book review: Daughter of Mystery
Apr. 24th, 2015 09:40 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
kareinaI recently set aside my "no fiction in English" rule (which is intended to improve my Swedish by reading in that language) to read Daughter of Mystery, which was written by ![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
hrj.
I knew before I picked it up that I would probably like the book--I have been reading her live journal for years and I enjoy her writing style, and I have enjoyed reading her posts about the book in progress (and about the squeal, which has also been published). However, this is a book that I wouldn't have heard about if I didn't have a connection with the author. Why not? Because it is a Romance, and I generally avoid reading Romance novels, so I never hear about them.
In this case, however, while it is certainly published as a Romance, it could well have been published as Fantasy (which genre I have been reading avidly since I discovered it in early high school or Jr. high school). If, like me, you enjoy books with a historical setting, books which are not only well written but use the English language as an art form, books with complex plots, plenty of politics, intrigue, and the literal changing of fortunes than this book is for you. (Mom, you want to buy this book!)
The story sucked me in, and during the couple of days I was reading it it was difficult to put it down to go do the things that I needed to do, and zero progress was made on projects in progress.
My only (minor) criticism of book comes down to the problems I have with all Romance novels: The mono-normative example they tend to set for relationships, usually combined with some major failures on the part of the lovers to communicate with one another. It is typical of the genre that two people meet, feel a growing attraction towards one another, encounter problems that prevent their union, followed by a happy ending wherein they finally declare their undying love for one another.
I, personally, find it frustrating to read the part of any Romance wherein the heroes are failing to communicate with one another, because I place high value on communication. Luckily for me, while this book does, of course, have a component that involves communication issues between the characters, for me they felt fairly minor compared to the over all story-arc, so I spent only a tiny fraction of the book wishing they would just quit being stupid and talk. So if you have been putting off reading this one because it is a Romance you might want to re-consider it.
I know thathrj wrote this book, in part, because she was tired of the hetro-normative stories that are so prevalent in the book publishing industry, and she longed to read books about "people like her". I can sympathize with this feeling, since, as a polyamorous person, I long to read books that show characters who are able to love more than one person at a time, and mange to engage in stable, healthy, happy relationships with multiple people.
However,hrj didn't write this book for me, so while she does show an example of a character who is still on ok terms with an ex-lover, the character also says something to the effect of "but I never loved her", so it misses this one point on my wish list. However, a really high percentage of published books also miss this point, and I am content to enjoy the book for what it is, rather than being disappointed in it for what it is not (while still making my wish out loud, in hopes that others can recommend books that fulfill that point; I know that zzambrose has written books that do feature happy poly relationships, has anyone else?).
If you want to read a well-written and complex story in a historic setting that includes unexpectedly inheriting a fortune (one of my favorite themes, ever!) and lots of fun to read, go get a copy of this book.
hrj. I knew before I picked it up that I would probably like the book--I have been reading her live journal for years and I enjoy her writing style, and I have enjoyed reading her posts about the book in progress (and about the squeal, which has also been published). However, this is a book that I wouldn't have heard about if I didn't have a connection with the author. Why not? Because it is a Romance, and I generally avoid reading Romance novels, so I never hear about them.
In this case, however, while it is certainly published as a Romance, it could well have been published as Fantasy (which genre I have been reading avidly since I discovered it in early high school or Jr. high school). If, like me, you enjoy books with a historical setting, books which are not only well written but use the English language as an art form, books with complex plots, plenty of politics, intrigue, and the literal changing of fortunes than this book is for you. (Mom, you want to buy this book!)
The story sucked me in, and during the couple of days I was reading it it was difficult to put it down to go do the things that I needed to do, and zero progress was made on projects in progress.
My only (minor) criticism of book comes down to the problems I have with all Romance novels: The mono-normative example they tend to set for relationships, usually combined with some major failures on the part of the lovers to communicate with one another. It is typical of the genre that two people meet, feel a growing attraction towards one another, encounter problems that prevent their union, followed by a happy ending wherein they finally declare their undying love for one another.
I, personally, find it frustrating to read the part of any Romance wherein the heroes are failing to communicate with one another, because I place high value on communication. Luckily for me, while this book does, of course, have a component that involves communication issues between the characters, for me they felt fairly minor compared to the over all story-arc, so I spent only a tiny fraction of the book wishing they would just quit being stupid and talk. So if you have been putting off reading this one because it is a Romance you might want to re-consider it.
I know that
hrj wrote this book, in part, because she was tired of the hetro-normative stories that are so prevalent in the book publishing industry, and she longed to read books about "people like her". I can sympathize with this feeling, since, as a polyamorous person, I long to read books that show characters who are able to love more than one person at a time, and mange to engage in stable, healthy, happy relationships with multiple people. However,
hrj didn't write this book for me, so while she does show an example of a character who is still on ok terms with an ex-lover, the character also says something to the effect of "but I never loved her", so it misses this one point on my wish list. However, a really high percentage of published books also miss this point, and I am content to enjoy the book for what it is, rather than being disappointed in it for what it is not (while still making my wish out loud, in hopes that others can recommend books that fulfill that point; I know that zzambrose has written books that do feature happy poly relationships, has anyone else?). If you want to read a well-written and complex story in a historic setting that includes unexpectedly inheriting a fortune (one of my favorite themes, ever!) and lots of fun to read, go get a copy of this book.