Inspired: Slaying Giants, Walking on Water, and Loving the Bible Again
3.7
Rate It
Book
If the Bible isn’t a science book or an instruction manual, then what is it? What do people mean...
False Notes
Book
Ali’s only wish is to figure out what to do with his life. After years of going from job to job,...
Wandering in Wonderland (Book #1)
9.0
Rate It
Book
Far away and down a rabbit hole sits the magical world known as Wonderland. A safe haven for the...
Ayesha At Last
8.0
Rate It
Book
Pride and Prejudice with a modern twist. Ayesha Shamsi has a lot going on. Her dreams of being a...
Retelling Canada Young Adult
Winterdream
10.0
Rate It
Book
This Christmas Eve… no creature was stirring… Except, maybe, a mouse. At long last, can...
Sealed with a Curse
10.0
Rate It
Book
The kingdom of Melthkior was rich in both resources and people. The Royal Family were admired by one...
Fairytale Retelling Fantasy Romance Mythology Brothers Grimm The Six Swans
Light & Kingdom (Royal & Piper #2)
10.0
Rate It
Book
Over a year after the Piper of HameLonn disappeared, his secret is found out. In the capital of...
Fantasy Romance Fairytale Retelling Young Adult
In the original stories, Hera is vilified, portrayed as unreasonably vengeful, spiteful even. In this version, we can see her motivations. She can’t possibly direct her revenge on her monarch - that would endanger her position and Zeus would deal with her like all those who acted against him.
Hera is complicated woman, and she acts in the only way she knows how to. Her anger has centuries to mature and grow, and there’s a real sense of the passage of time. It’s just that that passage is pretty meaningless to a God!
This novel doesn’t excuse Hera’s behaviour, but it certainly gives the reasons for it. I love Greek mythology, and Jennifer Saints retellings have been excellent. This is another great addition to the series.
Goddess in the Stacks (553 KP) rated Bright Smoke, Cold Fire in Books
Apr 15, 2018
Hodge has written a few other books - Cruel Beauty, a retelling of Beauty and the Beast, and Crimson Bound, a retelling of Little Red Riding Hood. (She also has a novella that spins Cinderella.) You all know how much I like my redone Fairy Tales! Bright Smoke, Cold Fire, is a little different in that it's a Shakespeare play, instead of a fairy tale. I recently read and reviewed Miranda and Caliban, another Shakespeare reskin, but this, I think, is much better.
The Capulets have become the Catresou, and the Montagues the Mahyanai in this dark fantasy. The Ruining has killed every human outside the city of Viyara/Verona - only stopped by the mystical walls put up by a long-dead priestess and maintained by a mysterious cult of nuns.
My favorite characters in this book - and arguably the main characters - are Runajo (Rosaline) and Paris, rather than Romeo and the Juliet. (It's a title, not a name - her name was stripped from her as an infant when the magic was worked to make her "the Juliet.") The original play doesn't give either of them much time, and they are both fascinating characters in this novel - Runajo a little more than Paris, in my opinion. Runajo is a member of the Sisters of Thorns - the cult of nuns keeping the walls of Viyara up against The Ruining. When she accidentally brings the Juliet back from death, she becomes - or at least thinks she becomes - that which she and the city fear the most. A necromancer. Runajo and the Juliet both believe they will (and should) die for this crime, but still use the time they have left to try and save the city from the necromancers operating within.
Meanwhile, Paris and Romeo have found themselves bound by the magic that should have bound Romeo and Juliet, had it not gone terribly wrong. They can feel each other's emotions, see each other's memories, hear each other's thoughts. This is understandably awkward for Paris as he feels Romeo's grief for the Juliet's supposed death, and occasionally catches flashes of more intimate moments between the two. They decide to take on the city's necromancers in memory of the Juliet.
I liked how, similar to the play, Romeo and Juliet both operate for the entirety of the book under the assumption that the other one is dead. They both take risks and agree to things they would not have done if they didn't each welcome death in their own way.
I also very much enjoyed a side, non-binary character who I really want to see more of!
The book ended on an upsetting cliffhanger, which is really my only problem with it. The sequel is due out this summer (Endless Water, Starless Sky) and I will definitely be picking it up.
Great book, but you may want to wait a few months so you can immediately follow it with the sequel!
You can find all my reviews at http://goddessinthestacks.wordpress.com