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odunayo_y's review against another edition
dark
3.5
The presence of certain triggering content really soured my enjoyment. I get it’s grimdark, but did (almost) every “romantic” relationship be pedophilic/grooming or incestous There was genuinely no reason for Akihi to be fucking his cousin the hell??? Just why??
I’m one of those crotchety 25 year olds that really doesn’t like having kids/teens as significant characters in non-kids’ media. Honestly I’m really questioning why Lilia & Roh had to be like 15/16. Especially with how I felt it made no sense for ones so young to be given their responsibilities, also the ick factor of their “relationships” would’ve been avoided if they were bumped up to early 20s. That’s just me I freaking hate kids lol.
The Dhai poly stuff didn’t annoy me as much as it usually would. Probably because it wasn’t presented as a romance or “good” but a weird cultural thing. It was honestly so excessive too that I really couldn’t take it seriously enough to be annoyed with it. A poly relationship with 3 people sure, but marriages involving double digits??? Nah that’s crazy.
The Reverse Patriarchy of Dorinah was interesting to say the least. I’m equally disturbed by the people who think the author is some anti male feminazi writing out some revenge fantasy AND the people who do uncritically enjoy it as a “sexy” revenge thing. Both are gross. Hurley has written that she doesn’t buy into the “benevolent matriarchy”, that just because women as a class (not individual women) are in charge that doesn’t mean the society will be better for it. So she decided to portray a matriarchy that’s as putrid as all the other male dominated cultures we see. It also exposes some readers’ bias. When there’re fantasy stories with femicide, young girls being sold into child sexual slavery, rampant rape, and being victims of abusive men, nobody bats an eye. It’s seen as “normal” “just how things are” and those who criticise them are being sjws complaining about nothing. But flip the genders and suddenly people get that it’s wrong. I do feel that it got a bit extreme in getting its point across, there were aspects that just kept piling on that made me go “I get it!”
I loved Taigan he/she/ze wa Awesome. Go imortal amoral genderfluid assassin mage! Go!
The setting and worldbuilding was classic Hurley; queer, original and squishy.
Really appreciated the gnarly elements AND the appendix/glossary. Hurley knew she was throwing a lot of fantasy bullshit at the audience and prepared accordingly.
I’m one of those crotchety 25 year olds that really doesn’t like having kids/teens as significant characters in non-kids’ media. Honestly I’m really questioning why Lilia & Roh had to be like 15/16. Especially with how I felt it made no sense for ones so young to be given their responsibilities, also the ick factor of their “relationships” would’ve been avoided if they were bumped up to early 20s. That’s just me I freaking hate kids lol.
The Dhai poly stuff didn’t annoy me as much as it usually would. Probably because it wasn’t presented as a romance or “good” but a weird cultural thing. It was honestly so excessive too that I really couldn’t take it seriously enough to be annoyed with it. A poly relationship with 3 people sure, but marriages involving double digits??? Nah that’s crazy.
The Reverse Patriarchy of Dorinah was interesting to say the least. I’m equally disturbed by the people who think the author is some anti male feminazi writing out some revenge fantasy AND the people who do uncritically enjoy it as a “sexy” revenge thing. Both are gross. Hurley has written that she doesn’t buy into the “benevolent matriarchy”, that just because women as a class (not individual women) are in charge that doesn’t mean the society will be better for it. So she decided to portray a matriarchy that’s as putrid as all the other male dominated cultures we see. It also exposes some readers’ bias. When there’re fantasy stories with femicide, young girls being sold into child sexual slavery, rampant rape, and being victims of abusive men, nobody bats an eye. It’s seen as “normal” “just how things are” and those who criticise them are being sjws complaining about nothing. But flip the genders and suddenly people get that it’s wrong. I do feel that it got a bit extreme in getting its point across, there were aspects that just kept piling on that made me go “I get it!”
I loved Taigan he/she/ze wa Awesome. Go imortal amoral genderfluid assassin mage! Go!
The setting and worldbuilding was classic Hurley; queer, original and squishy.
Really appreciated the gnarly elements AND the appendix/glossary. Hurley knew she was throwing a lot of fantasy bullshit at the audience and prepared accordingly.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child abuse, Child death, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Gore, Physical abuse, Racism, Rape, Self harm, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Slavery, Suicide, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Xenophobia, Blood, Cannibalism, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Sexual harassment, and War
Moderate: Ableism, Adult/minor relationship, Incest, Pedophilia, Excrement, and Vomit
mxkelsifer's review against another edition
challenging
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.5
This not a book for the average reader by any stretch of the imagination. I threw this book on my tbr pile earlier this year from the responses on a post asking for recs based off enjoying "Priory of the Orange Tree." So I was expecting a more modern liberal take on political fantasy with hopefully a sapphic romantic subplot.
I definitely got one of those things.
Hurley's political worldbuilding definitely feels like the kind of worldbuilding I'd expect from someone who wants to play around with the social systems critiqued by queer and feminist theory but doesn't want to construct a utopia. Her magical worldbuilding did the job. The characters in this book are definitely in the category of "complex individuals with their own agendas."
When I'm reviewing a book, I usually tend to ask "is this book written more for entertainment or more to communicate some intangible viewpoint?" Given how easily I spotted the way Hurley was intentionally mucking around with gender as a social construct, and especially after the introduction of our Reverse Patriarchy, I suspect many readers were inclined to put this book in the latter category. However, I'm more inclined to put it in the former. After all, why must a book be trying to communicate a larger moral or viewpoint if it plays around with gender as a social construct? Certainly, I want more books that do that without trying to make a statement on what the world ought to be.
A lot of the critical reviews I read for this book focused in on the Reverse Patriarchal system in Dorinah. And, it's a bit funny because I read many of these reviews right before that was actually introduced (literally it was the next chapter). And I'm not going to lie, I came out that chapter with a burning hatred of Zezili and desire for someone, anyone, to come rescue her husband, Anavha from his oppressed life. I had Zezili marked as the antagonist for this book, and she ultimately wasn't.
Another critique that I took issue with was declaring that all of the characters were unlovable jerks that the reviewers didn't want to cheer on. Personally, I was cheering on Ahkio from his introduction all the way through the end of the book. The other main POV characters had more frustrating arcs; Lilia, in particular, went through a roller coaster of a journey that I would've found nigh intolerable if Hurley hadn't spaced it out with all of the other plots in this book.
The most valid critique was that there was no romance. I gotta say, if you're reading this book for the mushy subplot, just throw it in your dnf pile and move on to the next one. There are 2-3 romances depending how you define romance, but personally, none of them are particularly satisfying if you're here for the romance.
I would recommend this book if:
I definitely got one of those things.
Hurley's political worldbuilding definitely feels like the kind of worldbuilding I'd expect from someone who wants to play around with the social systems critiqued by queer and feminist theory but doesn't want to construct a utopia. Her magical worldbuilding did the job. The characters in this book are definitely in the category of "complex individuals with their own agendas."
When I'm reviewing a book, I usually tend to ask "is this book written more for entertainment or more to communicate some intangible viewpoint?" Given how easily I spotted the way Hurley was intentionally mucking around with gender as a social construct, and especially after the introduction of our Reverse Patriarchy, I suspect many readers were inclined to put this book in the latter category. However, I'm more inclined to put it in the former. After all, why must a book be trying to communicate a larger moral or viewpoint if it plays around with gender as a social construct? Certainly, I want more books that do that without trying to make a statement on what the world ought to be.
A lot of the critical reviews I read for this book focused in on the Reverse Patriarchal system in Dorinah. And, it's a bit funny because I read many of these reviews right before that was actually introduced (literally it was the next chapter). And I'm not going to lie, I came out that chapter with a burning hatred of Zezili and desire for someone, anyone, to come rescue her husband, Anavha from his oppressed life. I had Zezili marked as the antagonist for this book, and she ultimately wasn't.
Another critique that I took issue with was declaring that all of the characters were unlovable jerks that the reviewers didn't want to cheer on. Personally, I was cheering on Ahkio from his introduction all the way through the end of the book. The other main POV characters had more frustrating arcs; Lilia, in particular, went through a roller coaster of a journey that I would've found nigh intolerable if Hurley hadn't spaced it out with all of the other plots in this book.
The most valid critique was that there was no romance. I gotta say, if you're reading this book for the mushy subplot, just throw it in your dnf pile and move on to the next one. There are 2-3 romances depending how you define romance, but personally, none of them are particularly satisfying if you're here for the romance.
I would recommend this book if:
- You like political fantasy
- You want more queer and feminist theory in your political worldbuilding
- You like dark fantasy (seriously, there are several scenes that read like they're straight from a horror novel)
- You like flawed characters who are almost antagonists in their own plots
- You are an ardent support of women's wrongs
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Genocide, Racism, Rape, Torture, Violence, and War
Moderate: Self harm, Sexual violence, Slavery, Cannibalism, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Colonisation, and Classism
Minor: Child death, Infertility, and Infidelity