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snerp_reads's review against another edition
Stopped reading after some weird choices for the portrayal of Vystrana that left a bad taste in my mouth. None of the other reviews on here mentioned this, but the entire crafting of their fictional religion was pretty obviously antisemitic. It took me a few pages to catch onto it, but it's very obvious that the Vystrana religion was based on Judaism. The religion of Vystrana in the book was portrayed as backwards, savage, and more superstitious and sexist than the main character's religion.
I made the connection that she had based their religion off of Judaism when I came across two main details in the book; the specific detail that the villagers use graggers to symbolize their disapproval of her arrival, and a ritual the villagers have of fully submerging themselves in "living waters" (it was straight up just a mikvah).The villagers were then written forcing the main character to take part in the submersion in front of everyone watching, and she even briefly thought they were going to rob or kill her at this point.
I wish authors would quit dragging in their own antisemitism into otherwise perfectly fine books.
I made the connection that she had based their religion off of Judaism when I came across two main details in the book; the specific detail that the villagers use graggers to symbolize their disapproval of her arrival, and a ritual the villagers have of fully submerging themselves in "living waters" (it was straight up just a mikvah).
I wish authors would quit dragging in their own antisemitism into otherwise perfectly fine books.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal death, Gore, Blood, Kidnapping, and Fire/Fire injury
Moderate: Misogyny, Sexism, Antisemitism, and Religious bigotry
bitter_critter's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
inspiring
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexism
Moderate: Animal death, Death, and Grief
Minor: Religious bigotry
jonwood's review against another edition
adventurous
slow-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
2.5
I liked this audiobook less and less as I continued to listen. Once the narrator gets her chance to go on an exploration, the book lost most of my interest as it seems to become a series of episodes and typecasting of primitive people's religions. When the husband of the lead dies and I find it anticlimactic and leaves me uncaring something's not working . Also, I found the narrator's voice too much like a pretentious, condescending professor for me to enjoy listening to her read.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Misogyny and Sexism
Moderate: Death, Sexual assault, Religious bigotry, and Sexual harassment
mothmania's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
emotional
funny
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal death, Misogyny, and Sexism
Moderate: Death, Gore, Miscarriage, Violence, Grief, Colonisation, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Drug use, Kidnapping, Cannibalism, Pregnancy, Alcohol, and Classism
judassilver's review against another edition
This book did a couple things I didn't enjoy: the retrospective interjection of the narrator recalling past events (the "I may be old now..." or "though I didn't know it then" type) and the fantasy names for what is very clearly our modern world. Call an England an England, please, not "Scirland". Also please note that the memoir part of the title weighs much more heavily than the dragon part, this is very much the story of an upper class woman struggling to foster science minded interests in a world of Victorian sensibilities. Set your expectations accordingly. (Most of the dragons featured are dead, suffering captivity, or being hunted. The MC also has some very classist and colonialist beliefs). This book (and series) is well written and definitely has an audience, I just bounced hard off it.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Death, Misogyny, Sexism, Xenophobia, Colonisation, and Classism
Moderate: Miscarriage and Injury/Injury detail
merenguita's review against another edition
adventurous
hopeful
inspiring
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Looooved it!!!
This is the fantasy femenist icon i needed!
Also ;-;Jacob
This is the fantasy femenist icon i needed!
Also ;-;
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death and Sexism
mnstarr's review against another edition
adventurous
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death
Moderate: Miscarriage, Misogyny, and Sexism
madzie's review against another edition
adventurous
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.0
Brennan mashes the voices of early English women writers like Austen and the Brontes with scientific notes and realistic fantasy. She excels at worldbuilding and seamlessly fits dragons into Victorian Europe. Her world of dragons is sensical and easy to follow. The dragons feel very real, and you can imagine being a part of this world. However, while Brennan thrives in her exploration of dragons, she leaves me questioning other parts of her world and how it differs from our own historical one. Often, Brennan's exploration of sexism is intriguing, as it is central to the story, but falls short, not incorporating the entire picture, even illustrating that women can only be strong if they show masculine traits, which seems to go against the same theme she is attempting to portray. Other themes follow suit, often making a good attempt at deep ideas but leaving me with questions about the whole picture, especially from a historical perspective.
However, Brennan creates a nicely written plot with a good twist at the end. Throughout, I got bored with the lack of details. Although seemingly purposeful due to attempting to draw in scientific writing, it leaves me again wanting more and never really feeling like part of the story. Perhaps more of a success is her incorporation of Victorian writing, which echoes history while still being accessible to modern audiences, as well as less pretentious. Occasionally, I felt the sentence variety was lacking, especially in action scenes. Lady Trent herself is an intriguing character, who did leave me feeling for her by the end of the novel. Overall, I felt like the book stayed in the middle ground, perhaps rising above for other readers, especially those more interested in scientific explanations and writings over story flow and details.
However, Brennan creates a nicely written plot with a good twist at the end. Throughout, I got bored with the lack of details. Although seemingly purposeful due to attempting to draw in scientific writing, it leaves me again wanting more and never really feeling like part of the story. Perhaps more of a success is her incorporation of Victorian writing, which echoes history while still being accessible to modern audiences, as well as less pretentious. Occasionally, I felt the sentence variety was lacking, especially in action scenes. Lady Trent herself is an intriguing character, who did leave me feeling for her by the end of the novel. Overall, I felt like the book stayed in the middle ground, perhaps rising above for other readers, especially those more interested in scientific explanations and writings over story flow and details.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal death, Death, Misogyny, Sexism, and Xenophobia
Moderate: Miscarriage, Violence, Grief, Murder, and Classism
kalira's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal death, Cursing, Death, Misogyny, Sexism, Violence, Blood, Kidnapping, Grief, Murder, Colonisation, and Classism
Moderate: Racism and Religious bigotry
jackiepreston's review against another edition
adventurous
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.25
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal death, Death, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Sexism, and Injury/Injury detail