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A review by jessdone
Reliquary by Sarah Fine
2.0
I spent a few days sitting on this series trying to figure out how I felt. The good: Sara Fine is a phenomenal writer. The way she told this story and I mean her writing style, her detail, her pacing her word choice, all that nitty gritty compelled me to read all the way through the series even though I do not like the plot or characters.
Other good points: I did read the whole series. It was touch and go because there are problematic elements, but it's still a testament to the Sara Fine's skill.
Last good point: each book in the series is a complete ending. The LEAST complete story is in the third book (which is the close of the series) and while the third book is the most rage inducing of the three, it still stands as a complete tale.
Now the bad: Honestly, the books offend me on several levels--to many to dig into on a review. The book premise relies on a lot of cliches, the innocent woman who is somehow special and powerful but also completely powerless when it suits the plot, the wise secretive grandfather, the rough but loving know it all man who seems hopeless but he keeps a dog and eats healthy so that means something. Each introduction to a new character is full of cringe.
Separate from the characters is the story narrative. It wants to be a story about drug dealers and mob bosses, but it seems like no one wanted to do the research to make that believable so they said "hey let's make everything magic". This is the least magical series about magic that I've read in a long time. It's a crime/romance story that's too lazy to do the research to make the crime element believable.
Lastly, I found so much of how the characters act and what's happening deeply sexist and offensive. I was angry a lot while reading these books. Angry at the characters, the world, the scenarios, and the writer for choosing these sexist decisions. An example: Mattie's fiancee has been drugging her for years, affecting her mind so she doesn't argue with him and so she's apparently super horny for his junk and the protagonist still wants to be with him. It's clear that her fiancee essentially kept her as a pretty sex slave, anytime she started to go down a path he didn't like, he'd corral her with a mind altering substance. While we see him do this to her in the beginning, making it clear it happens all the time and seems to be the foundation of their relationship, we never actually explore the complications that arise from that. All is supposed to be forgiven. It's the lack of depth when bringing up complex difficult topics that makes me mad. You wrote this in, you can't just ignore it because dealing with the fall out would prevent the last sex scene you want to write in (which ps was soooo gross and hollow because of this unresolved dynamic).
The fact that Mattie just shrugs and is all like "I still wanna marry you" breaks every suspension of disbelief in me. She might still want to marry the guy but something has to happen to actually earn her acting on the impulse. She doesn't go back to living in the same house with the guy and hoping he doesn't do this again. There's something deeply sexist about believing a woman who faces the kind of danger and trials Mattie does, who has a strong support system through her friends and family and who would continue to have the same quality life without the man will go back to a man who saw her as a thing to be wound up and used as he saw fit. I don't believe it and I'm angry this stereo type or theme is perpetuated in 2018.
Can I recommend this book? That's a loaded question. The writing is really good and from that perspective if you're looking for something with great pacing and good prose, this is a great study. If you want a good story or even a fluff story meant for a casual summer read, I'd look elsewhere.
Other good points: I did read the whole series. It was touch and go because there are problematic elements, but it's still a testament to the Sara Fine's skill.
Last good point: each book in the series is a complete ending. The LEAST complete story is in the third book (which is the close of the series) and while the third book is the most rage inducing of the three, it still stands as a complete tale.
Now the bad: Honestly, the books offend me on several levels--to many to dig into on a review. The book premise relies on a lot of cliches, the innocent woman who is somehow special and powerful but also completely powerless when it suits the plot, the wise secretive grandfather, the rough but loving know it all man who seems hopeless but he keeps a dog and eats healthy so that means something. Each introduction to a new character is full of cringe.
Separate from the characters is the story narrative. It wants to be a story about drug dealers and mob bosses, but it seems like no one wanted to do the research to make that believable so they said "hey let's make everything magic". This is the least magical series about magic that I've read in a long time. It's a crime/romance story that's too lazy to do the research to make the crime element believable.
Lastly, I found so much of how the characters act and what's happening deeply sexist and offensive. I was angry a lot while reading these books. Angry at the characters, the world, the scenarios, and the writer for choosing these sexist decisions. An example: Mattie's fiancee has been drugging her for years, affecting her mind so she doesn't argue with him and so she's apparently super horny for his junk and the protagonist still wants to be with him. It's clear that her fiancee essentially kept her as a pretty sex slave, anytime she started to go down a path he didn't like, he'd corral her with a mind altering substance. While we see him do this to her in the beginning, making it clear it happens all the time and seems to be the foundation of their relationship, we never actually explore the complications that arise from that. All is supposed to be forgiven. It's the lack of depth when bringing up complex difficult topics that makes me mad. You wrote this in, you can't just ignore it because dealing with the fall out would prevent the last sex scene you want to write in (which ps was soooo gross and hollow because of this unresolved dynamic).
The fact that Mattie just shrugs and is all like "I still wanna marry you" breaks every suspension of disbelief in me. She might still want to marry the guy but something has to happen to actually earn her acting on the impulse. She doesn't go back to living in the same house with the guy and hoping he doesn't do this again. There's something deeply sexist about believing a woman who faces the kind of danger and trials Mattie does, who has a strong support system through her friends and family and who would continue to have the same quality life without the man will go back to a man who saw her as a thing to be wound up and used as he saw fit. I don't believe it and I'm angry this stereo type or theme is perpetuated in 2018.
Can I recommend this book? That's a loaded question. The writing is really good and from that perspective if you're looking for something with great pacing and good prose, this is a great study. If you want a good story or even a fluff story meant for a casual summer read, I'd look elsewhere.