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now_booking's review
adventurous
emotional
hopeful
lighthearted
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
2.0
I kind of get why people like this, yes I found it pretty silly, but it’s also pretty compelling reading. It’s a fun, time travel sort of historical fantasy romance, told in a sort of irreverent pantomime style where anything goes, anything can be dropped in at anytime and the dialogue is... well somewhat juvenile. I think I enjoyed the story and the idea of it as a whole, I just found the execution a little too quirky and annoying for my personal taste.
The premise is that in a world where twin selves exist simultaneously in two separate time periods, Finnie agrees to exchange places with a medieval princess Sjofn, a lesbian (without family support) trying to get out of a forced marriage to the fearsome Drakkar for the sake of her country. Unbeknownst to Finnie, marriage to the Dragon is on the table, still grieving the loss of her parents in current times, she believes she’s going back in time to reunite with her much beloved parents’ twin selves. Unfortunately, Finnie goes back in time to find a world in disarray with intrigue, treachery and betrayal the order of the day.
This book has magic, elves, dragons, fae, talking animals everything fantasy-esque you can imagine and they all fall into the book in a sort of ad-hoc, random, spur of the moment sort of way to reactions like “wow cool elves,” “this is awesome, dragons!” It felt very panto, and very not meant to be taken seriously, which for me didn’t go well with the deeper, darker political themes. There is some problematic content around consent that has to do with the period in which this book is set but I think Frey Drakkar was let off the hook too easily. This book has a lot of solid points going for it- the story is good, I liked the supporting characters and would like to read more about them, for example Frey’s cousin Apollo has a book as do some other key supporting characters in this, but I found the writing (of Finnie’s character) so annoying that I’m afraid to try. There’s so much editorial thinking in parenthesis, so much squeeing over the same things over and over- and I’m personally a squee-er but like Finnie, girl, for goodness sake, pull it together. We get it that all of this is new to you but the overbearing Pollyanna-ing, the near constant frenetic levels of excitement, the general manic pixie dream girl-ness, it kind of was annoying. I do see what people like about this. The plot is good and entertaining and full of action, if you have a love for the absurd and panto and MPDG-type characters, I can see how this could be a good fit and might be your jam. For me, it didn’t work.
I don’t think this book provided the best possible gay rep. Two major queer characters in the book ended up indirectly being villains in the plot and their villainy had to do with their sexuality or the influence of their partner. I also find it odd that Sjofn’s fate in modern times never comes up. Even at the end when there was space and time to mention it, it’s never mentioned and I find that odd and sort of a gap in a book of this length where every other single minute detail is described. It IS possible that it may come up in another book in the series but I was left wondering in this book.
This was actually my second attempt reading this book, I had given up after the first chapter before because it felt to ridiculous. I AM glad I picked this up again. I liked the story and thought it was overall entertaining if I ignored the overbearing panto-style humor. I’m of two minds in trying another book in this series, on the one hand I liked the plot, on the other, I don’t know if I can’t deal with another “OMG like so cool”-filled book.
The premise is that in a world where twin selves exist simultaneously in two separate time periods, Finnie agrees to exchange places with a medieval princess Sjofn, a lesbian (without family support) trying to get out of a forced marriage to the fearsome Drakkar for the sake of her country. Unbeknownst to Finnie, marriage to the Dragon is on the table, still grieving the loss of her parents in current times, she believes she’s going back in time to reunite with her much beloved parents’ twin selves. Unfortunately, Finnie goes back in time to find a world in disarray with intrigue, treachery and betrayal the order of the day.
This book has magic, elves, dragons, fae, talking animals everything fantasy-esque you can imagine and they all fall into the book in a sort of ad-hoc, random, spur of the moment sort of way to reactions like “wow cool elves,” “this is awesome, dragons!” It felt very panto, and very not meant to be taken seriously, which for me didn’t go well with the deeper, darker political themes. There is some problematic content around consent that has to do with the period in which this book is set but I think Frey Drakkar was let off the hook too easily. This book has a lot of solid points going for it- the story is good, I liked the supporting characters and would like to read more about them, for example Frey’s cousin Apollo has a book as do some other key supporting characters in this, but I found the writing (of Finnie’s character) so annoying that I’m afraid to try. There’s so much editorial thinking in parenthesis, so much squeeing over the same things over and over- and I’m personally a squee-er but like Finnie, girl, for goodness sake, pull it together. We get it that all of this is new to you but the overbearing Pollyanna-ing, the near constant frenetic levels of excitement, the general manic pixie dream girl-ness, it kind of was annoying. I do see what people like about this. The plot is good and entertaining and full of action, if you have a love for the absurd and panto and MPDG-type characters, I can see how this could be a good fit and might be your jam. For me, it didn’t work.
I don’t think this book provided the best possible gay rep. Two major queer characters in the book ended up indirectly being villains in the plot and their villainy had to do with their sexuality or the influence of their partner. I also find it odd that Sjofn’s fate in modern times never comes up. Even at the end when there was space and time to mention it, it’s never mentioned and I find that odd and sort of a gap in a book of this length where every other single minute detail is described. It IS possible that it may come up in another book in the series but I was left wondering in this book.
This was actually my second attempt reading this book, I had given up after the first chapter before because it felt to ridiculous. I AM glad I picked this up again. I liked the story and thought it was overall entertaining if I ignored the overbearing panto-style humor. I’m of two minds in trying another book in this series, on the one hand I liked the plot, on the other, I don’t know if I can’t deal with another “OMG like so cool”-filled book.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child abuse, Grief, and Violence
Moderate: Homophobia, Kidnapping, Misogyny, and Sexism
Minor: Ableism, Infidelity, and Rape
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