Daughter of the Forest

Book Title: Daughter of the Forest

Author: Juliet Marillier

Series: Sevenwaters #1

Date Started: April 18th 2019

Date Completed: April 25th 2019

Genres: Fantasy, Adventure, Historical, Romance

Quality Rating: Five Stars

Enjoyment Rating: Five Stars

Final Rating: Five Stars

Review:

Every now and then there comes a story that knocks you off your feet, leaves you near unable to put down the book, consumes your thoughts. Really, I shouldn’t be surprised that it came from a retelling of The Wild Swans which is by far my favourite fairy tale. Daughter of the Forest feels written for me, and I fell in love with it completely, utterly and wholeheartedly.

Marillier presents the fairy tale in all of its dark, historical, fantastical, emotional and epic majesty. Maybe if you only know Disney and the Grimm brothers this might be a little different, for it feels a lot more brutal and melancholic than the dark and twisted versions that we’re slowly starting to remember existed before Disney. It also blends in the historical feuds and cultures well with the fantasy. It was natural and compelling, the genres didn’t feel at odds with each other but like our world really was full of enchantment and magic once.

A lot of retellings try hard to distance themselves from their source material and try and make something new, but in that they lose the heart of the story. For me, Daughter of the Forest struck the perfect balance between doing justice to the original while letting it breathe and blossom into its own story. As well versed as I am in the original, this book still gave me twists and depth, and added embellishment and detail onto the foundations set by the fairy tale.

Most of this was, of course, because the characters were no longer nameless heroes and figures but tangible people. Sorcha is now up there with some of my favourite heroines, and I’m so impressed by how Mariliier was able to give her character and a full, satisfying arc despite the fact she couldn’t talk for the majority of the book. I think there’s a current issue with the ‘silent heroine’, or female protagonists who ar at the centre of a story but remain passive because they’re limited in their decisions, usually because of how little they speak and, consequently, how assertive they are. I think Sorcha’s a really good example of how you can manifest power in women in their actions (which we really need to see more of).

As with a lot of fantasy, the novel boats an awfully big cast. However, unlike several fantasy novels, there’s a real diversity to the large cast and, somehow, I could keep up with them pretty well. Even with the six brothers, each had a distinguishable mannerism or interest. How different the Irish and British cultures were was maybe less obvious, but half the point of the conflict is showing there isn’t really that much difference between humans when you come down to it. A nice balance between the two, and definitely more than enough to make Sorcha’s world feel developed and organic.

The conclusion to Daughter of the Forest was bittersweet but certainly satisfying. I know the next book follows the next generation and I’m sad that I won’t properly get to see another instalment about Sorcha and Red and Finbar and Ben and Margery and everyone else (though I’d be surprised if they don’t pop in with cameos). Regardless, I have the first trilogy in my basket (since my paperback lost the last six pages in my enthusiasm to finish) and as soon as I feel like treating myself I’ll happily continue with the series.

Tiger's Quest

Book Title: Tiger's Quest

Author: Colleen Houck

Series: Tiger's Curse #2

Date Started: April 12th 2019

Date Completed: April 15th 2019

Genres: Romance, Fantasy, Adventure

Quality Rating: Two Stars

Enjoyment Rating: Three Stars

Final Rating: Two Stars

Review:

Wow, this series is still kind of trash, but I think it was what I needed. Probably won't never ever again, mind you.

Amongst the questionable feminism, the predictable plot and the way-too-much-information style to the writing, there are some really nice bits of mythology in here. It's given in massive information dumps showing off how supposedly clever people are (and is about where that intelligence ends) but I do like it and appreciate the diversity of the myths. A history lesson isn't exactly what I was expecting but it has its moments in there.

The story, sadly, doesn't hold up. At all, really. The first part is pure contemporary romance, a tiny little bit of action and then it's off in fairyland for the actual quest. And that ending uses the oldest trick in the book to create drama and no real tension. As much as there's an easy answer to this, I'm still sat here thinking what was the point of the last two books if you're going to start from square one for the characters.

Let's talk about those characters for a moment. They serve one thing and it isn't the story; it's the love triangle. All good fun in objective terms (very boring on all other accounts), but there's a point where it becomes manipulative. It's not okay for someone who's been told the other person isn't interested and is uncomfortable to continue to push, flirt, touch, tease them. And no one should lead another person's feelings on when they know what their own decision is. It's one thing to struggle to push people away, but it's quite another to perpetuate problematic relationships and write them as if it's okay to be acting like that. 'It was a different time' comes to mind when I read most of this; the female characters, the romance, the world. But then again it only came out in 2011, I'm not sure it's an excuse.

It's good fun, but questionable in most others respects. That about sums it up. And I just skimmed through the reviews (and then plots) of the next book and I think I'm good to leave it off here; it sounds like more of the same.

Quintana of Charyn

Book Title: Quintana of Charyn

Author: Melina Marchetta

Series: The Lumatere Chronicles #3

Date Started: March 27th 2019

Date Completed: April 12th 2019

Genres: Fantasy, Adventure, Romance

Quality Rating: Three Stars

Enjoyment Rating: Four Stars

Final Rating: Three Stars

Review:

Quintana of Charyn is the final instalment in the Lumatere Chronicles and one that satisfyingly wraps up the narrative of the previous book. For me, I wasn't as much of a fan of the last two books in this series, but I'm still glad I continued on with the series after loving the first book.

The biggest turn-off for me was how grim the whole thing was. Things have gotten far more serious as we go and it isn't balanced by much else like the first book was. I guess that's fine, it's there for a purpose (most of the time), but it's just not as enjoyable. The characters are too hit and miss for me to be able to feel tension constantly for, what, 400 pages? For me, these books are about entertainment and adventure, and this just became torment, suffering, anguish. Personally, I think it was a bit too interested in being dramatic and lost some of its heart because of it.

Since the first book, these have been told in multiple perspectives, necessarily because there's action happening all across the continent. But I'm not sure there need to be quite as many perspectives as they are, I think it limits some of the mystery and suspense that I remember in the first book. You also, inevitably, feel like the author is favouring certain characters - and believe me, the book may be titled after Quintana, but it still feels like it's about Froi. I'd say about half of the book is following him, and the other half looks at various people including Quintana, Isaboe, Finn, Lucien, Phaedra etc. Which is totally fine, I'm just not the biggest fan of Froi, so I always felt like I was waiting for his parts to be over.

What has to be commended, though, is how nicely Marchetta finishes the trilogy off. A lot of authors seem to have trouble wrapping up a story with enough room of the characters to have lives after it ends; they want to give you every detail of how they all feel and how they all move on when it's just not necessary. Marchetta definitely gives us a lot of run-down time after the final climax, but it's relevant, it's interesting, and you don't feel like she's trying to cram every possibility of a sequel. She's doing justice to the story. I have to say, it felt a bit like this series was a stand-alone novel followed by a duology, and I think you could absolutely read Finnikin of the Rock on its own and be satisfied, though other people seem to enjoy the final two books more than the first, so it depends what you enjoy, I guess.

I really liked the arcs of the characters throughout these books, especially since they're allowed to be flawed. As grim as it is, the tough decisions they make mean more because we know they've really had to find something inside themselves to get there. At first, I was quite defensive of Isaboe and her actions (thinking that she was being far too mean for Isaboe) but actually, her retribution was all the more powerful for it. Similar things happen with other characters, but she struck me the most. You definitely get to see characters 'grow up' in the course of this trilogy.

This was my least favourite book in the series, but I did still enjoy it. I think reading on past the first book definitely offers more to this world - and not just for the sake of it. Ultimately, I just preferred the tone and direction of the first instalment above when it turned later on, but I know lots of other people think differently.