TW: sexual assault, rape, pregnancy, domestic violence, death, discussion of suicide, abortion, and miscarriage.
2.5ish stars.
I am not a huge fantasy TW: sexual assault, rape, pregnancy, domestic violence, death, discussion of suicide, abortion, and miscarriage.
2.5ish stars.
I am not a huge fantasy and/or magical realism person unless it's realllllllyy well done. This was not horrible, and I thought it was an entertaining read.
With most books that show multiple perspectives throughout multiple periods, I felt more connected to some characters than others. The chapters with Kate and Violet were much more interesting to me than Altha's. Not necessarily because of the writing, but I just felt like Kate/Violet's storylines were much more engaging.
Also, again, I understand that magical realism is just typically not for me, but I felt like the "empowering" moments for these women were not by their hand...like, ever. When these women had moments of strength and fought back (because all of them needed to, there wasn't a woman in this story who wasn't treated like actual dogshit by the men in their lives), they could ONLY do so with the help of magical realism - the birds, the bugs, etc. It felt much less like an inspiring, strong female character moment, and more like their mystical family lineage was saving them. Not the worst thing ever, but it was not empowering to me.
Additionally, I know that misogyny and abuse ran rampant, and always has in society. But for every single storyline, plot point, and character trait to center around physical/sexual/emotional abuse, misogyny, and male rage? It feels a little lazy to have all of these women's strengths simply stem from that.
The writing was OK, but I did feel like there were a ton of cliches, on-the-nose symbolism, and metaphors. Aspects of the story that were supposed to be deep or surprising fell completely flat....more
The ending absolutely broke my heart. I completely understood why she chose to finish the series that way, but after all the events of the laSPOILERS!
The ending absolutely broke my heart. I completely understood why she chose to finish the series that way, but after all the events of the last three books it was really hard to stomach her loved ones no longer remembering her as queen. However I still loved this series and would highly recommend it for anyone who wants some adult fantasy novels....more
I really love this series...Full of adventure, sex, amazing characters and dialogue...that being said, there are some horrific scenes of rape/abuse asI really love this series...Full of adventure, sex, amazing characters and dialogue...that being said, there are some horrific scenes of rape/abuse as well that may be very difficult to read....more