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krisglomb 's review for:
Crier's War
by Nina Varela
dark
emotional
hopeful
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
fast-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:
Complicated
Oh no, I would die for Ayla and Crier đ I wanted to love this book so much and then I did. I read the description and walked into going âI hope this is like the Bjork All is Full of Love music videoâ and you know what? Kind of.
The two women in this story: Ayla, a human, and Crier, an Automa, have such distinct lenses through which they view the world. They have a parental figure they want to do proud, they are somewhat isolated from the rest of their communities, and they both want to make a difference, in a big way, in making the world a better place. Crier is driven by her desire to create justice based on understood truths. Ayla is looking for justice based on decades of wrong doing done to her people. Neither, however, has the support they need to do this and both have people trying to get in their way.
I was worried their love story might feel forced or somehow at odds with the central conflict, but its perfect and adds depth to the questions the book asks about what it means to be alive? What it means to be deserving of a certain quality of life? Whether or not trust is possible between groups of oppressed people and oppressors? In the history of both the Automa and the humans, there is oppression of one over the other. Many movies have asked âwhat would happen if the robots take over?â And then we see it either not happening (i, Robot) or happening in a very tech way (Matrix). Always always the humans are the heroes.
Right now we still want the humans to win, but we see the worthiness of Automa and wonder what the consequences would be of these people who are, well, people should the humans be successful?
Add on top of that a dash of court intrigue with Kinok, redacted pieces of history that need to be uncovered, and an absolute wild card of queen spreading havoc and I am hooked. Iâm excited for the next book.
Quotes:
We must build policy around the reality of where we came from. We were not created in a void, history-less.
In the forty-eight years since their rise to power, theyâd conveniently let themselves forget their past.
The world outside was dangerous. It was always better to do what was right than what was kind.
Your customs are similar because your entire culture was stolen from ours. Because you have no history or culture of your own.
No matter how terrifying and ugly the future was, no matter how difficult things were going to get, you couldnât avoid it, and you couldnât go back.
And that was how Crier learned that pain was not finite; there was no limit to woundless hurt.
Right now, Ayla had nothing but her pieces. She could not give way.
Humanity is how you act, my lady, not how you were Made.
She carried that same intensity about her [âŚ] Like she was more than a human girl. Like she was a summer storm made flesh.
A kind of inner falling.
You couldnât depend on much in this world, but you could depend on this: love brought nothing but death. Where love existed, death would follow, a wolf trailing after a wounded deer.
Love was what made you invite death, wish for it, crave it, just so you could be freed from your own pain.
So she just thought it to herself, and it made her feel warm.
In a short time, sheâs grown to know exactly what it felt like to be watched by her, the way Crierâs gaze trailed her when she thought Ayla was busy with a task.
She had to remind herself to breathe. Ayla preferred it when she breathed.