★★★★★ 5
Take a jaunt to Tintar, a city of blue abalones and black stone set above the angry sea...
Format: Paperback
Edie is a clever, gutsy heroine, who is lucky to be surrounded by a crew of likewise interesting ladies. Their tender moments in the bath and at the bar alike were very lovely, and the themes of female friendship were refreshing.
My favorite parts had to do with the magic of this world, which is very novel. Often there's elemental magic, earth gets the short end of the stick. Not so here. The power of earth in this seaside landscape cannot be underestimated, and I really enjoyed that twist. Earth signs, at least, will rejoice in seeing their element treated with real consideration.
All of the scenes of magic and old gods were A+, and I loved the weirdness of the rocks first coming to her in the forest, then erupting from the ground to let her know without a doubt what her strength was, and finally forming majestic creatures to rescue her new home—all based on the women who had supported and loved her.
The final conflict was excellent. There was a real sense that Edie was going to sacrifice something that she did not want to let go of, which you don't get that often. (Plus, it was pretty funny when a certain someone got tossed over a wall.)
Finally, given the themes of womanhood in this book, I am going to pull a word from the big reviewers' lexicon and say that this book is /timely/. What it says about what women are and are not, how it explores Edie's feelings about her body, were thoughtful and illuminating and, yes, timely and given the political climate we are now in—I will even add /necessary/ to that list.
It's a rich, femme-centric fantasy epic that made me think about womanhood (and motherhood) in a new light.
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Reviewed in the United States on July 26, 2024
