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aglasswoman 's review for:
The Hero and the Crown
by Robin McKinley
I'm all doped up on antihistamines and too groggy for grown-up books, so I'm revisiting some YA female-empowerment classics.
The good: 5-star world-building, a solid dose of outsider heroine ass-kicking and rule-breaking, and a flawed but relatable protagonist who has to earn what she takes from the world. In this last, especially, it's a big improvement over The Blue Sword, whose heroine gets everything handed to her effortlessly, à la Harry Potter's inborn Quidditch skills. The less good: an abrupt tonal shift halfway through, from Aerin's swordplay, dragons, and anger to sickbeds, brooding, and a journey of boring, confusing, and ultimately unnecessary magical discovery guided by an arrogant wizard who supplants her original, less condescending love interest. Lots of plot points seem shoehorned in just so Aerin can save the day and set the stage for the next book—e.g., did they really need the wildcats to tame themselves to fight for her, on top of her insane résumé of reinventing horseback riding, rescuing the crown, killing the number one baddie, and saving the realm? Maybe I just prefer my boss bitches wild, free, and unattached from sketchy wizards who had crushes on their moms.
The good: 5-star world-building, a solid dose of outsider heroine ass-kicking and rule-breaking, and a flawed but relatable protagonist who has to earn what she takes from the world. In this last, especially, it's a big improvement over The Blue Sword, whose heroine gets everything handed to her effortlessly, à la Harry Potter's inborn Quidditch skills. The less good: an abrupt tonal shift halfway through, from Aerin's swordplay, dragons, and anger to sickbeds, brooding, and a journey of boring, confusing, and ultimately unnecessary magical discovery guided by an arrogant wizard who supplants her original, less condescending love interest. Lots of plot points seem shoehorned in just so Aerin can save the day and set the stage for the next book—e.g., did they really need the wildcats to tame themselves to fight for her, on top of her insane résumé of reinventing horseback riding, rescuing the crown, killing the number one baddie, and saving the realm? Maybe I just prefer my boss bitches wild, free, and unattached from sketchy wizards who had crushes on their moms.