Reviews

The Birthgrave by Tanith Lee

acanthae's review against another edition

adventurous emotional reflective medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

Tanith Lee writes beautiful prose, but this book does feel its age. The main character doesn't have much agency in a way that's intended, but ultimately frustrating at times.

I did quite love it, though.

mgsg's review against another edition

adventurous mysterious slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

djparvy's review against another edition

dark slow-paced

greye's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

ana3333's review

3.0

Umm...I don't know about this one. I want to like it. It has Lee's signature, gorgeous prose, and a fascinatingly eerie, dreamlike feel. I also admire the influence this book had on the fantasy genre as a whole. Reading it made me realize how many later books, like Hobb's Farseer trilogy, took a bit of inspiration from The Birthgrave.

However, despite being beautifully written and admirably influential, this book just didn't make me fall in love with it. The main issue was the characterization. The narrator was basically a personality-less entity, wandering around and randomly developing intense attachments to these bland, manly men who were all rippling chest hair and unneccessary rudeness.

Also, am I the only one really turned off by the revelation that

Spoiler

the narrator was basically a four year old inside of an adult woman's body? It seems like an unneccessary addition that makes all the rapes even grosser.

jodomycelium's review against another edition

emotional reflective slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

frahorus's review against another edition

2.0

Questo romanzo viene etichettato come fantascienza, quando di essa al suo interno ce n'è quasi nulla (tranne nel finale e qualche pallido accenno durante il romanzo), quando in realtà è certamente un fantasy. La protagonista è una donna che si risveglia all'interno di un vulcano, senza memoria del suo passato. Una donna che parrebbe essere particolare, una sorta di dea con poteri immensi, tanto che crede di aver risvegliato lei il vulcano. Per tutta la storia questa donna vive tante avventure, si sposta in continuazione, prova ad amare l'uomo rude di turno che la tratta come uno zerbino, e alla fine scopriamo (più o meno) chi ella sia. E poi scopro che questa opera è la prima di una trilogia. Aridaje!
Che dire, trama insulsa, caratterizzazione della protagonista e delle altre apparizioni da dimenticare, tante pagine di vuoto totale e di noia cosmica, risoluzioni di alcuni eventi a dir poco ridicole, ad un certo punto ti chiedi cosa diamine stai leggendo e continuo a chiedermelo fino ad oggi che l'ho terminato. Stavo per abbandonarlo, ma ho voluto resistere fino alla fine, restando deluso anche dello spiegone finale (farcito con dischi volanti). Peccato davvero.

logarithm's review

2.0

DNF at 2/3rd of the book.
It's not bad. It's just that I have no interest in reading the rest of it, and I have many other books I'd rather read...

shendriq's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

hestia30's review

5.0

Crazy weird '70s fantasy; loved it.