Reviews with content warning for Rape - A Song for Arbonne

Not to be dramatic, but A Song for Arbonne might be one of my favourite standalone fantasy reads of all time. Yet I’m inclined to agree with Kay’s distaste for being shoehorned into a particular genre, because while this book contains traditional fantasy elements, I would say it’s much closer to historical fiction with magical realism woven throughout. This book is an epic. It has battles and art, romance and revenge, loyalty and spite, life and death. Certainly, it’s my favourite read of this year.

Arbonne is described as a matriarchal troubadour society set in an alternate medieval reality. (I emphasize “described” because it’s not as idyllic as I initially imagined before I began this novel.) North of Arbonne is a militaristic society, Gorhaut, that is intent on eradicating the culture of Arbonne and securing its land. Gorhaut looks down upon what it sees as the femininity of Arbonne and thinks it will be an easy task to pillage and dominate the land, and gain control of its politically important ports.

Told in the third-person, we are offered many POVs, but our main protagonist is Blaise. Blaise is a hired mercenary now located in Arbonne, but he is originally from Gorhaut and displeased with the current state of his homeland.

It blows my mind what Kay was able to accomplish within a standalone novel. There is attention to detail required while reading A Song for Arbonne in order to keep track of his fantastic world-building and understand the characters in relation to one another, but the pay off is substantial.

I often describe prose as lyrical, but this claim is true of Kay’s writing. He is richly descriptive and paints incredibly vivid imagery. His description never bogs down the story or make it dull or feel like filler, but rather it adds to each character. Through the third-person Kay is continuing to character-build by describing what each character sees around them and how they interpret their peers, while also including the beautiful scenery of the land.

The relationships between the characters might by my favourite part of this novel. Kay emphasizes varying degrees of love and connection: familial, romantic, friendship, platonic, and more. From a grandmother’s tenderness and a deep love that persists past death, to convenient marriages and a father’s brutality.

Contrary to so much literature, our main protagonist doesn’t have just one relationship throughout the course of the book and ride off into the sunset for his happily-ever-after. Rather Blaise, and all the characters, experience normal relationships. There are happy marriages and dismal ones; lustful affairs and spiteful sex. There are relationships that have run their course and come to a natural end: some end with broken hearts and some end with resigned acceptance that it never could have been. I adore this complex representation and its accurate portrayal of human emotion.

I could say so, so much more, but I honesty don’t know where to start or where to end. The depth of A Song for Arbonne with its evocative setting and psychological nature will have me going back to this book, I’m already sure of it.

Content Warnings

elzbethmrgn's review against another edition

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adventurous dark sad tense medium-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

4.0

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