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A review by kats_bookish_opinions
A Dragonbird in the Fern by Laura Rueckert
4.0
ARC provided by NetGalley for an Honest Review
A dyslexic main character, an arranged marriage, a gorgeous cover, and a paranormal mystery? I saw this book, and I was like, "Yes, sign me the heck up!" So I was incredibly pleased when I received a ARC of this book. It absolutely delivers on all of those.
The part I think I enjoyed about this book the most was the mystery behind the murder of Jiara's sister and how that intertwined with the political narrative of Jiara's new home. The tension-building and how the stakes grow as Scila's ghost becomes angrier and Jiara besoms more desperate are so well-done, and Jiara's growing panic are shared by the reader, as it feels real .
I also cannot convey how much appreciation I had watching Jiara's struggle with a new language and how that inhibited on her relationship with her new home and her new husband. Having dyslexia, even though it's actually not explicitly named also does have an effect on her life and on the story.
I think that Jiara's arc throughout the story is honestly just okay, it's wrapped up nicely, and I liked the ending, but Jiara as a character honestly felt super simple? I love the representation and multitude of characters throughout the story, but a lot of them felt super shallow, which sucks because the world-building and plot are so rich. If you asked me to describe any of these characters, I feel like, aside from the villain, who for allegedly being smart, is incredibly bad at hiding their plans, can be described with nice, brave, and that's kind of it. I could not differentiate between any of the characters if asked, except maybe Jiara's guard, Freyad, who I thought had the potential to be really interesting, and I wished we had gotten some of her story, besides just being a support for Jiara.
The worst offender of being a pretty flat character was Raffar, he's there, he respects Jiara, and he's nice. But he's so boring, and the realtionship between him and Jiara felt pretty forced. However, I want to praise one scene of intimacy, as it's pretty tasteful, and I appreciated the emphasis on consent and waiting till it would be informed consent. The language barrier and how he and Jiara overcame it was probably the only interesting part about their relationship, and once she learns to speak it, it's pretty dry.
However, I still rate this book pretty highly because it contains an incredibly rich world and it is a super interesting mystery to follow. I couldn't put it down, it's pretty well written as well, and the pacing compliments the story really well. The inclusion of a dyslexic character and her actually struggling with a language and cultural barrier was super appreciated, as there are so many stories where a character has an arranged marriage and doesn't have to overcome any language or cultural barriers, which is... really unrealistic. I'd recommend this book for anyone looking for a standalone that's rich in world-building or a fantasy paranormal mystery.
A dyslexic main character, an arranged marriage, a gorgeous cover, and a paranormal mystery? I saw this book, and I was like, "Yes, sign me the heck up!" So I was incredibly pleased when I received a ARC of this book. It absolutely delivers on all of those.
The part I think I enjoyed about this book the most was the mystery behind the murder of Jiara's sister and how that intertwined with the political narrative of Jiara's new home. The tension-building and how the stakes grow as Scila's ghost becomes angrier and Jiara besoms more desperate are so well-done, and Jiara's growing panic are shared by the reader, as it feels real .
I also cannot convey how much appreciation I had watching Jiara's struggle with a new language and how that inhibited on her relationship with her new home and her new husband. Having dyslexia, even though it's actually not explicitly named also does have an effect on her life and on the story.
I think that Jiara's arc throughout the story is honestly just okay, it's wrapped up nicely, and I liked the ending, but Jiara as a character honestly felt super simple? I love the representation and multitude of characters throughout the story, but a lot of them felt super shallow, which sucks because the world-building and plot are so rich. If you asked me to describe any of these characters, I feel like, aside from the villain, who for allegedly being smart, is incredibly bad at hiding their plans, can be described with nice, brave, and that's kind of it. I could not differentiate between any of the characters if asked, except maybe Jiara's guard, Freyad, who I thought had the potential to be really interesting, and I wished we had gotten some of her story, besides just being a support for Jiara.
The worst offender of being a pretty flat character was Raffar, he's there, he respects Jiara, and he's nice. But he's so boring, and the realtionship between him and Jiara felt pretty forced. However, I want to praise one scene of intimacy, as it's pretty tasteful, and I appreciated the emphasis on consent and waiting till it would be informed consent. The language barrier and how he and Jiara overcame it was probably the only interesting part about their relationship, and once she learns to speak it, it's pretty dry.
However, I still rate this book pretty highly because it contains an incredibly rich world and it is a super interesting mystery to follow. I couldn't put it down, it's pretty well written as well, and the pacing compliments the story really well. The inclusion of a dyslexic character and her actually struggling with a language and cultural barrier was super appreciated, as there are so many stories where a character has an arranged marriage and doesn't have to overcome any language or cultural barriers, which is... really unrealistic. I'd recommend this book for anyone looking for a standalone that's rich in world-building or a fantasy paranormal mystery.