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A review by catalogthis
Kushiel's Dart by Jacqueline Carey
4.0
Revised, with less snark:
I started reading this because I was looking for a mental palate-cleanser after [b:Lolita|7604|Lolita|Vladimir Nabokov|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1228045893s/7604.jpg|1268631] (review forthcoming, BTW). I wanted a purely entertaining read, a rollicking adventure featuring much melodrama and a likable protagonist. A nice, escapist fantasy seemed perfect. This was darker than I expected... the protagonist of Kushiel's Dart is Phedre, a masochistic prostitute-spy, knee-deep in the ugly political (and literal) backstabbing of a fake France.
While the writing is a bit overwrought*, and the characters somewhat predictable, the storytelling is excellent... the kind that keeps you up to the wee hours of the morning just to find out what happens next. My high-school self would have given this a 5-star rating.
*Look to Zen's review for a pitch-perfect parody!
I started reading this because I was looking for a mental palate-cleanser after [b:Lolita|7604|Lolita|Vladimir Nabokov|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1228045893s/7604.jpg|1268631] (review forthcoming, BTW). I wanted a purely entertaining read, a rollicking adventure featuring much melodrama and a likable protagonist. A nice, escapist fantasy seemed perfect. This was darker than I expected... the protagonist of Kushiel's Dart is Phedre, a masochistic prostitute-spy, knee-deep in the ugly political (and literal) backstabbing of a fake France.
While the writing is a bit overwrought*, and the characters somewhat predictable, the storytelling is excellent... the kind that keeps you up to the wee hours of the morning just to find out what happens next. My high-school self would have given this a 5-star rating.
*Look to Zen's review for a pitch-perfect parody!