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A review by leweylibrary
In Other Lands by Sarah Rees Brennan
adventurous
funny
lighthearted
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
I thought it was cute and fun, but goodness was I ready to fight for it at book club lol. Only me and one other person thought it was good, the other three didn't even get 100 pages in which I personally think is ridiculous.
They were really hating on the MC's personality which, okay I get, but that's his whole thing, he has an abrasive personality and pushes people away because he doesn't expect anyone to ever love him and certainly not for being himself. His backstory and relationship with his parents is so damn depressing, and they didn't even get to that part like come on. I liked that he was a kid that definitely seemed like he would be bullied but that he immediately turned that on its head and was so sassy and quick witted with it. It was a nice twist on a usual trope in books for/about this age range.
What really got me riled up was a comment about the reversed misogyny with the elvish culture. They were arguing that the author did no research on matriarchies because this isn't what they're really like, and I'm like this is fantasy?? And I don't think the point was to argue in favor of a matriarchy, it was showing that any society that values the contributions and personhood of one gender/sex over the other is not great. And I think those moments made the patriarchal bullshit even more clearly bullshit.
Anywho lol I personally liked all three of the MCs although I do agree that Serene could come across as a bit flat and like she doesn't develop as much as the other two character-wise. My biggest complaint was the pacing and chapter length. It made a lot of sense when I read in the acknowledgements that this was a serial, online thing, but that doesn't necessarily excuse it. The publisher, editor, and author should have really worked to make the book feel like one cohesive whole rather than such individual pieces of one chapter per year. It also did need some major shared plot points to move it along.
Oh, lastly, those sex scenes?? I know I'm ace so this might affect my opinion on this, but I really don't care to read pretty detailed sex scenes between 15-17 year olds, thanks ✌️
They were really hating on the MC's personality which, okay I get, but that's his whole thing, he has an abrasive personality and pushes people away because he doesn't expect anyone to ever love him and certainly not for being himself. His backstory and relationship with his parents is so damn depressing, and they didn't even get to that part like come on. I liked that he was a kid that definitely seemed like he would be bullied but that he immediately turned that on its head and was so sassy and quick witted with it. It was a nice twist on a usual trope in books for/about this age range.
What really got me riled up was a comment about the reversed misogyny with the elvish culture. They were arguing that the author did no research on matriarchies because this isn't what they're really like, and I'm like this is fantasy?? And I don't think the point was to argue in favor of a matriarchy, it was showing that any society that values the contributions and personhood of one gender/sex over the other is not great. And I think those moments made the patriarchal bullshit even more clearly bullshit.
Anywho lol I personally liked all three of the MCs although I do agree that Serene could come across as a bit flat and like she doesn't develop as much as the other two character-wise. My biggest complaint was the pacing and chapter length. It made a lot of sense when I read in the acknowledgements that this was a serial, online thing, but that doesn't necessarily excuse it. The publisher, editor, and author should have really worked to make the book feel like one cohesive whole rather than such individual pieces of one chapter per year. It also did need some major shared plot points to move it along.
Oh, lastly, those sex scenes?? I know I'm ace so this might affect my opinion on this, but I really don't care to read pretty detailed sex scenes between 15-17 year olds, thanks ✌️
Content Warnings
Graphic: Bullying, Misogyny, Racism, Sexism, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, Toxic friendship, and War
Moderate: Sexual harassment
Minor: Infidelity