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3.44 AVERAGE
3.44 AVERAGE
This book left me feeling pretty fragile after I finished. It zeroes in on a lot of my personal anxieties and traumas. It's beautiful, but also, a really raw wound.
I really wanted to like this book. I love the title and the art and the concept, but it just didn't do it for me. There was some creative storytelling and I did finish, but overall I found the book disjointed.
Nightmarish dystopian tale, compelling story and evocative characters.
The story opens with a horse who falls for a woman. He transforms into a human, has a relationship with her but is forced to flee when his children are born and are clearly not human. They are returned to the forest and their father.
Some time later, a terrible cataclysm occurs, just after Heather gives birth to twins. The world is essentially over, and only with a great deal of constant work does Heather, the man she lives with, and some others find a way to cobble an existence together. Heather finds new motherhood incredibly hard, as the twins will not sleep unless she keeps herself moving constantly. She keeps walking close to a bordering forest, where a centaur she knew when she was a child watches over her. Heather tells no one of Estajfan, and he tells no one of Heather, as his people are violently opposed to any connection with humans.
Heather tells the twins stories to soothe them on her walks, while she finds herself becoming estranged from the father of her children. Heather is drawn perpetually back to the forest, and the mountain it covers, and the natural world watches the remaining humans struggling to live.
So, a really weird story. It's not an easy story to read, as I was never really sure where things were going, but knew that the Heather's and Estajfan's stories were connected, and life was going to become pretty bad for everyone if the two began interacting again.
Though I didn't enjoy this book, I did love the tales Heather relates to her babies throughout the book.
Some time later, a terrible cataclysm occurs, just after Heather gives birth to twins. The world is essentially over, and only with a great deal of constant work does Heather, the man she lives with, and some others find a way to cobble an existence together. Heather finds new motherhood incredibly hard, as the twins will not sleep unless she keeps herself moving constantly. She keeps walking close to a bordering forest, where a centaur she knew when she was a child watches over her. Heather tells no one of Estajfan, and he tells no one of Heather, as his people are violently opposed to any connection with humans.
Heather tells the twins stories to soothe them on her walks, while she finds herself becoming estranged from the father of her children. Heather is drawn perpetually back to the forest, and the mountain it covers, and the natural world watches the remaining humans struggling to live.
So, a really weird story. It's not an easy story to read, as I was never really sure where things were going, but knew that the Heather's and Estajfan's stories were connected, and life was going to become pretty bad for everyone if the two began interacting again.
Though I didn't enjoy this book, I did love the tales Heather relates to her babies throughout the book.
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
A beautiful and creative book. I love books that play with fairytales. I think before reading this, people should read Amanda’s other nonfiction book. It will help to understand what is going on and the message behind the book. It is about disabilities in fairytales. The audiobook is really good. The reader’s voice gives the perfect magical sense of a fairytale. It really helps set the scene.
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
Not for me. 😕
adventurous
dark
emotional
hopeful
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
emotional
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I thought this was okay but nothing special for the first half and then in the second half it got much more interesting.
Overall, I found this was an interesting exploration of disability, grief and how people interact with both.
Overall, I found this was an interesting exploration of disability, grief and how people interact with both.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child death, Suicide
Moderate: Ableism
Minor: Gun violence, Death of parent
I got this through a blind date with a book and was honestly kind of skeptical (I feel like "The _______'s Wife" titles are quite tired now), but decided to give it a try anyway. Ultimately, I liked a lot of elements of the book - it has a really interesting mix of fairy tales and a kind of environmental horror that echoes Jeff VanderMeer's "Annihilation". I also enjoyed the way disability, ableism, ableism, and trauma are weaved through the story without feeling forced or devolving into tropes. The story itself was totally wild and weird, but in a good way. The book was engaging enough that I finished it over the course of a day of travelling.
However, I just didn't like how everything came together narratively. I think in stories like this one it makes sense to not have all of the plot lines nearly tied up, but that approach sometimes just left the story feeling incomplete.
**SPOILERS**
For example, I don't think the lineage between the different humans - the centaur's wife, the doctor(s), the main characters in present day - needed to be explicitly laid out, but I personally found them to be confusing enough that it took away from the story. For example, the twin babies seem to get their red hair from B, but there's also the implication that it might be related to the fox or that them being twins comes from the very first doctor, neither of whom seem to have any connection at all to B.
One thing that Leduc does do quite masterfully is examining really uncomfortable emotions and experiences. She shows what looks like post-partum depression in a way that's quite brutal without painting the mother as a monster who hates her children. She also tells different stories of grief, showing that while people may experience it in different ways, it's rarely straightforward and the people we lose never fully leave us.
Ultimately, I didn't love the story but it really piqued my interest in the author - I will definitely be checking out her nonfiction book on fairy tales and disability and keep an eye out for her future work.
However, I just didn't like how everything came together narratively. I think in stories like this one it makes sense to not have all of the plot lines nearly tied up, but that approach sometimes just left the story feeling incomplete.
**SPOILERS**
For example, I don't think the lineage between the different humans - the centaur's wife, the doctor(s), the main characters in present day - needed to be explicitly laid out, but I personally found them to be confusing enough that it took away from the story. For example, the twin babies seem to get their red hair from B, but there's also the implication that it might be related to the fox or that them being twins comes from the very first doctor, neither of whom seem to have any connection at all to B.
One thing that Leduc does do quite masterfully is examining really uncomfortable emotions and experiences. She shows what looks like post-partum depression in a way that's quite brutal without painting the mother as a monster who hates her children. She also tells different stories of grief, showing that while people may experience it in different ways, it's rarely straightforward and the people we lose never fully leave us.
Ultimately, I didn't love the story but it really piqued my interest in the author - I will definitely be checking out her nonfiction book on fairy tales and disability and keep an eye out for her future work.
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
I love Amanda Leduc's work, and was very excited to read her first fiction book, even though it is not my typical fave genre (fantasy, dystopia). But, unfortunately I really struggled to follow what was going on and I'm not sure I understood the central message. The book started off very strong, but maybe it meandered or my understanding of story weavered as it changed realities (from fables to present day?)? I really really wanted to like this more.