a_duck_with_a_book 's review for:

Trickster's Choice by Tamora Pierce

3.0

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"We have lived too long as tenants on lands that our foremothers owned."

Full disclaimer, this is my first Tamora Pierce novel so I have obviously never read any of the other books set in this world.

I wanted to like this book, I really did. But once I started noticing certain elements I just could not see past them. Let's talk about what I did like first:

I love Nawat. I'm a sucker for the sweet boys of fiction (see Maia from [b:The Goblin Emperor|17910048|The Goblin Emperor (The Goblin Emperor, #1)|Katherine Addison|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1373039517l/17910048._SX50_.jpg|24241248] or Nick from [b:City of Stars|250026|City of Stars (Stravaganza, #2)|Mary Hoffman|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1340963135l/250026._SY75_.jpg|3877942]) so you know I was fully invested in my cute little crow man. Dove was also a really interesting character, and I almost wish the story had been told from her perspective. I think this also would have resolved several of the major issues I had with the way the story was handled. Overall, it is a really fun fantasy adventure with light-hearted and comedic tones, but it was marred by quite a few plot points that I found where very tone-deaf.

Another quick disclaimer-I am a white woman, so it is not my place to say what is or isn't offensive or disrespectful to POC. These are simply my observations while reading the novel!

My issues with Trickster's Choice center around the fact that this is essentially a white savior story. It takes place largely in the Copper Isles, where the native raka have been colonized and removed from power. Along with a band of conspirators, who are almost entirely made up of raka servants and warriors, Aly is attempting to restore a raka queen to the throne. This is all well and good, apart from a few issues. First of all, it is implied and outright stated several times that the raka rebels would not be able to do this without Aly, or that they were in desperate need for her skills. Now Aly is a noblewoman trained as a spy, but, at the same time, the narrative that people of color cannot free themselves from oppression without a white leader did not sit well with me. I suppose you could also argue that this is just showing how Aly and the Balitangs use their privilege to help those who have been oppressed, but I think this whole power dynamic should have been handled with more tact to avoid it seeming like Aly is a literal white savior coming to aid the raka. She also covers her face with sap at one point in attempt to appear darker, which mixed with other insensitive aspects of the book really had me cringing.