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A review by mallorypen
Briarheart by Mercedes Lackey
adventurous
emotional
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.0
This was a fun, fast retelling of the Sleeping Beauty story … kind of. More like a prequel that solved the complications of Aurora being spirited away to the cottage until her 16th birthday.
Miriam was a fun character that gave me Lady Knight Alannah vibes, but in the Percy Jackson-coded way of she cannot take the L. Like a Mary Sue, but as a badass who is naturally gifted with magic as she is with a sword, who is kind and wise and strong all at the same time, etc etc. I did appreciate her hotheadedness about making decisions she knew her stepfather wouldn’t like, and overall I was cheering her on.
The fun elements of the story definitely included the idea of the Ling animals; the horses who could never have a bit in their mouths; and the idea that, while rare, lady knights already existed.
The plot holes that made me rate this lower overall included the mystery of who Miri’s grandmother is; the importance of Aurora (though that was kind of answered by the trolls); and the importance of the fortune-telling people (who were definitely coded as Romani/Travelers, and there was a hint of ick about their gift of the two horses being essentially a sales pitch for selling four more horses); and who the Dark Fae was who got the trolls to kidnap Aurora.
Overall, it felt like the book was meant to be the first in a series with all the unanswered questions. That said, I don’t think I’d be running to find the sequel to see how the story continues if such a thing exists.
Miriam was a fun character that gave me Lady Knight Alannah vibes, but in the Percy Jackson-coded way of she cannot take the L. Like a Mary Sue, but as a badass who is naturally gifted with magic as she is with a sword, who is kind and wise and strong all at the same time, etc etc. I did appreciate her hotheadedness about making decisions she knew her stepfather wouldn’t like, and overall I was cheering her on.
The fun elements of the story definitely included the idea of the Ling animals; the horses who could never have a bit in their mouths; and the idea that, while rare, lady knights already existed.
The plot holes that made me rate this lower overall included the mystery of who Miri’s grandmother is; the importance of Aurora (though that was kind of answered by the trolls); and the importance of the fortune-telling people (who were definitely coded as Romani/Travelers, and there was a hint of ick about their gift of the two horses being essentially a sales pitch for selling four more horses); and who the Dark Fae was who got the trolls to kidnap Aurora.
Overall, it felt like the book was meant to be the first in a series with all the unanswered questions. That said, I don’t think I’d be running to find the sequel to see how the story continues if such a thing exists.