Book #16: Huntress, by Malinda Lo
Apr. 25th, 2011 07:46 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
grav_itygirls are awesome, faeries with a twist, different countries have cool fairy-tales too, I probably should have done more background reading...
This book is set some few hundred years before "Ash", when Magic is starting to fade. Actually, the impression I got was that magic is cyclical here, and that it flairs up when the humans and the fay interact, and dies out when they don't, and that this reflects on the weather, but it's possible I'm reading too much into it. I'm definitely getting ahead of myself, in any case.
Anyway, I really enjoyed the process of watching Kaede and Taisin and Con figure each other out. I loved Con so much it's a bit embarrassing to be honest, because he did absolutely everything his character was supposed to, but in such a lovable and original way that I just had no defense. I really enjoyed the depth of the friendship he shared with Kaede, and later with Taisin.
Taisin was tremendous. I loved her strength and I love even more the idea that she is going back to the Academy to raise some heck about the part where her teachers sent her off to see the fay without telling her any of the things she needed to know about them. And then, naturally, I expect her to take over the world, because she is just that great. Even her vulnerabilities were spectacular.
And Kaede! Oh, Kaede was amazing. I loved hoe she was kind of a loose cannon at the beginning, and I wasn't even sure I liked her for a while, but as soon as they got on the road, it was just awesome to watch her react and learn and grow, and eventually decide what it was she wanted to do with her life. I very much got to the end of this book and thought "SEQUEL PLEASE!" because I want to see these people, Kaede in particular, do more stuff.
(I freaked out a bit when she ate the fairy cheese, because I was all "DON'T EAT THE FOOD!" but apparently they're not those kind of fay, and it was a false alarm.)
The romantic angles in the story were perfectly done, I thought. Both relationships that developed were sweet, but I think the friendships in this story trump them. Particularly since Kaede and Taisin manage to do both at the same time, which totally broke my heart in the best way possible. I was incredibly deft.
And I loved, loved, that killing the villain was NOT what restored the balance. And that when Kaede finally did save everyone, the Queen gave away her name. Faery names just slay me. I am a sucker for trust. ;)
Not as much of an "OMG!BOOK" for me, this time. Possibly because I didn't know the story it was based on (which was my own fault for not looking it up before I left for holidays, and something I shall remedy when I get home), but all the same, the story was exceptionally well crafted and I really adored it. And in addition to there being a map, they also talked about the map a lot, which always makes me happy. ;) 9.5/10
This book is set some few hundred years before "Ash", when Magic is starting to fade. Actually, the impression I got was that magic is cyclical here, and that it flairs up when the humans and the fay interact, and dies out when they don't, and that this reflects on the weather, but it's possible I'm reading too much into it. I'm definitely getting ahead of myself, in any case.
Anyway, I really enjoyed the process of watching Kaede and Taisin and Con figure each other out. I loved Con so much it's a bit embarrassing to be honest, because he did absolutely everything his character was supposed to, but in such a lovable and original way that I just had no defense. I really enjoyed the depth of the friendship he shared with Kaede, and later with Taisin.
Taisin was tremendous. I loved her strength and I love even more the idea that she is going back to the Academy to raise some heck about the part where her teachers sent her off to see the fay without telling her any of the things she needed to know about them. And then, naturally, I expect her to take over the world, because she is just that great. Even her vulnerabilities were spectacular.
And Kaede! Oh, Kaede was amazing. I loved hoe she was kind of a loose cannon at the beginning, and I wasn't even sure I liked her for a while, but as soon as they got on the road, it was just awesome to watch her react and learn and grow, and eventually decide what it was she wanted to do with her life. I very much got to the end of this book and thought "SEQUEL PLEASE!" because I want to see these people, Kaede in particular, do more stuff.
(I freaked out a bit when she ate the fairy cheese, because I was all "DON'T EAT THE FOOD!" but apparently they're not those kind of fay, and it was a false alarm.)
The romantic angles in the story were perfectly done, I thought. Both relationships that developed were sweet, but I think the friendships in this story trump them. Particularly since Kaede and Taisin manage to do both at the same time, which totally broke my heart in the best way possible. I was incredibly deft.
And I loved, loved, that killing the villain was NOT what restored the balance. And that when Kaede finally did save everyone, the Queen gave away her name. Faery names just slay me. I am a sucker for trust. ;)
Not as much of an "OMG!BOOK" for me, this time. Possibly because I didn't know the story it was based on (which was my own fault for not looking it up before I left for holidays, and something I shall remedy when I get home), but all the same, the story was exceptionally well crafted and I really adored it. And in addition to there being a map, they also talked about the map a lot, which always makes me happy. ;) 9.5/10
