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onthesamepage's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
slow-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? Yes
5.0
This is the kind of fantasy that I truly love, but I understand why it won't appeal to everyone. If you enjoyed Uprooted by Naomi Novik, I would recommend giving this a try as well, because the tone and the pacing of both books felt very similar to me. The stories are completely different, though.
The most important thing to know is that this book is slow paced. And I don't mean that it dragged, just that we can spend many chapters following our characters as they travel through a forest and are confronted with obstacles on their journey. If that's not the kind of story you enjoy reading, then this book is probably not for you.
The world is based on Hungarian and Jewish history/myths, and a lot of the plot is about toxic nationalism. Gáspár, the titular woodsman and actually the prince, has a younger brother who is convinced that anyone who is "other" needs to be killed for their country to flourish. This includes the tribes who live in the forest and follow a pagan religion, but also the Yehuli, who are confined to a specific part of the city, and frequently persecuted. I don't know enough about Hungarian history to draw any kind of parallels, but I do find this exploration to be fascinating because of the parallels with Palestine and Israel, even though the roles are reversed in that case. I also really appreciated Évike's personal journey to figure out who she is and who she belongs to. As someone who is biracial, it's something I've always struggled with, because I don't quite fit within either culture. Évike's eagerness to learn more about her Yehuli heritage really endeared her to me.
I enjoyed the romance between Évike and Gáspár, but I wouldn't consider them a new favourite couple. The development from enemies to reluctant allies and then to lovers felt natural and unforced, and all of it done without the romance becoming the main focus of the story.
The writing is beautiful. It's descriptive without ever becoming purple, and I found great enjoyment in sinking into the words. I also especially loved the stories Évike tells Gáspár; the dynamic between them during those sections was fantastic to see, but I also just loved the fairytales themselves, which never ended quite the way you'd expect.
All in all a masterful book.
The most important thing to know is that this book is slow paced. And I don't mean that it dragged, just that we can spend many chapters following our characters as they travel through a forest and are confronted with obstacles on their journey. If that's not the kind of story you enjoy reading, then this book is probably not for you.
The world is based on Hungarian and Jewish history/myths, and a lot of the plot is about toxic nationalism. Gáspár, the titular woodsman and actually the prince, has a younger brother who is convinced that anyone who is "other" needs to be killed for their country to flourish. This includes the tribes who live in the forest and follow a pagan religion, but also the Yehuli, who are confined to a specific part of the city, and frequently persecuted. I don't know enough about Hungarian history to draw any kind of parallels, but I do find this exploration to be fascinating because of the parallels with Palestine and Israel, even though the roles are reversed in that case. I also really appreciated Évike's personal journey to figure out who she is and who she belongs to. As someone who is biracial, it's something I've always struggled with, because I don't quite fit within either culture. Évike's eagerness to learn more about her Yehuli heritage really endeared her to me.
I enjoyed the romance between Évike and Gáspár, but I wouldn't consider them a new favourite couple. The development from enemies to reluctant allies and then to lovers felt natural and unforced, and all of it done without the romance becoming the main focus of the story.
The writing is beautiful. It's descriptive without ever becoming purple, and I found great enjoyment in sinking into the words. I also especially loved the stories Évike tells Gáspár; the dynamic between them during those sections was fantastic to see, but I also just loved the fairytales themselves, which never ended quite the way you'd expect.
All in all a masterful book.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Gore, Self harm, and Violence
Moderate: Emotional abuse, Animal death, Torture, Physical abuse, and Bullying
gemma_clare's review
adventurous
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
The pacing in this drove me mad and made me really struggle to finish it, which is sad because it had so much potential. I enjoyed the characters and would have enjoyed the plot if it was more consistent, but it felt like it was jumping all over the place and like the end goal of the book changed 5-6 times. I liked the conflict between religions and comparisons to real history, but found some of the lore either confusing, or boring and shallow. The writing style was nice.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Self harm
Moderate: Genocide, Physical abuse, Violence, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Antisemitism, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Abandonment, Grief, Hate crime, Religious bigotry, Blood, Child abuse, Gore, Classism, and Emotional abuse
16rcampbell's review against another edition
There was a lot of politics and religion in this book -- way more than I was expecting -- which is normally fine, if I know that's what I'm getting into first. Regardless of the surprise of it, all of the metaphors and symbolism felt way too literal. It's blatantly obvious who is being cast in which roles, which religions we're talking about, etc. Instead of creating her own religion with which to expose the abusive, racist, and sexist under AND overtones of religion (a certain religion in particular) and the horror that comes with an organized religion like this, it felt like a copy and paste. If I wanted to have those kinds of discussion, I would have picked up a non-fiction book. I understand the frustrations, and share many of the same sentiments and beliefs as the author seems to encourage, but reading this just made me angry. I encounter enough of the bs of the "love interest" in my everyday life, I don't need to relive those comments, beliefs and arguments in a fantasy book. I am all for using fiction as a way to digest and discuss contemporary issues, but the way it was presented here made me feel frustrated and angry instead of allowing me to become involved in the conversation. And there's never a break. It's constant. If we're not shitting on each other's religions, we're condemning their politics. If not that, we're fighting some monsters (and not well). Or we're sleeping. I don't understand characters' choices, I don't feel connected to them, I'm not really rooting for them because if they succeed it's still a shitty end result, and I don't like a single person in the book so far. The only reason I read this far is because I felt like I had to be missing something since it was recommended and praised so many times.
I also felt absolutely no chemistry between the main character and the supposed love interest. Accents are used purely for aesthetic purposes instead of and indication of pronunciation and it didn't look good and just confused me as I read.
I also felt absolutely no chemistry between the main character and the supposed love interest. Accents are used purely for aesthetic purposes instead of and indication of pronunciation and it didn't look good and just confused me as I read.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence, Blood, Body horror, Gore, Xenophobia, Religious bigotry, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Emotional abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Abandonment, and Bullying
archaicgambit's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
5.0
This is a heavy book. It is also brilliant. The first person present tense voice is immediate and vivid. Evike’s relationship with Gaspar is one of the best enemies to lovers romance arcs I’ve ever read. The multiculturalism and the cost of the magic was handled deftly. I loved the constant weaving of folktales throughout.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Xenophobia, Self harm, Animal cruelty, War, Animal death, Gore, Antisemitism, Religious bigotry, and Physical abuse
Moderate: Grief and Emotional abuse
kylasmv15's review
adventurous
dark
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Animal death, Animal cruelty, Blood, Death, Religious bigotry, Body horror, and Gore
Moderate: Vomit, Death of parent, Self harm, Grief, Violence, Bullying, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, and Sexual content
mjwhitlock18's review against another edition
dark
emotional
medium-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? Yes
3.5
I loved lots of things about this. It has a sentient forest, a prickly stubborn female main character, a magic system derived from multiple different religions, and an forced proximity enemies to lovers subplot. The influence of Eastern European and Jewish history and folklore lends the worldbuilding a rich fullness, but the plot wandered substantially and the pacing seemed weird, slow at times and blazing quick at others. I love the verbose, lyrical descriptions, as it really helps me feel immersed in the world, but I can imagine that it will make others feel bogged down.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Body horror, Religious bigotry, and Violence
Moderate: Antisemitism, Bullying, Emotional abuse, and Physical abuse
Minor: Death of parent
bandysbooks's review
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
mysterious
tense
medium-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
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Abandonment, Classism, Colonisation, Death of parent, Emotional abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Gore, Grief, Kidnapping, Physical abuse, Bullying, Religious bigotry, Slavery, Torture, Violence, War, and Xenophobia
gem114's review
adventurous
slow-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? No
3.0
Glows:
• The folklore/myths sprinkled throughout to explain the magic
• Cool supporting cast (I want a book about the Juvvi)
• That the characters (and the readers) are pushed to grapple with questions of faith, morality, justice, etc.
• The gore - It was honestly a lot more violent and gory than I expected, but in a good way (but def read content warnings)
• That it's a standalone (sometimes I want fantasy without committing to a series!)
Grows:
• The main characters seemed younger than their stated ages.
• Some of the pacing dragged.
Something to consider:
Even though the chapters aren't that long, the book is detail-heavy and (to me) better suited for longer blocks of reading rather than short bursts.
Overall, I'd recommend giving it a shot if you're in the mood for a standalone fantasy! I will say some parts definitely reminded me of aspects of Shadow and Bone/Six of Crows, so that might help you decide if this is for you. 😊
• The folklore/myths sprinkled throughout to explain the magic
• Cool supporting cast (I want a book about the Juvvi)
• That the characters (and the readers) are pushed to grapple with questions of faith, morality, justice, etc.
• The gore - It was honestly a lot more violent and gory than I expected, but in a good way (but def read content warnings)
• That it's a standalone (sometimes I want fantasy without committing to a series!)
Grows:
• The main characters seemed younger than their stated ages.
• Some of the pacing dragged.
Something to consider:
Even though the chapters aren't that long, the book is detail-heavy and (to me) better suited for longer blocks of reading rather than short bursts.
Overall, I'd recommend giving it a shot if you're in the mood for a standalone fantasy! I will say some parts definitely reminded me of aspects of Shadow and Bone/Six of Crows, so that might help you decide if this is for you. 😊
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, and Death
Moderate: Kidnapping, Violence, Child abuse, Gore, Blood, Death of parent, Emotional abuse, Hate crime, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Religious bigotry, Self harm, and War
lolaslalaland's review against another edition
5.0
Very reminiscent of medieval times in religious turmoil.
The story is told through such a folkloric lense, I loved it.
The characters were all so great and believable and I was rooting for our romantic duo.
The story is told through such a folkloric lense, I loved it.
The characters were all so great and believable and I was rooting for our romantic duo.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Physical abuse, Religious bigotry, and Emotional abuse
wolfinthestars's review
Content Warnings
Graphic: Physical abuse, Violence, Religious bigotry, Torture, Blood, Body horror, Injury/Injury detail, Body shaming, Death, Gore, Self harm, and Xenophobia
Moderate: Genocide, Bullying, Colonisation, Vomit, Emotional abuse, Animal death, Fire/Fire injury, and Racism