I Read What?!

So, now that I've made it through Daughter of the Lion...it's time to judge it.

Does it pass or fail? I mean, it's complicated.

Now because of the major twist toward the end, I'm going to put this behind a cut.

( Wooo, )

So last time, Rhiannon showed us again why she's, by far, the most effective villain in this series.

( And I'm manfully avoiding a penetration joke here. I hope you're happy. )

I'm realizing I have to go back and fix the chapter titles for this book. Eh, I'll do it later.

Anyway, last time, the book remembered Maeve exists. Pretty much only to make her a strawman opponent to Keely getting an abortion. I mean, at least her argument is along the lines of "it's too late and will probably kill you", but I could wish for a little better.

The first part of the book, while decent, was remarkably repetitive at times, with at least two separate occasions each of Keely storming off, meeting Rory, asking the same questions, meeting Teirnan, hearing the same doubts, consulting with Ian, clashing with Brennan and so on.

Imagine for a moment, we actually cut out some of that repetition and gave Keely's sister some focus in this feminist themed book?

What if we actually got to play a little bit with the contrast between having the status of a princess, the protection of legitimacy, and the burden of betrothal, to having none of those things, and then maybe got into the fact that despite Keely's powers, despite Maeve's anonymity, both end up used and abused by men who try to use them against their loved ones and force them into pregnancy.

I don't know, I feel like there's something to explore there. Instead of just "Keely's not like other girls and her plight is the only one that actually matters."

( I'm not really being fair because I am invested in Keely's plight. This could be done better though. )

So last chapter, we actually met Sean. And much to my genuine shock, he's actually a really great guy. At least he seems to be.

I'm going to add a warning for this chapter. There's some pretty vicious pro-life rhetoric directed at a female character. This is not portrayed as a good thing, and is not done by any of the regular characters, but I suspect that it still could be triggering to a lot of people. Please be warned.

( We do have some lingering issues though... )

So last time, Keely was making her escape from the Crystal Isle, when she started falling into the ocean. That can't be good.

( Can she take the shape of a dolphin? I've wondered about that. )

So last time, Taliesin went out in a blaze of heroism. Keely is in the process of escaping her rapist captor and things are looking up!

( But Strahan can't be too far behind. )

I have just noticed that somehow I never did a Table of Contents for Robin and the Kestrel, nor have I updated my master post. So...that'll happen soon.

Anyway, as for Daughter of the Lion, we're entering into our big genre shift. For the first two thirds of the book, Daughter of the Lion was basically a romantic comedy with some vaguely feminist leanings. It wasn't entirely to my taste, but it was pretty consistent in that tone.

Now it changes. There's a big Content Warning here, folks. Not surprising for this series but still a bit disappointing.

On one hand, I suppose, it is a chance for Roberson to put her money where her mouth is. Daughter of the Lion is possibly the only book in the series to really treat the rape trauma undergone by the characters with the genuine emotion that it deserves. And well, the relevant victims here are men. We'll now get to see if she treats a female victim with the same sensitivity.

But it's still bothersome. Especially since I can't quite get over the idea that Keely's experience now is somehow meant to counter or balance or make up for how she's been treating her brother throughout this book. Brennan is, after all, a victim of rape and torture himself. But this isn't the kind of resolution I wanted to see. I didn't want to see Keely punished for how she treats her brother, I wanted her to realize how unfair she was being and apologize.

Spoiler: while Keely definitely suffers in her own right, she will never come to the realization or apologize. So my desires are thwarted twice.

Oh well. Let's move on with the story.

( I suppose I've stalled long enough )

So last time, Keely let slip about Rory and his raiders and the boys have gone after them.

This could get tense!

( Familial misunderstandings await! )

So last time, Keely had good scenes with both Hart and Ian. Not much really happened, but I enjoyed the character beats nonetheless. Particularly since Hart has gotten to show some of the growth that he didn't really have time to at the end of Pride of Princes.

( I had a pithier comment for this cut tag, but honestly, this chapter is really fucking good )

So last time, Keely's flight home was interrupted by a familiar face with some terrible news!

( Leave the fun NPCs alone!!! )