Before I actually review this book, I need to say one thing: frakking love triangles! Bah! I'm so over them. Love triangles are the laziest form of coBefore I actually review this book, I need to say one thing: frakking love triangles! Bah! I'm so over them. Love triangles are the laziest form of conflict in a relationshippy storyline. The main character can either love one guy or love the other. It really is that simple, none of this confusion crap. Unless the main character is not self-aware I'd say it's impossible for them to NOT know which love interest is preferred.
Moving on...
The main character, Celaena, is a trained assassin. That's the cool part. The part that gets to me is we're never really told how she feels about that. We get a brief--very, very brief--description about how she felt after killing her first victim, way back when she was a kid, but never do we get more than that. It's irritating to say he least. I want to know what goes through this girl's head before she murders someone. Does she feel remorse? Anxiety? Sadness? Does she feel anything at all?
I mean, we get way more descriptions of Celaena's stupid gowns than anything she's actually feeling. Though the few times she does go there, actually trying to describe her feelings, all we get is a bunch of similes and metaphors that do not make any sense. Like this: "Celaena's blood turned into shooting stars"
What does that even mean?
Because of this and other ridiculous/nonsensical descriptions of the MC's feelings I can't even begin to relate to her. Let's not even get started on the fact that she comes across as a sociopath, which I'm pretty sure was not the author's intent.
That said, I did like this book well enough to give this book 3 stars out of 5, which means I liked it.
***An e-galley of this book was provided by Netgalley. My views are my own.***
Probably deserves four stars because it is a clever retelling of Cinderella. That said, my total enjoyment of it was almost three stars worth. I didn'Probably deserves four stars because it is a clever retelling of Cinderella. That said, my total enjoyment of it was almost three stars worth. I didn't really care for the main character nor, after a while, did I care about her unfortunate circumstances. At one point I was sort of hoping she'd die. Not the response the author was hoping for, I'm sure, but I'm not really your average female.
That said, I'm 95% positive every romance fan will love this book. So, check it out.
P.S. This is more like the T.V. show Revenge than it is like Cinderella, except not as good. Not by a long shot. Watch Revenge. ...more
Besides the healer magic the storyline wasn't particularly original. That said, I still liked it well enough. 3 stars. Besides the healer magic the storyline wasn't particularly original. That said, I still liked it well enough. 3 stars. ...more
I happen to like books which feature kick-ass feminist heroines and are light on the romance so I should like this book, right?
YeahUpdated 04/01/14:
I happen to like books which feature kick-ass feminist heroines and are light on the romance so I should like this book, right?
Yeah, but I don't.
First of all, Katsa acts like a petulant little girl throughout the entire book, not some strong feminist poster woman. Katsa shows very little, if any, personal growth over the course of this novel. Also, I felt like the author spent too much time trying to sell us on the following ideas: femininity is an idea forced upon women by the patriarchy, men don't respect women, commitment ruins relationships, marriage is a tool of the devil, and so on.
Look, I understand that some women feel that way, and I'm completely cool with it. I'd be lying if I claimed that I've never thought some of the same things during my lifetime. That said, I hate how the author seems to be shoving very specific views down my throat instead of telling me a story that challenges me to think for myself.
This book is written in such a way that it makes me think Cashore, the author, is using her character, her story as a vehicle to voice her very strong opinions. Don't get me wrong, I don't necessarily have a problem with that sort of thing, it's just that this book is being touted as 'feminist' but I fail to see true feminism within the pages of this book. I mean, I guess you could consider it a version of feminism, but it's not very inclusionary. In fact, it's a very bigoted version of feminism.
Other than Katsa every other woman in this book is portrayed as weak and dumb. So basically unless you're an angry, dress-hating, man-hating woman with an aversion to commitment there is something wrong with you.
News Flash: femininity isn't anti-feminist. I'm sorry but it is possible for independent, intelligent and stable women to embrace femininity without losing credibility. And anyway, isn't that the point of the feminist movement? Gaining equality without having to act like 'one of the guys'? I mean, sure, you can reject femininity if you want, but don't go around assuming that those who are feminine are pathetic weakling losers who do nothing to help the cause.
It just so turns out that line of thought is backward and does nothing to advance the cause.
Also, Katsa's view of other women in the realm is quite condescending in that she never seems to consider how privileged she is compared to some of these other women. Katsa's lucky in that she has the ability to kill pretty much anyone she wants so it's not like she has to do a damn thing anyone tells her to do. Despite all the crap she supposedly has to put up with, Katsa has benefitted from an education and she's also afforded more freedoms than most women because someone else pays her bills. She doesn't have to milk the cows or churn butter or become a serving wench. She doesn't have to prostitute herself out in order to make ends meet.
Girlfriend needs to shut the hell up about all that because it's not like she's doing anything other than making a-hole observations. Katsa's not doing anything to change the way all women in the realm are treated, which is fine, it's her life, whatever. She just needs to quit it with the judgmental attitude toward others who can't afford to live or think the way she does.
I could have handled Katsa's aversion to having a relationship with Poe if she hadn't had any feelings for him, or if she knew she wasn't emotionally ready to make any sort of commitment. But no, Katsa's aversion to commitment was built up do be some great personal strength of hers.
In the end it just felt like she ('she' being Katsa. Or Cashore. Kat-Shore?) was trying to prove a point or something, like "look at how independent I am. I'm not a barnacle. I don't need a man...except for when I needs teh sex. So Poe, my lover, sorry you lost your sight and all but I'll prolly be drunk-dialing you in the future, cause I am comfortable with my sexuality. kthanxbai." *sob* "Walking away is waaaaay hard, which is why I am so strong." *sob* "Grrrrrrrrrrrrrl Powerrrrrr!"
Yeah, because being in a loving, trusting, equal and committed relationship isn't a sign of strength. Strength can only be had by loners who don't like to commit because doing so will supposedly lower their self-worth ...ummm....I mean..."independent" people.
Also, it has to be said: The love scene grosses me out as much or more than the sex scene(s) in Titanic and/or Avatar. Some people just don't know how to write a love scene. James Cameron and Kristin Cashore are among that group.
One last thing: why is it that no one seems to have an issue with Katsa hitting Po, literally knocking him to the ground so hard that he bruises? All he did was voice his opinion, that's it. Had the tables been turned, had Po hit Katsa for voicing her opinion, you people would be unbelievably angry. I'm sure some of you would be burning Cashore in effigy.
Let's do a little more of this whole turning tables thing. Pretend that Katsa is actually a male character and Po is female. Okay, how much do you love this new topsy-turvy version of Graceling? Not very much, you say? Yeah, I thought so.
If you ask me Katsa is one of the least deserving protagonists. She's a violent, judgmental a-hole who shows little to no personal growth over the course of this entire book. I don't care if she had a difficult childhood, having a difficult childhood doesn't mean you have to go around inflicting the worst parts of yourself on others. Having a difficult childhood doesn't give you license to be an awful person.
Two stars because the concept was cool. Too bad it was poorly executed. ...more
Five stars. That's right--FIVE! Deal with it. (review to be written and posted after NaNoWriMo 2010).Five stars. That's right--FIVE! Deal with it. (review to be written and posted after NaNoWriMo 2010)....more
When I started this book I was thinking it wasn't for me, that I wouldn't finish it let alone give it five stars. How wrong I was. This is a five starWhen I started this book I was thinking it wasn't for me, that I wouldn't finish it let alone give it five stars. How wrong I was. This is a five star book.
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