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A review by annettebooksofhopeanddreams
Extasia by Claire Legrand
5.0
The one thing I love most about walking through a bookstore, apart from being surrounded by the smell of books of course, is discovering books I had never heard about. During the latest shopping trip with my mother I discovered this book on a table in Antwerp. I was intrigued by the cover and I didn't even really bother to complete reading the blurb. I was pretty damn sure this was gonna be a book for me. It turns out I was right.
I was sold from the very first chapter and that's partly because of the writing style. Although the book is not hard to read, on the contrary actually, every word and sentence seems to set the atmosphere. I could feel every word and sentence. I knew those words and sentences were written down like this for a reason. At times the book almost read like one big spell where the way the words were woven together helped me to get entranced by the story.
But it wasn't just the writing style keeping me hooked. It was also the intriguing plot and the world building. We discover quite soon that this is a dystopia and that a few men have used the end of the world to found a new city where they blame the end of the world completely on women. And despite the fact that we all know that what they do is wrong I could easily believe why the girls and women in the village believed every word they were told and obeyed every command they were given.
I also really loved the mythology behind the Extasia and the way our heroine of the story learns to use it. I don't wanna give away too much of course, since books like this are better experienced when knowing as little as possible about it, but despite the fact that the explanation does still feel a little vague in the end it also in a way feels very satisfying. Just like our heroine's journey might not end like everyone would want but does end in a very satisfying way.
I will certainly check out other books by this author!
I was sold from the very first chapter and that's partly because of the writing style. Although the book is not hard to read, on the contrary actually, every word and sentence seems to set the atmosphere. I could feel every word and sentence. I knew those words and sentences were written down like this for a reason. At times the book almost read like one big spell where the way the words were woven together helped me to get entranced by the story.
But it wasn't just the writing style keeping me hooked. It was also the intriguing plot and the world building. We discover quite soon that this is a dystopia and that a few men have used the end of the world to found a new city where they blame the end of the world completely on women. And despite the fact that we all know that what they do is wrong I could easily believe why the girls and women in the village believed every word they were told and obeyed every command they were given.
I also really loved the mythology behind the Extasia and the way our heroine of the story learns to use it. I don't wanna give away too much of course, since books like this are better experienced when knowing as little as possible about it, but despite the fact that the explanation does still feel a little vague in the end it also in a way feels very satisfying. Just like our heroine's journey might not end like everyone would want but does end in a very satisfying way.
I will certainly check out other books by this author!