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A review by justjoel
The Women's War by Jenna Glass
2.0
This was an interesting opening novel of a feminist fantasy series. In a world that favors the patriarchy and where women are second-class citizens (not unlike the modern USA, thanks to Republicans), three women make a death pact that releases a magical curse that will forever change the face of their world.
Told from multiple viewpoints, there are some strong female characters here. But there's also some weak and inconsistent characterization in the primary antagonist, which I felt made some scenes and plot points less than effective.
I also had issues with the way the passage of time was handled. Sometimes there was great detail and sometimes things felt rushed, glossed over, and hastily explained. This was a sizeable book, and I feel like perhaps these were some editorial changes made for the sake of brevity.
The ending.
I'm not sure I will continue the series. It's not bad, by any stretch of the imagination, but I didn't feel like it delivered enough in book 1 to compel me to immediately reach for the next book.
2 out of 5 stars.
Told from multiple viewpoints, there are some strong female characters here. But there's also some weak and inconsistent characterization in the primary antagonist, which I felt made some scenes and plot points less than effective.
I also had issues with the way the passage of time was handled. Sometimes there was great detail and sometimes things felt rushed, glossed over, and hastily explained. This was a sizeable book, and I feel like perhaps these were some editorial changes made for the sake of brevity.
The ending.
Spoiler
While not technically a cliffhanger, the ending felt incomplete and made everything that had gone before seem like nothing more than a prelude to book two in the series.I'm not sure I will continue the series. It's not bad, by any stretch of the imagination, but I didn't feel like it delivered enough in book 1 to compel me to immediately reach for the next book.
2 out of 5 stars.