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A review by rebeccazh
Buried Heart by Kate Elliott
Well, well, well. I've devoured this trilogy, that, months ago, I disdained as typical.
I.... really enjoyed this series. It is still hitting all the usual tropes of dystopia/fantasy YA, but boy, Kate Elliott's writing is so enjoyable to read. I love her varied and many female characters, I love that she has same gender couples, and I love her progressive gender politics. This trilogy deals with colonialization, where the oppressed eventually rise up and reclaim their land.
But what caught my attention was the way Elliott treated Elsadas and Kiya, Jessamy's father and mother. It's nuanced and complex and I very much enjoyed Jessamy's conflicted feelings and loyalties to the two of them. One of my favorite things in this trilogy is her relationship with her father. I wish for her sake that he hadn't died, but there's no place for him in the new world.
I like Jessamy a lot. I loved her relationship with her love interest, Kal, and their moments of intimacy and sweetness are a good balance to the emotional turmoil that Jessamy faces. Jessamy reminds me of a mix of Katniss Everdeen and Tris Prior, but I related to her more than the other two. Restless, goal-oriented, reckless, bold, ambitious, resourceful, tough. She makes things happen as much as the plot forces things onto her; in plot terms, she's such a firecracker. It was awesome reading about her taking risk after risk as she seeks to grasp the victory she wants for herself.
Pretty great YA trilogy, although it does follow a few predictable beats.
I.... really enjoyed this series. It is still hitting all the usual tropes of dystopia/fantasy YA, but boy, Kate Elliott's writing is so enjoyable to read. I love her varied and many female characters, I love that she has same gender couples, and I love her progressive gender politics. This trilogy deals with colonialization, where the oppressed eventually rise up and reclaim their land.
But what caught my attention was the way Elliott treated Elsadas and Kiya, Jessamy's father and mother. It's nuanced and complex and I very much enjoyed Jessamy's conflicted feelings and loyalties to the two of them. One of my favorite things in this trilogy is her relationship with her father. I wish for her sake that he hadn't died, but there's no place for him in the new world.
I like Jessamy a lot. I loved her relationship with her love interest, Kal, and their moments of intimacy and sweetness are a good balance to the emotional turmoil that Jessamy faces. Jessamy reminds me of a mix of Katniss Everdeen and Tris Prior, but I related to her more than the other two. Restless, goal-oriented, reckless, bold, ambitious, resourceful, tough. She makes things happen as much as the plot forces things onto her; in plot terms, she's such a firecracker. It was awesome reading about her taking risk after risk as she seeks to grasp the victory she wants for herself.
Pretty great YA trilogy, although it does follow a few predictable beats.