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Monday 14 January 2019

A POCKETFUL OF CROWS by Joanne M Harris

A Pocketful of Crows
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

After DNFing a novella the other day, I decided I wanted a change of pace. So I went through my Kindle books and stumbled on this one.

As soon as I started, I got sucked into the beautiful prose.

A nameless brown girl lives in the woods, where she can hitch a ride in a fox, a lark or a wolf. She can see and experience life through all the animals, and watches from a distance as the Folk go about their business.

But the day she saves a handsome boy from being crushed by his horse, her simple and nature-filled life is turned upside down. Love finds her, consumes her mind and drives her body to the castle, where she becomes trapped by her feelings and tamed by the name her beloved gives her.

All her wildling ways have been stolen by the boy she fell in love with, so when he throws her aside because of family and duty, he leaves her heartbroken, full of rage and determined to seek revenge...

I loved this book! It's such a whimsical story, a lyrical fairy tale told in a way that sometimes blurs the line between prose and poem.

The main character in this story is fascinating. She's strong and self-sufficient, relishes in her wild nature and the world around her. And that's why this tale has such an impact. Love changes her into someone else, softens all the rough edges and fills her with the possibilities of a life she never even knew she wanted.

While she's riding the high of falling in love, she's invincible. But when everything sours, she's betrayed and cast aside, realises love has turned her into a mere shadow of herself. That's when the desperate need to return to who/what she was before turns her motivations into something dark and twisted, fills her with the desperate need for revenge.

I really liked how the characterisation portrayed how wonderful love can be, the heights of happiness and pleasure it can reach. And how quickly it can fade. It also shows how heartbreak changes a person forever. Not to mention how beautiful and brutal the maturing and aging cycle can be.

This book is steeped in folklore and fairy tales and myths and old ballads. The author uses words to paint the lovely, yet tragic story complemented with gorgeous illustrations. The artwork is as wonderful as the story.

I loved every bit of this book, especially the ending because everything came together in such an unexpected way.


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