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lotsa_matcha's reviews
155 reviews
The Winter Duke by Claire Eliza Bartlett
5.0
I absolutely love Batlett's first book, We Rule the Night, so when I saw this book, I was super excited. I am very happy to find that my excitement was proven correct. I like that Ekata is a strong heroine but also really bad at what she is trying to do. She's intelligent about some things but also not universally good at everything. It's nice. She's a sympathetic heroine who is trying her best (tm). There were a lot of times during the book where Ekata messes up and makes mistakes that show why monarchies are a bad thing. Sure, she's a princess, but her role is actually genuinely questioned with political and social consequences. The monarchy isn't a good thing. And on that note, the ending was absolutely exciting. The throne isn't something people should want.
I absolutely adored Inkar, Ekata's new wife. The blurb is a little misleading in that Inkar wasn't actually married to Ekata's brother. She was one of the options that the brother could theoretically pick. Inkar was badass and broke down some class barriers too. And she was so completely loyal and protective to Ekata. Their relationship made me squee with happiness.
I also really liked Ekata's maid, Aino, as well and how she is like a mother to Ekata. I don't think it was really fair how Ekata got mad at her and blamed her for what happened -- what was she supposed to do exactly? She protected Ekata. I also liked how she warmed up to Inkar when she saved Ekata. I really liked her a lot and thought she deserved more than she got, and I think her treatment has a lot to do with the classism inherent in monarchical societies.
As for the queer rep, I am so happy. Being queer is just accepted. There is a nonbinary character who uses they/them pronouns here and it never gets questioned, no one ever messes up their pronouns. Can I tell you how much of an actual dream that is? Like seriously, if people were that good with my pronouns, I would be one happy person.
All in all, I absolutely loved this!
I absolutely adored Inkar, Ekata's new wife. The blurb is a little misleading in that Inkar wasn't actually married to Ekata's brother. She was one of the options that the brother could theoretically pick. Inkar was badass and broke down some class barriers too. And she was so completely loyal and protective to Ekata. Their relationship made me squee with happiness.
I also really liked Ekata's maid, Aino, as well and how she is like a mother to Ekata. I don't think it was really fair how Ekata got mad at her and blamed her for what happened -- what was she supposed to do exactly? She protected Ekata. I also liked how she warmed up to Inkar when she saved Ekata. I really liked her a lot and thought she deserved more than she got, and I think her treatment has a lot to do with the classism inherent in monarchical societies.
As for the queer rep, I am so happy. Being queer is just accepted. There is a nonbinary character who uses they/them pronouns here and it never gets questioned, no one ever messes up their pronouns. Can I tell you how much of an actual dream that is? Like seriously, if people were that good with my pronouns, I would be one happy person.
All in all, I absolutely loved this!