I don't even care, I can't stop thinking about this book so I'm bumping my original 4.5 star rating to a 5. Plus it made me cry! I don't think anotherI don't even care, I can't stop thinking about this book so I'm bumping my original 4.5 star rating to a 5. Plus it made me cry! I don't think another 2014 book has done that this year.
I cannot believe these were written as prequels, they give readers such an enormous breadth of understanding for Celaena's character and history, as well as enormous sympathy for what she's been through, faults and all.
Creepy, complex, genuinely frightening, thrilling, sad, and unbelievably tender and hushed and beautiful all at once. This is a dark, violent fairy taCreepy, complex, genuinely frightening, thrilling, sad, and unbelievably tender and hushed and beautiful all at once. This is a dark, violent fairy tale, it's a mystery, it's a fantasy, it's horror, it's historical, it's gothic, and it's also the story of a girl trying to find a place for herself among a grieving family torn apart by war. The family dynamics and sister relationship are so well done, as are the way the book handles loss and longing. And on top of that? Feminism and jazz and tea shops and plates and plates of cake! (view spoiler)[Not to mention shrieking dolls, shudder-inducing but poignant consumption of various things, and a fantastic play on the fears of parents re: changelings. (hide spoiler)]
I haven't read a middle grade book with this much nuance and wild imagination and feeling since The Golden Compass--and I'm betting those who liked Coraline or the original Grimm's fairy tales will like this. I was thrilled by the intense creepiness and dread of the mystery behind Triss' illness, I was outraged by what she has to endure, and I teared up over what was to become of her. Best read knowing as little about the plot as possible--just enjoy the wonderfully descriptive writing, the perfectly paced plot, and the experience of not knowing where the story will go next.
Love love love love love. And now I have to read everything else Frances Hardinge has ever written.
ETA: If you love HBO’s The Last of Us, consider reading this. It features the same insidious fungus, also has zombies and few other elements in commonETA: If you love HBO’s The Last of Us, consider reading this. It features the same insidious fungus, also has zombies and few other elements in common, but is a distinctly different story. The plotting and writing are incredible.
This is the story of a girl, locked in a room, who is strapped into a chair every morning while a man holds a gun to her head. She’s wheeled into a classroom in which there are other kids strapped into chairs just like hers, where a woman teaches them lessons that they will probably never need to learn.
This book is like a fantastic combination of
the scrupulously researched medical thriller aspects of Mira Grant's Deadline + the queer, feral curiosity of a child who's not what she seems, like Octavia Butler's Fledgling + the wandering survival aspects of The Reapers are the Angels and its badass heroine Temple + the dichtomy of high-functioning/degenerate beings in Warm Bodies the poignant, impossible need in Let the Right One In.
But with a fascinating pathogen, distinctly drawn characters, and unexpected (and AWESOME) ending of its own. First 5 star read of 2014!
Wendy Darling
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