Lucy Holland: Sistersong

 Hi everyone

I just finished Sistersong by Lucy Holland. The book has a gorgeous cover but I read it on my e-reader.
It's only 360 pages but it felt longer.

"Inspired by the dark folk ballad “The Two Sisters”, interweaving the perspective of a third sibling that history forgot, Sistersong is a rich and lyrical tale in the tradition of Circe and The Bear and the Nightingale—the story of three daughters of a pagan king who each have their own magical gift, and their own price to pay, when war comes to their land.
In the ancient kingdom of Dumnonia, there is old magic to be found in the whisper of the wind, the roots of the trees, the curl of the grass. King Cador knew this once, but now the land has turned from him, calling instead to his three daughters. Riva can cure others, but can’t seem to heal her own deep scars. Keyne battles to be seen for who she truly is—the king’s son. And Sinne dreams of seeing the world, of finding love and adventure.
All three fear a life of confinement within the walls of the hold, their people’s last bastion of strength against the invading Saxons. However, change comes on the day ash falls from the sky. It brings with it Myrdhin, meddler and magician. And Tristan, a warrior whose secrets will tear them apart.
Riva, Keyne and Sinne—three sisters entangled in a web of treachery and heartbreak, who must fight to forge their own paths.
Their story will shape the destiny of Britain."

I was really looking forward to this but it fell quite short of my expextations. 

 

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The writing was ok, a bit simple though not overly so. But the writing is too contemporary for the setting, the dialogue, the characters are all written in modern day English, with modern ideas that don't fit in this historical setting. I'm not sure religion and tolerance were so deeply questionned or accepted back then.
My main problems were the convenience of the magic and the characters. The workings of the magic and the timing were a too perfect fit for the story. When it works or doesn't, who can do what. All way too convenient to fit what's going on and where Holland wants the story to go.
Now about the characters. All three sisters read like teenagers, especially the drama between them and the romantic aspect all three have. Mother and father have no depth, neither do the priest and the magician. Everyone is very one-sided.
As important; in my opinion Keyne should have stayed a woman and become the strong confident independent warrior she really is. Or she should have come into her own as a man but not a warrior. To combine them both made it too much of a stereotype wherein the man is the fighter and leader and the woman stays meek. As if she can only be a warrior is she's a man.
This really took down the book for me. 

It's not a great fantasy novel because it tries to be historical but it's not an amazing historical novel either because of the anachronistic writing.

I wouldn't recommend reading this.

Happy reading
Helena

Yuval Noah Harari: Sapiens

 Hi everyone

This is my review for Yuval Noah Harari's book Sapiens. I read my husbands copy. 

"100,000 years ago, at least six human species inhabited the earth. Today there is just one. Us. Homo sapiens.
How did our species succeed in the battle for dominance? Why did our foraging ancestors come together to create cities and kingdoms? How did we come to believe in gods, nations and human rights; to trust money, books and laws; and to be enslaved by bureaucracy, timetables and consumerism? And what will our world be like in the millennia to come?
In Sapiens, Dr Yuval Noah Harari spans the whole of human history, from the very first humans to walk the earth to the radical – and sometimes devastating – breakthroughs of the Cognitive, Agricultural and Scientific Revolutions. Drawing on insights from biology, anthropology, palaeontology and economics, he explores how the currents of history have shaped our human societies, the animals and plants around us, and even our personalities. Have we become happier as history has unfolded? Can we ever free our behaviour from the heritage of our ancestors? And what, if anything, can we do to influence the course of the centuries to come?
Bold, wide-ranging and provocative, Sapiens challenges everything we thought we knew about being human: our thoughts, our actions, our power ... and our future."

This was really, really interesting. I enjoyed every second. So many things to think about and connections I didn't see before. It's incredibly engrossing. Things I knew about were put into a new light or a different perspective and every chapter made me think about our history and future.
The book is easy to read and definitely written for non-scientists but it's not sensational or dramatic either. It's unbiased, it sticks to facts and whenever he speculates he states so clearly.

Highly recommended.

Happy reading!
Helena

Stephen King: Pet Sematary

 Hi everyone

I finally read one of Stephen King's absolute classics; Pet Sematary. And what a ride it was!
I got my copy from Bol.
You can find all my Stephen King reviews here.

" The house looked right, felt right, to Dr Louis Creed.

Rambling, old, unsmart and comfortable. A place where the family could settle; the children grow and play and explore. The rolling hills and meadows of Maine seemed a world away from the fume-choked dangers of Chicago.

Only the occasional big truck out on the two-lane highway, grinding up through the gears, hammering down the long gradients, growled out an intrusive note of threat.

But behind the house and away from the road: that was safe. Just a carefully clear path up into the woods where generations of local children have processed with the solemn innocence of the young, taking with them their dear departed pets for burial.

A sad place maybe, but safe. Surely a safe place. Not a place to seep into your dreams, to wake you, sweating with fear and foreboding... "

 

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This was sooo heavy. Especially now I have children (3 years and 7 years) it really hit me differently. The moment Gage dies and every word after chilled me to the bone. Before this scene the book was good but not amazing. But after his death it turns really dark and terrifying. It's horror but in a psychological way, it makes you doubt yourself and question how you would react, how your sanity would fare.

The writing is perfect for this novel. It's easy to read, atmospheric, there's a chill in the air from the first chapter and it's hard to put down. I did though, and frequently too because I felt chilled, short of breath and terribly sad. 

The last 50 or so pages were absolutely mental.

Happy reading!
Helena