Review by fisherkat -- Dagger's Destiny by Linnea Tanner
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Review by fisherkat -- Dagger's Destiny by Linnea Tanner
[Following is a volunteer review of "Dagger's Destiny" by Linnea Tanner.]
Princess Catrin of the Cantiaci Kingdom has been discovered to have affections for Marcellus, a soldier in the Roman army headed by his father. In order to earn back her father's love, she trains as a warrior to fight against the enemy Romans. However, as the curse that hangs heavy over her father becomes more dire, and the agitation of former allies ignite, Catrin must decide which is more important: her love for her kingdom or her love for Marcellus.
Dagger's Destiny by Linnea Tanner is a seductive but interestingly feminist fantasy story steeped in Celtic folklore and Ancient British history. It's a well-edited guilty pleasure that works well as the second book of a series. It scores a 2 out of 4 stars.
What makes this novel so good is that it manages to be an addictive romance story while also going above and beyond the cliched Romeo and Juliet formula. Actually, in doing so, they've managed to be even more alike to the classic Shakespearean masterpiece than some recent adaptations I've seen. Perhaps the biggest point of praise and comparison is how the author handles the novel's conflicts.
Conflicts work best when they feel like a natural byproduct of plot and character. For instance, Romeo and Juliet are at heart very simple people who just want to love each other without having to forsake their families. Their families, meanwhile, hate each other so much that they refuse to let their kids openly be in love. What Romeo and Juliet want kickstarts the plot, and what their families want throw up the necessary obstacles that Romeo and Juliet then must react to for the sake of their love, which leads to an ending that feels inevitable but so regrettable. The same can be said for this novel: all the characters want something, but are unwilling to make the necessary sacrifices to make their goals a reality, and as a result draw out their personal conflicts. These conflicts then tangle with each other, which then spark new conflicts, until everyone is essentially miserable as a result of their own stubbornness. It also makes the reader root for Catrin's and Marcellus's romance, as it genuinely feels like the only place there isn't a conflict is between these two.
The focal point of this story, its romance, is also a thing of praise. Like Romeo and Juliet, the author actively works to bring the reader into her sensual tale, though Tanner does this more solely through situation alone. This whole story has the checklist for falling in love: there are beautiful settings, beautiful characters, and so many 'prove your love' moments that would make any fangirl squeal. This last part is one of the more gratifying aspects of this novel. There's something very appealing about having characters constantly sacrifice for the sake of each other, and I think it's in part due to ego, feeling like you're worth that much to someone. What makes it truly appreciable isn't just the fact that it is so shamelessly used, but that it is also a trope that gets turned on its head in an amazing depiction of how wrong sexism is.
A lot of romance novels I've read state that sexism is wrong, but they do very little to explain why. Instead, they flash their haughty female protagonist as progressive without taking into account that most women do not want that sort of label placed on them. Indeed, it's become an insult, and a very creepy excuse for behaviors that feel justified simply because the perpetrator thought someone was playing hard to get or was deserving of it because of their supposedly awful behavior towards them. Catrin has a really rough time in this book; she's shunned by not just her father, but the whole kingdom, for her affair with Marcellus. She has to undergo a total identity change just to try and make it in her world. Marcellus's struggle pales in comparison; in fact, his affair may have actually empowered him in the eyes of many people, even if that makes him miserable. Catrin doesn't have that luxury, she doesn't have much choice what happens to her now. While all these terrible things are happening to her, she's also forced to put on a pretense of being okay when she isn't, obeying what is asked of her even when it feels so stifling and disrespectful. If there's a message that Dagger's Destiny offers, it's that love, loyalty, and kindness should not come with prices. A man should not be kind to a woman simply because he thinks he can make her pay him with her love, and vice-versa.
For all that the book goes above and beyond in doing, the ending seems to stymie it. This is also the point where the fantasy element starts figuring most strongly, and what a mistake that is. The fantasy parts of the story were always present, but they took a backseat to the character conflicts, simply being used to highlight a conflict or add a layer of mystery and suspense. When the ending chapters roll in, there's a sudden shift where a bunch of crazy magical things happen that feel so odd and so rushed, and just really uninteresting. Whatever character arcs the book was building up are finished in a really poor and kind of lazy manner, and the emotions the author had been able to elicit at the start became stale. The worst thing that happened by the end is that the conflicts, these wonderful conflicts that drew the reader to the characters and made the story so addictive, the romance so beautiful, are resolved in the least satisfying and laziest ways possible. Now, the end does set up the sequel to this book, but it would've been so much more enjoyable to struggle though conflict-driven emotions and ride that wave into the next novel. Furthermore, the actual writing itself can be really obvious and redundant. There's only so many times a book can say that someone is miserable or hesitant before it needs to move on.
Excluding the last third of the book, Dagger's Destiny is an addictive and progressive work that is definitely worth reading. It's a guilty pleasure that is proud in its portrayal of feminism and a time period not many people tend to focus on. It's definitely not something for young teens or children, but this grittier version of Romeo and Juliet could definitely appeal to some parents out there.
******
Dagger's Destiny
View: on Bookshelves | on Amazon | on iTunes
Princess Catrin of the Cantiaci Kingdom has been discovered to have affections for Marcellus, a soldier in the Roman army headed by his father. In order to earn back her father's love, she trains as a warrior to fight against the enemy Romans. However, as the curse that hangs heavy over her father becomes more dire, and the agitation of former allies ignite, Catrin must decide which is more important: her love for her kingdom or her love for Marcellus.
Dagger's Destiny by Linnea Tanner is a seductive but interestingly feminist fantasy story steeped in Celtic folklore and Ancient British history. It's a well-edited guilty pleasure that works well as the second book of a series. It scores a 2 out of 4 stars.
What makes this novel so good is that it manages to be an addictive romance story while also going above and beyond the cliched Romeo and Juliet formula. Actually, in doing so, they've managed to be even more alike to the classic Shakespearean masterpiece than some recent adaptations I've seen. Perhaps the biggest point of praise and comparison is how the author handles the novel's conflicts.
Conflicts work best when they feel like a natural byproduct of plot and character. For instance, Romeo and Juliet are at heart very simple people who just want to love each other without having to forsake their families. Their families, meanwhile, hate each other so much that they refuse to let their kids openly be in love. What Romeo and Juliet want kickstarts the plot, and what their families want throw up the necessary obstacles that Romeo and Juliet then must react to for the sake of their love, which leads to an ending that feels inevitable but so regrettable. The same can be said for this novel: all the characters want something, but are unwilling to make the necessary sacrifices to make their goals a reality, and as a result draw out their personal conflicts. These conflicts then tangle with each other, which then spark new conflicts, until everyone is essentially miserable as a result of their own stubbornness. It also makes the reader root for Catrin's and Marcellus's romance, as it genuinely feels like the only place there isn't a conflict is between these two.
The focal point of this story, its romance, is also a thing of praise. Like Romeo and Juliet, the author actively works to bring the reader into her sensual tale, though Tanner does this more solely through situation alone. This whole story has the checklist for falling in love: there are beautiful settings, beautiful characters, and so many 'prove your love' moments that would make any fangirl squeal. This last part is one of the more gratifying aspects of this novel. There's something very appealing about having characters constantly sacrifice for the sake of each other, and I think it's in part due to ego, feeling like you're worth that much to someone. What makes it truly appreciable isn't just the fact that it is so shamelessly used, but that it is also a trope that gets turned on its head in an amazing depiction of how wrong sexism is.
A lot of romance novels I've read state that sexism is wrong, but they do very little to explain why. Instead, they flash their haughty female protagonist as progressive without taking into account that most women do not want that sort of label placed on them. Indeed, it's become an insult, and a very creepy excuse for behaviors that feel justified simply because the perpetrator thought someone was playing hard to get or was deserving of it because of their supposedly awful behavior towards them. Catrin has a really rough time in this book; she's shunned by not just her father, but the whole kingdom, for her affair with Marcellus. She has to undergo a total identity change just to try and make it in her world. Marcellus's struggle pales in comparison; in fact, his affair may have actually empowered him in the eyes of many people, even if that makes him miserable. Catrin doesn't have that luxury, she doesn't have much choice what happens to her now. While all these terrible things are happening to her, she's also forced to put on a pretense of being okay when she isn't, obeying what is asked of her even when it feels so stifling and disrespectful. If there's a message that Dagger's Destiny offers, it's that love, loyalty, and kindness should not come with prices. A man should not be kind to a woman simply because he thinks he can make her pay him with her love, and vice-versa.
For all that the book goes above and beyond in doing, the ending seems to stymie it. This is also the point where the fantasy element starts figuring most strongly, and what a mistake that is. The fantasy parts of the story were always present, but they took a backseat to the character conflicts, simply being used to highlight a conflict or add a layer of mystery and suspense. When the ending chapters roll in, there's a sudden shift where a bunch of crazy magical things happen that feel so odd and so rushed, and just really uninteresting. Whatever character arcs the book was building up are finished in a really poor and kind of lazy manner, and the emotions the author had been able to elicit at the start became stale. The worst thing that happened by the end is that the conflicts, these wonderful conflicts that drew the reader to the characters and made the story so addictive, the romance so beautiful, are resolved in the least satisfying and laziest ways possible. Now, the end does set up the sequel to this book, but it would've been so much more enjoyable to struggle though conflict-driven emotions and ride that wave into the next novel. Furthermore, the actual writing itself can be really obvious and redundant. There's only so many times a book can say that someone is miserable or hesitant before it needs to move on.
Excluding the last third of the book, Dagger's Destiny is an addictive and progressive work that is definitely worth reading. It's a guilty pleasure that is proud in its portrayal of feminism and a time period not many people tend to focus on. It's definitely not something for young teens or children, but this grittier version of Romeo and Juliet could definitely appeal to some parents out there.
******
Dagger's Destiny
View: on Bookshelves | on Amazon | on iTunes
Latest Review: The King of May by Matthew Tysz
