The Raven and the Reindeer, by T. Kingfisher

[sophia_sol]

It's like this book was written JUST FOR ME and it is SO GOOOOOOD.

It's a retelling of Hans Christian Andersen's story "The Snow Queen", which was one of my favourite fairy tales when I was a kid. I reread that story about a million times! And unlike things like Cinderella it's not a story that anybody ever bothers doing a retelling of or deconstruction of or analysis of (I'm not counting Frozen because like hell is that actually connected in any meaningful way with The Snow Queen, whatever Disney says).

But T. Kingfisher (aka Ursula Vernon) manages to capture in this book everything I loved about the original story while also making it BETTER.

For starters: LESBIANS! This book ships Gerta and the Robber Girl and that's obviously the only right and good ship in the story and I'm just like, hearteyes forever, thank you for going there. And the Robber Girl (here named Janna) gets a much more rounded-out characterization, and acknowledgement of the kind of fucked-up life and history she's had with a bandit leader for a father. And Gerta is understandably wary while also coming to truly trust Janna (for good reason!) and aaaa I love their whole relationship.

Also, so many good secondary characters! From Gerta's grandmother on down through all the interesting women Gerta meets on her journey, they're all fabulous.

And the RAVEN. And the REINDEER. Gosh, the reindeer, so many feels over that whole thing. And I loved how the plant dreams become relevant to the conclusion of the book - this book does a much better job than the original story of having all the interludes feel like a part of a coherent whole.

But also just....the story felt right and good and I love Gerta and and I love how grounded Ursula Vernon's stories always are. I was so delighted by everything all the way through.

My one disappointment is that the story ended too soon! I'm sad we didn't get to see how Gerta's grandmother reacts to Gerta being home again, or to Gerta bringing Janna with her. I'm sad we don't get to see more of how Gerta's relationship with Kay changes after all this. I'm sad we don't get to see Gert and Janna's trip to the ocean! Most of this is me just being madly in love and wanting MORE, but I also do feel like the very end of the book was a wee bit too abrupt. I think I wanted evidence of Gerta being welcomed back into her community (being part of a herd!) instead of the focus being solely on Gerta/Janna (great though Gerta/Janna is) - I think that would have been a good way to resolve that particular theme.

Comments

[genarti]

I just read this! And yes agreeeeed on all counts. Including the ending -- I see what she was trying for, I think, but I agree that I wanted more of the emotional aftermath, in all the ways you've said. Gerta and her grandmother, Gerta and Kay (though that's the one I care least about), Gerta and her town omg yes so much, both because of the herd and because she was somewhat isolated in her Kay focus and I'd like to see how and if that changes now that she has a healthy relationship with Janna instead.

[sophia_sol]

Yeah!! And you're totally right about the other reason we need to see more of Gerta and her town - although actually I think that's part of what I was subconsciously meaning when I said I wanted to see how Gerta's relationship with Kay changes. Namely that now that they're back in their old familiar context I want to see Gerta NOT falling back into her old patterns of behaviour with respect to him!