Book Review: For She is Wrath

For She Is Wrath 

by Emily Varga
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

The Count of Monte Cristo is a personal favourite of the classics. I first read it when I was only 14; and again read it at 17, that time in French. I really should revisit it again now that I’m over 40. Going into any retelling always makes me both nervous and excited. You never can be sure what will happen when you read book inspired by old stories. I’m happy to say I quite enjoyed this one.

There are a couple of major changes to the main story; including a magical element added as the setting naturally brings in djinn magic. Emily Vargas also gives us female leads, instead of men. The ending is different in a way, and I (surprisingly) didn’t have much of an issue with that either. For She is Wrath is a solid use of an old story to tell a new one.

Vargas takes us on a journey that includes the expected elements of friendship, greed and revenge, like the original story, but also adds in compassion, forgiveness, and an endearing romance. While we spend 80% of the novel in the midst of a revenge scheme, we also learn a lot about the cost of revenge, and that many people in life wish for it but forget it comes at a cost. I really connected with this. While today I very happy with my life, love my partner, own a home, adore my puppy, and more; a piece of me still occasionally wishes for revenge on a couple people who terribly wronged me as a teenager. It’s silly, and I know that, as without their actions I wouldn’t be where I am today (and I would NEVER give that up) but I am human, as we all are, and thus lust for revenge as I believe many of us secretly do.

Just as Alexander Dumas did so many years before, Vargas takes the revenge desire and makes it relatable. Ultimately showing that humans may evolve, but we don’t change. Our primary drivers of love, greed, revenge, etc. all remain the same today as they did hundreds of years ago. With or without technology, space travel, and the internet we all still retain the primal instinct to survive, and wish to be in control of our lives. No one wants to be under someone else’s control.

I hope For She is Wrath will bring younger readers to the works of Dumas. It’s a great reflection on who we are, who we want to be, and that while circumstance may shape us they do not have to not define us. With just enough romance to be put in the ‘romantasy’ genre, I found this book to be a solid entry alongside the explosion of retellings and fantasy stories currently trending. It’s suitable for age 13 or 14 and up. There is some sex that happens, but no smut or graphic descriptions. Lots of sword fighting but no gratuitous gore. I’d be comfortable putting this into any avid teenage readers hands or recommending it to any adults that enjoy this genre. I am walking away from For She is Wrath content that Dumas’ original story has not been totally bastardized in its use and that the moral dilemmas still resonant today. I look forward to finding a fancy edition of this one to put on my print bookshelf!

Please note: I received an eARC of this book from the publisher via NetGalley. This is an honest and unbiased review.

Follow me on Goodreads

Book Review: Listen to Your Sister

Listen to Your Sister 

by Neena Viel
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Warning: this book is intense in how it represents, handles, and processes trauma. The whole book is a trauma in and of itself (or at least potentially). When this is listed as a horror novel it is a true horror novel. Not some surface level one. It might have been gorier but I like that it wasn’t. It didn’t need the gore to shock you or keep you on your toes.

The ultimate question: Did I like this?
Answer: I’m not sure. I didn’t dislike it, but it’s rough in places. Unlike Chuck Tingle’s Bury Your Gays, which was both traumatic, intense, and enjoyable; I found the humour here was not quite enough or just didn’t have me laughing the way others have described. It’s different, unique, clever, and very well written. Yet I’m struggling to figure out if I really liked it or would recommend it. It’s definitely not a book that will be for everyone and not one I would re-read.

My biggest peeve for this dark trauma story is the ending is a bit abrupt. There’s no nice wrap up moment, reuniting everyone and putting them on a clear path forward into better lives or safety. Or at least not overtly enough for my comfort level.

If you want to try something that is very heavy in its use of analogy, metaphors, similes, etc. Listen To Your Sister is a good choice. If you have sibling rivalry or burden to process yourself this is an excellent choice to help you understand from all 3 siblings perspectives why they do what they choose to do. It’s a balanced read, one that lends towards understanding to the only girl and oldest (I’m also the oldest of 3 and can confirm the responsibility representation here is spot on), but also really connects you with a middle child who never feels unique enough, and the baby who just wants things to be better but can’t quite see their role in helping that happen (at first). There are a fair number of excuses produced for drug use, alcohol abuse, and abandonment. As well as a large narrative about what it means to be a guardian and how you give up a lot of yourself to do so. And there’s surely multiple thesis that could be written on the portrayal of selfishness amoungst siblings with useless parents.

If any of that sparks your interest, or might be something you have trauma to still process about then this could be the book for you.
If not, then I’d approach this one with the foreknowledge that it’s intense, doesn’t pullback on punches, and may not be for everyone.

Please note: I received an eARC of this book from the publisher via NetGalley. This is an honest and unbiased review.

Follow me on Goodreads