Stephanie Jane reviewed Skin by Ilka Tampke
More history would have been nice for me
3 stars
I received a copy of Skin from its publishers, Hodder and Stoughton, via NetGalley, in exchange for my honest review.
Blog followers will know that we have been immersed in Roman history for the past week as we were pitched up by Hadrian's Wall so this was the perfect time to read Skin by Ilka Tampke. Skin is set some eighty years before the Wall was constructed and the second Roman invasion is about to devastate Celtic communities across what is now Britain. I liked how Tampke kept this imminent threat always simmering malevolently in the background. We know the coming army will succeed eventually. What we don't know is how each individual Celtic tribe will fare.
Our heroine, Ailia, lives a precarious life with one such tribe. An outsider since birth, she has no idea of her ancestry and therefore no 'skin' - no formal identity. This lack prevents …
I received a copy of Skin from its publishers, Hodder and Stoughton, via NetGalley, in exchange for my honest review.
Blog followers will know that we have been immersed in Roman history for the past week as we were pitched up by Hadrian's Wall so this was the perfect time to read Skin by Ilka Tampke. Skin is set some eighty years before the Wall was constructed and the second Roman invasion is about to devastate Celtic communities across what is now Britain. I liked how Tampke kept this imminent threat always simmering malevolently in the background. We know the coming army will succeed eventually. What we don't know is how each individual Celtic tribe will fare.
Our heroine, Ailia, lives a precarious life with one such tribe. An outsider since birth, she has no idea of her ancestry and therefore no 'skin' - no formal identity. This lack prevents her from full tribe participation and means she has no access to education. Her yearning to learn is a poignant theme throughout Skin. Through Ailia's eyes we see aspects of tribe and community life as well as being introduced to imaginings of religious practice.
There are frequent spiritual journeys in Skin and I wasn't convinced by telegraphed plot twists being solved by mystical occurrences. I think a Young or New Adult audience might get more from Skin. It's romantic storyline is sweet and portrayed coyly enough for younger readers. Personally, I would have preferred more history and less magic.