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A review by pippinthepuffin
The Book of Esther by Emily Barton
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.