Take a photo of a barcode or cover
saphirablue 's review for:
The Queen of Attolia
by Megan Whalen Turner
Do not read this review if you don't want to be spoiled for a major thing that happens quite early in the book and influences everything that follows.
I'm a bit torn about this book. On one hand I really like it, but on the other hand there is something in there that I absolutely don't understand and made me go "What. The. Hell?!?!?" in a major way.
What I liked - the characters. Everyone of them is awesome in their own way (even if I don't always agree with what and why and how they do it) and I'm so in love with Eugenides (Gen for short and his friends). Because of him my heart was broken and mended a bit and broken again. *hugs him*
I like Eddies - how she looks after Gen and wants to protect him but also knows that she can't always protect him.
I like Attolia for how she managed to get rid of the Mede and how she played them. But that doesn't mean that I forgive her what she did to Gen.
I love, love, love the fact that a disabled character is the main character in this book. Yes, it's horrible what happened to Gen and I had to re-read that part to make sure that I didn't misread it (and my heart broke for him there and again when he learned that the Gods he believed and relied on were responsible for it) but I really like that it is shown that Gen still can do most of the things he did before. Does he cope with it? Not really. Can he do everything the same way as before? No, he (and everyone around him) has to adjust and he has to learn to accept help and delegate some things. Is he depressed and wallows in self-pity? Yes, and a certain amount of this is, in my opinion, healthy and needed in order to learn to cope. It just depends if someone finds their way out of it and is able to focus on what they still can do instead of what they can't and Gen goes through that. Yes, it needed a message from the Gods to "Stop whining" but he managed to pull himself up and focus. Is he changed? Yes, and that's what I expected because getting your hand chopped off will change you.
The story itself was good and thrilling and I didn't want to put the book down even though I had to.
Now to the things I don't quite understand and made me go "What. The. Hell?!?!?!?!".
Where did the lovestory come from? I mean, Gen suddenly confesses his love for Attolia? Out of the blue. After she chopped off his hand?!!!! I mean, I maybe could have lived with it if he had loved her before that but afterwards?! o.O Nope, that's something I really can't get behind and absolutely don't understand. The same with Attolia. She and Gen don't interact that much and suddenly she's in love with him too? What?! No, this lovestory is something I really don't understand and don't buy. A marriage to ensure the treaty - okay, can live with that (even though that also leaves a bitter taste). But this developement to a marriage of love to boot? Nope, No, don't get it.
The other thing that bothered me a bit were the "jumps" in the POVs (once or twice I was asking myself which POV I'm reading at the moment and/or was surprised that the POV suddenly had changed) as well as in the narrative itself (suddenly I'm in a different country and read about a different set of characters). That threw me out of the story a few times but it hasn't been as bad as in other books.
All in all, a good story and wonderful characters (even when I don't get why the react and feel the way they do sometimes) and I had a good time reading this book.
I'm a bit torn about this book. On one hand I really like it, but on the other hand there is something in there that I absolutely don't understand and made me go "What. The. Hell?!?!?" in a major way.
What I liked - the characters. Everyone of them is awesome in their own way (even if I don't always agree with what and why and how they do it) and I'm so in love with Eugenides (Gen for short and his friends). Because of him my heart was broken and mended a bit and broken again. *hugs him*
I like Eddies - how she looks after Gen and wants to protect him but also knows that she can't always protect him.
I like Attolia for how she managed to get rid of the Mede and how she played them. But that doesn't mean that I forgive her what she did to Gen.
I love, love, love the fact that a disabled character is the main character in this book. Yes, it's horrible what happened to Gen and I had to re-read that part to make sure that I didn't misread it (and my heart broke for him there and again when he learned that the Gods he believed and relied on were responsible for it) but I really like that it is shown that Gen still can do most of the things he did before. Does he cope with it? Not really. Can he do everything the same way as before? No, he (and everyone around him) has to adjust and he has to learn to accept help and delegate some things. Is he depressed and wallows in self-pity? Yes, and a certain amount of this is, in my opinion, healthy and needed in order to learn to cope. It just depends if someone finds their way out of it and is able to focus on what they still can do instead of what they can't and Gen goes through that. Yes, it needed a message from the Gods to "Stop whining" but he managed to pull himself up and focus. Is he changed? Yes, and that's what I expected because getting your hand chopped off will change you.
The story itself was good and thrilling and I didn't want to put the book down even though I had to.
Now to the things I don't quite understand and made me go "What. The. Hell?!?!?!?!".
Where did the lovestory come from? I mean, Gen suddenly confesses his love for Attolia? Out of the blue. After she chopped off his hand?!!!! I mean, I maybe could have lived with it if he had loved her before that but afterwards?! o.O Nope, that's something I really can't get behind and absolutely don't understand. The same with Attolia. She and Gen don't interact that much and suddenly she's in love with him too? What?! No, this lovestory is something I really don't understand and don't buy. A marriage to ensure the treaty - okay, can live with that (even though that also leaves a bitter taste). But this developement to a marriage of love to boot? Nope, No, don't get it.
The other thing that bothered me a bit were the "jumps" in the POVs (once or twice I was asking myself which POV I'm reading at the moment and/or was surprised that the POV suddenly had changed) as well as in the narrative itself (suddenly I'm in a different country and read about a different set of characters). That threw me out of the story a few times but it hasn't been as bad as in other books.
All in all, a good story and wonderful characters (even when I don't get why the react and feel the way they do sometimes) and I had a good time reading this book.