I was surprised how well-written and interesting this book turned out to be. I was also surprised that it turned out to be in the genre of magical realism, not just a story of medieval Europe and the plague.
First of all, this is a scary book. It reminded me a bit of The Witcher – but with a more religious theme. There is gore and violence and death and it sometimes seems like a horror movie. But you learn to like the characters and they develop and overcome obstacles in their quest to help a little girl do something that even she doesn’t quite understand.
The author really brought this to life – there is the filth of living in poverty in that age, seeing the rich and the powerful, and all being subjected to disease, demons, and temptation.
The story itself takes some dramatic turns (with allusions to some biblical stories) and I genuinely didn’t know what would be the outcome. Sacrifice? Salvation? The epilogue was also extremely well-written – and made the character development much more satisfying.
Despite the dialogue and tone sometimes being a little too modern/casual I thought this was one of the better books I have read, certainly in the top five of this year so far.
Next I am reading Memory Wall by Anthony Doerr.
