Grave Mercy takes place in medieval Brittany, while France is threatening to take over and Brittany’s independence is hanging in the balance. Their duchess can’t be crowned without the consent of the French regent and she is entrenched in slimy marriage deals from multiple suitors. That’s the abridged version of the complex historical background that sets the scene for this story. The story is about Ismae, a girl who was fathered by Mortain, an ancient God of Death. She is mistreated by her father and […]
Blood Will Divide and Conquer
Rating: 4.5/5 Summary: Mare is a poor girl is a red village. Reds are inferior to the Silvers, who have silver blood running through their veins and incredible abilities to go with them. Mare believes she has no talent so she steals for her family. One night she meets Cal who gets her a job as a servant in the palace. It turns out Cal is a prince and not only a prince, but The Crown Prince of Norta. On Mare’s first day, she […]
Tan’s story of courtesan life in China not quite up to The Joy Luck Club
Another examination of complex mother-daughter relationships, this one set against the backdrop of 1912 Shanghai, then moving to the U.S. west coast and back again to China across a span of 40 years. The primary narrator is Violet, a little girl living in Shanghai with her savvy American mother turned madam of a highly specialized courtesan house which caters to Chinese and American businessmen and politicians, and successfully mixes business deals with sex. Violet is proud of her American heritage, until she discovers one day […]