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A review by ejpass
A House of Rage and Sorrow by Sangu Mandanna
5.0
5/5 stars
Recommended for people who like: sci-fi, fantasy, mythology, Indian mythology, strong female characters, dual POVs, ruthless characters
I suppose this is the year for shorter sequels, since A House is shorter than A Spark just like Queen of Nothing was shorter than the previous two Folk of the Air books. Despite it being shorter, Mandanna makes the story fit the number of pages it's in, and I don't particularly feel like it's missing anything that should've/could've been added, especially since one of the POVs is Titania and she's able to give pretty detailed information about stuff Esmae can't.
This opens three months after the duel between Rama and Alexi and Esmae is as rageful as ever. She's turned into a more ruthless character than she was in the first book, though at the same time she's been pushing everyone away, wanting to accomplish her goals solely with herself and Titania, much to the displeasure of those who care about her. There's an interesting juxtaposition between Esmae's actions and the fact she no longer has the blue-flower petal to protect her. Titania rather succinctly points out that Esmae still acts as if she's invincible and needs to understand she's not, which leads to a fantastic sparring scene. I enjoy her ruthlessness a great deal, though I do believe she needs more people surrounding her for support.
Titania gets a bigger role in this book and I think I'd promote her to a main character rather than a side-character. She narrates every couple of chapters, sometimes giving us glimpses of things that are happening elsewhere but in real-time, and other times showing things that happened in the past. She has a very happy-go-lucky personality, though the weight of everything does weigh on her and she still hopes to avoid war and follow the rules of combat. She's solidly on Esmae's side and cares about her, though her own desires do occasionally create a conflict between the two of them.
We see Alexi again, and I'm still not a fan. While he seems more and more in this book to understand he isn't the hero he thought he was and that this war really would destroy the family, I still feel there's somewhat of a lack of understanding behind him. Perhaps it's from being raised in a palace, even one in exile, or perhaps it's for some other reason, but there's a part of him that doesn't understand where Esmae's rage comes from and as long as he's unable to grasp that, there isn't really anything he can offer that would make Esmae happy (though one could also argue she won't be happy no matter what until he feels the pain she did). Despite certain strides forward for his character, I still don't like him.
Max is again back in this one, though we don't see as much of him because Esmae is keeping her distance from everyone. He seems somewhat rougher in this one, like the events of the previous book and the three months between them and the opening of this one wore him down. He's still opposed to war, but he also still stands beside Esmae despite her choices, choosing to help and support her when she allows it. Amba is also back in this one, though she plays a relatively minor role until the very end. She's absent in the beginning because Esmae has no real desire to see her, and she's absent from the middle because she's busy safeguarding something from Kirrin, so even when she's absent she is doing something to progress the plot. I'm curious to see how her character moves forward after the events of the book's end. I'm also particularly curious about what Kirrin will do, he wants Alexi to win, but just how much does he want him to win?
Sybilla is back again, and I'm promoting her to a main side-character. She's needed more as Esmae's bodyguard since Esmae lost the petal, and she's an excellent friend and supporter for Esmae. I think she provides an interesting almost-foil to Esmae in terms of what the two girls accept about themselves. Esmae is fine with rage and destruction, but doesn't want to look at the fact she has no desire for peace any longer, whereas Sybilla would accept that about herself, but has trouble accepting the parts of her prone to being soft. I thoroughly enjoyed her character and liked how she played both an instigator for some of Esmae's schemes as well as a mediator/voice of some reason.
Those fixed points that came up in the first book came up again in this one. One of them again has to do with an arrow, though an arrow of a different sort. The path from Esmae's original arrow to the next arrow shot to this arrow is a pretty straight line you can trace through the two stories. Another fixed point that becomes clearer in this one is Kyra sending Esmae away as a baby. Kyra was so terrified of the curse, she never considered whether she would fulfill it herself by sending baby-Esmae away. While we'll never know, there is the possibility that the curse's effect wouldn't have been felt in the same way if Esmae had been kept by Kyra, but we do know that because Kyra sent away Esmae, it became a fixed point through which many other actions occurred that led everyone to where they are now. It's a fixed point similar to the line from Queen of Nothing where someone points out that sometimes curses are fulfilled by one's actions to avoid them. It's a thought that wouldn't leave my head the entire time I read A House.
I was right about Vali's human form, which is revealed toward the end of this book. Again, though, I don't think it was a particularly subtle secret. Not related to Vali, but since neither him nor this next point fit well anywhere else, they're going in together (and this next bit is more of me picking at a minor detail, but). There's a certain scene about a missing thumb where it's suggested one can't string a bow or nock an arrow without your dominant thumb, but...I've done archery in the past and was decent at it, and I don't think I ever used my thumb to nock an arrow. You can use it for stability, sure, but it's not really a necessary component to nocking and firing an arrow that would stop someone from doing it. Stringing a bow is a bit more difficult, I'll give the scene that, but with some maneuvering it'd still be possible. Anyway, it's a sentence-long comment, but it just bugged me so I though I'd mention it.
Mandanna continues to write a beautiful setting and cast of characters that all fit well in the plot. We got a rather explosive end to this book and I'm curious to see where things go next, especially as I feel Esmae's ending actions could very well turn into another fixed point.
Recommended for people who like: sci-fi, fantasy, mythology, Indian mythology, strong female characters, dual POVs, ruthless characters
I suppose this is the year for shorter sequels, since A House is shorter than A Spark just like Queen of Nothing was shorter than the previous two Folk of the Air books. Despite it being shorter, Mandanna makes the story fit the number of pages it's in, and I don't particularly feel like it's missing anything that should've/could've been added, especially since one of the POVs is Titania and she's able to give pretty detailed information about stuff Esmae can't.
This opens three months after the duel between Rama and Alexi and Esmae is as rageful as ever. She's turned into a more ruthless character than she was in the first book, though at the same time she's been pushing everyone away, wanting to accomplish her goals solely with herself and Titania, much to the displeasure of those who care about her. There's an interesting juxtaposition between Esmae's actions and the fact she no longer has the blue-flower petal to protect her. Titania rather succinctly points out that Esmae still acts as if she's invincible and needs to understand she's not, which leads to a fantastic sparring scene. I enjoy her ruthlessness a great deal, though I do believe she needs more people surrounding her for support.
Titania gets a bigger role in this book and I think I'd promote her to a main character rather than a side-character. She narrates every couple of chapters, sometimes giving us glimpses of things that are happening elsewhere but in real-time, and other times showing things that happened in the past. She has a very happy-go-lucky personality, though the weight of everything does weigh on her and she still hopes to avoid war and follow the rules of combat. She's solidly on Esmae's side and cares about her, though her own desires do occasionally create a conflict between the two of them.
We see Alexi again, and I'm still not a fan
Spoiler
even if it wasn't him after all who killed RamaMax is again back in this one, though we don't see as much of him because Esmae is keeping her distance from everyone. He seems somewhat rougher in this one, like the events of the previous book and the three months between them and the opening of this one wore him down. He's still opposed to war, but he also still stands beside Esmae despite her choices, choosing to help and support her when she allows it. Amba is also back in this one, though she plays a relatively minor role until the very end. She's absent in the beginning because Esmae has no real desire to see her, and she's absent from the middle because she's busy safeguarding something from Kirrin, so even when she's absent she is doing something to progress the plot. I'm curious to see how her character moves forward after the events of the book's end. I'm also particularly curious about what Kirrin will do, he wants Alexi to win, but just how much does he want him to win?
Sybilla is back again, and I'm promoting her to a main side-character. She's needed more as Esmae's bodyguard since Esmae lost the petal, and she's an excellent friend and supporter for Esmae. I think she provides an interesting almost-foil to Esmae in terms of what the two girls accept about themselves. Esmae is fine with rage and destruction, but doesn't want to look at the fact she has no desire for peace any longer, whereas Sybilla would accept that about herself, but has trouble accepting the parts of her prone to being soft. I thoroughly enjoyed her character and liked how she played both an instigator for some of Esmae's schemes as well as a mediator/voice of some reason.
Those fixed points that came up in the first book came up again in this one. One of them again has to do with an arrow, though an arrow of a different sort. The path from Esmae's original arrow to the next arrow shot to this arrow is a pretty straight line you can trace through the two stories. Another fixed point that becomes clearer in this one is Kyra sending Esmae away as a baby. Kyra was so terrified of the curse, she never considered whether she would fulfill it herself by sending baby-Esmae away. While we'll never know, there is the possibility that the curse's effect wouldn't have been felt in the same way if Esmae had been kept by Kyra, but we do know that because Kyra sent away Esmae, it became a fixed point through which many other actions occurred that led everyone to where they are now. It's a fixed point similar to the line from Queen of Nothing where someone points out that sometimes curses are fulfilled by one's actions to avoid them. It's a thought that wouldn't leave my head the entire time I read A House.
I was right about Vali's human form, which is revealed toward the end of this book. Again, though, I don't think it was a particularly subtle secret. Not related to Vali, but since neither him nor this next point fit well anywhere else, they're going in together (and this next bit is more of me picking at a minor detail, but). There's a certain scene about a missing thumb where it's suggested one can't string a bow or nock an arrow without your dominant thumb, but...I've done archery in the past and was decent at it, and I don't think I ever used my thumb to nock an arrow. You can use it for stability, sure, but it's not really a necessary component to nocking and firing an arrow that would stop someone from doing it. Stringing a bow is a bit more difficult, I'll give the scene that, but with some maneuvering it'd still be possible. Anyway, it's a sentence-long comment, but it just bugged me so I though I'd mention it.
Mandanna continues to write a beautiful setting and cast of characters that all fit well in the plot. We got a rather explosive end to this book and I'm curious to see where things go next, especially as I feel Esmae's ending actions could very well turn into another fixed point.