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libraryofflo 's review for:
The Enemy's Daughter
by Melissa Poett
This is a retelling of the legend of Tristan and Isolde, I don’t know much about the legend, so I’m sure there are details that I haven’t spotted, but to me, this didn’t feel like a legend. Also, really minor point, but why is Tristan still Tristan, but Isolde because Isadora? If you are only changing one name, just don’t, and at least change more than the second half of the other name.
The world building in this is interesting, because we as the reader really don’t know anything. Isadora has been sheltered in a really patriarchal society, and because she knows nothing, we know nothing. We learned a lot about the world really really late into the book, with most of the exposition happening at the 75% mark. It was interesting to revisit the dystopian genre in a new way too.
So character dynamics in this were really hit or miss for me. I quite liked the relationship that developed between Tristan and Isadora though it did definitely take a moment before it stopped feeling forced. However, a lot of the other characters felt so flat. There were really just the archetypal characters, the mean jealous ex, the toxic man in power, and the kind older mother like figure. It just didn’t feel as though it was fully fleshed out for me.
The pacing in this was also not quite to my taste, the ‘disagreement’ aspect of this lasted for way too long for me to find it enjoyable and then we only got a few chapters of them actually communicating before the main action. This meant that the slow build up felt even slower because of the lack of development. The ending was also wrapped up so quickly and then just concluded in the epilogue where there is a literal walk through of all the changes and how different the world was, instead of seeing them make these changes we just saw them changed.
The world building in this is interesting, because we as the reader really don’t know anything. Isadora has been sheltered in a really patriarchal society, and because she knows nothing, we know nothing. We learned a lot about the world really really late into the book, with most of the exposition happening at the 75% mark. It was interesting to revisit the dystopian genre in a new way too.
So character dynamics in this were really hit or miss for me. I quite liked the relationship that developed between Tristan and Isadora though it did definitely take a moment before it stopped feeling forced. However, a lot of the other characters felt so flat. There were really just the archetypal characters, the mean jealous ex, the toxic man in power, and the kind older mother like figure. It just didn’t feel as though it was fully fleshed out for me.
The pacing in this was also not quite to my taste, the ‘disagreement’ aspect of this lasted for way too long for me to find it enjoyable and then we only got a few chapters of them actually communicating before the main action. This meant that the slow build up felt even slower because of the lack of development. The ending was also wrapped up so quickly and then just concluded in the epilogue where there is a literal walk through of all the changes and how different the world was, instead of seeing them make these changes we just saw them changed.