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naimar's review
adventurous
emotional
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
2.25
Took a while to get into, but I enjoyed the back half of the book. Constantine is the stand out character, Sinne and Riva fell flat to me a lot of the time.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Transphobia and Violence
cappuccino136's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Riva, Keyne and Sinne are siblings, children of King Cador, in the post-Roman Britain kingdom of Dummonia. The Saxons are threatening their borders and the Queen has embraced Christianity and brought a priest into their court as a powerful advisor. His work is to cleanse the people from their Pagan gods and magic. The siblings each have their own power, given as an inheritance by blood and from the land. But the magic has been failing since the ascendance of a new religion. Magician and storyteller, Myrddin (Merlin) arrives agian after a long absence and is welcomed warmly by those who are tired of the priest's influence. When Tristan comes to court as an emissary from another king, his presence threatens their family bonds. Each sibling must make their own path and it will cost dearly.
We get the three points of view and feel the torrent of their emotions. Riva is scarred and disabled by a traumatic accident as a child. She struggles against the pity of others for being "the damaged one". Keyne is a trans man and fights to get anyone to recognize him as his true self. The rejection of his identity and the dysphoria are a prison for him. Sinne is a romantic dreamer who wants life to be an exciting adventure. This novel is based on the ballad of the Two Sisters. The time period and Merlin make it Arthurian adjacent. The prose is descriptive and expressive without being overdone at all. The family dynamics and sibling relationships are very well done. The themes and characters are interwoven very well.
We get the three points of view and feel the torrent of their emotions. Riva is scarred and disabled by a traumatic accident as a child. She struggles against the pity of others for being "the damaged one". Keyne is a trans man and fights to get anyone to recognize him as his true self. The rejection of his identity and the dysphoria are a prison for him. Sinne is a romantic dreamer who wants life to be an exciting adventure. This novel is based on the ballad of the Two Sisters. The time period and Merlin make it Arthurian adjacent. The prose is descriptive and expressive without being overdone at all. The family dynamics and sibling relationships are very well done. The themes and characters are interwoven very well.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Transphobia, Religious bigotry, and Violence
shcleveland's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
My feelings about this book are complicated.
At first, I had a really hard time caring about Riva and Sinne. In particular, I found Sinne's sections grating. Up to about the 60% mark, I was wishing Keyne was an only child. As the plot picked up, however, the importance of Riva and Sinne's threads became more apparent. I had an inkling about the big plot twist early on, but the author managed to have me going back and forth second-guessing my assumptions. If I were just rating on plot and characters, the book would be a solid 4.5 stars. However...
There were so many details about the historical setting that I found confusing or just made me want to beat my head against a wall. "WHAT YEAR IS IT????"' was a question I found myself asking constantly. Based on the ash falling from the sky I'm GUESSING that we're looking at 536 CE and boy or boy does that lead me to more questions about the state of affairs as far as the Christianization of these pagan cultures goes. The Romano-Britons probably would have been mainly Christian at that point if I remember correctly.
Which brings me to the paganism of the book. I couldn't tell if the author was going for syncretism, or just pulling the names of pagan gods out of a hat. Some of the West Saxon enemies might have been worshiping Woden, but probably not these Brythonic-speaking celts? The festivals mentioned also looked suspiciously like the Wiccan Wheel of the Year. The Old English Eostre was used in place of Ostara at least, but... the author is clearly aware that it was the Saxons that spoke Old English since there's straight up OE dialogue for them in the book. It's more likely they would have worshipped Eostre? I have questions.
There's also a reference to Lammas, which is again Middle English though it comes from the Old English for "loaf mass" a term that I don't think even the West Saxons would have been using in 536? I'm pretty sure there's a Welsh harvest festival that would have made more sense.
Anyway, the religion and linguistics were just a distracting mess.
At first, I had a really hard time caring about Riva and Sinne. In particular, I found Sinne's sections grating. Up to about the 60% mark, I was wishing Keyne was an only child. As the plot picked up, however, the importance of Riva and Sinne's threads became more apparent. I had an inkling about the big plot twist early on, but the author managed to have me going back and forth second-guessing my assumptions. If I were just rating on plot and characters, the book would be a solid 4.5 stars. However...
There were so many details about the historical setting that I found confusing or just made me want to beat my head against a wall. "WHAT YEAR IS IT????"' was a question I found myself asking constantly. Based on the ash falling from the sky I'm GUESSING that we're looking at 536 CE and boy or boy does that lead me to more questions about the state of affairs as far as the Christianization of these pagan cultures goes. The Romano-Britons probably would have been mainly Christian at that point if I remember correctly.
Which brings me to the paganism of the book. I couldn't tell if the author was going for syncretism, or just pulling the names of pagan gods out of a hat. Some of the West Saxon enemies might have been worshiping Woden, but probably not these Brythonic-speaking celts? The festivals mentioned also looked suspiciously like the Wiccan Wheel of the Year. The Old English Eostre was used in place of Ostara at least, but... the author is clearly aware that it was the Saxons that spoke Old English since there's straight up OE dialogue for them in the book. It's more likely they would have worshipped Eostre? I have questions.
There's also a reference to Lammas, which is again Middle English though it comes from the Old English for "loaf mass" a term that I don't think even the West Saxons would have been using in 536? I'm pretty sure there's a Welsh harvest festival that would have made more sense.
Anyway, the religion and linguistics were just a distracting mess.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Death of parent, Gore, Transphobia, Violence, Religious bigotry, and Sexism
Minor: Pregnancy and War
nadjareads56's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
mysterious
fast-paced
- 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? It's complicated
4.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, and Transphobia
laurajeangrace's review against another edition
emotional
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
Content Warnings
Graphic: Transphobia, War, Death of parent, Blood, Body horror, and Death
Moderate: Confinement, Medical trauma, Misogyny, Pregnancy, Religious bigotry, and Xenophobia
Minor: Vomit
reb_curt's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
If you are struggling with the written perspective shifts, the audiobook handles them splendidly with the voice artist doing different character voices to provide distinction.
A slower starting story that hooked me hard halfway through, and had me reflective at the end.
Quite possibly one of my favorite audiobooks of the year.
A slower starting story that hooked me hard halfway through, and had me reflective at the end.
Quite possibly one of my favorite audiobooks of the year.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Transphobia
Moderate: Gore and Dysphoria
anna_l_richards's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Body horror and Transphobia
mooshake's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
listen there were problems with how much plot importance keyne was given in comparison to riva and sinne but it's 1 a.m. and i’ve been lying in bed for the past 20 minutes silently crying over the ending so.... ..¯\_(ツ)_/¯
Content Warnings
Graphic: Deadnaming, Transphobia, War, Fire/Fire injury, Gore, and Ableism
Moderate: Medical content, Colonisation, Blood, Death, and Dysphoria
Minor: Pregnancy
issyfrp99's review against another edition
challenging
dark
mysterious
reflective
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
Content Warnings
Graphic: Transphobia
Moderate: Dysphoria
alexreadsbooks93's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Transphobia and Gore