Take a photo of a barcode or cover
poisoned_icecream 's review for:
The Sapling Cage
by Margaret Killjoy
adventurous
challenging
emotional
hopeful
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
CW: transphobia, animal death
This is a coming of age fantasy about Lorel, a trans girl who joins with a coven to learn witchcraft. Her friend Lane would rather be a knight so Lorel offers to take her place and does her best to not be discovered by the witches and whelps (that's the word for girls training to become witches). Besides that, there's also the matter of trees going cold and dying which is known as the blight, and a duchess who aspires to be a queen.
One of my favorite things while reading this was the descriptions of how the witches' bodies change after prolonged use of magic. For instance one witch has goat legs and wings, and another grows horns. Another thing I really liked reading about is how some witches use magic to prevent pregnancy. Also I did not expect this book to have a character who's an aroace knight, which was pretty cool. However I did not like it when Lorel calls him celibate because asexuality is not celibacy.
Some of the major themes in this book are individualism, collectivism and anarchy. The parts where Lorel has fun interacting with her friends were enjoyable, although there were times when it felt that they were unnecessarily cruel to her. Even though I didn't like everything about this book, I still believe it is worth checking out and I will definitely read the sequel whenever it's released.
This is a coming of age fantasy about Lorel, a trans girl who joins with a coven to learn witchcraft. Her friend Lane would rather be a knight so Lorel offers to take her place and does her best to not be discovered by the witches and whelps (that's the word for girls training to become witches). Besides that, there's also the matter of trees going cold and dying which is known as the blight, and a duchess who aspires to be a queen.
One of my favorite things while reading this was the descriptions of how the witches' bodies change after prolonged use of magic. For instance one witch has goat legs and wings, and another grows horns. Another thing I really liked reading about is how some witches use magic to prevent pregnancy. Also I did not expect this book to have a character who's an aroace knight, which was pretty cool. However I did not like it when Lorel calls him celibate because asexuality is not celibacy.
Some of the major themes in this book are individualism, collectivism and anarchy. The parts where Lorel has fun interacting with her friends were enjoyable, although there were times when it felt that they were unnecessarily cruel to her. Even though I didn't like everything about this book, I still believe it is worth checking out and I will definitely read the sequel whenever it's released.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal death, Transphobia