on
3.5/5
Non-Fiction
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Rating: 3.8/5
Pages: 343
Started: 14 December 2022
Finished: 17 December 2022
Summary:
Ever since Mer was branded for rebelling against Prince Garanhir, who used her powers of water for his own evil ends, she has been on the run. When the prince's former spymaster approaches Mer with the offer of a job--not just for treasure, but to bring down the prince himself--she can't refuse. And so, accompanied by the spymaster, a scholar, a soldier, a thief, a man given power by the fae to kill, and a corgi, Mer sets out through city and sewer in search of a treasure-filled well. But though she wants nothing more than to take the treasure and disappear from Wales forever, betrayal is around every corner--and it often comes from the people she leasts expects.
Thoughts:
I very much wish I had read it at a time when I was capable of fully appreciating it. I read the first half in small segments, usually past one in the morning, after hours of writing research papers and Hamlet essays. So, unfortunately, I was not as emotionally attached to the characters as I wanted to be. But regardless, this was a lovely book. I liked the use of Welsh language and culture; it was subtle but added an extra layer to the book. The interspersed fairytales and legends were very nicely done, and I liked the way they framed the story itself. The characters were relatively interesting, and more importantly, Lloyd-Jones avoided all of the awful tropes that often show up in fantasy like this. There was no power-loss trope. The female protagonist was duped, perhaps, but wasn't seduced by an older man, and she kept her own power most of the time. The casual diversity of the book was also super interesting. Mer was bisexual, Ifanna had two moms and was either lesbian or bi, and no one said a word about it once. Several of the characters were people of color. That's the power of fantasy, one that many fantasy others forget about--there's no need to include bigotry in a world that isn't ours. Yes, the book was based off of Welsh history, but also: there was magic. Keeping bigotry out of it is an easy next step, and I appreciate the way Lloyd-Jones handled it.
Thanks to my stress, I don't think I appreciated this book as much as I should have, so hopefully in the mid-near future I'll be able to read it again, with my full focus, and enjoy it even more.