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sapphisms's review
5.0
** I received a copy of this book from Netgalley and Crown Publishing in exchange for an honest review**
Warnings about this book: It takes place during WWII and the Holocaust, main character though it's handled very well, small amounts (though explicit) sexual content, slavery discussion (in reference to , misogyny (in relation to how Esther is treated on a textual level), classism (Esther is of the upper class, and realizes this)
Overall Feelings: When I went into this book, I definitely realized that I was not its intended audience. In a sea of overtly blonde and Christian heroines, the book was written for a Jewish audience, and was a Jewish book, through and through. While it was slow initially, it picked up (and didn't stop) once I got past around fifty pages, and I figured out that all of that was exposition so that the story would make sense. It's very heavy on history, but with the mixture of fantasy elements, it's blended seamlessly. If you wanted supplementary material, you could just look up the regions and cultures in the book. Beautiful writing and an engaging Jeanne d'Arc story, The Book of Esther: A Novel didn't let me go in a story that left me constantly wondering how it would advance.
Full Review: I have issues sorting out the entirety of my feelings for this book. To begin with, it was incredibly refreshing to read a book thoroughly about Jewish life, without any hand-holding or comparison to Christianity. The book was a celebration of what it meant to be Jewish and, even as a Muslim, I found myself tearing up on multiple occasions at the strong sense of identity and community Esther shared with the Khazar people and fellow Jews. Another thing that was so good was that, even though Esther is Jewish and the book is about them being Jewish and trying to continue their Jewish livelihood, she struggles with her religion (particularly because she's so young and confused as to how she wants to live and how she wants to lead her army). Something I've noticed in novels that are written about non-Christian characters is that they're never allowed to struggle with their faith- otherwise they'll be called a "fake" Jew or Muslim or Hindu.
But Barton breathed life into Esther, and made her real. A little Jewish girl will not live her whole life without doubting if she's doing right by her religion at least once. Seeing her struggle with temptation () gave the story one extra kick that I loved immediately.
Just from the summary, I had assumed that Esther would transition. Yet, when she doesn't (which is not a spoiler, considering the summary again), she makes it very explicit that the only thing she wants to break is the gender role, not her actual gender. I'm glad that that wasn't seen as the whole solution- that her becoming a man would've solved all of her problems, even though she didn't truly want to become a man.
Another thing that was well-handled was the transgender character in this. I won't name names solely so that I can keep this paragraph spoiler free and everyone can read this.One of the best parts of the book is the fact that he transitioned by the faith in Hashem- trans characters are so rarely allowed to be religious that, when this was shown, I got emotional. He is, in fact, one of the most religious characters in this book, and one that goes strictly by the laws of the Torah and the state. Esther and him share a romance, and I've never seen chemistry written that well- they're allowed to have spats and, when she accidentally outs him, he is rightfully angry and has to work to forgive her. On top of that, Esther comes to her own terms that he is a man (and the narrative never once misgenders him), and the fact that she is attracted to him is never impeded by the fact that he was once a woman. I want a book about him alone- that's how well-written his character was.
Another one of my favorite parts is when Esther. To be honest, at the beginning, their relationship made me uncomfortable because it seemed more like Esther was using her for charity instead of actual friendship (with Rukhl being a refugee). The best part is that . In what is honestly some of the best character development, Esther drops this internal monologue:
"As Esther sat her horse, [...] the realization dawned that she had never known Rukhl. She'd admired her strength in the face of hardship, felt proud to be one of the few people of her class to have a connection to someone in the camp. Giving her food had let her feel useful and virtuous. But it was a misnomer to call this a friendship."
Coming into this book, I hadn't expected deep commentary on classism and the social divide, as well as how the rich use the poor and disadvantaged to make themselves feel better. But this book was the gift that kept giving. Honestly? I'm on the lookout for any more books by Barton. Great job!
Some of my favorite quotes:
* "They intend to mount a strong defense. But Germania [...] is so powerful."
"More powerful than Hashem?"
"'Above the thunder of the mighty waters, more majestic than the breakers of the sea is the Lord.'" What Itakh had said was awful. "Of course not."
"The Maccabees defeated Antiochus, though they were outnumbered. Dovid slew the giant Goliath."
* "There will be fighting, bloodshed. You'll have to train to use weapons."
"I have brought two children into the world. I can endure hardship and pain."
"No. I am made of this clay. I assume I'll return to the riverbank. [...] Did not King Dovid sing, 'Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for You are with me'?"
"He did."
"'You anoint my head with oil; my cup runs over. Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life: and I will dwell in the Lord's house forever.'"
Esther's eyes stung. "But when he sings, 'He restores my soul-'"
"He restores my soul as well." A moment later, he repeated, "He also restores my soul."
Warnings about this book: It takes place during WWII and the Holocaust, main character
Spoiler
accidentally outs her trans friendSpoiler
golemOverall Feelings: When I went into this book, I definitely realized that I was not its intended audience. In a sea of overtly blonde and Christian heroines, the book was written for a Jewish audience, and was a Jewish book, through and through. While it was slow initially, it picked up (and didn't stop) once I got past around fifty pages, and I figured out that all of that was exposition so that the story would make sense. It's very heavy on history, but with the mixture of fantasy elements, it's blended seamlessly. If you wanted supplementary material, you could just look up the regions and cultures in the book. Beautiful writing and an engaging Jeanne d'Arc story, The Book of Esther: A Novel didn't let me go in a story that left me constantly wondering how it would advance.
Full Review: I have issues sorting out the entirety of my feelings for this book. To begin with, it was incredibly refreshing to read a book thoroughly about Jewish life, without any hand-holding or comparison to Christianity. The book was a celebration of what it meant to be Jewish and, even as a Muslim, I found myself tearing up on multiple occasions at the strong sense of identity and community Esther shared with the Khazar people and fellow Jews. Another thing that was so good was that, even though Esther is Jewish and the book is about them being Jewish and trying to continue their Jewish livelihood, she struggles with her religion (particularly because she's so young and confused as to how she wants to live and how she wants to lead her army). Something I've noticed in novels that are written about non-Christian characters is that they're never allowed to struggle with their faith- otherwise they'll be called a "fake" Jew or Muslim or Hindu.
But Barton breathed life into Esther, and made her real. A little Jewish girl will not live her whole life without doubting if she's doing right by her religion at least once. Seeing her struggle with temptation (
Spoiler
be it with Shimon or with AmitJust from the summary, I had assumed that Esther would transition. Yet, when she doesn't (which is not a spoiler, considering the summary again), she makes it very explicit that the only thing she wants to break is the gender role, not her actual gender. I'm glad that that wasn't seen as the whole solution- that her becoming a man would've solved all of her problems, even though she didn't truly want to become a man.
Another thing that was well-handled was the transgender character in this. I won't name names solely so that I can keep this paragraph spoiler free and everyone can read this.One of the best parts of the book is the fact that he transitioned by the faith in Hashem- trans characters are so rarely allowed to be religious that, when this was shown, I got emotional. He is, in fact, one of the most religious characters in this book, and one that goes strictly by the laws of the Torah and the state. Esther and him share a romance, and I've never seen chemistry written that well- they're allowed to have spats and, when she accidentally outs him, he is rightfully angry and has to work to forgive her. On top of that, Esther comes to her own terms that he is a man (and the narrative never once misgenders him), and the fact that she is attracted to him is never impeded by the fact that he was once a woman. I want a book about him alone- that's how well-written his character was.
Another one of my favorite parts is when Esther
Spoiler
reunites with RukhlSpoiler
Esther realizes this"As Esther sat her horse, [...] the realization dawned that she had never known Rukhl. She'd admired her strength in the face of hardship, felt proud to be one of the few people of her class to have a connection to someone in the camp. Giving her food had let her feel useful and virtuous. But it was a misnomer to call this a friendship."
Coming into this book, I hadn't expected deep commentary on classism and the social divide, as well as how the rich use the poor and disadvantaged to make themselves feel better. But this book was the gift that kept giving. Honestly? I'm on the lookout for any more books by Barton. Great job!
Some of my favorite quotes:
* "They intend to mount a strong defense. But Germania [...] is so powerful."
"More powerful than Hashem?"
"'Above the thunder of the mighty waters, more majestic than the breakers of the sea is the Lord.'" What Itakh had said was awful. "Of course not."
"The Maccabees defeated Antiochus, though they were outnumbered. Dovid slew the giant Goliath."
* "There will be fighting, bloodshed. You'll have to train to use weapons."
"I have brought two children into the world. I can endure hardship and pain."
Spoiler
* "Are you afraid?""No. I am made of this clay. I assume I'll return to the riverbank. [...] Did not King Dovid sing, 'Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for You are with me'?"
"He did."
"'You anoint my head with oil; my cup runs over. Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life: and I will dwell in the Lord's house forever.'"
Esther's eyes stung. "But when he sings, 'He restores my soul-'"
"He restores my soul as well." A moment later, he repeated, "He also restores my soul."
thejigglerreads's review
adventurous
dark
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.5
bionicturtle64's review against another edition
4.0
I’m not sure what I think about this book, giving it a 3.75 stars just to be really pedantic. On the one hand, I am utterly fascinated by its alt-history setting, vision and infusion of so many aspects of Judaism (faith, customs, different denominations, real world-history, food, language and myths) into a fantasy setting. On the other, I found the beat-for-beat plot, character choices and conclusion strange or underwhelming. It’s close enough to 4, and I would recommend it, but I’m going to be talking about it’s issues more than it’s pros here.
I could honestly talk about this novel for hours - for good and bad reasons. I would recommend it to people, but I don’t know how enjoyable a read it is, as I approached this from an almost academic mindset. I got a lot out of it due to the world and setting, the quality prose and some of the ideas at play. Moreover, I connected with it due my personal love of seeing Judaism and Jewishness in fantasy and science fiction, and have connected this book to some of my own writing ideas, so my enjoyment of it might very personal. Nevertheless, it’s a very unique book in the fantasy/alt history genre and I think it should be recognised for that.
But I also think a lot of it’s positives for me would turn people away, such as the need to refer to glossary constantly, or how the book has all these themes and ideas, but seemingly doesn’t know what to focus on. This includes:
Crises/meaning of faith
Racial/ethnic, denominational and gender discrimination
Slavery
Golems
Sentience, souls and personhood
Transgender and gender fluidity
Magic and supernatural creatures
Sexual discovery
Cool robot horses (with personalities?)
World war / Holocaust and refugee crisis
There is a lot going on here. And I won’t lie and say it really comes together in any coherent way. Which is a shame, as there is some much fertile ground here. I came away thinking I would love more stories in this world, which is only a good thing.
So read if you’re interested in a distinct, very Jewish (in many senses of the word) fantasy/alt history setting, but expect to feel like you want more from the plot, characters and themes.
For some more spoilerly thoughts (more so what the author should be doing)….
I think one of my main issues with the book is how strange the initial plot is, before it’s dropped for a much more straight forward narrative. I found the choices, of both the character and author, strange at many points, and wondered if some excess concepts or scenes could be removed for a more streamlined narrative, or expanded on to make more sense with the other ideas. Why Esther wants to turn into a man in the first place never made sense to me, and the way it’s handled just feels very one note. Even some of the subplots are weirdly under-explored, leaving me to figure out why they were included, like the uncle’s story. On the other hand, stuff vital to the plot like the werewolf felt like they came out of nowhere. This is equally strange when these types of magical creatures just disappeared from the world, and have no other role to play with all the sentience/personhood/magic going on.
Speaking of, I really wish the ideas of personhood, transformation, and faith were the actual focus of the story. I think a narrative where Amit was the main character, tasked to create golems to make an army, would have tied the clear interest in the golems to the actual invasion story in more interesting ways, and allowed for deeper exploration of this issue. In the book as is, concepts of slavery, for instance, are introduced as an almost comparison, and I think more could have been to be done with this to serve the ideas and their consequences better.
Also linked to the golems is technology, which I would have really loved more on. The idea of mechanical horses is great but it feels very out of nowhere in many ways, and kinda ruins the alt history vibes as every other countries seem to be using standard WW2 tech. More explicit linking between the technology and golems would have been fascinating way to continue the ideas of personhood and sentience, in comparing the horses and the golems. There is some of this there, but I wish there was more, and it was something the characters spoke more about.
I also think this as I feel that marginalisation and disability should have played a bigger role in the story, given much of the topic matter. Many key concepts of this narrative regard the ways in which societies and systems were built, and how characters aim to shirk those boundaries. Explicitly tying this in with marginalisation adds depths to the combating of gender roles, religious views and denominational/faith/race/non-human based discrimination. This also makes me think about the ‘not’ Nazi Germany villains, as it’s revealed that the reason for attacking this Jewish country is more to do with getting to ‘not’ Russia than antisemitism, which is really weird to me, given it is canon that something akin to the Holocaust is happening in this world, so… yeah.
On another note, I found the inclusion of a transgender character really nice, particularly as the initial gender swap story felt very contrived and outdated. I’m actually surprised the interrogation of gender norms didn’t come up more given the ideas played with. I think having their ‘surgery’ be a magical Mikvah a really cool concept, with some really interesting ramifications. But, I wasn’t sure about how their transition was described by the main character, who also outted the character 2 or 3 times. At least she was called out on this right at the end, although nothing came of that.
I thought generally many of the characters could have done with more screen time, as some come off as one-note. The Uyghurs characters, for instance, don’t really come off well, and important female friends of the main character (Ruhal and Ya’el) get very little page time. Amit comes off as an unlikable hypocrite most of the time, whilst the other love interest is fine, just kinda there. He really needed more fleshing out, particularly as he starts fighting towards the end and this may cause an interesting conflict with his faith. Iztah is a great character, but gets forgotten about for large sections of book when his character stuff really could have been a central focus. It was also surprising we only really got to know one golem in any detail. I liked the idea that Esther was gathering a motley crew of different backgrounds and knowledge, but in execution it felt very scatter shot and uneven, and I would have liked it if it was aimed towards the idea of bringing the Jews and non-Jews of the steppe together.
Aside from her initial motivation which made no sense (Why not seek out the Kabbalists to make a Golem army in the first place? Like just becuase you’d be a guy doesn’t mean you would be a good military leader), I like Esther as a character, and found her refreshing in some ways. She was out of her depth whilst also capable and strong willed. I liked the way the romance triangle was inverted, and liked how she didn’t deny herself to her sexuality. I also like that she didn’t automatically become a fearless warrior, even if I wasn’t convinced of her ability to lead (that fact this gets hand-waved with divine magic is more of disservice to her I feel).
All those negatives being said, I did still
enjoy this book. I also really enjoyed that my copy included a glossary and an interview with the author, which taught me about the real world history it’s based on. I would love to have more of that, to see this aspect of the creative process in making this world.
I could honestly talk about this novel for hours - for good and bad reasons. I would recommend it to people, but I don’t know how enjoyable a read it is, as I approached this from an almost academic mindset. I got a lot out of it due to the world and setting, the quality prose and some of the ideas at play. Moreover, I connected with it due my personal love of seeing Judaism and Jewishness in fantasy and science fiction, and have connected this book to some of my own writing ideas, so my enjoyment of it might very personal. Nevertheless, it’s a very unique book in the fantasy/alt history genre and I think it should be recognised for that.
But I also think a lot of it’s positives for me would turn people away, such as the need to refer to glossary constantly, or how the book has all these themes and ideas, but seemingly doesn’t know what to focus on. This includes:
Crises/meaning of faith
Racial/ethnic, denominational and gender discrimination
Slavery
Golems
Sentience, souls and personhood
Transgender and gender fluidity
Magic and supernatural creatures
Sexual discovery
Cool robot horses (with personalities?)
World war / Holocaust and refugee crisis
There is a lot going on here. And I won’t lie and say it really comes together in any coherent way. Which is a shame, as there is some much fertile ground here. I came away thinking I would love more stories in this world, which is only a good thing.
So read if you’re interested in a distinct, very Jewish (in many senses of the word) fantasy/alt history setting, but expect to feel like you want more from the plot, characters and themes.
For some more spoilerly thoughts (more so what the author should be doing)….
I think one of my main issues with the book is how strange the initial plot is, before it’s dropped for a much more straight forward narrative. I found the choices, of both the character and author, strange at many points, and wondered if some excess concepts or scenes could be removed for a more streamlined narrative, or expanded on to make more sense with the other ideas. Why Esther wants to turn into a man in the first place never made sense to me, and the way it’s handled just feels very one note. Even some of the subplots are weirdly under-explored, leaving me to figure out why they were included, like the uncle’s story. On the other hand, stuff vital to the plot like the werewolf felt like they came out of nowhere. This is equally strange when these types of magical creatures just disappeared from the world, and have no other role to play with all the sentience/personhood/magic going on.
Speaking of, I really wish the ideas of personhood, transformation, and faith were the actual focus of the story. I think a narrative where Amit was the main character, tasked to create golems to make an army, would have tied the clear interest in the golems to the actual invasion story in more interesting ways, and allowed for deeper exploration of this issue. In the book as is, concepts of slavery, for instance, are introduced as an almost comparison, and I think more could have been to be done with this to serve the ideas and their consequences better.
Also linked to the golems is technology, which I would have really loved more on. The idea of mechanical horses is great but it feels very out of nowhere in many ways, and kinda ruins the alt history vibes as every other countries seem to be using standard WW2 tech. More explicit linking between the technology and golems would have been fascinating way to continue the ideas of personhood and sentience, in comparing the horses and the golems. There is some of this there, but I wish there was more, and it was something the characters spoke more about.
I also think this as I feel that marginalisation and disability should have played a bigger role in the story, given much of the topic matter. Many key concepts of this narrative regard the ways in which societies and systems were built, and how characters aim to shirk those boundaries. Explicitly tying this in with marginalisation adds depths to the combating of gender roles, religious views and denominational/faith/race/non-human based discrimination. This also makes me think about the ‘not’ Nazi Germany villains, as it’s revealed that the reason for attacking this Jewish country is more to do with getting to ‘not’ Russia than antisemitism, which is really weird to me, given it is canon that something akin to the Holocaust is happening in this world, so… yeah.
On another note, I found the inclusion of a transgender character really nice, particularly as the initial gender swap story felt very contrived and outdated. I’m actually surprised the interrogation of gender norms didn’t come up more given the ideas played with. I think having their ‘surgery’ be a magical Mikvah a really cool concept, with some really interesting ramifications. But, I wasn’t sure about how their transition was described by the main character, who also outted the character 2 or 3 times. At least she was called out on this right at the end, although nothing came of that.
I thought generally many of the characters could have done with more screen time, as some come off as one-note. The Uyghurs characters, for instance, don’t really come off well, and important female friends of the main character (Ruhal and Ya’el) get very little page time. Amit comes off as an unlikable hypocrite most of the time, whilst the other love interest is fine, just kinda there. He really needed more fleshing out, particularly as he starts fighting towards the end and this may cause an interesting conflict with his faith. Iztah is a great character, but gets forgotten about for large sections of book when his character stuff really could have been a central focus. It was also surprising we only really got to know one golem in any detail. I liked the idea that Esther was gathering a motley crew of different backgrounds and knowledge, but in execution it felt very scatter shot and uneven, and I would have liked it if it was aimed towards the idea of bringing the Jews and non-Jews of the steppe together.
Aside from her initial motivation which made no sense (Why not seek out the Kabbalists to make a Golem army in the first place? Like just becuase you’d be a guy doesn’t mean you would be a good military leader), I like Esther as a character, and found her refreshing in some ways. She was out of her depth whilst also capable and strong willed. I liked the way the romance triangle was inverted, and liked how she didn’t deny herself to her sexuality. I also like that she didn’t automatically become a fearless warrior, even if I wasn’t convinced of her ability to lead (that fact this gets hand-waved with divine magic is more of disservice to her I feel).
All those negatives being said, I did still
enjoy this book. I also really enjoyed that my copy included a glossary and an interview with the author, which taught me about the real world history it’s based on. I would love to have more of that, to see this aspect of the creative process in making this world.
hyperashley's review against another edition
3.0
I'm still trying to figure out how I feel about this book. I liked some things about it but I disliked some as well. I didn't like that information dump at the beginning of the book. I almost stopped reading it and ashed my hands of it but I didn't. I thought the premise sounded so good that I wanted to keep reading it. While I'm not usually one to read a book dealing with WWII I still decided to give this book a chance.
I liked Esther but I did have my issues with her. I do wish I was as convincing as she is though. I thought it was kind of unbelievable that she was able to get away with so much. I also didn't understand why she didn't just pull a Mulan instead of becoming a boy in the way that she did. I liked her strength and courage more than anything. She was what was needed as a leader of this book.
I love steampunk so I really liked the few steampunk elements thrown around in this book. I liked that it was different too, mechanical horses sounds awesome! It's futuristic yet primitive and I loved it. I wanted more of that than the war with Hitler.
I felt there was too much going on at one time. There were some things that were just not needed like that freaking love triangle. Ugh, I hated it so much. All in all this was a decent book but I'm not sure I really liked it.
I liked Esther but I did have my issues with her. I do wish I was as convincing as she is though. I thought it was kind of unbelievable that she was able to get away with so much. I also didn't understand why she didn't just pull a Mulan instead of becoming a boy in the way that she did. I liked her strength and courage more than anything. She was what was needed as a leader of this book.
I love steampunk so I really liked the few steampunk elements thrown around in this book. I liked that it was different too, mechanical horses sounds awesome! It's futuristic yet primitive and I loved it. I wanted more of that than the war with Hitler.
I felt there was too much going on at one time. There were some things that were just not needed like that freaking love triangle. Ugh, I hated it so much. All in all this was a decent book but I'm not sure I really liked it.
crtsjffrsn's review
2.0
I'm just going to start right out and say this book was incredibly confusing and difficult to get into. The author throws a bunch of names at you right away, and it's difficult to parse and find context. Then there's whole issue of the horse--is it mechanical? is it sentient? I don't know. It needs fuel, but it apparently has feelings and emotions?
Then there's the whole issue of the world itself, which again lacks context. And a young girl just marching off on her own to war and no one questions her much along the way? It all just seems so unrealistic. I made it to the end, but it was a bit of a chore to do so.
[Disclaimer: I received a copy of this book from the publisher via Blogging for Books in exchange for an honest review.]
Then there's the whole issue of the world itself, which again lacks context. And a young girl just marching off on her own to war and no one questions her much along the way? It all just seems so unrealistic. I made it to the end, but it was a bit of a chore to do so.
[Disclaimer: I received a copy of this book from the publisher via Blogging for Books in exchange for an honest review.]
fairybookmother's review
4.0
Take Joan of Arc, dieselpunk, magical realism, let it simmer with Judaism, and you've got Barton's The Book of Esther. It doesn't fit neatly into a genre, and it's a little chaotic, but it's worth reading for the exploration of women's roles in Jewish society, the magical parts about the creation of golems, and the Kabbalist mysticism. It also raises the question of what constitutes life as there are mechanical horses and animated golems with some inkling of sentience, and it seems that no one but Esther questions that. She questions everything, and through that questioning, she learns a lot about herself and her identity as she told throughout the entire novel that she can't do this or that because she's a girl. Instead of giving up, she follows her heart and does it anyway and people listen.
ashleynestlermsw's review
4.0
The Book of Esther is one of those rare novels that takes a biblical story, and heroine, and transforms it into a book for the masses. Even those who are not familiar with Esther from the bible will love this novel, and they will enjoy the fantasy appeal that it presents.
Emily Barton writes with a strong historical knowledge of the time period and story of which she is writing, but she also has a firm grip on steampunk and fantasy elements. She intertwined fantasy with history in a way that was believable, and I fell easily into her world.
Jewish culture is often something that it intertwined hand in hand with the Holocaust, but this novel explored more than that connection. It clearly represented the Jewish culture in terms of the language, settings and habits used, and I found it to be the "grown up" version of Wolf by Wolf by Ryan Graudin. It holds a strong sense of love and hope for the Jewish culture, while also applying biblical stories to more contemporary times. Barton beautifully explored the concept that men have more power than women, and she did so by exploring how Esther went looking for magic that would turn her into a man. She wanted to become a man so that she could convince people to fight for what is right, and it was sad to see how she felt the need to go through with this; however, she had the passion and the drive and knew that she would be taken more seriously if she appeared as a man.
Barton is clearly a strong storyteller, and one that incorporates an unapologetic love for the bible and the lessons it teaches. She also challenges certain concepts present in the bible, and isn't afraid to mix them with mysticism and lore. Her novel preserves the Jewish culture with a modern take on Esther, and invites people of all races, religions and cultures to enter her world. The Book of Esther was a roller coaster of events that didn't tip toe around the reader's comfort zone, and Barton forced you to not only confront our past, but our present as well. She made it clear that our present is not as progressive as we may think, and by comparing it to biblical themes, we are forced to stare that truth directly in the face.
"I am Esther, and like my namesake before me, I will save the Jewish people."
And indeed, she did.
*I received this book from Blogging for Books for this review.*
Emily Barton writes with a strong historical knowledge of the time period and story of which she is writing, but she also has a firm grip on steampunk and fantasy elements. She intertwined fantasy with history in a way that was believable, and I fell easily into her world.
Jewish culture is often something that it intertwined hand in hand with the Holocaust, but this novel explored more than that connection. It clearly represented the Jewish culture in terms of the language, settings and habits used, and I found it to be the "grown up" version of Wolf by Wolf by Ryan Graudin. It holds a strong sense of love and hope for the Jewish culture, while also applying biblical stories to more contemporary times. Barton beautifully explored the concept that men have more power than women, and she did so by exploring how Esther went looking for magic that would turn her into a man. She wanted to become a man so that she could convince people to fight for what is right, and it was sad to see how she felt the need to go through with this; however, she had the passion and the drive and knew that she would be taken more seriously if she appeared as a man.
Barton is clearly a strong storyteller, and one that incorporates an unapologetic love for the bible and the lessons it teaches. She also challenges certain concepts present in the bible, and isn't afraid to mix them with mysticism and lore. Her novel preserves the Jewish culture with a modern take on Esther, and invites people of all races, religions and cultures to enter her world. The Book of Esther was a roller coaster of events that didn't tip toe around the reader's comfort zone, and Barton forced you to not only confront our past, but our present as well. She made it clear that our present is not as progressive as we may think, and by comparing it to biblical themes, we are forced to stare that truth directly in the face.
"I am Esther, and like my namesake before me, I will save the Jewish people."
And indeed, she did.
*I received this book from Blogging for Books for this review.*
sirlancelot2021's review
adventurous
challenging
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
pippinthepuffin's review
4.0
Okay, so this is a bit weird. I absolutely loved this book but it took me forever to finish it. This is the type of book that I would usually devour. It is about a young, ambitious, fierce badass girl who is going to get an army to fight out the Germanii in an alternative history WWII retelling with a dash of steampunk and a whole lot of Jewish lore. It is also hella feminist.
Yes, I understand that that can seem like a lot going on but Barton's history flows seamlessly. This could be related to the fact that the book does not inherently act like a historical fiction novel, it is more of a fantasy novel. (I think this why I have so much trouble explaining the book to people.) Khazaria seemed like it had always been there. I loved the steampunk aspect with the mechanical horses and aerocycles. Esther's mechanical horse, Seleme, was one of my favorite characters as she is a horse (they are my favorite animal) and she had an attitude! It was really interesting to see how she acted even though she was a horse.
I loved learning about the Jewish culture and religion. I am not Jewish and before this, I knew little to nothing about the overall culture. I learned how Golems are created and thought about whether or not they were "man" enough to believe in God, that is a fantastic debate as it asks the question: do just humans believe in God? There was also the conversation of what makes something sentient, as the Golems and even Seleme have personalities and make choices but they are not alive inherently, so how can they be the way they are? Also, I have not had the chance to read the real Book of Esther but I have read from other reviews that the two are similar.
My biggest gripe about the book is the fact that it just ends. There is no real conclusion as to what happens to them in the war. Is Barton expecting us to think that they won? And as far as I know, there is not a sequel so I don't know what to expect. Also, the writing was beautiful but it did not hold me tight like CoBaB, that is why I think it was so easy for me to put it down and pick it back up again so many times.
One thing that I did not expect from this book is how sex-positive it is, but not in the traditional sense. There were multiple scenes that discuss Esther masturbating. Now as a feminist, I love the fact that Barton included this as I have read so many books that discuss the guy's masturbating but never a woman. And as women, we are taught that our bodies are not meant to be touched in that manner. It showed me, as a reader, how comfortable Esther was in herself as well as how she could care less about gender norms. She enjoyed who she was and she was not ashamed of it.
As aforementioned, this book challenges gender norms, actually, it is an underlying theme of the book, as Esther goes on a journey to be transformed into a man as she believes that is the only way she can lead an army. There is a trans character in the book that is friends with Esther and I love their relationship but she is not trans. I do have some thoughts on this, ie why the plot happened the way it did but spoilers so I am going to keep them to myself until I can talk to someone who has read the book.
One last thing, can we please talk about the cover?! I love it and it is what brought me to the book in the first place. I love how we can see Esther's famed braid (serious braid goals) and my fave character, Seleme. I think it really brings about the fantasy aspects of the book.
Thank you Blogging for Books and Tim Duggan Books for providing me a copy to review.
Yes, I understand that that can seem like a lot going on but Barton's history flows seamlessly. This could be related to the fact that the book does not inherently act like a historical fiction novel, it is more of a fantasy novel. (I think this why I have so much trouble explaining the book to people.) Khazaria seemed like it had always been there. I loved the steampunk aspect with the mechanical horses and aerocycles. Esther's mechanical horse, Seleme, was one of my favorite characters as she is a horse (they are my favorite animal) and she had an attitude! It was really interesting to see how she acted even though she was a horse.
I loved learning about the Jewish culture and religion. I am not Jewish and before this, I knew little to nothing about the overall culture. I learned how Golems are created and thought about whether or not they were "man" enough to believe in God, that is a fantastic debate as it asks the question: do just humans believe in God? There was also the conversation of what makes something sentient, as the Golems and even Seleme have personalities and make choices but they are not alive inherently, so how can they be the way they are? Also, I have not had the chance to read the real Book of Esther but I have read from other reviews that the two are similar.
My biggest gripe about the book is the fact that it just ends. There is no real conclusion as to what happens to them in the war. Is Barton expecting us to think that they won? And as far as I know, there is not a sequel so I don't know what to expect. Also, the writing was beautiful but it did not hold me tight like CoBaB, that is why I think it was so easy for me to put it down and pick it back up again so many times.
One thing that I did not expect from this book is how sex-positive it is, but not in the traditional sense. There were multiple scenes that discuss Esther masturbating. Now as a feminist, I love the fact that Barton included this as I have read so many books that discuss the guy's masturbating but never a woman. And as women, we are taught that our bodies are not meant to be touched in that manner. It showed me, as a reader, how comfortable Esther was in herself as well as how she could care less about gender norms. She enjoyed who she was and she was not ashamed of it.
As aforementioned, this book challenges gender norms, actually, it is an underlying theme of the book, as Esther goes on a journey to be transformed into a man as she believes that is the only way she can lead an army. There is a trans character in the book that is friends with Esther and I love their relationship but she is not trans. I do have some thoughts on this, ie why the plot happened the way it did but spoilers so I am going to keep them to myself until I can talk to someone who has read the book.
One last thing, can we please talk about the cover?! I love it and it is what brought me to the book in the first place. I love how we can see Esther's famed braid (serious braid goals) and my fave character, Seleme. I think it really brings about the fantasy aspects of the book.
Thank you Blogging for Books and Tim Duggan Books for providing me a copy to review.