A review by tani
Bear Daughter by Judith Berman
5.0
This was a chance find. I went to the library looking for books for the Fall Challenge at the Seasonal Reading Challenge Group, and while I was browsing the fantasy books, my eyes happened to fall on this one. And what a stroke of good fortune that was!
I'll admit, the book started a little slow, by which I mean I spent the first half thinking it would be 4 stars instead of 5. Sometimes, Cloud was hard to empathize with, and sometimes her self-pity was annoying. Mostly, it was an understandable response to being thrust into circumstances that you have no idea how to deal with. I liked Cloud a lot for the entire book, both when she was a confused child and when she became a brave woman. She's a really great character, the kind that I definitely want to see more of.
I also really enjoyed the mythology aspect. I know pretty much nothing about the mythology of the Native Americans of the West Coast, so this book felt entirely fresh to me. I really liked reading something with a basis that wasn't Greek or Roman or medieval. I wasn't left wondering how the characters could be so stupid as not to understand how things worked, because I was just as clueless as them, a rather nice change. And I don't know where line between mythology and imagination was drawn, but either way, it was fascinating to follow all the twists and turns that the plot took.
In short, I really enjoyed this book, and I highly recommend it.
I'll admit, the book started a little slow, by which I mean I spent the first half thinking it would be 4 stars instead of 5. Sometimes, Cloud was hard to empathize with, and sometimes her self-pity was annoying. Mostly, it was an understandable response to being thrust into circumstances that you have no idea how to deal with. I liked Cloud a lot for the entire book, both when she was a confused child and when she became a brave woman. She's a really great character, the kind that I definitely want to see more of.
I also really enjoyed the mythology aspect. I know pretty much nothing about the mythology of the Native Americans of the West Coast, so this book felt entirely fresh to me. I really liked reading something with a basis that wasn't Greek or Roman or medieval. I wasn't left wondering how the characters could be so stupid as not to understand how things worked, because I was just as clueless as them, a rather nice change. And I don't know where line between mythology and imagination was drawn, but either way, it was fascinating to follow all the twists and turns that the plot took.
In short, I really enjoyed this book, and I highly recommend it.