Spear

Some good twists, world build, and creativity.

I don't always have the language to express why a book is great.

Spear, flows. The prose flows, Griffith's narration flows.

The words flow like a clear stream bending around the rocks of toxic masculinity that litter such fairy tales as the Arthurian myth. Reshaping them, smoothing their rough edges into a tale sweet to modern / woke, ears.

This one fell short for me, despite the lovely prose and the fascinating main character. I never felt connected emotionally, and so I lost out on much of what was intended. I also didn't understand the ending (major plot hole? or just me being dense?). This felt more like a novella, and I really wish there'd been more to it - both deeper emotionally and more developed plot-wise.

First the positive: I have a bit of a soft spot for retellings of the Arthurian legend, and this seems a particularly good one. Not only does it do a really good job of tying in Welsh/Irish life and legends, but much of the prose is beautiful and dense. The less satisfying aspects of the book, however, include the pacing and the incomprehensible motivations of some of the characters. Worst of all, though, is that the main character comes across as a bit of a Mary Sue and, while that kind of makes sense in the context of the story, it does feel a bit... I don't know, 'YA', which is very much at odds with the other aspects of the book. I guess I'd say that I'm glad I read it, but I'm also glad it's over :(

I tried listening to this as I was painting. It didn't grab me. I realize there's mythology behind a lot of the choices, but the protagonist being amazingly good at everything, and having very little understanding of human nature, made for a boring read. Like "oh she has defeated that guy? Of course. She won but they still reject her? Of course. She doesn't understand why? Of course."

I got 26% (thanks, e-reader) into this book before I quit. I really wanted to like it, with its queer heroine and beautiful writing style. But ultimately it’s a lone hero story and I’m practically allergic to those.

Cool approach to Arthurian legend.