Juliet Marrilier
Published in 2009 by Pan Macmillan
A haunted forest. A cursed castle. A girl running from her past and a man who’s more than he seems to be. A tale of love, betrayal and redemption…
Juliet Marrilier’s ‘Daughter of the Forest’ was a book I picked up randomly when I was 14 and it started my love of fantasy as a genre. I have continued to read her books and ‘Heart’s Blood’ is her latest offering. ‘Heart’s Blood’ is based on the tale of beauty and the beast. It is an interesting interpretation of the fairytale with Caitrin (beauty) fleeing from an abusive cousin and her son. Caitrin is a trained scribe and hears of work at Whistling Tor, a crumbling fortress on the top of a forested hill. Nearby villagers warn Caitrin away from Whistling Tor speaking of a curse put upon the chieftain that lives there and speak of evil and otherworldly things that roam the forest near the fortress. This advice is ignored by the young scribe and she encounters the chieftain Anluan (the beast) who is weakened and deformed from a stroke at a young age. He has strange ties to the otherworldly beings that roam the forest and frighten the nearby villagers.
Marrilier is a beautiful writer, the story flows beautifully with lovely imagery and language throughout the tale. Once again Marrilier creates a strong female lead, who was a little annoying at times, but overall I enjoyed following her journey in gaining courage to face her personal demons. I also appreciated the fact that Anluan was suffering from a physical rather than supernatural affliction. There was no beast that magically turned into a beautiful man, just a flawed man who had been through hard times.
While I enjoyed the book as a whole I could not help comparing ‘the host’ in the book to the ghosts from the Paths of the Dead in Lord of the Rings. Both books have ghosts tied to a human with violent pasts and must fight for release from the ties that bind them to the earth.
Heart’s Blood is a little more romantic and easy to read than I normally go for. However Marrilier has consistently put out well written novels giving life to old tales and mythology. It was a pleasurable book to read. Three out of five stars.
Oh man, "a little more romantic and easy to read" usually means I'd hate it. I enjoy Marillier, but I'm afraid she'll suffer from the "Hobbism" I'm currently suffering from, meaning I LOVE the author, but I doubt her newer stuff will hold a candle to her great previous stuff.
ReplyDeleteI know what you mean. Although I did enjoy Heart's Blood more than the Bridei Chronicles. But nothing can beat the Sevenwaters trilogy it will always be one of my favourites!
ReplyDeletePS there were no gooey love scenes in the book just UST
ReplyDeleteHmmm...I'm not much of a romance person myself but I will definitely have to at least give it a try since you said I would like it. I will add it to my virtual TBR in hopes of getting to it someday! My physical TBR is ridiculous.
ReplyDeleteI tend not to go for the 'fairy tale reimagining' kind of books, especially ones with romance attached. But I do like the angle that she took with the 'beast' having an actual deformity rather than a curse.
ReplyDelete