Reviews with content warning for Gaslighting - The Fae Keeper

Reviews tagging 'Gaslighting'

The Fae Keeper by H.E. Edgmon

3 reviews

teddie_valetine98's review against another edition

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emotional inspiring medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

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just_one_more_paige's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful inspiring reflective tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

Reading (well, listening to) The Witch King last year was an experience of magic and anger and queerness and social justice that just really hit the spot. So, I was excited to get to this second book in this series pretty soon after it came out.

Just a few weeks after the dramatic ending of book one, in which Wyatt brought Emyr back to life and Derek and Clarke Pierce tried to take over, things haven't really calmed down at all in Asalin. Wyatt, Emyr, Jin, Tessa and Briar are all working in their own ways to make this country of theirs (or not theirs, in Briar's case) better. They have closed the door to Faery, are hunting down Derek and Clarke, have abolished the corrupt Guard and are trying to get other Fae kingdoms to follow their lead in revamping the way fae magic is used in order to save the literal land they live in. But there is no rest, or time for reflection and emotional assessment, for this group, as a secret from Faery about the witches real role in society is unearthed, and the split in Fae society over it threatens an inter-kingdom war. Plus, the amount of relationship turmoil amongst the group is intense, and will eventually need the space to be sorted out or it's all going to come to an emotional interpersonal head.

This sequel absolutely lives up to the first! It was actually kind of an exhausting read, with its breakneck pacing and intense emotional reckonings (there are a number of content warnings, with violence and sexual manipulation/trauma big among them - they are listed out in detail in a forward from the authat as well), but in the [good] entertaining reader way. There was so much action in almost every chapter, I could barely catch a breath between dramatic reveals, battles, high stakes decisions, and more. And when there was any kind of downtime from that, the characters used it to start to converse through past (and ongoing) traumas and try to figure out what their relationships with each other are in light of everything that has happened or been disclosed. On that note, I really liked the way Wyatt and Emyr are given page-time to figure out what they mean to each other, the place they hold in each other's lives, separarte of external expectations and on their own terms. (The ending, in relation to this, was perfectly written to close the story and allow for furthering of this emotional path in a believable way.) And, in one of the major exploratory moments on this theme, I loved the conversation about being someone's mirror vs being their mate, the concept of decentering procreation and biological compatibility in partnership in favor of making each other better. It just really rang true, on a profound level, for me. And again, Wyatt and Briar's platonic/friendship love was beautiful, in both its highs and lows, in how they are choosing each other, even past a time of needing each other and the unique challenges and strengths that leads to. Just generally, with all the relationships on page, the way that Edgmon highlights, over and over, that a family can look like whatever you want it to, is so heart-filling.

There were so many other things I loved as well, so here I go trying to list them all out. The narration. The audiobook narrator was the same as the first (Dani Martineck) and they crushed it. There was also a super cool effect to Vorgaine's voice, when they had on-page dialogue, that was super fun and added a great dimension to the audio. The magic itself remains awesome, the witches and the fae are generally two magical groups I favor in fantasy and I enjoy having them both centered here. Plus, the addition of background on changelings and the unveiling of the origins of witch magic and the truth of Faery were great in an epic-fantasy-aspect. And I appreciate still, very much, that the primary conflicts are between fae and witches, and that all the gorgeous queerness of our characters is accepted at face-value, just a part of them the way their wings, height, etc. are. This series is amazing for showing us how things could be in real life if we would just...accept who people are.

I forgot how much I was into some of the small details, like the colored energy auras and Wyatt's daily tarot card pull (I mean, I've always had a soft spot for tarot cards too), and in that case, the way it was integrated even further into his personal and magical growth was awesome. Speaking of Wyatt's growth, while his anger is still front and center, it is a bit more honed here, focusing the "burn down the establishment" vibes (and at least a little less on his own friends/allies) in a more purposeful and productive way. I assume this is at least in part related to the supportive family/friends situation he has now, as well as the work of self-discovery/confidence that he's been doing. Past that, the social justice messages remain a sledgehammer. They're spot on (like the entire illustration of how supremacy of one group hurts everyone by putting arbitrary limits on the majority in order to keep a small few in power - oooof), and important, but deeply un-subtle. Whereas the emotional introspection pieces are much more nuanced, with very insightful points about boundaries, and how sacrifice and martyrdom are neither healthy nor romantic, even when for "the greater good."

What a metaphor this whole novel/series is. The explorations of power and empowerment are deeply delved into, in a very affecting way. The relationships, of so many different kinds, are all so authentic in their love and their flaws. The plot itself was fantastic, fast-moving and compelling, with lots of larger messages and emotional moments mixed with straight up action, and the wrap-up was very fitting. Overall, I was just super entertained and fired up the whole time I was reading.

“Maybe it’d be nice to have skin that didn't feel marked by the things the world has done to me.”

“Becoming a better person is so draining. I've made one single mature decision and I feel like I need a nap.”

"You fight like hell for each other, in whatever world you're in. You fight for a better future. And you use your privilege when you can. That's all you can do."

"There is a difference between equality and justice. [...] Majority rule might sound fair, but it still isn't the right choice when the majority decides to hurt people."

“I can scorch the whole world, but that won’t save the people I love.”

“But anger as deep as mine can never go away. Not really. Not entirely. It just waits to be needed. Forcing myself to be smaller than I am and calling it self-growth isn't the grand solution to my problems I've been acting like it is.”

"Because if we're going to commit to tearing down the systems that hurt innocent people, we can't keep using them to hurt the ones who deserve it, either. [...] Sometimes justice is complicated like that."

"Guilt is such a useless emotion. I can't do anything good with it. Anger gets shit done. Grief helps move me from one place to the other. Envy shows me what I want. But guilt? It's just there, hanging out in my body, making me feel like shit, with nothing to show for it."

"...they're all just afraid. Because they see something different from themselves, and they're terrified of what that thing is going to do to them. They think, because their inclination is to hurt anything they don't understand, everyone else's instinct is the same. They think they'll get knocked down the hierarchy, because they can't understand the concept of a world where hierarchy doesn't exist. [...] They can't separate the the ideas of ---- equality and ----supremacy, because they can't imagine a world where someone doesn't rule - and someone else isn't ruled. And because of that, they treat us the way they do. [...] And they did that. They created their own worst fear."

“If I learned anything about religion in the human world, it's that a lot of people love the shield of a god more than they'll ever love the god themself."

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bookwormbi's review against another edition

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dark emotional funny hopeful inspiring mysterious sad tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

okay go off kings (or I guess not, since "kingdom" isn't really the right word for Asalin in these books.) truly Edgmon took these books and created such an expansive, beautiful, interesting fantasy concept. literally never reading fantasy that doesn't take structural inequity into account again this is so much better.

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