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meanderingmegan 's review for:
Son of the Shadows
by Juliet Marillier
I had a difficult time rating this novel. Son of shadows is beautifully written, so much so that it is easy to accept the story even with its flaws. However, there any many things that made me stop and think and not in a good way.
In Daughter of the Forest, Sorcha is a strong female character that fulfilled many "traditional ideals" and yet manages to still be independent and defined outside of her ability to have children. Sorcha was a young character who had years to mature during the course of the story which allowed her romance/marriage to Red more believable and acceptable of a girl so young.
Liandan is also young (16) and rather sheltered, and yet her story is told in what I would assume is about a year. A year in which she meets a man, falls in love (?), gets pregnant, becomes an unwed mother and then fights to get back to the man, which includes leaving her homeland and her family. All for a man who she has known for maybe 9 days all told.
I found her pregnancy to be incredibly distasteful as it seemed like her biggest plot point was to bear a child who may or may not be the child of prophecy. She slept with a man who was her jailor after knowing him for 6 days - in which he strongly hints that he will kill her when she stops being useful. Just after her sister was foisted off in an arranged marriage and cast out of the family in disgrace for sleeping with a man she loved. At first glance, when reading this section of the novel you feel that Liandan and Bran are acting on a growing love or maybe reaffirming life after watching a man slowing die. But reflecting on this later it seems more like Liandan was taken advantage of. There just wasn't enough time to make this act and resulting pregnancy easier to accept. It also seems to me that Liandan was a healer and could have taken steps to make sure she wasn't with child.
I was also found the actions of characters that we had grown to love in Daughter of the Forest to be out of character. There were plenty of sexist overtones (what is a woman for but to submit to her male relatives or husband), from characters who had previously supported Sorcha in doing what she wanted/needed to do.
However, I did really appreciate how this novel acted as a black mirror to Daughter of the Forest. Daughter of the forest focused on family, truth and love. Son of Shadows main theme was a family falling apart through lies and distrust. I just wish this novel wasn't about the characters that we has loved and struggled with over the course of the Daughter of the Forest.
In Daughter of the Forest, Sorcha is a strong female character that fulfilled many "traditional ideals" and yet manages to still be independent and defined outside of her ability to have children. Sorcha was a young character who had years to mature during the course of the story which allowed her romance/marriage to Red more believable and acceptable of a girl so young.
Liandan is also young (16) and rather sheltered, and yet her story is told in what I would assume is about a year. A year in which she meets a man, falls in love (?), gets pregnant, becomes an unwed mother and then fights to get back to the man, which includes leaving her homeland and her family. All for a man who she has known for maybe 9 days all told.
I found her pregnancy to be incredibly distasteful as it seemed like her biggest plot point was to bear a child who may or may not be the child of prophecy. She slept with a man who was her jailor after knowing him for 6 days - in which he strongly hints that he will kill her when she stops being useful. Just after her sister was foisted off in an arranged marriage and cast out of the family in disgrace for sleeping with a man she loved. At first glance, when reading this section of the novel you feel that Liandan and Bran are acting on a growing love or maybe reaffirming life after watching a man slowing die. But reflecting on this later it seems more like Liandan was taken advantage of. There just wasn't enough time to make this act and resulting pregnancy easier to accept. It also seems to me that Liandan was a healer and could have taken steps to make sure she wasn't with child.
I was also found the actions of characters that we had grown to love in Daughter of the Forest to be out of character. There were plenty of sexist overtones (what is a woman for but to submit to her male relatives or husband), from characters who had previously supported Sorcha in doing what she wanted/needed to do.
However, I did really appreciate how this novel acted as a black mirror to Daughter of the Forest. Daughter of the forest focused on family, truth and love. Son of Shadows main theme was a family falling apart through lies and distrust. I just wish this novel wasn't about the characters that we has loved and struggled with over the course of the Daughter of the Forest.