Review of Nimue

[Cara Wilding]

[Following is a volunteer review of "Nimue" by Ayn Cates Sullivan.]

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3 out of 5 stars

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This story begins with Nina Liber, a 17-year-old girl living in Manhattan in the 21st century. She lives with her mother, Diana, an editor who is an expert in Celtic Mythology. Diana and Nina are grieving the loss of Nina’s father and travel back to their ancestral home in London for the summer. Nina has been experiencing disturbing dreams for some time. The new people she meets in London begin to blur her dreams and reality.

Soon, Nina finds herself manifested in another time as a powerful sorceress. She is now Nimue. The world is full of nymphs, wizards, magic, and enchantments. There are portals, time travel, and many worlds and dimensions. Nimue meets and falls in love with Merlin, learns to speak the language of the trees, and finds the power that exists deep within her. Her destiny requires much of her. She navigates the dual nature of light and dark, love and betrayal, and fate and free will.

Nimue: Freeing Merlin by Ayn Cates Sullivan is a beautiful tale of a young woman discovering her identity. The book explores feminine empowerment, motherhood, and the opportunity for wholeness. The author has a poetic and inspirational writing style, delivering the reader into a dreamy fantasy world. The novel offers a different perspective on well-known myths and legends. The characters and worldbuilding felt authentic and reflected the author’s extensive research. I especially enjoyed the character development of Nina/Nimue throughout her lifetime. While she transitions to adulthood and grows powerful, she struggles with anger, jealousy, and shame. She learns the difficulties of forming romantic relationships, motherhood, and taking responsibility for her actions. She also gains appreciation for taking care of her mind, body, and soul. I could easily relate to her experiences. An author’s afterword at the end of the book supplies supplemental information. I found this section very helpful in furthering my understanding of the book.

I wish the author would have made comprehension easier for the average reader. I sometimes found the language too elaborate, making it hard to follow. There was quite a bit of mythological jargon that took considerable effort to decipher. The inconsistent capitalization throughout the book was another aspect that didn’t work well for me. The fantasy genre has always given authors quite a bit of leeway in deciding what is and isn’t a proper noun; however, there must be consistency after making these selections. In addition, there were so many words and concepts of an essential or singular nature. I felt like I was constantly chasing the meaning and significance of words and ideas. In Part IV, there are visualization activities that I didn’t feel added to the reading experience. I also found a handful of errors in the book. For these reasons, I give this novel a 3 out of 5 stars.

I recommend this novel to anyone who enjoys romantic fantasy, medieval history, mythology, and the supernatural. The book mentions rape (no description) for those sensitive to this topic.

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Nimue
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[Anaïs Quesson]

I love your review! It's funny, I didn't feel like Sullivan's writing was too elaborate, or harder to understand than the books I usually read. However, I agree with you that the visualization activities did not serve any purpose in this book.
It's interesting to see why you took a few stars off, thank you a lot for sharing your thoughts

[Anu Anand]

Thank you for sharing this detailed review, Cara. I too have read this book and found Nina's character to be relatable, especially in her journey of self-discovery and learning from her mistakes. While the focus on Nina was engaging, I also found myself yearning for a deeper exploration of other dimensions of the tale. Nevertheless, the book offered an enjoyable overall experience. I personally found the author's writing style to be immensely captivating. It effortlessly immersed me in the enchanting world of the book, making it easy to visualize the landscapes and characters. Like you, I encountered some unfamiliar terms, and I was pleasantly surprised to discover the glossary at the end. The purpose of the visualization activities did elude me too. Your honest and comprehensive review is a valuable contribution to fellow readers. Keep up the excellent work with your reviews, Cara!

[Seetha E]

I agree with your thoughts about the character Nina. No reader can miss the extensive research that went into this book. However, I felt the details at times took away from the entertainment factor. I ended up looking up the internet and that helped a bit in connecting with the narrative. I agree with your comments about section IV as well. Thanks for a well-rounded and honest review.