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A review by maises
Cybele's Secret by Juliet Marillier
adventurous
emotional
lighthearted
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
Not a comment on the contents of the book, but as I got to the end note I really was impressed with the level of reverence and study Marillier put into her Turkey research. I feel like this should be the norm with most non-western depictions of historical fiction. Everything felt well-lived and researched even to the extent they needed to be within a straightforward adventure story and I appreciated it.
I feel like there’s not too much I can say about the novel and it isn’t a negative. I adored Paula and Stoyan and Duarte as a trio and somewhat was sad the book endedwithout at least Duarte coming back and taking all of them out for some other adventure. They all played off each other so well. Stoyan and Paula’s young love was very sweet.
The “villains” of this one were also very compelling. I enjoy that Marillier villains have a certain complexity in them not so much that they become gray or anything but enough that they seem realistic in a sense. I liked having that little twist on who the bad guy was this time around.
I did also love the cave trials at the end. It reminded me that I haven’t read simple obstacle-type adventures in a really long time and I feel like those are always fun. Very enjoyable to me.
I feel like there’s not too much I can say about the novel and it isn’t a negative. I adored Paula and Stoyan and Duarte as a trio and somewhat was sad the book ended
The “villains” of this one were also very compelling. I enjoy that Marillier villains have a certain complexity in them not so much that they become gray or anything but enough that they seem realistic in a sense. I liked having that little twist on who the bad guy was this time around.
I did also love the cave trials at the end. It reminded me that I haven’t read simple obstacle-type adventures in a really long time and I feel like those are always fun. Very enjoyable to me.