Unraveller
Mar. 17th, 2024 03:21 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
alobearMy experiences of reading Frances Hardinge's books has been hit and miss thus far (loved Fly By Night and Gullstruck Island but couldn't finish The Lie Tree despite several attempts) so Unraveller was a calculated risk - and overall, I thought it was pretty good.
I liked the worldbuilding, whereby people who have been wronged grow curses inside themselves, which they then release as a magical attack on those who are the target of their rage. Kellan is a boy with a special power to unravel the curses, if he can identify the curser and the reason for the curse.
The cursing system doesn't seem to have any rules or make much sense (one cursed man is turned into a tree, which is subsequently cut into planks and fashioned into a boat, but he doesn't seem to be missing any bits or really be any the worse for wear when he's turned back into a man again) - and the fact that the characters admit they don't understand it doesn't really mitigate this fact. But hey - I was largely happy to just go with it.
Kellan was a bit hard to like, since he was always annoyed or complaining or being mean to people. But his friend Nettle presented a very interesting, sympathetic and layered character to latch onto.
It was pretty dark and very grim in places, and the story was rather episodic in the way it was put together. There was also a massive epilogue with a huge amount of summary information to tie up all the loose ends, which felt a bit lazy.
But, all in all, it kept me interested throughout, I engaged with most of the characters, and the ins and outs of the story were compelling.
I liked the worldbuilding, whereby people who have been wronged grow curses inside themselves, which they then release as a magical attack on those who are the target of their rage. Kellan is a boy with a special power to unravel the curses, if he can identify the curser and the reason for the curse.
The cursing system doesn't seem to have any rules or make much sense (one cursed man is turned into a tree, which is subsequently cut into planks and fashioned into a boat, but he doesn't seem to be missing any bits or really be any the worse for wear when he's turned back into a man again) - and the fact that the characters admit they don't understand it doesn't really mitigate this fact. But hey - I was largely happy to just go with it.
Kellan was a bit hard to like, since he was always annoyed or complaining or being mean to people. But his friend Nettle presented a very interesting, sympathetic and layered character to latch onto.
It was pretty dark and very grim in places, and the story was rather episodic in the way it was put together. There was also a massive epilogue with a huge amount of summary information to tie up all the loose ends, which felt a bit lazy.
But, all in all, it kept me interested throughout, I engaged with most of the characters, and the ins and outs of the story were compelling.
