quolwy's review against another edition
3.0
3.5*
This story of a post-apocalyptic small town with a mysterious infamous mountain was delightfully enchanting! Switching between the main narrative, and one of fables about magical creatures and events happening on the mountain, keeps the plot engaging as you uncover more and more about the backstories of the citizens who are trying to band together and survive in seemingly hopeless circumstances, while plagued with local superstitions.
Thank you to the author and publisher as well as Netgalley for providing me with a free e-arc in exchange for an honest review!
This story of a post-apocalyptic small town with a mysterious infamous mountain was delightfully enchanting! Switching between the main narrative, and one of fables about magical creatures and events happening on the mountain, keeps the plot engaging as you uncover more and more about the backstories of the citizens who are trying to band together and survive in seemingly hopeless circumstances, while plagued with local superstitions.
Thank you to the author and publisher as well as Netgalley for providing me with a free e-arc in exchange for an honest review!
anna_fangirling's review against another edition
5.0
WHAT a book.
Apocalyptic meets haunting, meets fantasy realism, meets whimsical tragedy. With a diverse cast of characters, Amanda LeDuc gives readers a powerfully gripping tale of her own. With themes such as loss, grief, healing from tragedy, life through the disabled lens (both before and during catastrophe), and hope, The Centaur’s Wife will take the reader through a wide range of emotions throughout the story.
I’m so grateful this was given to me in a book exchange because I don’t think I would have picked it up myself. And now it is probably going to be one of my favorite books.
Apocalyptic meets haunting, meets fantasy realism, meets whimsical tragedy. With a diverse cast of characters, Amanda LeDuc gives readers a powerfully gripping tale of her own. With themes such as loss, grief, healing from tragedy, life through the disabled lens (both before and during catastrophe), and hope, The Centaur’s Wife will take the reader through a wide range of emotions throughout the story.
I’m so grateful this was given to me in a book exchange because I don’t think I would have picked it up myself. And now it is probably going to be one of my favorite books.
theinkwyrm's review against another edition
2.0
2.5 stars
I think this was a super interesting premise, but you can tell by the execution that this is the author’s first foray into fiction. Let me start by saying that for a dystopian magical realism novel with a heavy dash of fantasy/ mythology, I think that the magical realism was handled well and if it had been just that and the dystopia it would have been a better novel. There are three different story lines/ threads going on here: the main story line with the dystopian element, the kind of old-timey historical story line with a dash of fantasy and magical realism, and then the story line that is basically just a bunch of fairy tales. I think the fairy tale thread was by far the weakest and seemed the most pointless, as it didn’t really feel like it connected or added to the main plot in any way other than adding a kind of nostalgic fantastical feeling. While the other two story lines converged near the end, the fairy tale line never really felt resolved, so it might as well have just been left out. With the three different lines, the plot really dragged throughout almost all of the book except the last 100 pages or so and it made the book kind of difficult to get through. I think this could have done with a little more editing to tighten up the plot and get rid of some repetitiveness. Not a bad first foray, but still definitely a debut novel.
I think this was a super interesting premise, but you can tell by the execution that this is the author’s first foray into fiction. Let me start by saying that for a dystopian magical realism novel with a heavy dash of fantasy/ mythology, I think that the magical realism was handled well and if it had been just that and the dystopia it would have been a better novel. There are three different story lines/ threads going on here: the main story line with the dystopian element, the kind of old-timey historical story line with a dash of fantasy and magical realism, and then the story line that is basically just a bunch of fairy tales. I think the fairy tale thread was by far the weakest and seemed the most pointless, as it didn’t really feel like it connected or added to the main plot in any way other than adding a kind of nostalgic fantastical feeling. While the other two story lines converged near the end, the fairy tale line never really felt resolved, so it might as well have just been left out. With the three different lines, the plot really dragged throughout almost all of the book except the last 100 pages or so and it made the book kind of difficult to get through. I think this could have done with a little more editing to tighten up the plot and get rid of some repetitiveness. Not a bad first foray, but still definitely a debut novel.
pinotconnoir's review against another edition
emotional
sad
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
2.0
The book started out strong, but by the end I was ready for it to be over. It was a confusing book… jumping around in time and not using names so you couldn’t always be sure who the author is talking about.
Spoiler
Also, the book was mainly characters fighting each other. Yelling at each other, being mad at each other. Nobody was really likable. Not a fun read in my opinion.editorbrenna's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
2.5
starrysheep's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.0
erinbrenner's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Panic attacks/disorders, Medical content, Grief, Violence, Medical trauma, and Gun violence
Moderate: Suicidal thoughts, Blood, Abandonment, Cursing, Child death, Terminal illness, Pregnancy, Chronic illness, Xenophobia, Murder, and Death of parent
Minor: Bullying, Body shaming, Fire/Fire injury, and Animal death
apollinares's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.75
A beautifully written, truly weird story that never really developed.
The narrative voice - I fell in love with. The characters - even more so. But the plot was a mess that never really untangled. I appreciate what the author was trying to do, but I think it fell short in many ways, and never really became anything at all.
The narrative voice - I fell in love with. The characters - even more so. But the plot was a mess that never really untangled. I appreciate what the author was trying to do, but I think it fell short in many ways, and never really became anything at all.