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A review by directorpurry
Black Shield Maiden by Jess Hendel, Willow
adventurous
dark
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
1.5
I received an ARC of this novel for free via Goodreads giveaway. This has not affected my final review.
Conceptually, a story about a Viking and an African warrior becoming friends is super interesting! But I find the execution to be lackluster and I found myself wondering at some of the historical representations of characters and cultural events. I did not become particularly attached to any of the characters and couldn't always keep it straight between the three narrators.
At less than 500 pages, this book had no right to feel as long as it did. But it was such a slog for me to get through! By about the 60% mark I found myself skimming to the end. It did pick up my attention again around the last 40 or so pages but by then it was too late. There's also a little "this story picks up again in the sequel!" tease on the last page of my ARC but I was like, "Absolutely not." So I don't think these authors will be ones I revisit any time soon.
If I wasn't so opposed to DNFing ARCs unless they're really not working for me, I would have DNFed before page 200.
As a side note: the original publication of this book was pushed back by nearly two years due to representations of some Muslim cultures of North Africa that were found to be Islamophobic. While I believe most of the passages in question have been removed, the overall reviews of this book still published on Goodreads do show record of this. The original passage is still available online on Gizmodo. As this is an ARC, I am unable to quote for specifics.
Conceptually, a story about a Viking and an African warrior becoming friends is super interesting! But I find the execution to be lackluster and I found myself wondering at some of the historical representations of characters and cultural events. I did not become particularly attached to any of the characters and couldn't always keep it straight between the three narrators.
At less than 500 pages, this book had no right to feel as long as it did. But it was such a slog for me to get through! By about the 60% mark I found myself skimming to the end. It did pick up my attention again around the last 40 or so pages but by then it was too late. There's also a little "this story picks up again in the sequel!" tease on the last page of my ARC but I was like, "Absolutely not." So I don't think these authors will be ones I revisit any time soon.
If I wasn't so opposed to DNFing ARCs unless they're really not working for me, I would have DNFed before page 200.
As a side note: the original publication of this book was pushed back by nearly two years due to representations of some Muslim cultures of North Africa that were found to be Islamophobic. While I believe most of the passages in question have been removed, the overall reviews of this book still published on Goodreads do show record of this. The original passage is still available online on Gizmodo. As this is an ARC, I am unable to quote for specifics.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Trafficking, Sexism, Slavery, Violence, Kidnapping, Racism, Death, Murder, Infertility, Child death, Religious bigotry, Xenophobia, and Sexual violence
Moderate: Misogyny, Pregnancy, Confinement, Sexual content, and War