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4.02 AVERAGE
4.02 AVERAGE
adventurous
emotional
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child death, Misogyny, Sexism
Moderate: Incest, Sexual assault
Minor: Death of parent
I really wanted to like this book--I loved the Sevenwaters trilogy (the first two books are some of my favorites) and think that Juliet Marillier is an amazing writer. There were also a lot of great reviews about this book. Perfect!
Not perfect. Unfortunately, this book was a bit of a disappointment. Daughter of the Forest and Son of the Shadows are rich with world details. Emotion seems to pour out of every paragraph and the relationships between characters, romantic or not, leaps off the page. Here, I largely spent the book being incredibly frustrated with the main antagonist. The antagonist was so annoying and horrible that I didn't even want to read it anymore at points. I kept feeling like, ok, I understand, this person is Not Good. Please, let's move on already.
I also was really frustrated with the main character--I never really stepped into her shoes. Instead, I felt like I was watching a fictional character make increasingly poor choices surrounded by worsening events. Instead of being immersed in the book and the story, I felt like reading was a chore and I just needed to get through it to the end.
My last complaint is less of a quality problem and more of an expectation one. I thought that this would be more similar to Daughter of the Forest and Son of the Shadows in terms of maturity level. Both of those books can be read by teenagers but I would classify as having a more mature writing style. This was clearly YA. There's nothing wrong with YA but it lacked the emotional depth of Juliet Marillier's other books.
Not perfect. Unfortunately, this book was a bit of a disappointment. Daughter of the Forest and Son of the Shadows are rich with world details. Emotion seems to pour out of every paragraph and the relationships between characters, romantic or not, leaps off the page. Here, I largely spent the book being incredibly frustrated with the main antagonist. The antagonist was so annoying and horrible that I didn't even want to read it anymore at points. I kept feeling like, ok, I understand, this person is Not Good. Please, let's move on already.
I also was really frustrated with the main character--I never really stepped into her shoes. Instead, I felt like I was watching a fictional character make increasingly poor choices surrounded by worsening events. Instead of being immersed in the book and the story, I felt like reading was a chore and I just needed to get through it to the end.
My last complaint is less of a quality problem and more of an expectation one. I thought that this would be more similar to Daughter of the Forest and Son of the Shadows in terms of maturity level. Both of those books can be read by teenagers but I would classify as having a more mature writing style. This was clearly YA. There's nothing wrong with YA but it lacked the emotional depth of Juliet Marillier's other books.
adventurous
Very different from her other books,so it took me a few chapters to get into it. I love how she uses old myths and legends and puts a new spin on them. I will definately read the 2nd book in this series
funny
hopeful
mysterious
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
Content Warnings
Moderate: Sexism, Sexual harassment
Minor: Incest
adventurous
dark
mysterious
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:
Yes
So this book I do honestly feel conflicted by rating wise. I more than liked it, but I didn't "really like it" so it is truly a 3.5 star for me so I am rounding up. Thing is, I went into this book knowing it is not my taste but I felt the urge to read something with a little romance. The story was completely predictable but I can forgive that, the romance was a little too sweet and innocent but I was expected that as well. Overall, young adult is not my thing but Juliet Marillier writes it better than any other author I have come across and the characters and fairy tale feel were great. The main character Jena could be a bit frustrating but a character having flaws is what makes them more dynamic. The predictability of it all is what really dragged down my overall opinion and the love story seemed standard. I know this is a retelling of a story that is just over two hundred years old but that isn't the "standard" I am talking about. It felt standard in the way that it felt like the love story played out in most YA fantasy. I am not a romance person because I got bored of that standard and given that I picked this up to add in a bit of romance...it was disappointed. However, the fairy tale part was great.
So all fairy tales have a moral and the moral of this story is what won me over. Forget about true love and faith, that is whatever, but the moral of minding your own business and letting people make their own decisions about the life style they choose for themselves is unique and 100% something that I support. Families and society telling you how you should and shouldn't live your life, who you can love, what is right and what is wrong, morality, etc., well this book tells the reader to butt out and worry about your own life and let others live theirs. They don't need you putting in your two cents, trying to force you to do what you want them to do, and they certainly didn't ask for your opinion either. Preach! I don't care if you don't approve of how I live my life, it is my life and I will deal with the consequences of it while giving you the same respect and not telling you how to live yours. The romance of this story be damned, I am here for the moral of the story and it is a moral I can get behind. I love the idea of young readers getting that lesson since society tends to teach us that we should judge others and try to get them to conform to our standards.
So this book will never be my cup of tea and I knew that going into it but I was just searching for something different. If this was a genre I was more into, I think I would have really loved it. Most of the time when I dip into romance fantasy I don't have much nice to say other than I knew better and I regret my decision, but I don't regret reading this and I give that credit to Juliet Marillier being a great author and coming through with a unique take away that you don't come across often. Well done.
So all fairy tales have a moral and the moral of this story is what won me over. Forget about true love and faith, that is whatever, but the moral of minding your own business and letting people make their own decisions about the life style they choose for themselves is unique and 100% something that I support. Families and society telling you how you should and shouldn't live your life, who you can love, what is right and what is wrong, morality, etc., well this book tells the reader to butt out and worry about your own life and let others live theirs. They don't need you putting in your two cents, trying to force you to do what you want them to do, and they certainly didn't ask for your opinion either. Preach! I don't care if you don't approve of how I live my life, it is my life and I will deal with the consequences of it while giving you the same respect and not telling you how to live yours. The romance of this story be damned, I am here for the moral of the story and it is a moral I can get behind. I love the idea of young readers getting that lesson since society tends to teach us that we should judge others and try to get them to conform to our standards.
So this book will never be my cup of tea and I knew that going into it but I was just searching for something different. If this was a genre I was more into, I think I would have really loved it. Most of the time when I dip into romance fantasy I don't have much nice to say other than I knew better and I regret my decision, but I don't regret reading this and I give that credit to Juliet Marillier being a great author and coming through with a unique take away that you don't come across often. Well done.
adventurous
emotional
mysterious
medium-paced
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Otherworldly. Fantastic. Phantasmagorical.
This story combines whimsy,Transylvanian legend, and light social commentary with multiple beloved fairy tales. There are some darker themes, reminiscent of the Grimm Brothers. It's wonderful and satisfying, even if my knowledge of fairy tales made a few twists a little predictable.
Content Advisories:
Language: None (that I recall)
Romance: It's a fairy tale; there's romance. One consent-less kissing scene, Girls pining over handsome men whose tough makes them shiver.
Darkness: Character death, Medieval Domineering Men, and the theme that everything has a price give it a darker, richer flavor than most retellings. Slightly darker than _Princess of the Midnight Ball_ less than _Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix_.
Conclusion: It's been established elsewhere that I adore fairy tale retellings. Obviously the stage was set for me to like this book. But I liked it a lot more than I anticipated, it had more depth than pretty much any other book of this type. It's fabulous. READ IT!!
This story combines whimsy,Transylvanian legend, and light social commentary with multiple beloved fairy tales. There are some darker themes, reminiscent of the Grimm Brothers. It's wonderful and satisfying, even if my knowledge of fairy tales made a few twists a little predictable.
Content Advisories:
Language: None (that I recall)
Romance: It's a fairy tale; there's romance. One consent-less kissing scene, Girls pining over handsome men whose tough makes them shiver.
Darkness: Character death, Medieval Domineering Men, and the theme that everything has a price give it a darker, richer flavor than most retellings. Slightly darker than _Princess of the Midnight Ball_ less than _Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix_.
Conclusion: It's been established elsewhere that I adore fairy tale retellings. Obviously the stage was set for me to like this book. But I liked it a lot more than I anticipated, it had more depth than pretty much any other book of this type. It's fabulous. READ IT!!