genre: historical fantasy
Anne of Brittany has one wish: to keep her Duchy of Brittany free from the clutches of France. The ONLY thing she is not willing to sacrifice for it is her younger sister. And thus her choices are very limited - with marriage as her only weapon, Anne tries to scheme her way into a reasonable alliance. What she hadn't planned on, however, is the Breton faerie stories having truth to them - as unicorns, korrigans and Lost Lands start feeling like they may not just exist but have machinations of their own.
I do love me some historical fantasy, so I'll say that first. I found myself googling a lot while reading because I'd never heard of Anne of Brittany, although I do already have some context for the history of Brittany itself. I liked learning about the myths of this part of Europe and Anne is a very intriguing and sympathetic character. The weaving of legend into history and the magical world building itself was strongly done. I grew up an ardent lover of unicorns (thanks to The Last Unicorn, I'm sure!) and so having medieval unicorn lore be a part of this story tickled that part of my inner young reader. It does have a lovely romantic thread, as well and while it's maybe not as steeped in the patriarchal nonsense that we know existed, I liked the strength of the women in this book a lot. My only gripe is that it felt a little too long but it still gets a solid for stars from me!
content advisory: one short but spicy open door scene that can easily be skipped for those who'd want to.
No comments:
Post a Comment