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onthesamepage's review against another edition
dark
tense
medium-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
4.0
"I may be ignorant in your world, but here you are in my world and you are a fool."
This was an interesting reading experience, for a lot of reasons. Foremost is the sheer talent that McKillip had, to spin up an entire, interesting world, with fascinating creatures and complex characters in a mere 200 pages. Not a single word feels wasted, and yet her writing is still beautiful to me.
"How did your blood run, Coren? Thick and hot in your heart? How did you hate? Did you nurse revenge from a tiny, moon-pale seedling in the night places in your heart, watch it grow and flower and bear dark fruit that hung ripe - ripe for the plucking? It becomes a great, twisted thing of dark leaves and thick, winding vines that chokes and withers whatever good things grow in your heart; it feeds on all the hatred your heart can bear— That is what is in me, Coren. Not all the wondrous joy and love of you can wither that night plant in me."
The second part has to do with the themes she chose to tackle, which revolve around consent. Sybel, our main character, possesses the power to go into the minds of creatures and people and then influence them. Like her father and grandfather before her, she has bound some of these creatures to her so that they can do her bidding. Her mother was similarly called to her father, stayed with him and bore him a child, even though she was unwilling and unhappy. And when we first encounter Sybel, it's clear she doesn't see that there's anything wrong with this. She has lived alone with just her father for company for most of her life, in a remote place in the woods, with nobody else around to teach her otherwise.
That changes when a man named Coren brings a baby to her doorstep. Sybel finds herself caring deeply for Tamlorn, which is the spark that starts her on a journey of self-realization. Tamlorn is the son of a king, and she worries that he will grow hungry for power once he gets a taste of it. But she doesn't realize her own taste for it until she runs into someone who is stronger than her.
Sybel grows a lot throughout this book, but even by the end she's not without faults. There are no perfect characters here, nobody who is purely good or purely bad, but rather a lot of shades of gray, some darker than others. This story explores power and control, and what it means to have, abuse, or lose them, but it's also an exploration of what it means to love someone, and how that can help draw people out of dark places.
"I do not understand you. I am angry with you. I am hurt and helpless, but nothing would fill the ache of the hollowness in me where your name would echo if I lost you."
I would say the story is pretty dark thematically, but that doesn't mean it doesn't have its bright spots. For one, even though Coren feels a bit underdeveloped, I did grow to like the romance between him and Sybel. The relationship grows with the characters, which was nice to see. I also really liked all the beasts surrounding Sybel, and getting to read about a dragon who carries people and books on his back just suffused me with a quiet moment of joy.
Content Warnings
Minor: Rape and Sexual assault
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