tehani's review
5.0
I absolutely loved the novella "Crown of Rowan: A Tale of Thyrsland", set in this world, which appeared in Legends of Australian Fantasy back in 2010, and have been eagerly awaiting the series since then. It was worth the wait – this is one of the best books I've read in ages! The worldbuilding is beautifully done – Wilkins has avoided the trap of overburdening the reader with too much information, but cleverly seeds details throughout the book, which increased the richness of the reading experience overall. The plot itself is actually quite contained, essentially distilling to the story of Bluebell's efforts to save her father, with other elements woven into and branching out from this task, but it works very well over the course of the novel.
And Bluebell! Bluebell is such a fantastic character – her strength and formidable personality are wonderful, but that's not even the most interesting thing about her. Bluebell's love and loyalty to her family take what could easily be a woman warrior cutout and give her so much more depth. Wonderful! Although I have to say, I think Ash is my favourite character, and Rose, despite her self-centred nature, is also thoroughly interesting – seeing the women grow and change (Ivy and Willow too, and even the character of Yldra, to an extent), is probably my favourite aspect of the book.
The ending is definitely worth a mention too – I know this book is intended to be a series, though it's not jacketed as such, and I was impressed by the way Wilkins manages to both draw everything together to create a hugely satisfying, self-contained story, while at the same time giving play to enough threads that a very fine sequel could be woven from them. I can't wait to see what that looks like!
And Bluebell! Bluebell is such a fantastic character – her strength and formidable personality are wonderful, but that's not even the most interesting thing about her. Bluebell's love and loyalty to her family take what could easily be a woman warrior cutout and give her so much more depth. Wonderful! Although I have to say, I think Ash is my favourite character, and Rose, despite her self-centred nature, is also thoroughly interesting – seeing the women grow and change (Ivy and Willow too, and even the character of Yldra, to an extent), is probably my favourite aspect of the book.
The ending is definitely worth a mention too – I know this book is intended to be a series, though it's not jacketed as such, and I was impressed by the way Wilkins manages to both draw everything together to create a hugely satisfying, self-contained story, while at the same time giving play to enough threads that a very fine sequel could be woven from them. I can't wait to see what that looks like!
strangecandy's review
4.0
I received this ARC of Kim Wilkin's book Daughters of the Storm, the first in the Blood and Gold Series in exchange for an honest review from NetGalley. I had never read any of Kim William's books but the story line was intriguing and the protagonists of the story are all sisters seemed interesting since they were all so different. The story seems to be set in medieval times and the eldest daughter, The story begins with the discovery that the King is dying and that it is possibly due to magic.Blueberry, is a knight in her father's army and heir to the throne. Blueberry is told since she is the heir and she immediately suspects her father's new wife. The sisters join together to get their father out of the castle to a place where they hope to find a cure for his illness. Ash, another one of the sisters, is training to be a caregiver of sorts and she has magic that is quickly becoming to large for her to handle. She fears that she is becoming an undermagician and her path will take her away from everyone she loves. Rose, Ivy and Willow are the other three sisters. They also have dilemmas in their lives involving men, religion and the struggles of being a woman.
I was drawn in immediately to the story and had no trouble keeping interested in the story line. The only issue I had was that when the story switched to another sister there was no gap, it felt like sometimes it should be the next chapter. Not just the next paragraph. I felt like the sudden switches made me wonder if I missed something along the way. But it was not a major hindrance in the flow of the story. Overall I definitely would recommend this book.
I was drawn in immediately to the story and had no trouble keeping interested in the story line. The only issue I had was that when the story switched to another sister there was no gap, it felt like sometimes it should be the next chapter. Not just the next paragraph. I felt like the sudden switches made me wonder if I missed something along the way. But it was not a major hindrance in the flow of the story. Overall I definitely would recommend this book.
nuevecuervos's review
3.0
Ostensibly, this book is everything I want in a book. Asskicking women, powerful women, soft women, stupid women, strong women, slutty women; basically, I want a gamut of personality in a lot of women, and I want them to have agency to explore that because *that is what real life is liiiike*. I wrote a review of a book at some point saying that it was totally uncool to have only one woman in a book, and *also* have her be bad at math, not because there aren't women who are bad at math, but because you are caving to a lazy, terrible stereotype without any other women around to balance it out. Here, we have a collection of women, all of whom are different, both talented and flawed, some more the former than the latter and vice versa, and thus I can appreciate the fact that they are imperfect rather than be pissed about tired tropes. The five sisters are all of the tropes, sometimes more than one in at once, and I love it, even as I can't stand a couple of them (OK, it's the twins. Both of them are dim little shits and I myself am ready to off the uncle that raised them on general principle for fucking the job up so desperately).
Bluebell is a smart, experienced badass. She's young yet, and we see young princes acting rashly like this all the damn time. Give her a few years and she's going to be an epic warrior queen. Ash is next in line and has got some crazy magic awakening happening, but is also wildly self-aware. Rose is... Rose. Listen, basically just sort the princesses by oldest to youngest, and you have a list of who I personally liked best in that order.
There's also the matter of how I enjoyed these women interacting, but I cannot for the life of me understand why Bluebell would have insisted on going with her father alone into the woods to look for Eldra. I get the setup and the official explanation of trying to keep the rumors at bay, I'm just saying it seems implausible that you'd take the entire royal family out on a dangerous field trip, even if we're talking about a simpler time where the kingdoms aren't so wildly expansive and formal etc. etc.. I'm going to let it slide for sake of the story, but I'm watching you, Wilkins.
But does this book pass the Bechdel test? Everything Bluebell does is for her father, even after she realizes that he may not be worth all of her adoration. Rose can't stop thinking of Heath, and by extension herself and her ladybits, but shit, dude. Ivy cannot stop banging every man she meets, and Willow is in the process of converting to a misogynist religion and becomes obsessed with her stepbrother. Gudrun is a fucking idiot, who therefore playing on the trope of women not being able to get along. Honestly Ash and Eldra are the only ones who are on their own quests, doing shit for themselves, and the five sisters, and not necessarily for the king. Oh and Rowan, who just wants her mom, because she's three. Right! and the dogs are female, and they live for Bluebell, so there's that. And somehow that endeared me to Bluebell even more, and fight me (and my own clownhound) if you think that's dumb.
Also, fucking Wylm. There was a guy who was totally conflicted about every damn thing.
At any rate, I still loved that most of the people in this book are women. I just. Want them to do more for themselves (motivationally speaking; functionally, they pretty much do everything for themselves just fine). And I kind of hate the idea that the trimartyrs are creeping over the kingdom because I already can't stand those assholes, and I'm unabashedly mad about it. In the end, the setup is somewhat weak and the motivations are maddening, but the characters are complex and ring true and the execution is smart and riveting. So what I'm saying is, I'm reading the next book, but I'm not going to be surprised if I end up swearing up a storm for any reason.
Bluebell is a smart, experienced badass. She's young yet, and we see young princes acting rashly like this all the damn time. Give her a few years and she's going to be an epic warrior queen. Ash is next in line and has got some crazy magic awakening happening, but is also wildly self-aware. Rose is... Rose. Listen, basically just sort the princesses by oldest to youngest, and you have a list of who I personally liked best in that order.
There's also the matter of how I enjoyed these women interacting, but I cannot for the life of me understand why Bluebell would have insisted on going with her father alone into the woods to look for Eldra. I get the setup and the official explanation of trying to keep the rumors at bay, I'm just saying it seems implausible that you'd take the entire royal family out on a dangerous field trip, even if we're talking about a simpler time where the kingdoms aren't so wildly expansive and formal etc. etc.. I'm going to let it slide for sake of the story, but I'm watching you, Wilkins.
But does this book pass the Bechdel test? Everything Bluebell does is for her father, even after she realizes that he may not be worth all of her adoration. Rose can't stop thinking of Heath, and by extension herself and her ladybits, but shit, dude.
Spoiler
you *lost access to your kid* over it. As a parent, I'm like, fucking fail contest goes to you, madamSpoiler
starts this whole mess when she tries to pull some magical shenanigans on her husband so that he will turn against Bluebell, who never liked her (but it turns out she had reason, am I right)Spoiler
omfg Rose, you assholeAlso, fucking Wylm. There was a guy who was totally conflicted about every damn thing.
At any rate, I still loved that most of the people in this book are women. I just. Want them to do more for themselves (motivationally speaking; functionally, they pretty much do everything for themselves just fine). And I kind of hate the idea that the trimartyrs are creeping over the kingdom because I already can't stand those assholes, and I'm unabashedly mad about it. In the end, the setup is somewhat weak and the motivations are maddening, but the characters are complex and ring true and the execution is smart and riveting. So what I'm saying is, I'm reading the next book, but I'm not going to be surprised if I end up swearing up a storm for any reason.
christythelibrarian's review against another edition
4.0
Loved this fantasy about five sisters reunited when their father is put into a magical coma.
Bluebell and Ash are my favorites - the warrior and magician - and at least in this book, neither have love interests. Refreshing!
Bluebell and Ash are my favorites - the warrior and magician - and at least in this book, neither have love interests. Refreshing!
nenithealien's review against another edition
5.0
Love love love it
Wow, have I found it? Have I found a good book after countless trash books that I've read for the past weeks? Is this book good just *because* I have only read trash? I don't care. I will hold on to this glimmer of hope and practically fangirl over this book with a scorching intensity that even the sun will melt off the galaxy. I am over exaggerating of course. I don't have magical abilities but this book has definitely put me under a spell. A good one. I don't even know where to start.
First of all, I am going to talk avout the general plot of the book. This book is about five sisters of a dying king. One with each personality and with well made plots. The oldest named Bluebell is a fearsome warrior that loves her family and country above everything but has a nasty temper. She's the one to try and cure his father of his illness and he wants all her sisters with her because if they couldn't find a cure for him, she would hope that he would be amongst family when he dies. The second eldest was Rose, who was offered as a peace treaty between the two kingdoms, Almissia (or however you spell it) and Netlechester (or something like that) and she is the wife of the king of Netlechester. She was to be a good wife for him and give him children so that they can become heirs. But the king only wanted boys as heirs and Rose only had Rowan, a little girl that was bratty and tomboyish. The third eldest was Ash (my favorite of them all) and she was some form of powerful magician that had premonitions and could see visions. The other last two were the youngest at 15 or 16 and they were called Willow and Ivy. These two are a whole frikin mess. Like super messy. Like BAD, CRAZY, MESSY. I mean, I loved their personalities and plots but holy crap. These two are so crazy and I hope you'll love them if you decide to read this book. I won't talk about them much because I want you to see them for yourself. All the sisters had their own strength and weaknesses. They were all broken in their own way and it made this book so fun to read. I felt like I was reading a soap opera in literature form. The drama was intense and every chapter didn't feel like filler. Everything made sense and was connected to each sister. The author did such a good job with each sister's personality.
Another thing about this book is that it didn't have an infodump of world buiding put on your lap. They were thrown in like sprinkles and each one was just as tasty as the next. The writing style was just simply divine. Each description of the world and landscapes didn't feel heavy when you read it. It wasn't super flowery that you had a hard time imagining what a castle looked like but it was a beautiful prose that I freakin wish I could write like her and I'm certainly using this book as a reference for my own book (whenever that may be i'm a pro procrastinator). The whole conflict of the book surrounded in the fact that while the whole pack of sisters were trying to find a cure for her father, somebody a person closed to them was trying to kill Bluebell. Bluebell had many enemies because she was a warrior queen who killed enemies of the kingdom and could defend herself against a horde of enemies. But this enemy was just oof. Simply OOF. He did horrible things from the get go of this book and the book tried to make me feel sympathy for this guy but I did not at all. This book ended with a cliffhanger, of course for the next book. But it wasn't a particular big cliffhanger that I wanted to buy the next book. (Okay, I'm lying I kind of do want to buy the next but I'm a book ban at the moment until I finish my 50+ tbr).
This book is not a perfect book like all books were but I don't know what strong magic spell this book has on me that I can't find a bad thing to say about it. I could definitely say that this book is not for everybody. I heard reviews that the prose wasn't their thing and that it dragged in places. And that's fine. I can admit to that but I didn't mind because I became so invested in what each person was doing that I didn't care if it dragged. I feel like my score might be a surprise to some and even to me but who cares anymore. I'm giving this book a 5 stars out of five. Go buy this book right now. Additional tidbit (to try and convince you) this book has magic and lots of it and even mentions of dragon for the next book, hopefully. Darn my book ban!
Wow, have I found it? Have I found a good book after countless trash books that I've read for the past weeks? Is this book good just *because* I have only read trash? I don't care. I will hold on to this glimmer of hope and practically fangirl over this book with a scorching intensity that even the sun will melt off the galaxy. I am over exaggerating of course. I don't have magical abilities but this book has definitely put me under a spell. A good one. I don't even know where to start.
First of all, I am going to talk avout the general plot of the book. This book is about five sisters of a dying king. One with each personality and with well made plots. The oldest named Bluebell is a fearsome warrior that loves her family and country above everything but has a nasty temper. She's the one to try and cure his father of his illness and he wants all her sisters with her because if they couldn't find a cure for him, she would hope that he would be amongst family when he dies. The second eldest was Rose, who was offered as a peace treaty between the two kingdoms, Almissia (or however you spell it) and Netlechester (or something like that) and she is the wife of the king of Netlechester. She was to be a good wife for him and give him children so that they can become heirs. But the king only wanted boys as heirs and Rose only had Rowan, a little girl that was bratty and tomboyish. The third eldest was Ash (my favorite of them all) and she was some form of powerful magician that had premonitions and could see visions. The other last two were the youngest at 15 or 16 and they were called Willow and Ivy. These two are a whole frikin mess. Like super messy. Like BAD, CRAZY, MESSY. I mean, I loved their personalities and plots but holy crap. These two are so crazy and I hope you'll love them if you decide to read this book. I won't talk about them much because I want you to see them for yourself. All the sisters had their own strength and weaknesses. They were all broken in their own way and it made this book so fun to read. I felt like I was reading a soap opera in literature form. The drama was intense and every chapter didn't feel like filler. Everything made sense and was connected to each sister. The author did such a good job with each sister's personality.
Another thing about this book is that it didn't have an infodump of world buiding put on your lap. They were thrown in like sprinkles and each one was just as tasty as the next. The writing style was just simply divine. Each description of the world and landscapes didn't feel heavy when you read it. It wasn't super flowery that you had a hard time imagining what a castle looked like but it was a beautiful prose that I freakin wish I could write like her and I'm certainly using this book as a reference for my own book (whenever that may be i'm a pro procrastinator). The whole conflict of the book surrounded in the fact that while the whole pack of sisters were trying to find a cure for her father, somebody a person closed to them was trying to kill Bluebell. Bluebell had many enemies because she was a warrior queen who killed enemies of the kingdom and could defend herself against a horde of enemies. But this enemy was just oof. Simply OOF. He did horrible things from the get go of this book and the book tried to make me feel sympathy for this guy but I did not at all. This book ended with a cliffhanger, of course for the next book. But it wasn't a particular big cliffhanger that I wanted to buy the next book. (Okay, I'm lying I kind of do want to buy the next but I'm a book ban at the moment until I finish my 50+ tbr).
This book is not a perfect book like all books were but I don't know what strong magic spell this book has on me that I can't find a bad thing to say about it. I could definitely say that this book is not for everybody. I heard reviews that the prose wasn't their thing and that it dragged in places. And that's fine. I can admit to that but I didn't mind because I became so invested in what each person was doing that I didn't care if it dragged. I feel like my score might be a surprise to some and even to me but who cares anymore. I'm giving this book a 5 stars out of five. Go buy this book right now. Additional tidbit (to try and convince you) this book has magic and lots of it and even mentions of dragon for the next book, hopefully. Darn my book ban!
ashwise360's review
emotional
mysterious
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
4.0
mnsundgaard's review against another edition
Plan to finish at a later date. It is a good story, just not in the mood for a slow paced fantasy at the moment.
jkpiowa's review
adventurous
emotional
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
britneysreads's review against another edition
2.0
I wanted to love this book. I really did. But, I just didn't.
The plot didn't really seem to matter until I'd bored myself through 60% of the book. The characters were all more annoying than interesting. So much emphasis was put on how they were perceived that how they felt was lacking in motivation. After reading this, I don't think I could even name the characters with the exception of two. They had such strong actions but such little depth in reasoning for those actions. I could not connect with any of them.
That being said, this was a beautiful world to get to see part of. I don't think I'd be completely against reading the next one, but I really wanted to love this book and I didn't. It has all the things I look for in a fantasy novel: a well-built world, sibling/found family dynamics, and tension and yet it missed all the things that make those matter.
The plot didn't really seem to matter until I'd bored myself through 60% of the book. The characters were all more annoying than interesting. So much emphasis was put on how they were perceived that how they felt was lacking in motivation. After reading this, I don't think I could even name the characters with the exception of two. They had such strong actions but such little depth in reasoning for those actions. I could not connect with any of them.
That being said, this was a beautiful world to get to see part of. I don't think I'd be completely against reading the next one, but I really wanted to love this book and I didn't. It has all the things I look for in a fantasy novel: a well-built world, sibling/found family dynamics, and tension and yet it missed all the things that make those matter.