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purplepenning's Reviews (1.72k)
In the village of Thistleford, so the story goes, sisters Esther and Ysabel weave willow branches to sell at the market. More importantly, they weave songs to thank the pair of mighty willows that temper the wild magic in the river that flows from Faerie. Until one day their sisterly idyll is disrupted by the trailing roots of a childhood trip to Faerie and a persistent entanglement of suitors. Will it, can it, be restored by the unruly grammar of ballads and riddles [and] the grammar of Arcadia, which breaks the real into the true"? And what might that restoration look like at a time when grammar is wild…
Grammar, like gramarye, like grimoire. What is magic but a change in the world? What is conjugation but a transformation, one thing into another?
A story of sisterly love and loyalty, of transformation and justice, like all good fairytales, this one manages to be both tender and brutal, cutting and lyrical, poignant and playful.
Pair it with "Nettle & Bone" by T. Kingfisher to double your pleasure in sister-love-and-justice fairytale novellas. And to find another unexpectedly significant chicken.
Moderate: Body horror, Grief, Murder, Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Sexual content, Blood, Fire/Fire injury, Classism
This is about 55% Rose, 30% Dorothy, 10% Sophie, and 5% Blanche. If Rose's St. Olaf shtick isn't your favorite, you'll want to take a pass on this one and wait to see what the rest of series brings.
Moderate: Sexual content, Blood, Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Infidelity
Moderate: Drug use, Emotional abuse, Infertility, Infidelity, Misogyny, Sexism, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Grief, Pregnancy, Alcohol
Minor: Miscarriage, Physical abuse, Racism, Sexual content, Medical content, Death of parent
Moderate: Bullying, Deadnaming, Transphobia, Violence, Vomit, Dysphoria
Minor: Animal death, Homophobia, Misogyny
Moderate: Hate crime, Racism, Xenophobia, Islamophobia, Religious bigotry
Minor: Violence, Pregnancy, War, Injury/Injury detail
Graphic: Dementia
Moderate: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Child abuse, Death, Emotional abuse, Infidelity, Medical content, Grief, Alcohol
Minor: Alcoholism, Cursing, Racism, Sexual content, Terminal illness, Blood
