Series: Sevenwaters #1
Genre: Fantasy
Age Group: Classed as YA (I would put it between YA and adult)
Source: Purchased Used
Hardcover - 455
Tor Books - 1999
Rating: 3.5/5
Lovely Sorcha is the seventh child and only daughter of Lord Colum of Sevenwaters. Bereft of a mother, she is comforted by her six brothers who love and protect her. Sorcha is the light in their lives, they are determined that she know only contentment.
But Sorcha's joy is shattered when her father is bewitched by his new wife, an evil enchantress who binds her brothers with a terrible spell, a spell which only Sorcha can lift-by staying silent. If she speaks before she completes the quest set to her by the Fair Folk and their queen, the Lady of the Forest, she will lose her brothers forever.
When Sorcha is kidnapped by the enemies of Sevenwaters and taken to a foreign land, she is torn between the desire to save her beloved brothers, and a love that comes only once. Sorcha despairs at ever being able to complete her task, but the magic of the Fair Folk knows no boundaries, and love is the strongest magic of them all...
Right off the bat I want to mention that there are several
trigger warnings for this book. Number one being an explicit and violent rape
scene. Also there are several instances where a depressed character
contemplates and attempts suicide. Both of these scenes are early on in the
story..
There are a lot of elements of this story I did enjoy. The
setting is beautiful. I loved Sorcha's character and her strong bond with her brothers.
There is a nice slow burn romance involved which is very well done. Overall I
enjoyed the story and the characters and this retelling of the Celtic swan
myth/fairytale is beautiful. I really enjoyed the crossover of the swan myth
and the fae elements. Sorcha's pain comes across in a very real way and I felt
her anxiety saving her brothers very strongly.
However, the very beginning of this book is like molasses.
The plot is very slow to start and there is a lot of info dumping about the
world and characters. I had a really hard time making my way through it. While
I thought the writing was beautiful, it is very repetitive and drawn out at
times. The end of the story completes Sorcha's story, but leaves several other
plot lines open.
I was also a little disturbed the rape scene was so explicit
and descriptive while depictions of consensual sex were glossed over and
practically excluded from the story. This bothered me a lot and I have a hard
time reflecting on the book without wondering why this was the case.
My Last Review ----> Across the Star-Swept Sea
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