In 1558, while exiled by Queen Mary Tudor to a remote castle known as Perilous Gard, young Kate Sutton becomes involved in a series of mysterious events that lead her to an underground world peopled by Fairy Folk—whose customs are even older than the Druids’ and include human sacrifice.
Worldbuilding/Writing Style
I am a fan of historical fantasy! But I don't like it to be too "realistic"--outright implication that this actually happened in a historical fantasy is the fastest way to make me put the book down. Especially if it's implying that super creepy things actually happened. (*side-eye at Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children, which gave me night terror for weeks*) But this book walked the line of realism versus fiction quite deftly--immersive, but most definitely fantasy/fiction. The descriptions of the setting were spot on and felt so very real, and like I could actually see the things that were being described! (That doesn't always happen for me.) And it was all spot on for the period. The faerie kingdom was perfect in its creepiness and alien-ness. Overall: so. much. atmosphere.
And the writing style felt just right! It wasn't too modern and colloquial, but it wasn't so old-fashioned that a modern reader couldn't understand it.
Plot
The plot speed and structure and motivation were just...perfection. Not too fast of a plot, not too slow, and it felt like it fell in between character-driven and plot-driven! Just...beautiful. And very spoilery. So. That's all I'm going to say. Excellent pacing, and you'll have to read it to find out what happens. XD
Characters
Kate. Her stubbornness and knowing-of-her-own-mind were my absolute favorite, and I totally related to her curiosity and not obeying directions! Her sheer willpower was astonishing and I love it. But also, she's kind of clueless when it comes to love, and emotions in general, only, there are moments where something happens and she gets a stab of emotion that as the reader, you can feel so clearly. It's amazing. I love her.
Christopher is such a crusty cinnamon roll of a man, and I ADORE him. He's willing to *spoiler* sacrifice himself *end spoiler* to save his niece? And his protectiveness of everyone he sees as "his people"...all the love. (And he honestly reminds me of Tony Stark in the degree to which he blames himself for everything that goes wrong? Which I, of course, love. Except, my poor babies, they really need to learn to give themselves a break from time to time.)
The characters honestly feel real enough to touch. Kate and Christopher, of course, but even the minor characters, like Sir Geoffrey and Dorothy, have the roundedness of reality. Very impressive. :)
Romance
WHO GAVE THIS PERMISSION TO BE SO CUTE? Because HALP it is adorable. The sheer chaoticness definitely reminds me of Sophie + Howl (a ship I adore), and I love the way they fall in love, and the ENDING. <3
(Oh, and yes, they are adults and there is no ridiculous mush. Perfection.)
Content
I believe there may have been a bit of swearing, and there are definitely pretty scary perilous situations, along with implications of human sacrifice.
Overall Rating
Four stars! For sure. And probably higher on a reread.
Reminds me of...
A Traveller in Time by Allison Uttley! That's another historical fantasy (of sorts) set in nearly the same time period. It's more time-travel than fae-magic in terms of fantasy type, though.
Have you ever read this one? What are some of your favorite historical fantasies? Do you like ships that involve adults best, or do you like ones with teenagers?
OK. I am intrigued. Quite intrigued.
ReplyDeleteDarn it, Sam, my TBR can't take much more of this.
Mwahaha. I have done my job.
Delete(Ok, I'm sorry, I'm sorry! Sort of. XD)
I have heard a lot about this book but didn't actually know what it was about, so I'm grateful to find a review! (Have I ever mentioned how much I enjoy your reviews? The way that you keep it free of spoilers guarantees that I can read it! :D Love it!)
ReplyDeleteI usually prefer adult romances (meaning AGE not CONTENT thank you very much filmmakers/authors who do that! *groans*) but it is completely possible for me to ship young people. Like Bryce and Juli! <3 They're my main example, but there are others too.
(Yikes, Miss Peregrine's! I did not like that AT ALL. No no no no no.)
I'm so glad I could help you out! (Oh, you're too sweet! Thank you so much!)
Delete(Seriously, adult romances do not need CONTENT. *glares at filmmakers/authors*). But yes, I do ship young people sometimes! Bryce and Juli for sure! And...dang, I'm drawing a blank. I'm sure I can think of other examples given enough time, but I can't think of any off the top of my head. XD
(I didn't either! Nope, nope, nope.)
OKAY I'm dying of curiosity here: why do you call it historical fantasy? The Story Sponge always calls it historical fantasy too, and, like, why though?? xD When I first read it, all I knew was that it was a Tam Lin retelling, so I expected it to be fantasy, and then it wasn't, it was just straight historical fiction, and I was ridiculously thrilled about that but like...now I'm so confused because here people are calling it fantasy?? So if you could enlighten me I'd be grateful.
ReplyDeleteAnyway, I love your review. Christopher is a mess (yesss I see the Tony Stark parallel - oh, and I just watched The Avengers, and somehow Tony is very likeable in that) and I love him. And I LOVE Kate. And I ADORE their romance. (Something I say about zero romances ever.) And also, like, the writing style. <3 <3 THIS REVIEW MAKES ME HAPPY BECAUSE THIS BOOK MAKES ME HAPPY AND YES.
Well, in my mind at least, historical fiction is a story set in a "historical" time period, which is not alternate history and does not contain any magic. But since this *does* have magic in it, but it's still set in a historical time period, I call it historical fantasy. Hopefully that clears things up a bit!
DeleteThank you!
I know, he is, but it's a totally loveable mess. (I'm so glad you finally watched Avengers! And I want to hear more about what you thought! (But I'm very happy that you maybe understand a bit more of my love for Tony. :))). Kate is AMAZING. And YES their romance is probably my favorite in YA besides the ones in Queen's Thief. :) I'm so glad this makes you happy, because it makes me happy, too!
Ooh okay, well now I know why I'm confused at least. Which elements are you calling magic? Cuz the way I interpreted it, there...was no magic, and that's why I was surprised. :)
DeleteOoh, I see. I did think there was magic in the faerie kingdom--the way they kept those human slaves subjugated, for instance. But I see how one could interpret that as just a more advanced technology? Perhaps a hallucinogenic plant is being used? Or something? Anyhow.
DeleteSo I can see how perhaps a more broad definition of historical fantasy might be useful, because my knee-jerk reaction to this comment was "well, aren't faeries magic?" even though they don't *necessarily* do magic. So maybe I would say that historical fantasy has either magic *or* other fantastical elements such as fantasy creatures (or both, I suppose).
(This is one of the many reasons why I love your comments--they always help me clarify my thinking! :))
Ah yes, interpreting that as magic makes sense! (And yeah, I just assumed it was a hallucinogenic plant. Because...drugs do weird things, man. I mean, I know there are some traditional things in some Native American cultures where people will basically take a drug and they'll see all sorts of crazy things and stuff??) (And actually I didn't think the "fairies" were not human, I thought they were...a cult, basically, of particularly stubborn pagans.) (Oh, and I like your definition of historical fantasy. Pretty good test for when the lines get blurry, I feel like.)
Delete(Yeahhhh drugs are very strange things.) (I can see how you could see that, but I think the weird grey creature in the well made me think they were fairies...) (Thank you! I was happy with it. :))
Delete*jumping up and down* YES YES YES.
ReplyDeleteKate and Christopher are the BEST--both as individuals and as a couple. I love them dearly. Kate's stubbornness and Christopher's self-sacrificial/self-destructive tendencies and YES THE ENDING.
Ooh, I'd never thought of the Tony Stark as being like Christopher before, but I SEE IT.
I can't remember if I said this to you before, but when I first read Howl's Moving Castle I was like, "These people remind me of Elizabeth Marie Pope characters!" The level of banter and chaos in the relationships has a lot to do with it I think :)
Excellent review of an excellent book!
*joins your jumping dance*
DeleteYessss "self-sacrifical/self-destructive" is an excellent descriptor for a lot of what Christopher does! I love that!
I love when parallels like that pop out!
Ooh, I don't think you'd said that! But I can totally see it, because reading *this*, I was like, "These people remind me of Diana Wynne Jones characters!" I just...love all the chaos so much.
Thank you! And thank you so much for recommending it!
It's such a good book. I found them a lot like Howl and Sophie too.
ReplyDeleteIt really is! I'm glad other people see that parallel. :)
DeleteI love this book! It's a perfect fall read (or anytime really). If you liked this one you might like the other book she wrote The Sherwood Ring. It's very different from The Perilous Guard but it was the reason why I found out about The Perilous Gard at all.
ReplyDeleteMe too! Oh yes, I can totally see that! I may have to reread it in the fall for that cozy-creepy feeling. :) I actually just read The Sherwood Ring a couple of weeks ago and REALLY enjoyed it!
DeleteOoh, this looks really interesting! I feel like I would like this, so I'll add it to my TBR.
ReplyDeleteI think you would really like it!
Delete