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A review by booktrotting
Empress & Aniya by Candice Carty-Williams
3.0
Would put this on the upper end of three stars - let's call it 3.5 stars. First thing's first, this is a novella. I have absolutely not even the slightest hint of a clue why Knights Of marketed this as a novel, because it's not. I was so surprised to pull this teeny tiny book out of the box this week. I think, from what I've seen of reviews, a lot of the negatives seem to stem from this miscommunication of form, because this was quite highly anticipated. I'd also call it more of a middle-grade, though certainly on the upper end of that scale. Will certainly be an excellent choice for hesitant readers.
I thought that this was a really lovely story of friendship and the importance of holding your friendships to a high standard. In its hundred or so pages Empress and Aniya manages to cover a range of issues - mental health, neglect, classism, and ageism - without feeling like it's losing anything in the brevity. The characters are really the highlight; both Empress and Aniya are thoroughly likeable and well fleshed out, and even more minor characters like Dani and Aniya's parents have dimension to them. Generally, the narrative pans out well, though I actually think it would have worked just as well without the body swap - Aniya clearly has a lot of empathy for Empress without needing to experience her life first hand. It's wonderful to see a depiction of two young girls so fiercely protective of one another.
I did find the sheer extremities of wealth the two characters were placed at risked falling into caricature at points, and softening that a little might have made for a slightly more nuanced exploration of class. What's here is ultimately a sort of Jacqueline Wilson-meets-Dickens rags-to-riches story, which I'm not necessarily sure is what this was going for.
Regardless, I really loved these characters and certainly wouldn't complain if Carty-Williams wanted to build more of a world around these characters. I'd read it!
I thought that this was a really lovely story of friendship and the importance of holding your friendships to a high standard. In its hundred or so pages Empress and Aniya manages to cover a range of issues - mental health, neglect, classism, and ageism - without feeling like it's losing anything in the brevity. The characters are really the highlight; both Empress and Aniya are thoroughly likeable and well fleshed out, and even more minor characters like Dani and Aniya's parents have dimension to them. Generally, the narrative pans out well, though I actually think it would have worked just as well without the body swap - Aniya clearly has a lot of empathy for Empress without needing to experience her life first hand. It's wonderful to see a depiction of two young girls so fiercely protective of one another.
I did find the sheer extremities of wealth the two characters were placed at risked falling into caricature at points, and softening that a little might have made for a slightly more nuanced exploration of class. What's here is ultimately a sort of Jacqueline Wilson-meets-Dickens rags-to-riches story, which I'm not necessarily sure is what this was going for.
Regardless, I really loved these characters and certainly wouldn't complain if Carty-Williams wanted to build more of a world around these characters. I'd read it!