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4.02 AVERAGE
4.02 AVERAGE
More like a 2.75.
Not because it wasn't good really but because I just don't think I'll ever love anything that Juliet Marillier writes more than I loved Daughter of the Forest . I keep expecting to like her other books as much as that one but they always fall short for me.
Not because it wasn't good really but because I just don't think I'll ever love anything that Juliet Marillier writes more than I loved Daughter of the Forest . I keep expecting to like her other books as much as that one but they always fall short for me.
A predictable but beautifully written take on Beauty and the Beast.
juliet marillier continues to be one of my favorite authors in the fantasy genre. along with robin hobbes and grace draven, she has a unique gift for creating people and places that capture a feel of what it must have been like to live before the printing press, in the time of the sword, when communities where so much more interdependent on one another for the ability to thrive and the magic of the earth and the old gods that gave meaning to people’s lives still existed close by.
learning that marillier is a part of a OBOD, an order of modern day practicing bards and druids really helped explain for me why her books feel like translated texts from the 1600s, fairy and folk tales of the every day people.
and dispite all that place (usually ireland or scotland) and history based emmersion, it’s really the characters and their growth of relationship to self and each other over time that really shines in each of her stories. i cry at times, in most of her books, because the hard won trust, care and movement these characters take is so meaningful in relationship to what they’ve each been through.
anyway, this particular story is a very loose retelling of beauty and the beast, where the beast is not who or what you’d think and the beauty is found in all of our characters ability to change for the better…all on a haunted hill, in a drafty castle, plagued by generational curses and surrounded by a farm, forest and overgrown but clearly beloved gardens.
i’ll be sad when the day comes that i’ve read the last of marillier’s books, i am very glad she has been and is a prolific writer so that day is still pretty far off!
learning that marillier is a part of a OBOD, an order of modern day practicing bards and druids really helped explain for me why her books feel like translated texts from the 1600s, fairy and folk tales of the every day people.
and dispite all that place (usually ireland or scotland) and history based emmersion, it’s really the characters and their growth of relationship to self and each other over time that really shines in each of her stories. i cry at times, in most of her books, because the hard won trust, care and movement these characters take is so meaningful in relationship to what they’ve each been through.
anyway, this particular story is a very loose retelling of beauty and the beast, where the beast is not who or what you’d think and the beauty is found in all of our characters ability to change for the better…all on a haunted hill, in a drafty castle, plagued by generational curses and surrounded by a farm, forest and overgrown but clearly beloved gardens.
i’ll be sad when the day comes that i’ve read the last of marillier’s books, i am very glad she has been and is a prolific writer so that day is still pretty far off!
I loved the beginning, but the middle dragged on and on for me. There was a little too much talking for my taste and generally a good dose of inaction.
I've long been a fan of Juliet Marillier. Reading her Sevenwaters series years ago may have sparked in me an undying love for historical-fantasy-romance set in the British Isles. So when I randomly came across Heart's Blood on the shelf at the library, I snatched it up. I didn't realize (but should have expected) that like her other works I've enjoyed, this too was a very loose re-imagining of a fairy tale in a Celtic setting. Sevenwaters was a wonderful version of The Six Swans, this was a completely unexpected take on Beauty & the Beast. And it says something that I didn't even realize this while reading, but only afterwards. Marillier's version is darker and a bit haunting, and quite beautiful. Caitlin is a scribe fleeing an abusive family after her beloved father's death. Anluan is a young lord, crippled and struggling to keep hold of his land and people in the face of the Norman invasion. His home, instead of being a prison, is a refuge for her. There's the enchanted castle and servants, though cursed and haunted is a more apt description. There are magic mirrors, and a library, and a brute of a man that Caitlin doesn't want to marry. But there's also dark magic, abuse, and murder - Marillier doesn't shy away from harsher topics. It's part ghost story, part mystery, part romance, and completely worth a read. My only (minor) complaint is that the culprit, to me, was obvious well before the reveal in the book. But that didn't stop me from enjoying the story.
Juliet Marillier has been on my watchlist for a while now, but I've been putting off picking up one of her books for no good reason in particular. I've had Daughter of the Forest in my TBR pile for about a year now, but Heart's Blood ended being my first reading choice because I was itching to read a Beauty and the Beast retelling.
Heart's Blood is dark and magical in ways I never could have expected. While Beauty and the Beast is the heart of the story, the characters and the plot go far and beyond this simple, but beautiful fairy tale. Caitrin is Beauty, a scribe who is fleeing her abusive relatives and the lingering shadows of her father's death. Anluan is our Beast, a man disabled and disfigured by palsy who is linked to a bloodthirsty group of shadow warriors known as the Horde. Both are broken by circumstances outside of their control and are drawn together because of this. Their romance and the relationships between the characters was one of Heart's Blood's greatest strengths. I didn't have to suspend my disbelief at how strongly the characters felt about each other because Marillier creates her characters in such a rich and organic way. I never knew I could grow to love characters so much that were first depicted as mindless, loveless killing machines at the beginning of the book!
And, as much as they scared the crap out of me, the darker horror elements were another strength in the story. The strange voices, evil mirrors and dark sorcery added a larger sense of urgency to the plot and made Anluen's struggle with his family's curse all the more powerful. While in the original tale, the Beast is paying for his own transgressions, Anluen is suffering from the foolishness of his ancestors and is literally living with the consequences of their actions everyday in the form of an evil, bloodthirsty horde.
If I have any quibbles with the book, its with the lack of subtlety in the reveal of the story's antagonist. I could see if a mile away but this didn't stop me from enjoying the book. In fact, reading this book has made me eager to read MORE of Marillier's books in the future. I look forward to it!
Heart's Blood is dark and magical in ways I never could have expected. While Beauty and the Beast is the heart of the story, the characters and the plot go far and beyond this simple, but beautiful fairy tale. Caitrin is Beauty, a scribe who is fleeing her abusive relatives and the lingering shadows of her father's death. Anluan is our Beast, a man disabled and disfigured by palsy who is linked to a bloodthirsty group of shadow warriors known as the Horde. Both are broken by circumstances outside of their control and are drawn together because of this. Their romance and the relationships between the characters was one of Heart's Blood's greatest strengths. I didn't have to suspend my disbelief at how strongly the characters felt about each other because Marillier creates her characters in such a rich and organic way. I never knew I could grow to love characters so much that were first depicted as mindless, loveless killing machines at the beginning of the book!
And, as much as they scared the crap out of me, the darker horror elements were another strength in the story. The strange voices, evil mirrors and dark sorcery added a larger sense of urgency to the plot and made Anluen's struggle with his family's curse all the more powerful. While in the original tale, the Beast is paying for his own transgressions, Anluen is suffering from the foolishness of his ancestors and is literally living with the consequences of their actions everyday in the form of an evil, bloodthirsty horde.
If I have any quibbles with the book, its with the lack of subtlety in the reveal of the story's antagonist. I could see if a mile away but this didn't stop me from enjoying the book. In fact, reading this book has made me eager to read MORE of Marillier's books in the future. I look forward to it!
A somewhat naive but heart-warming tale of magic, forgiveness and love.
Not my favorite Marillier but 100% her all the same. Satisfactory ending for sure, and I felt like all the loose ends were tied up so nicely. Loved the secondary characters outside of our main protagonists. All just precious babes.
I know this was supposed to be an Irish retelling of Beauty and the Beast but, and maybe it's because I listened to it as an audiobook, it felt more like a gothic romance.
Great story, amazing ambiance, and compelling characters really make this a good read. I didn't quite like the narrator for this one though. I may go back and re read it myself.
Great story, amazing ambiance, and compelling characters really make this a good read. I didn't quite like the narrator for this one though. I may go back and re read it myself.