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A review by jenpaul13
Misrule by Heather Walter
4.0
Breaking one curse on Briar’s princess with hopes of forging a new world brings about a curse of a different sort to resolve in Misrule by Heather Walter.
To read this, and other book reviews, visit my website: http://makinggoodstories.wordpress.com/.
After Alyce and Aurora’s bond broke the curse that was placed on Aurora, a new curse takes hold and puts Aurora in a slumber that Alyce and her seemingly vast power cannot break. With their dream of a better world that embraces all instead of subjugating some to a life of being outcast and sidelined, Alyce takes revenge on the kingdom, creating a Dark Court where she reigns, bringing together the magical beings who have been reviled and exiled, and no one who defies her can escape her wrath. Over the course of a hundred years, Alyce works to wake Aurora in a way that would prevent the portion of the curse from taking hold that would make her lose sight of what they mean to one another and seeing her as the villain she’s become. When Aurora does wake, at the kiss of a recently-arrived, and irksome, ship hand sworn to serve Alyce, the Dark Court is shocked of the Briar princess’s sudden appearance in their midst and even more so when she tries to win them over in their battle against the Fae, despite her conflicted emotions about and toward Alyce.
In this fitting conclusion of events that began with Malice, this portion of the story explores the darkness and brutality of what befalls Briar while the cursed princess slumbers for a hundred years and a new rule takes control, filling the court with acts of violent revenge against those that enslaved and otherwise mistreated them, exposing the prejudices and misconceptions that run deep within their society that have impacted the way these belittled characters view and identify themselves. The transition between the two books (and this could very well be on me for having read the first well over a year ago) was a little disorienting as it jumped deeply and quickly in to this story, introducing new characters without much to bridge the gap for those rejoining this intriguing and well-built world after time away; the narrative moves forward in fits and starts, leaving an uneven pacing that made some portions feel far too drawn out and others much too rushed. As Alyce and Aurora constantly oscillate in their understanding and acceptance of one another throughout the story, there remains the frustrating miscommunication that was relied upon in Malice though there’s much more manipulation and betrayal present in this narrative thread that provided continuity to the established morally gray actions of these characters that offered satisfying tension.
Overall, I’d give it a 3.5 out of 5 stars.
*I received a copy of this book from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
To read this, and other book reviews, visit my website: http://makinggoodstories.wordpress.com/.
After Alyce and Aurora’s bond broke the curse that was placed on Aurora, a new curse takes hold and puts Aurora in a slumber that Alyce and her seemingly vast power cannot break. With their dream of a better world that embraces all instead of subjugating some to a life of being outcast and sidelined, Alyce takes revenge on the kingdom, creating a Dark Court where she reigns, bringing together the magical beings who have been reviled and exiled, and no one who defies her can escape her wrath. Over the course of a hundred years, Alyce works to wake Aurora in a way that would prevent the portion of the curse from taking hold that would make her lose sight of what they mean to one another and seeing her as the villain she’s become. When Aurora does wake, at the kiss of a recently-arrived, and irksome, ship hand sworn to serve Alyce, the Dark Court is shocked of the Briar princess’s sudden appearance in their midst and even more so when she tries to win them over in their battle against the Fae, despite her conflicted emotions about and toward Alyce.
In this fitting conclusion of events that began with Malice, this portion of the story explores the darkness and brutality of what befalls Briar while the cursed princess slumbers for a hundred years and a new rule takes control, filling the court with acts of violent revenge against those that enslaved and otherwise mistreated them, exposing the prejudices and misconceptions that run deep within their society that have impacted the way these belittled characters view and identify themselves. The transition between the two books (and this could very well be on me for having read the first well over a year ago) was a little disorienting as it jumped deeply and quickly in to this story, introducing new characters without much to bridge the gap for those rejoining this intriguing and well-built world after time away; the narrative moves forward in fits and starts, leaving an uneven pacing that made some portions feel far too drawn out and others much too rushed. As Alyce and Aurora constantly oscillate in their understanding and acceptance of one another throughout the story, there remains the frustrating miscommunication that was relied upon in Malice though there’s much more manipulation and betrayal present in this narrative thread that provided continuity to the established morally gray actions of these characters that offered satisfying tension.
Overall, I’d give it a 3.5 out of 5 stars.
*I received a copy of this book from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.