A review by bellainherlibrary
Between Snow and Wolf by Agnes Domergue, Hélène Canac
2.0
Thank you NetGalley for an eARC of this book for an honest review.
This is a really hard book for me to review. The art is phenomenal. The art alone deserves 5 stars. The story has some issues.
Lila loves on an island that is trapped in eternal winter. Her dad claims to protect her from a demon and a curse. One day he is gone longer than he should be, so Lila ventures out of her home in search of him.
This is advertised as being influenced by Studio Ghibli, and for most of the story I would say that that is a fitting description. The story is loosely based on Japanese mythology and I enjoyed it up until the end.
I have issues with the father and the actions he took. I also don’t think the negative actions where adequately addressed. I was going to buy a copy to read to my daughter, but decided against it.
Do not read any further unless you are okay with spoilers.
The dad broke his promise to the mom and tried to leave the island with Lila. He so traumatized Lila’s mother, the winter demon, she became trapped in eternal winter until Lila breaks the curse. The dad is horrible in my eyes. He caused all the pain to the island, the mom, and daughter. Yet, he gets away with it. There is some girl power elements, but I feel as though he should have faced some repercussions. I don’t want to teach my daughter that men can break promises and do what they want and not any personal consequences. He want punished, nor even vilified. What he did was wrong. The story makes a point of saying how important it is not to break a promise, yet, he just skips away. It just felt off. There are a lot of crimes against women that barley get punished and it’s the women who face the trauma and I don’t want a children’s story reinforcing that trend. Some people may think I’m being too harsh. But, am I really? Aren’t we all shaped by the stories we learn?
This is a really hard book for me to review. The art is phenomenal. The art alone deserves 5 stars. The story has some issues.
Lila loves on an island that is trapped in eternal winter. Her dad claims to protect her from a demon and a curse. One day he is gone longer than he should be, so Lila ventures out of her home in search of him.
This is advertised as being influenced by Studio Ghibli, and for most of the story I would say that that is a fitting description. The story is loosely based on Japanese mythology and I enjoyed it up until the end.
I have issues with the father and the actions he took. I also don’t think the negative actions where adequately addressed. I was going to buy a copy to read to my daughter, but decided against it.
Do not read any further unless you are okay with spoilers.
The dad broke his promise to the mom and tried to leave the island with Lila. He so traumatized Lila’s mother, the winter demon, she became trapped in eternal winter until Lila breaks the curse. The dad is horrible in my eyes. He caused all the pain to the island, the mom, and daughter. Yet, he gets away with it. There is some girl power elements, but I feel as though he should have faced some repercussions. I don’t want to teach my daughter that men can break promises and do what they want and not any personal consequences. He want punished, nor even vilified. What he did was wrong. The story makes a point of saying how important it is not to break a promise, yet, he just skips away. It just felt off. There are a lot of crimes against women that barley get punished and it’s the women who face the trauma and I don’t want a children’s story reinforcing that trend. Some people may think I’m being too harsh. But, am I really? Aren’t we all shaped by the stories we learn?