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A review by shanaqui
Brightfall by Jaime Lee Moyer
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Brightfall mingles Robin Hood stories with Fae stories, providing a sort of murder mystery where someone is killing Robin Hood's men -- years after their time as a band -- and Marian sets forth to deal with it. She's a witch, long-separated from Robin, who has retreated into a monastery to hide from his sins, and put her aside. Despite the bad blood between them, they have to travel together in order to find out what's happening, and it quickly becomes obvious that Robin's sins and his desperate desire to withdraw from the world are at the heart of what's happening.
This honestly isn't the sort of story you're expecting if you stumble into Robin Hood from the Disney version, for sure. (Though there is a fox: her name is Bridget, and she travels with and helps to protect Marian.) Robin's petulant man-child behaviour reminds me of the Robin of some of the old ballads and stories, though his particular guilt and any entanglement with the Fae is pretty unique to Brightfall (as far as I know; I didn't study Robin Hood-related stories for as long or as in-depth as I did Arthurian legends).
Marian is the narrator, and we see the world through her eyes, learning about her witchcraft, her love for her children, her grief over her lost lovers -- and her determination to put things right. Robin looks pretty small through her eyes, and he proves to have wronged her even more than she originally thought, but there's a glimmer of hope there for him, to my mind. I enjoyed her narration, her intent to do good in the world, her determination to protect the things important to her.
I'm left pretty curious about the Fae lord she names "Bert" -- she gives him that name for an uncle she once had, and he seems to find it terribly appropriate. I guess the implication is that they are related somehow, but I'd love to have heard that story. I'm also curious where things go with Jack, although that can be left to be imagined, and how exactly Robbie came to do certain things in the last couple of chapters.
I really enjoyed this, in any case; it's rare enough lately that I can steam straight through books without taking many breaks. Brightfall captured me with its spell.
This honestly isn't the sort of story you're expecting if you stumble into Robin Hood from the Disney version, for sure. (Though there is a fox: her name is Bridget, and she travels with and helps to protect Marian.) Robin's petulant man-child behaviour reminds me of the Robin of some of the old ballads and stories, though his particular guilt and any entanglement with the Fae is pretty unique to Brightfall (as far as I know; I didn't study Robin Hood-related stories for as long or as in-depth as I did Arthurian legends).
Marian is the narrator, and we see the world through her eyes, learning about her witchcraft, her love for her children, her grief over her lost lovers -- and her determination to put things right. Robin looks pretty small through her eyes, and he proves to have wronged her even more than she originally thought, but there's a glimmer of hope there for him, to my mind. I enjoyed her narration, her intent to do good in the world, her determination to protect the things important to her.
I'm left pretty curious about the Fae lord she names "Bert" -- she gives him that name for an uncle she once had, and he seems to find it terribly appropriate. I guess the implication is that they are related somehow, but I'd love to have heard that story. I'm also curious where things go with Jack, although that can be left to be imagined, and how exactly Robbie came to do certain things in the last couple of chapters.
I really enjoyed this, in any case; it's rare enough lately that I can steam straight through books without taking many breaks. Brightfall captured me with its spell.