A review by montereads
The Centaur's Wife by Amanda Leduc

dark emotional reflective sad tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.75

There was so much about this book that I wanted to love: the increasingly bizarre fabulism, the authentic-feeling folktales sprinkled in, the cryptic main character, the unexpected but vivid post-apocalyptic setting. But it just didn’t land. The story dragged its feet, the characters behaved in unusual and frustrating ways, the disparate pieces never quite seemed to come together in with anything resembling satisfaction. I think I really liked how this book said what it had to say. But… I kind of hated what it had to say, both about humans and their relationships to each other, and about our relationships to the land and our homes. It rang hollow, pessimistic, and unsure of itself. I’ll watch what Leduc puts out next, and am still very much intending to read her nonfiction Disfigured: On Fairy Tales, Disability, and Making Space, but this one was mostly a miss for me.