Tessa GrattonReseñas
Autor de Blood Magic (Blood Magic #1)
Reseñas
The concept and characters are interesting. The way it is written though takes energy to understand - it’s obscure and proverb-like and probably not appealing to most.
The queerness of everything was great tho.
The storyline was great: this is basically a retelling of King Lear with magic. I really enjoyed finding parallels with the original and seeing how the book differed. There were enough original elements to keep the plot interesting, and I liked the magical elements especially because of their uniqueness and darkness. The prose was also spectacular! From the first sentence, I was hooked: Tessa Gratton has a way of making everything come alive when describing it in one of the best lyrical proses I have had the pleasure of reading in a really long time.
The worldbuilding was also amazing! It took me a while to get the hang of it, but once I did, I really appreciated the whole setting. The island felt like a character in itself, with a life, will, and desires of its own. I also truly felt like I understood the way society was organised and the people's mindset. It was interesting to note just how much those tensions influenced characters' behaviours. The relations between Innis Lear and neighbouring countries were also extremely well developed and thoroughly explored, providing a much-needed explanation for certain characters' choices.
Which brings me to the characters, one of the best features in this book for me. The multiple POVs proved fairly challenging and confusing at the beginning, but when I finally settled in them, I appreciated the enhanced understanding of each character's motivations and reasoning that these provide. I found all characters to be incredibly well-rounded and developed throughout the book, and while some were definitely more appealing than others, I appreciated all of them. A special mention goes, of course, to the titular queens: the three sisters were exceptional and had such unique voices that I really felt like I was gradually getting to know them personally.
At the same time, however, I had some significant issues with this book, which prevented me from fully enjoying it. As I mentioned above, there are several POVs, and while I appreciated them, I sometimes felt there were just a few too many for me to keep track of the plot and the characters themselves as I wanted to. The geography of the place also got confusing at one point, and I ended up confusing different realms and had to go back and read whole passages again. I think this is mostly due to it all being introduced at the same time right at the beginning, which made me feel like I was unable to keep track of all the new information I was receiving.
The most significant problem for me, however, was with the pacing of this book. For the most part, it felt terribly slow and I struggled to feel like I was making any progress at all. It was only because of how much I enjoyed the prose and my curiosity in wanting to see where the story would lead us that I decided to stick it out and finish it. It was definitely worth the effort, but I still feel like it could have been less painful to get through.
Overall, this is a really solid read but one that unfortunately had some issues which prevented me from fully enjoying it. I look forward to what else Tessa Gratton has in store for us!
I received an e-arc of this book from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for my honest review. This did not affect my opinion of the book in any way.
An interesting take on the Norse stories. I enjoyed the couple of twists at the end and I liked the main characters (Baldur is nicely portrayed as well), but I didn’t love it enough to continue on with the series.
Names and gender identity play an important part in the story, and this was often distracting. I found myself frequently having to flip back to previous chapters to trace a complex name to figure out who a character was or why they were significant, and while I enjoyed the gender-fluid pronouns and descriptions I had trouble tracking who was sword fighting, wielding magic or even simply speaking, sometimes even within a single paragraph. Readers will enjoy the rich magic of this world, the poetic mythology that shapes its cultures, and the unflinching and comfortable representations of LGBTQIA+ characters – but keep a character list handy!
Written in the alternating points of views of Darling Seabreak and Talon Goldhoard, Chaos & Flame tells the story of the two navigating House politics while also being caught up in the High Prince Regent’s unknown scheme as they tour around the kingdom to the other Houses.
This book took me a while to get into it - it’s slow to start, but by the end of it, I was invested in what was happening with the characters, so I will be picking up the second book in this duology. I'm very curious to see how the authors are planning on bringing out more with the boons and if those will change with what could be happening in the second book.
I was really interested in Caspian’s character and wish I knew more about what was going on in his head since everyone just marked him as “being mad” when in fact, he just had a whole other agenda.
I do wish we had more history of the world. The world building was fantastic but I felt like 100 years isn’t a whole lot to have passed since the last phoenix was alive and that even with that, there should still be people around who were alive back then - wouldn’t they know more and have maybe some insight?
I wasn’t the biggest fan of the insta-love between Darling and Talon, but it is YA and that’s typical YA romance so I’m not complaining all too much to be honest with you.
Overall, it was a slow build up to a good read and that I’m excited to continue reading when the next book in the series comes out (please don’t be too long!).
*Thank you Razorbill and BookishFirst for a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review
Caspian was the only character I liked - he had a very mad hatter/howl vibe to him.
The romance had no spark and nothing really stood out as unique or interesting in this book.
I thought the writing was great, fast paced, and kept me interested and wanting to read more. I was seriously hooked by the introduction: it feels like a legend is playing out: a boy who obsessively paints the same hollow eyed girl over and over; his younger brother who grows up under the shadow of this obsession, determined to protect his family; and the girl herself who survived in hiding for years, even when everyone else was gone.
The rest of the book unfolds with two narrators: Darling, the girl from the paintings, and Talon, the younger brother. Each is trying to protect their own family and each views the other as an enemy. But they’ll end up reluctant allies as they try to navigate dangerous political intrigue.
I really enjoyed all of the characters. Especially Caspian, Talons brother and the High Prince Regent.
I think the best thing about this book is the fast paced writing. I felt like a lot happens in the plot and it really keeps your attention (which is amazing imo for a book by two different authors). I also loved the cliffhanger. It didn’t feel forced and dramatic - rather I felt like we had been building towards something epic the whole time. Very cool
Caspian, the high prince, and Talon's older brother, is the most intriguing character with his (perhaps intentionally) unhinged behavior and mysterious motives.
I enjoyed the setting, characters and political intrigue, but the story would have benefited had there been more focus on the magic system and world building instead of so much on the romance. Chaos and Flame could have really used a map, since the book is set over the course of a journey. I liked that there were characters who were queer and POC.
The cliff-hanger ending was unique and astounding. I wish it had gone on longer because now I have so many questions and must have the second book. Now.
That being said, there was a lot I didn't like. I don't actually know what the point of the book was. Was it to set up the next book? Possibly. It definitely did that. However, I didn't care about the characters. Therefore, I didn't care about what was going on in the book. I was bored throughout most of it and it didn't get any better. The focus of the story seemed to be on the political aspect of the story. We got to read a lot of that, while it might interest some, I didn't care for it.
There really wasn't much to the book. Because of how I felt about it, I probably won't remember it in a day or two. Maybe the next book will be better, but if it is like this one, I will probably skip it.
In addition to Talon's and Darling's romance, the pacing felt off in other aspects of the story as well. The plot was plodding and only picked up in the last couple chapters. I was left surprised that the book was ending because it felt like the plot had barely started moving. At the same time, however, the visits our main characters make to the other Houses felt rushed. The world and magic of Chaos and Flame intrigued me and I was excited that the tour of Houses plot would provide a chance to show off different cultures and myths within it and see what interesting characters populate this world. If the plot had been slow, but an exploration of the world was interesting enough I would have been satisfied; too bad it also felt shallow.
The first chapter, showing Caspian's boon was great and there were aspects of the worldbuilding and the characters that were done well enough, but overall I wasn't very impressed or entertained by it.
When I first read the excerpt I was 100% for it, though it did not hold me like the other books I have read and for that I am glad I did not use my points to get this book and just won it on BookishFirst. So if you do not mind a slow pace book about fantasy then you might enjoy this book but other than that you might find it hard to keep up with.
This world has a lot of protentional. At first it was a slow but all in your face sort of telling but it got easier to follow as the story went on. I love hearing of all the different houses and what went down but I did feel at times I had to re-read some sections just to fully understand what was happening. I may have to read it a second time around to get the full story better fleshed out. I know I will still read the second one since usually the first book is the big world building up. I do wish the story stayed with one person longer than jumping around as much as it did.
When I first read the excerpt I was 100% for it, though it did not hold me like the other books I have read and for that I am glad I did not use my points to get this book and just won it on BookishFirst. So if you do not mind a slow pace book about fantasy then you might enjoy this book but other than that you might find it hard to keep up with.
I adored the prologue. Everything after that was fine but didn't super hook me in (with exception of Caspian's shenanigans), so DNF at 50%.
Recommend for those looking for a stabby heroine, queer-normative ya fantasy with rival factions, and that one crazy relative that is Out Of Control. There's also wholesome found family (that will help you stab people, supportively, of course) and a variety of magical boons that remind me of Graceling.
**Thanks to BookishFirst for the ARC**
I never felt like it was going anywhere? Stuff that felt like the climax of the book happened with a hundred pages left and then it was like ... okay?? Now what??? There was no big revelations left at the end of the book so it just kinda happened.
Also, why can girls only have short hair in books due to some sort of trauma? Gods forbid she just wants to cut it short for some fucking reason, noo, gotta be plot or trauma or something. Girls need to have a long hair!! Otherwise how will we know they are in fact girls?
I did like the general atmosphere of the book though, which is why it's getting two stars. Like, if someone did a moodboard of it then I would love that. So that was cool. The rest, not so much.
Let's back this review up just a bit while I try and untangle my very complex feelings about this book.
The Queens of Innis Lear is a fantasy retelling of Shakespeare's King Lear. If you are a fan of King Lear, you will already be familiar with the basic premise. An old king tries to decide which of his three daughters will succeed him on the throne, and political chaos and tragedy ensues. The same basis principle is at work here in this book. However, if you have no knowledge of the original King Lear, don't worry. The story works perfectly well without the little Shakespearian easter eggs that Gratton litters throughout the novel.
There were a lot of really high highs in this book. Probably nothing was better than Gratton's lush and beautiful prose. Her descriptions of the island nation of Innis Lear were breathtakingly transportive. Gratton's prose strikes a clear balance between the usages of modern language while evoking a timeless aura of these characters and this plot happening in some kind of "before time". If you are someone who likes to get swept up in wonderful writing, this book will probably really work for you.
Gratton also uses her prose to construct a well-developed cast of nuanced and complex characters. As the reader I really got a sense of each of the character's depth of emotions; I understood the intentions of their actions and ultimately why they were making the decisions they did. The three sisters and Ban (the bastard son of an earl from Innis Lear) are all painted as three-dimensional people with histories and emotional scars that dictate their actions. Gratton's novel explodes with emotion as the characters navigate each other's tangled political webs. At times the pathos overflows a bit and the characters/plot become a bit melodramatic (in the style of the Shakespearian tragedy), but in the context of the tone Gratton sets it all really works.
Gratton also gets quite a bit of mileage out of the major changes she makes to the King Lear story. Mainly, that the three sisters in this novel are dark-skinned living in a very light-skinned world. Racial politics never becomes a direct or explicit part of the story, but Gratton does a nice job of subtly showing how the main three sisters (and their dark-skinned mother) had to navigate the politics of a world in which their skin color was not the norm. This is not a book about race, and racial injustice is not at its core, but Gratton never ignores the multi-faceted elements of her character's identity and the world she put them in.
Gratton also imbues her world with magic, wonder, and awe. The Queens of Innis Lear has two primary magic systems - one that is star-based/astrological and an earth based magic system. The magic remains relatively vague and esoteric, but still plays a powerful and important role in the narrative. This is not just King Lear with some fantasy window-dressings; the role of magic, the people's attitudes towards magic, and the overall cosmological construction of Innis Lear and the wider world are carefully constructed and built throughout the novel.
Speaking of the world-building, I really enjoyed that Gratton kept the story relatively small in its scope. This was a story about a single family, and how they carried on with their baggage and trauma. There are, of course, other important players, but even they are not too numerous (although, as I explain below, the number of POVs became a bit tiresome). Most of the plot takes place on the single island of Innis Lear in just a few locales (with some taking place in a nearby rival nation). Gratton nicely gives the reader the sense of the bigger world beyond Innis Lear. She often names other countries, allies, enemies, etc., but doesn't feel the need to info-dump about them because they would only detract from the story. I really liked being with this one single family and telling a political story that felt personal and emotional, rather than simply tactical coldness. In this way Gratton exemplifies all of the best emotional beats of something like the succession crisis in House of the Dragon without characters feeling like simply pieces on a chessboard.
The main issue with the book is that while it takes this very narrow focus, it is absolutely hindered by its length. The paperback copy I was reading was nearly 600 pages with relatively small print. There was just not enough story to justify that large page count. A version of this book that was 150 pages shorter would have been a more successful novel. Throughout the book almost every character gets at least one POV chapter, even when those POVs don't really contribute anything (I felt that the character of Aefa in particular contributed little to the story for how much page time she got, and I'm not sure why Rory really warranted a POV chapter). This issue probably becomes worst in the flashback chapters. Flashback chapters can be used to great effect (I recently wrote about this in my review for Empire of Exiles), but here they just feel like extraneous padding. In almost all cases the scenes that play out in the flashback chapters just repeat things that characters have already told us. And they are played straight; these flashbacks chapters don't subvert or challenge what the reader has already been told from other perspectives. I found myself skimming large sections of the novel just to move on.
The bloat of the writing was disappointing because there was a great story here about family and politics. However, so much of the impact of the tense climax was muted by my sheer exhaustion as the reader. Rather than tensely waiting for the next thing to happen, I was waiting for the book to just end. The plot wasn't able to build any real momentum because there was an unnecessary flashback or extraneous POV chapter every time the plot started getting somewhere. Not all books have to be accelerating page turners (there are plenty of wonderful fantasy books out there that aren't!), but for what Gratton was trying to achieve here both narratively and thematically, we really needed that race up to the end as the politics and family drama reached its peak. In the end, I was disappointed because this ending should have been engaged me so emotionally, and yet it just left me cold.
By no means should you take this review as a recommendation not to read the book, but I rather just wanted to explain that you have to be the right kind of reader in the right kind of mood for this book to work for you. You have to be someone who likes to get swept up in beautiful prose and tense emotions, and be willing to wade in it for a really long time with little plot progression.
Concluding Thoughts: The Queens of Innis Lear is a beautifully written and emotional political tragedy that is hampered by its bloated length and poor pacing. Fans of lush prose and complex characters will find a lot to cherish here, but this book is not for anyone looking for a tense political read.
I won’t lie, I had a bit of a time getting into the groove of the story. There are a lot of characters introduced in quick succession, so keeping them all straight at first was a bit of a challenge for me. However, by half to 2/3 of the way into the book, I had everyone figured out and was moving along quite well with the story.
The Jedi play a part in this book, but ultimately it is setting the groundwork for the Ro family and the building of what would become their flagship, the Gaze Electric. Seeing the Ro’s and their ties to the Jedi and the Path of the Open Hand, as well as the introduction of the Nameless, made for an intriguing read, given what we know (and still don’t know) from Phase 1. Also, as the name of the book implies, the Path of the Open Hand may not be as open as it appears to be.
While it took me a hot second to get into the groove of the book, this is an excellent kickoff for this next wave of High Republic books and I’m looking forward to where these stories take us.
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Many back stories were interspersed throughout, flashing back various numbers of years into the past. These flashbacks, I felt, were unnecessary, as most of these topics had already been explained in the narrative. It was also a bit repetitive. For example, I didn’t need to be reminded many times over that one of the characters is a bastard or one of the sisters envisions herself a man. These inclusions made the book a bit lengthy, at just under 600 pages. The ending appears to setup a sequel, which may or may not appeal to you depending on whether you like series. I tend to enjoy stand-alone stories more.
Themes include the value of balance in life, the dangers of obsession, the desire to be accepted for oneself, and the many facets of love. Key components of the plot involve madness, treachery, romance, political intrigue, power, control, and forgiveness. Overall, I enjoyed it, and I don’t think it is essential to know Shakespeare’s King Lear story to appreciate it. I would definitely read another book by this author. Recommended to readers of fantasy that don’t mind a non-linear timeline and a gradual build-up without a great deal of action. Contains language, not-overly-graphic sex, and violence.
I received a complete version of this book from the publisher via NetGalley in return for a candid review. I hope the final version includes a map.
Memorable quotes:
"Ban had learned not to put off unpleasant tasks, for they tended to only become more unpleasant with the stall."
"She was ready, if not to forgive, then to understand. And that was ever the first step."
"For what was kindness, but offering comfort where none was owed?"
"If it makes your world smaller, it isn't love."
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What did stand out was that Gratton, despite using some of the common YA PNR cliches (insta-love/soulmates, flowery prose, blatant obliviousness to character inconsistencies) also subverted some. Neither Silla nor Nicholas was well-versed in witchcraft, they learned at an equal pace and thus we were spared from Silla constantly needing Nicholas to save her because he had more experience. Silla has a fairly good reason to be distrustful of practically everyone she meets (though this doesn't stop her from making boneheaded decisions). There is also a strong sense of family, despite the tragedy that besets them and the bond between Silla and Reese is a welcome addition to a genre that is saturated with only children. Surprises do occur, though the mystery may feel a little too easy to solve if you watch as many police procedurals and detective shows as I watch.
Unfortunately it was hard for me to stay focused throughout the novel and to remember some of the details needed to really understand how the 'mystery' all came together. I had to re-read the ending a couple of times because for some reason it wasn't sticking in my brain that the motive was being detailed out. I also admit I was distracted by the back and forth nature of the POV's. While I appreciate multiple POV's much of the time, when I'm having trouble getting into a book its just one more thing to throw me off course. (There is also the matter that Silla and Nicholas didn't feel fully developed despite the multiple POVs, or maybe because of them--I think Gratton relied fairly heavily on their various views helping to add depth to their character instead of showing that depth)
In all this wasn't a bad book by any means. It just didn't stand out to me as much as it probably should have.