Scan barcode
A review by raynireads
Child of the Prophecy by Juliet Marillier
4.0
Another beautiful and riveting story by [a:Juliet Marillier|8649|Juliet Marillier|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1373081365p2/8649.jpg]! I was a little nervous going into this one because the general consensus seems to be that this is the weakest of the original Sevenwaters trilogy. And at the beginning, it did feel a little different. I think I was spoiled by the beginning of [b:Daughter of the Forest|13928|Daughter of the Forest (Sevenwaters, #1)|Juliet Marillier|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1343589988l/13928._SY75_.jpg|1897725]. At the time, part of me was questioning "when does the main story start?" but the introduction to the world and characters was so immersive and skillfully done. Marillier captivates her audience and sets everything up and makes it look easy! No info-dumping but information conveyed through a story that flows naturally. Specific moments will reveal information that will make a return or be important later in such a deliberate manner that it doesn't feel deliberate–as in, it flows with the rest of the story and does not stick out in a glaringly obvious, over-the-top way. The purpose of a scene may be to tell you a specific piece of information, but you go on the journey with the characters and get so much more out of the scene than just that information.
Following [b:Daughter of the Forest|13928|Daughter of the Forest (Sevenwaters, #1)|Juliet Marillier|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1343589988l/13928._SY75_.jpg|1897725], [b:Son of the Shadows|13927|Son of the Shadows (Sevenwaters, #2)|Juliet Marillier|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1602021932l/13927._SY75_.jpg|2801045] felt more like it was dropping you directly into the story–there was less of a slow-build set-up. With [b:Child of the Prophecy|13925|Child of the Prophecy (Sevenwaters, #3)|Juliet Marillier|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1343590673l/13925._SY75_.jpg|2271292], that trend continues and the world moves slightly faster. This, along with the naive but magically gifted, unsure and awkward Fainne, made the book remind me more of YA than its predecessors. There was a slightly different energy. And before we dive down a never-ending hole of YA discourse, let me say there's nothing wrong with YA! There are just certain kinds of writing and tropes that are more common in YA, sometimes because the category demands it with its word count restrictions and younger target audience. This slightly different, YA-reminiscent energy never made me think of the book as worse or lesser, it only made me selfishly hunger for more. I like the slow reads that take their time! I like to linger. Faster stories are simply less to my taste. Marillier still did a great job setting up the story, and less build-up is probably a natural evolution in a series, it was just clear that this story had somewhere to go and we were going! I felt less immersed in the day-to-day of Fainne's life and world and more like I was buckling up for a journey. There's no "when does the main story start?" you're in it pretty much from the get-go.
But despite the faster pace leaving me wanting a little more, Marillier is a master storyteller. All those crumbs, the naturally flowing information shares she did in the previous books? She does it again with ease. I might even say she does it more than she did in the first two, or at least I noticed more things coming full circle, from both earlier moments within [b:Child of the Prophecy|13925|Child of the Prophecy (Sevenwaters, #3)|Juliet Marillier|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1343590673l/13925._SY75_.jpg|2271292] and the series as a whole! In some ways, this book felt like a love letter to [b:Daughter of the Forest|13928|Daughter of the Forest (Sevenwaters, #1)|Juliet Marillier|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1343589988l/13928._SY75_.jpg|1897725] and serves as a satisfying conclusion to Finbar's arc and the story that began in that first book.
Fainne is wonderfully different from Sorcha and Liadan, even if sometimes you want to shake her. She is messy and unsure, truly going on a journey of self-discovery and growing into herself as she faces the larger story journey. Her actions are understandable, even when you hate them. She does some really bad things, but you can feel her inner conflict and how those bad actions eat her up inside. She is complicated and much more isolated than the other characters, lacking guidance and comfort and having to figure out much for herself. She is also more introverted and socially awkward than Sorcha and Liadan, and it is lovely to see her form tentative relationships with the other characters. Darragh is great and also offers a different type of character for the love interest. I only wish we got more of him! I loved seeing everyone from [b:Son of the Shadows|13927|Son of the Shadows (Sevenwaters, #2)|Juliet Marillier|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1602021932l/13927._SY75_.jpg|2801045] again and thrilled in the continuation of their stories, especially (and all me crazy if you want!) Eamonn's. One of my small complaints about [b:Daughter of the Forest|13928|Daughter of the Forest (Sevenwaters, #1)|Juliet Marillier|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1343589988l/13928._SY75_.jpg|1897725] was that Lord Richard was too one-note of a villain and Eamonn truly delivered that more complicated, nuanced secondary antagonist energy. He's the worst! Total garbage of a man and yet I still wish for him to be a better person and feel bad for him. [b:Child of the Prophecy|13925|Child of the Prophecy (Sevenwaters, #3)|Juliet Marillier|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1343590673l/13925._SY75_.jpg|2271292] added on to what was already there, continuing to explore the selfishness and possessiveness that keep him from finding his own happiness and improvement. His end kind of shocked me but did not disappoint. Eamonn, wish you had looked inward more and realized you were the one causing your own problems.
I greatly enjoyed seeing Ciarán again too and learning more about him and his relationship with his daughter. But I am again saying "hello, [a:Rebecca Ross|14926516|Rebecca Ross|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1655904642p2/14926516.jpg]" because the beginning of this book and everything with the magic and Ciarán and Fainne screamed [b:Dreams Lie Beneath|54557816|Dreams Lie Beneath|Rebecca Ross|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1612846880l/54557816._SY75_.jpg|85125909]. I see you. I love it. But poor Niamh! She deserved so much better.
What else can I say? I loved the places this book took Fainne (and me), both literally and figuratively. The various settings and how they focused on various characters made the journey engaging and enjoyable. The ending is bittersweet, but I can't complain and I think Marillier stuck the landing. How else to end such an epic and magical tale? The writing is magic and so is the story, and I'm so glad I read these books. I hear the additional Sevenwaters books are a little different, but I don't doubt that I'll be back and that it will feel like coming home.
Thank you for such a beautiful, new favorite story.
Following [b:Daughter of the Forest|13928|Daughter of the Forest (Sevenwaters, #1)|Juliet Marillier|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1343589988l/13928._SY75_.jpg|1897725], [b:Son of the Shadows|13927|Son of the Shadows (Sevenwaters, #2)|Juliet Marillier|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1602021932l/13927._SY75_.jpg|2801045] felt more like it was dropping you directly into the story–there was less of a slow-build set-up. With [b:Child of the Prophecy|13925|Child of the Prophecy (Sevenwaters, #3)|Juliet Marillier|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1343590673l/13925._SY75_.jpg|2271292], that trend continues and the world moves slightly faster. This, along with the naive but magically gifted, unsure and awkward Fainne, made the book remind me more of YA than its predecessors. There was a slightly different energy. And before we dive down a never-ending hole of YA discourse, let me say there's nothing wrong with YA! There are just certain kinds of writing and tropes that are more common in YA, sometimes because the category demands it with its word count restrictions and younger target audience. This slightly different, YA-reminiscent energy never made me think of the book as worse or lesser, it only made me selfishly hunger for more. I like the slow reads that take their time! I like to linger. Faster stories are simply less to my taste. Marillier still did a great job setting up the story, and less build-up is probably a natural evolution in a series, it was just clear that this story had somewhere to go and we were going! I felt less immersed in the day-to-day of Fainne's life and world and more like I was buckling up for a journey. There's no "when does the main story start?" you're in it pretty much from the get-go.
But despite the faster pace leaving me wanting a little more, Marillier is a master storyteller. All those crumbs, the naturally flowing information shares she did in the previous books? She does it again with ease. I might even say she does it more than she did in the first two, or at least I noticed more things coming full circle, from both earlier moments within [b:Child of the Prophecy|13925|Child of the Prophecy (Sevenwaters, #3)|Juliet Marillier|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1343590673l/13925._SY75_.jpg|2271292] and the series as a whole! In some ways, this book felt like a love letter to [b:Daughter of the Forest|13928|Daughter of the Forest (Sevenwaters, #1)|Juliet Marillier|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1343589988l/13928._SY75_.jpg|1897725] and serves as a satisfying conclusion to Finbar's arc and the story that began in that first book.
Fainne is wonderfully different from Sorcha and Liadan, even if sometimes you want to shake her. She is messy and unsure, truly going on a journey of self-discovery and growing into herself as she faces the larger story journey. Her actions are understandable, even when you hate them. She does some really bad things, but you can feel her inner conflict and how those bad actions eat her up inside. She is complicated and much more isolated than the other characters, lacking guidance and comfort and having to figure out much for herself. She is also more introverted and socially awkward than Sorcha and Liadan, and it is lovely to see her form tentative relationships with the other characters. Darragh is great and also offers a different type of character for the love interest. I only wish we got more of him! I loved seeing everyone from [b:Son of the Shadows|13927|Son of the Shadows (Sevenwaters, #2)|Juliet Marillier|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1602021932l/13927._SY75_.jpg|2801045] again and thrilled in the continuation of their stories, especially (and all me crazy if you want!) Eamonn's. One of my small complaints about [b:Daughter of the Forest|13928|Daughter of the Forest (Sevenwaters, #1)|Juliet Marillier|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1343589988l/13928._SY75_.jpg|1897725] was that Lord Richard was too one-note of a villain and Eamonn truly delivered that more complicated, nuanced secondary antagonist energy. He's the worst! Total garbage of a man and yet I still wish for him to be a better person and feel bad for him. [b:Child of the Prophecy|13925|Child of the Prophecy (Sevenwaters, #3)|Juliet Marillier|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1343590673l/13925._SY75_.jpg|2271292] added on to what was already there, continuing to explore the selfishness and possessiveness that keep him from finding his own happiness and improvement. His end kind of shocked me but did not disappoint. Eamonn, wish you had looked inward more and realized you were the one causing your own problems.
I greatly enjoyed seeing Ciarán again too and learning more about him and his relationship with his daughter. But I am again saying "hello, [a:Rebecca Ross|14926516|Rebecca Ross|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1655904642p2/14926516.jpg]" because the beginning of this book and everything with the magic and Ciarán and Fainne screamed [b:Dreams Lie Beneath|54557816|Dreams Lie Beneath|Rebecca Ross|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1612846880l/54557816._SY75_.jpg|85125909]. I see you. I love it. But poor Niamh! She deserved so much better.
What else can I say? I loved the places this book took Fainne (and me), both literally and figuratively. The various settings and how they focused on various characters made the journey engaging and enjoyable. The ending is bittersweet, but I can't complain and I think Marillier stuck the landing. How else to end such an epic and magical tale? The writing is magic and so is the story, and I'm so glad I read these books. I hear the additional Sevenwaters books are a little different, but I don't doubt that I'll be back and that it will feel like coming home.
Thank you for such a beautiful, new favorite story.