind of rage for the women in the story & for women everywhere.
As opposed to the original story, no character is purely a hero or purely a monster and the exploration of that is expertly done. In the original the threat was real & here it’s imagined. Both by Dana & Willa. The damage that the imagined threats cause is completely catastrophic. This book touches on identity, history, toxic masculinity, generational trauma, racism, patriarchy, mental health, & PTSD.
The writing can get a little repetitive in some spots when you’re eager for the plot to advance but ultimately I think it benefits the complexity of the characters inner lives.
I first read this in 2019 & I remember being fired up by the feminist themes & enamored with the prose. On rereading, I am still enamored with Headley’s writing, but the themes were a lot more complex & layered. I mostly felt a sad kind of rage for the women in the story & for women everywhere.
As opposed to the original story, no character is purely a hero or purely a monster and the exploration of that is expertly done. In the original the threat was real & here it’s imagined. Both by Dana & Willa. The damage that the imagined threats cause is completely catastrophic. This book touches on identity, history, toxic masculinity, generational trauma, racism, patriarchy, mental health, & PTSD.
The writing can get a little repetitive in some spots when you’re eager for the plot to advance but ultimately I think it benefits the complexity of the characters inner lives.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Gore and Violence
Moderate: War, Abandonment, Colonisation, and Rape
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