You need to sign in or sign up before continuing.
Take a photo of a barcode or cover
caitlins_bookshelf's Reviews (432)
challenging
dark
emotional
reflective
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
adventurous
dark
mysterious
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
adventurous
dark
emotional
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
funny
hopeful
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:
No
challenging
emotional
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
emotional
hopeful
informative
inspiring
medium-paced
firstly, a massive thank you to manchester university press for sending me an advance proof copy of this one! I loved it so much 🥰
we follow five women who fought to explore in and save the wild in the 20th century and they are! mina hubbard who, after her husband died exploring northern labrador, sets out on her own expedition to finish his work. dorothy pilley, a climber who completed several first ascents and fought for the right to do so. evelyn cheesman, an entomologist who travelled the islands of the south pacific collecting tens of thousands of specimens. ethel haythornwaite, who helped protect and fought for the peak district to become a national park. and wangari maathai, founder of the green belt movement in kenya, which planted millions of trees, and campaigner for women's rights.
this was brilliant! I'd never heard of any of these women before, but it was really inspiring to learn about them and the important work they did. they did things I can't even imagine, that I can still see the impact of today, and at a time when the wild was seen as a place just for men. there was a really fascinating introduction about the history of women's place in the wild, which really highlighted how these five were challenging that.
I especially loved the chapters on evelyn cheesman ! her entomology work was so interesting and I'm kinda blown away by just how much she contributed to this field. I enjoyed learning about the bugs she discovered and how she helped our understanding of evolutionary biology. the chapters of ethel haythornwaite were also particularly interesting to me as she was sheffield/peak district based which is an area I'm pretty familiar with, and it was amazing to know what an impact she'd had on a place I've visited.
but all five women were impressive in their own way, and I found it surprisingly moving too. it was also cool to learn about the little pockets of history that surrounded each woman and this, paired with very detailed descriptions of the places they lived and explored, made for an immersive read. I also liked the little links between the women dotted throughout the book, as it was nice to see how all their separate works complemented each other.
basically just a very well researched, informative look at five women that definitely need more recognition! it's out in march and I can't recommend it enough 🫶
we follow five women who fought to explore in and save the wild in the 20th century and they are! mina hubbard who, after her husband died exploring northern labrador, sets out on her own expedition to finish his work. dorothy pilley, a climber who completed several first ascents and fought for the right to do so. evelyn cheesman, an entomologist who travelled the islands of the south pacific collecting tens of thousands of specimens. ethel haythornwaite, who helped protect and fought for the peak district to become a national park. and wangari maathai, founder of the green belt movement in kenya, which planted millions of trees, and campaigner for women's rights.
this was brilliant! I'd never heard of any of these women before, but it was really inspiring to learn about them and the important work they did. they did things I can't even imagine, that I can still see the impact of today, and at a time when the wild was seen as a place just for men. there was a really fascinating introduction about the history of women's place in the wild, which really highlighted how these five were challenging that.
I especially loved the chapters on evelyn cheesman ! her entomology work was so interesting and I'm kinda blown away by just how much she contributed to this field. I enjoyed learning about the bugs she discovered and how she helped our understanding of evolutionary biology. the chapters of ethel haythornwaite were also particularly interesting to me as she was sheffield/peak district based which is an area I'm pretty familiar with, and it was amazing to know what an impact she'd had on a place I've visited.
but all five women were impressive in their own way, and I found it surprisingly moving too. it was also cool to learn about the little pockets of history that surrounded each woman and this, paired with very detailed descriptions of the places they lived and explored, made for an immersive read. I also liked the little links between the women dotted throughout the book, as it was nice to see how all their separate works complemented each other.
basically just a very well researched, informative look at five women that definitely need more recognition! it's out in march and I can't recommend it enough 🫶
adventurous
dark
emotional
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
adventurous
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
challenging
dark
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
adventurous
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
wow wow wow where to even start with this one ?! the prequel to the priory of the orange tree, it's set 500 years before as an ancient evil reawakens. we follows four main protagonists, each living in a different part of the world. dumai, a godsinger from the east. glorian, heir to the throne of inys. wulf, housecarl to glorian's father (king of hroth in the north). and tunuva, a sister of the priory of the orange tree.
this was truly such a magnificent book !!! 800+ pages, and one I'd been putting off for ages, but I absolutely ate it up ! it was such an exciting read, with lots of action and various twists and turns, which definitely made those 800 pages go quicker. and though it took me a little bit of flitting to the list of characters at the back to wrap my head around who everyone was, once I did it was such an immersive read.
I really enjoyed all four pov's but I think tunuva and glorian were my favourites! though they all felt like very complex, fleshed out characters, and had very engaging relationships with the side characters too. tunuva and esbar have my heart, and I'd forgotten how lovely the ichneumons are 🥹
and despite being a prequel, and therefore us already knowing roughly how events end and what the world looks like in 500 years time, I didn't find this to take away from the suspense and excitement, mainly because I was so invested in all of the characters !
and it was so nice to be back in this world (though I had forgotten a lot of what happened in priory)! the landscape and the cultures and the contrasting religions and the magic systems have all been meticulously thought out and described (though not in a way that bogs the book down) and it makes for such an immersive read. I also loved the queer norm aspects of it, and all the lovely queer relationships, and in general it was a very diverse book.
essentially, I absolutely adored it. I'll definitely have to reread priory at some point, and I'm so excited for the new novella !! if you've been putting this one off like me then this is your sign to finally pick it up, because it's absolutely brilliant !!
this was truly such a magnificent book !!! 800+ pages, and one I'd been putting off for ages, but I absolutely ate it up ! it was such an exciting read, with lots of action and various twists and turns, which definitely made those 800 pages go quicker. and though it took me a little bit of flitting to the list of characters at the back to wrap my head around who everyone was, once I did it was such an immersive read.
I really enjoyed all four pov's but I think tunuva and glorian were my favourites! though they all felt like very complex, fleshed out characters, and had very engaging relationships with the side characters too. tunuva and esbar have my heart, and I'd forgotten how lovely the ichneumons are 🥹
and despite being a prequel, and therefore us already knowing roughly how events end and what the world looks like in 500 years time, I didn't find this to take away from the suspense and excitement, mainly because I was so invested in all of the characters !
and it was so nice to be back in this world (though I had forgotten a lot of what happened in priory)! the landscape and the cultures and the contrasting religions and the magic systems have all been meticulously thought out and described (though not in a way that bogs the book down) and it makes for such an immersive read. I also loved the queer norm aspects of it, and all the lovely queer relationships, and in general it was a very diverse book.
essentially, I absolutely adored it. I'll definitely have to reread priory at some point, and I'm so excited for the new novella !! if you've been putting this one off like me then this is your sign to finally pick it up, because it's absolutely brilliant !!