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seahorsemojinow 's review for:
Strange Grace
by Tessa Gratton
(Spoilers in the third paragraph)
I really loved this book! It was both wonderfully whimsical and earthy, grounded. The premise was exciting and fun to explore. I love love love a triad, too. It's always so new and wonderful when I find a narrative that displays love that can be shared. It feels representative of myself in a way that almost never gets spoken to!! That feels very silly and vulnerable to share but there it is.
The voices were all gorgeous. Gender was a Theme, which is always my shit. The reason this is 4 stars instead of 5 is simply because I didn't feel the book engaged with trans-ness enough. One of the three main characters is trans-adjacent, but being taken for a girl hurls him into misogyny. It's hard to read sometimes. I felt like even though gender was everywhere - in the romance, in the sainthood, in the witch's line, and in the magic of the bargain (life, death, in between) - it was only on the edges. Which is great for a novel! It makes sense for gender not to be faced head on - it's a systemic structure, one that we often move through but usually with the aim to avoid its beams. So it doesn't make the book feel less right.
It's just that I, personally, would have enjoyed a straightforward look at the beast called gender every once in a while. **spoilers** : One of the main characters is raised as a girl although he is (considered) born a boy. This is because the ceremony that happens every 7 years sacrifices the best boy in the valley to the bargain that keeps them in excellent health and prosperity (no one dies before their time). The best boy is chosen by requiring all boys to compete to be the best. Sainthood is something desired and pursued. But his mom doesn't want him to die, so she raises him a girl. When the situation is "found out," he starts living as a boy and his mom leaves. So at the time of this book, he feels the need to vehemently reject girlhood and all things associated. However, he also describes missing being a girl, and the experiences he shared with the other girls. This narrative would have been more my jam if it openly talked about the option of being a gender you aren't "born" as. What it might be like to believe yourself into being. Especially as gender, I believe dovetails so nicely into the way magic works in this world - charms utilize life, death, and something in between. Trans-ness is so clearly the in between!
All in all, though, this was a really lovely read. I would daydream about reading more while I would be at work. I can definitely recommend it to others. If you're looking for specific content warnings, let me know!
I really loved this book! It was both wonderfully whimsical and earthy, grounded. The premise was exciting and fun to explore. I love love love a triad, too. It's always so new and wonderful when I find a narrative that displays love that can be shared. It feels representative of myself in a way that almost never gets spoken to!! That feels very silly and vulnerable to share but there it is.
The voices were all gorgeous. Gender was a Theme, which is always my shit. The reason this is 4 stars instead of 5 is simply because I didn't feel the book engaged with trans-ness enough. One of the three main characters is trans-adjacent, but being taken for a girl hurls him into misogyny. It's hard to read sometimes. I felt like even though gender was everywhere - in the romance, in the sainthood, in the witch's line, and in the magic of the bargain (life, death, in between) - it was only on the edges. Which is great for a novel! It makes sense for gender not to be faced head on - it's a systemic structure, one that we often move through but usually with the aim to avoid its beams. So it doesn't make the book feel less right.
It's just that I, personally, would have enjoyed a straightforward look at the beast called gender every once in a while. **spoilers** : One of the main characters is raised as a girl although he is (considered) born a boy. This is because the ceremony that happens every 7 years sacrifices the best boy in the valley to the bargain that keeps them in excellent health and prosperity (no one dies before their time). The best boy is chosen by requiring all boys to compete to be the best. Sainthood is something desired and pursued. But his mom doesn't want him to die, so she raises him a girl. When the situation is "found out," he starts living as a boy and his mom leaves. So at the time of this book, he feels the need to vehemently reject girlhood and all things associated. However, he also describes missing being a girl, and the experiences he shared with the other girls. This narrative would have been more my jam if it openly talked about the option of being a gender you aren't "born" as. What it might be like to believe yourself into being. Especially as gender, I believe dovetails so nicely into the way magic works in this world - charms utilize life, death, and something in between. Trans-ness is so clearly the in between!
All in all, though, this was a really lovely read. I would daydream about reading more while I would be at work. I can definitely recommend it to others. If you're looking for specific content warnings, let me know!