Cursed

Book Title: Cursed

Author: Thomas Wheeler

Date Started: June 17th 2020

Date Completed: July 26th 2020

Genres: Fantasy, Historical, Adventure

Quality Rating: Three Stars

Enjoyment Rating: Two Star

Final Rating: Two Stars

Review:

◆ Thanks to NetGalley for this eBook copy for review ◆

I'm a filmmaker and a screenwriter. I love film and books both dearly. That doesn't mean they're formats that effortlessly blend together without some translation. And that, aside from the lacklustre story, is the biggest problem with this book. Most of the marketing around Cursed is that its publishing is coinciding with the Netflix shows' release too and that it's 'cinematic', so it's hard to see this as anything other than a marketing stunt, sadly, though I imagine at one point it may have been intended to stand on its own feet. As it is, life's too short to read unenjoyable books; I made it 31% of the way through Cursed before I decided to put it down. I am considering watching some of the TV show since it might be more bearable (this, very clearly, doesn't want to be a book, it wants to be a film - and it didn't even manage that).

There were a lot of things I wasn't a fan of as I was reading Cursed, but the thing that made me stop reading altogether was how it very quickly became apparent that Nimue, our 'heroine', was a half-assed attempt at a female protagonist. She's given a sword, magical powers and a sharp tongue, and then left to flail because she has no personality behind it. It's definitely cinematic; it's once again a man writing what he thinks is complimentary and not actually trying to uphold any empowerment in the story. Arthur does more, speaks more, is a more active driving force, has a stronger personality, and already saves her several times even in the 31% of this book I read. I didn't come here to read about Arthur, and I'm tired of putting the 'heroine' label on girls you just want for ticking a diversity box.

Another turn off was that it was so predictable. You can tell it's trying to be cinematic because it's basically a written version of a million different YA/80s films. I've heard all the dialogue a hundred time before, and it's more effective when there's an actor putting emotion behind it. And, weirdly, there's very little tension at all. Even with the really violent and life-threatening situations, it's trying to be a film and therefore working on the assumption that the images and performance will flesh out the visual language on-screen - but wait, this isn't a film! Look, screenplays and novels are different for a reason, they have different limitations and opportunities, and Cursed seems to confuse and/or miss all of them.

Also, what age is this for? It seems to be marketed as Young Adult but I don't think the tone can quite decide itself; it's dark and 'edgy' but simplistic in writing and feels silly or shallow in the plot. Usually, you have to be less violent etc onscreen because the moving image is by nature more explicit - whereas in prose it's up to the reader's imagination for how graphically they see the horrible things in their head. But strangely, this is an example where I think the writing is more graphic than necessary, and for no reason. My only guess is that it's trying to recreate a film which, once again, misses the point of both literature and cinema's unique storytelling abilities.

It's obvious that I think the 'cinematic' aspect of the book is not a selling point, despite the marketing, since it misunderstands the elements of its own medium. The illustrations, as well, don't necessarily save that - a lot of the details of scenes and/or character descriptions don't actually match up. It's a cool art style, but in a plot already flailing either from laziness or dumbness (honestly don't know which at this point), it just confuses things further. As far as a retelling of the myth of King Arthur goes, I can't really comment since I didn't read all of it - I'll just say that this is definitely still Arthur's story, and not Nimue's.

Kindred

Book Title: Kindred

Author: Octavia Butler

Date Started: June 19th 2020

Date Completed: July 25th 2020

Genres: Historical, Science Fiction

Quality Rating: Five Stars

Enjoyment Rating: Five Star

Final Rating: Five Stars

Review:

Why, oh why, have I never heard of this book before? Well, racism, obviously. But it's also a weak excuse just to blame that while I haven't necessarily been making the effort to open my own awareness of literature. That changes now. Science fiction, especially time travel, is not typically my jam, but intelligent female characters in fraught and sometimes conflicting situations such as hell is. At the end of the day, it doesn't matter because Kindred is fantastic, accessible and important whatever your preference.

The obvious importance of Kindred is to do with its portrayal of slavery and the Black people held hostage within its system. I will not claim to be formally educated in the matter, but I hope I've taken steps to be accurately informed to be able to say that the book manages the themes with necessary bluntness, but also honesty and dignity. By humanising the history into these three-dimensional characters' experiences, the subject is elevated past simple facts and onto an emotional level. It's explored in a way that people can understand, even if not empathise with their own experiences and/or cultural history (though, by the way, it's the majority of the Western world's cultural history and we have a responsibility to be aware of it - i.e. the English were slave traders too).

This is also a story in which the use of time travel has a very specific and useful purpose. Sure, the mystery of working out why Dana keeps being pulled through the centuries practically to the other side of the country is a really good reader motivation, but it also allows Butler to draw parallels to the contemporary setting of the book (the 1970s) and how things aren't all roses there either, even if things have progressed (which is very timely for right now in 2020, as well).

I also want to mention Dana's relationship with her husband Kevin. There's a lot of things that Butler does with these two (they're a mixed-race couple, they're from lower-income backgrounds, the time displacement has its impact on Kevin too), but I have to say how honestly wonderful it was to see such a well-balanced couple. The portrayal of slavery, Black history, and being a woman in the early 1800s in America aside, the representation of Dana and Kevin as equals (as much as society will let them, anyway) was really damn good. It has its challenges and there are a lot of parallels constructed throughout the story, but I did not especially expect to see a healthy husband and wife relationship and for it to be so refreshing.

After going back and forth about whether it's uncomfortable to call this book 'enjoyable' given the subject matter, I've decided it's important I do say so. Kindred is intensely engaging, and Butler uses the storytelling potential of a novel to explore the tough subject matter in a way that makes you turn the pages because you need to know what happens next. I spent most of this book trying to draw the strings together, and loving it. In doing so, I also learnt far more about slavery than I was ever taught in school. We should not need to be happy or excited to listen to injustices on human rights and our history, but Butler reminded me what a powerful tool storytelling can be.

Descendant of the Crane

Book Title: Descendant of the Crane

Author: Joan He

Date Started: June 16th 2020

Date Completed: July 19th 2020

Genres: Historical, Fantasy, Mystery

Quality Rating: Four Stars

Enjoyment Rating: Five Star

Final Rating: Five Stars

Review:

◆ Thanks to NetGalley for this eBook copy for review ◆

What a debut. Descendant of the Crane was not what I expected; it was so much more. Joan He has written one of the most interesting female protagonists at the head of a very complex political drama with some strong mystery and fantastical elements. The Chinese-inspired foundations were an added bonus that I adored, and while I've dipped my toes into a range of Asian-inspired retellings/history I don't think I've actually read one based on China until now.

I had this feeling, while reading, that if I were to poke around the details of the politics or events it'd probably fall like a house of cards. But I didn't want to poke it. Hesina is so compelling and the story moves through the motions so quickly that I found it easy to just sort of let it go. And now that I've finished it, I don't want to interrogate either because it was such a fun ride. I feel like details and world elements are so well positioned they're almost like a standee on a stage: you only see one side of it, and you kind of know that the other side isn't painted, it hasn't been fully worked out. But the point of having it there is totally relevant, so you only need to see that one side to help the story flow. I'm not saying it's necessarily better than truly having those things worked out - but it's a darn sight better than info-dumping because you're self-conscious people won't understand what's going on. As it is, in a world I'm not super familiar with the formalities of, I got what was happening, the power status and duties of Hesina and the kingdom's tensions through the process of reading the story.

All in all, the actual plot was so engaging. The end twist was a bit hard for me to fully get with (and it's so obvious this is going to be a series, despite what GoodReads says), but there's so many twists and turns and all of them are so strongly rooted in Hesina and her growing understanding of her role as Queen. For some reason before starting, I was expecting a sort of adventure across the empire storyline, but actually Descendant of the Crane is very focused on the palace and the court, though we visit other places occasionally. While I would say it's probably more about relationships than straight-up politics, the tensions between what was right or wrong for a country, and the responsibility of choosing those wisely was explored in an interesting way.

As I've mentioned, Hesina is such a fascinating protagonist. When I began reading, I was struck by how quickly we got into the thick of things - her father is already dead, she is practically in power already, and the obstacles are quite clear immediately. And I think that's because He puts Hesina right in the middle of this story; it's her choices and her mistakes and her motivations that we're really exploring in the frame of this kingdom and its conflicts.

This, of course, would not be as effective as it is without the surrounding cast of characters who were undoubtedly my favourite aspect of this book. First of all, I do have a soft spot for fraught sibling rivalries and divided loyalties, so Hesina with her blood brother, half brother, and adopted brother and sister all trying to help her with very different perspectives was always gonna be a fun state of affairs for me personally. I will also mention I love the subtly of the romance, and the influence it had on Hesina without taking over her storyline - in fact, Hesina's priorities were a very sensible and engaging driving force for this book that you rarely get to see so eloquently carried out.

I thoroughly enjoyed Descendant of the Crance, and while there were holes in it and I debated what rating to give it, I was so impressed on a number of accounts that it would've been unfair to rate it any lower than five stars. While I far and away prefer stand-alones to series, I will happily read a sequel to this.

Kim Jiyoung, Born 1982

Book Title: Kim Jiyoung, Born 1982

Author: Cho Nam-Joo

Date Started: June 12th 2020

Date Completed: July 16th 2020

Genres: Contemporary

Quality Rating: Five Stars

Enjoyment Rating: Four Star

Final Rating: Five Stars

Review:

◆ Thanks to the Korean Cultural Centre UK for this copy as part of their Literature Night ◆

This book was not an easy read, and I was an idiot to think otherwise. I found myself unexpectedly crying at multiple points without even realising it, and having to pause at other times to get some things off my own chest even if it was only to my bookshelf. Kim Jiyoung, Born 1982 is about a woman growing up in South Korea and the micro-aggressions, casual sexism, and daily encounters and impact that misogyny and patriarchy have on individuals. And it doesn't hold back. That doesn't mean it's big and dramatic - on the contrary, the things that happen seem small and silly at the time, which is why I was crying. Because we brush them off like they don't affect us, but this book shows eloquently and viciously, that they break us.

I do want to say that I'm British (and white at that). While I have researched and/or been exposed to a fair amount of South Korea's culture and history, I have never been there and, of course, I'm not Korean myself. I'm also of a later generation than what is explored here. But, even so, it's depressing how universal a worrying amount of the situations were - but also Jiyoung-ssi's responses, emotionally and practically, to those events. I recognised a shocking amount of them in myself.

Okay, yes, the text is sometimes a bit stuff (although, when it's revealed the prose is her therapist's account of what she's told him, it makes more sense), and the use of referencing to real, contemporary statistics, studies, articles etc was a little distracting. But it gets across the point it's trying to make, and you can't argue it's speculation just because it's fictionalised.

For me, it was the final chapter that cemented my opinion of this book. It sets out the most important information and revelation this book can offer. After recounting Kim Jiyoung-ssi's life, it is brought to our attention that the account is from, in fact, a man: her therapist. This is honestly surprising, since it seems so sympathetic and raw. There's a moment of something like hope. And then a female therapist comes in, with a going-away present, apologising that she has to leave her job. She's pregnant, finally, but has been warned of dangers of miscarriage and harm to herself. The therapist is disgruntled that she is leaving, that her patients have preferred not to be moved to someone else's care, and muses to himself that he has to make sure the woman who replaces her is unmarried. In a single moment, so many things made sense for me. How a man can have sympathy for a woman whose entire life story has been 'revealed' to them, experiences, grievances from casual to giant, and how they have caused a ripple effect for her prospects and internal state. Yet minutes later, they can dismiss another woman, belittle her choices and have a shallow attitude to her situation.

This book somehow felt like a comforting hand and a death sentence for reality all at once. It was shocking, it was brilliant, it was hard, it was so simple. But, as I said, the most important question this book held was right on the last page. Why do we have to 'live through' a woman's experiences and trauma ourselves to believe them?

Alanna: The First Adventure

Book Title: Alanna: The First Adventure

Author: Tamora Pierce

Series: Song of the Lioness #1

Date Started: June 11th 2020

Date Completed: July 13th 2020

Genres: Fantasy, Adventure

Quality Rating: Four Stars

Enjoyment Rating: Five Star

Final Rating: Four Stars

Review:

I know the Song of the Lioness is a beloved book for a lot of people, and I understand why. It took a little while to get going, I feel, but once it found it's feet I really enjoyed this book. And I'm always up for the girl-pretending-to-be-a-boy trope, especially when it's in a fantasy knight setting.

Alanna's is a familiar story, but one with its own spark. Reading it, I couldn't help being reminded of Earthsea, Trudi Canavan, Sabriel or Patrick Rothfuss (i.e. all of my favourite childhood fantasies, and some newer ones too). I wish I'd read this as a kid, it would've been groundbreaking. As it is, I've read a lot of books like this before, though I appreciate many of them were probably influenced by Pierce or at least the somewhat-underrated wave of feminist fantasy she was a part of in the 80s/90s.

The one thing that was very well executed was the portrayal of friendships and comradery. It reminded me that these unlikely friends and their relationships are always at the heart of epic fantasies, often even more so than the setting and magic systems. It's something that I wonder is sometimes forgotten in favour of pushing a strong, independent protagonist to the reader's attention - when actually having a circle of ragtag heroes and jesters around them is one of the reasons they become so powerful.

This book is actually really short, so I'm struggling for much more to say about it. I imagine you could follow each book immediately on to create a more meaty fantasy that we're slightly more used to these days, but I do like the way we get these little episodes of Alanna's life (it's very Earthsea).

Den of Wolves

Book Title: Den of Wolves

Author: Juliet Marillier

Series: Blackthorn & Grim #3

Date Started: June 8th 2020

Date Completed: July 11th 2020

Genres: Fantasy, Historical, Mystery, Romance

Quality Rating: Three Stars

Enjoyment Rating: Four Star

Final Rating: Three Stars

Review:

This series might as well have been called 'something seems fishy' because these weird little mysteries literally follow Blackthorn and Grim around. But it doesn't matter how many dodgy lords or ladies they are, we love it.

Juliet Marillier always delivers an addictive story. Like I said when I first jumped into this series (about a month ago, ha), it was a lot more lighthearted and fun than what I expected to come across, regardless of the dark subjects it frequently touches upon. But that hasn't made it any less enjoyable for me. Den of Wolves was a fitting and satisfying end to the series, if a little tamer than I was hoping for in the final resolution. I also really appreciated that it had its own mystery and story once again as well as the overarching plot it drew to a finish.

The sleuthing ex-criminals and their meddling ways has always been fun, but this series is about the characters when it comes down to it. Each episode's cast have their own qualities and influences, but it was actually really lovely that the whole ensemble for the final chapter - and it's final resolution - included some recurring figures we've seen for a while like Conmael, Prince Oran etc. (though it would've been nice to have more of the girls like Emer and Flidais present for the finale too).

Blackthorn and Grim's ending itself just made me feel warm and content. Sure, I was expecting quite a lot of drama and frustration, but it didn't have to be angsty in the end and that speaks volumes really. Not to criticise YA protagonists unfairly, but it does make a difference having two adults in the romantic situation of a fantasy universe - there really are bigger things at stake than your angst. When things do tie up at the end, it's satisfying that it can be done gently, privately, which is just as big a gesture as the clichéd endings we've come to expect.

Juliet Marillier is quickly becoming one of my favourite authors, and the fact that she can deliver such a diverse variety of stories and characters is really exciting for me: what do her other books to have to offer? I won't be waiting long to find out.

The Once and Future Witches

Book Title: The Once and Future Witches

Author: Alix E. Harrow

Date Started: June 29th 2020

Date Completed: July 8th 2020

Genres: Historical, Fantasy, Thriller

Quality Rating: Three Stars

Enjoyment Rating: Four Star

Final Rating: Four Stars

Review:

◆ Thanks to NetGalley for this eBook copy for review ◆

I did enjoy The Once and Future Witches, but there were just some things that stopped me from really being able to fully invest in it. The atmosphere was a bit offbeat, the pacing was a bit messy, and honestly, the metaphors and intentions of rewriting history were a bit... naïve, for want of a better word.

When I started, I really wasn't into it just because the book took so long to get in the swing of it. However, at around 30% things suddenly starting becoming really interesting and exciting - I'm pretty sure because Harrow started giving each of the three sisters their own storyline and struggles. That character drama was way more enjoyable and compelling than the exposition at the beginning (and honestly the tangle of things that started erupting towards the end). The plot itself is kind of convoluted, predictable, and obsessed with making references to fairytales, classic novels and historical figures (all of which are fiddled with to make sure women are at the centre of everything, but more on that later). While I like it and what it's trying to do with the whole Suffragette movement, the politics of witchery and matriarchy as an idea, it actually takes itself (in its magical-slash-historical landscape) a bit too seriously for a fantasy novel like this, lays it on too thick, and consequently actually comes across a bit silly.

I really like a lot of the little world twists in here (renaming famous authors as women etc) but when you combine it with a Suffragette movement very similar to ours, it comes across as naïve - it misunderstands some of the reasons women needed a movement in the first place. If female authors were the leading authors in this world, and female historical figures were remembered, etcetera, then the landscape of gender issues would be very different to what is demonstrated here: it's taking the consequences of our world's lack of recognition of women's work and plonking it on the end of a world that doesn't seem to have those same issues. Don't get me wrong, I'm sure there would still be gender issues, but I don't feel like any thought has gone into how it would differ. And in a book trying to make statements and metaphors about that kind of politics, it's harder to buy into. I want to love it so much but there's this childishness to it. Which is mostly fine until you do the really unpleasant, dark stuff that the book just doesn't feel mature enough to tackle.

The diversity between the sisters is great, but there wasn't a sense of balance of them as an ensemble; there were points when it felt like Juniper was obviously the protagonist, but then Agnes or Bella would interject and kind of shift tension rather than continue it from another perspective. I will also say that, sure, while you have a handful of Black characters and very briefly touch upon the intersectional issues of feminism with them - it's very very brief, when actually even the story admits that their role in what this story is trying to be is monumental; we just don't really get to see it. All in all, I will praise the representation in this book, but I think it's a real shame that a lot of it is only mentioned rather than being explored. (Even the lesbian relationship I, personally, think was kind of glossed over, though arguably all of the deep details of everyone's own experiences is glossed over in favour of the over-complicated plot).

While I acknowledge my review focuses on some of the problems I had with the book, I did genuinely enjoy reading The Once and Future Witches. It was fun, sparky, and refreshing in a Disney only-while-you're-watching-it way. Ultimately, for me, it comes down to a really cool concept that ended up being more about the ideas than the execution of them. Worth the read, but I think it could've been done better.