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Book Review
The Queen of Attolia
by Megan Whalen Turner
This is the second book in the Thief series, and it's a very different book in some ways. It's a lot deeper and, at least for me, had a lot more emotional resonance. I had very different feelings towards Eugenides - he became more to me than the fun, brash, adventurous youth of The Thief. I felt so much more sympathy for him and involvement with him. Eugenides really moved me - his actions, his feelings and thoughts, his development. I'm sure some of this has to do with the nature of the traumatic experience he endures at the beginning of the novel (if you know me, you have some idea of how that affected me). The rest of it, though, is just Turner's brilliantly sensitive and nuanced writing.
I was also fairly enchanted with the love story, although I admit I kind of don't get how it arose or really works. I think a little more foreshadowing or mentioning of Eugenides' love for Attolia would have helped, and I would have liked a little bit more peering into her thoughts and feelings so that we could understand her relationship with him a bit better. Turner is great at the nuance and subtlety (and that is one of the things I love about her writing), but I think she could have been a bit more forthright in presenting this part of the narrative. Nonetheless, Turner gives the romance wonderful emotional weight and immediacy so that even though I didn't get the relationship, I still felt it keenly.
by Megan Whalen Turner
This is the second book in the Thief series, and it's a very different book in some ways. It's a lot deeper and, at least for me, had a lot more emotional resonance. I had very different feelings towards Eugenides - he became more to me than the fun, brash, adventurous youth of The Thief. I felt so much more sympathy for him and involvement with him. Eugenides really moved me - his actions, his feelings and thoughts, his development. I'm sure some of this has to do with the nature of the traumatic experience he endures at the beginning of the novel (if you know me, you have some idea of how that affected me). The rest of it, though, is just Turner's brilliantly sensitive and nuanced writing.
I was also fairly enchanted with the love story, although I admit I kind of don't get how it arose or really works. I think a little more foreshadowing or mentioning of Eugenides' love for Attolia would have helped, and I would have liked a little bit more peering into her thoughts and feelings so that we could understand her relationship with him a bit better. Turner is great at the nuance and subtlety (and that is one of the things I love about her writing), but I think she could have been a bit more forthright in presenting this part of the narrative. Nonetheless, Turner gives the romance wonderful emotional weight and immediacy so that even though I didn't get the relationship, I still felt it keenly.