Book: A Tangled Magic: Deluxe Stenciled Edges by Unknown Author
Reviewed by Rallie X
Rating: 5/5
This is another long one and I AM NOT SORRY because THIS BOOK!!!!!! This book is for all the strange kids who wanted more than a fairytale, something with teeth , and nails :evil imp face:
Eames has created such a lush world. From cultural elements (I love the Followers and desperately want to join them, like, please?) to politics and religion, to history, Eames put so much work into building something believable and captivating.
Netta is a charming and genuine heroine and it's easy to imagine people jumping in to help her (or finding new motivations to do so) - and luckily she has Baldbeak, who is best bird and I would do anything for him! For someone basically shoved out the nest with no time to prepare and only the barest idea of a strategy she never comes across as stupid (no matter what she might tell herself). My feelings about Patrick and his Puss in Boots flavored insouciance cannot be described without spoilers, so we'll just go with "wow, what an incredibly written and complex character!" (which is true). Also, I'm moving in with the Book Man.
Eames' writing style has an effortless quality to it that draws you in and holds your nose to the page. As a lover of A Harvest of Hearts one of the first things I noticed that really sucked me in is that her heroines have both had their own entirely unique voice. She has a gift for dialogue and for description, quippy moments between Netta & Patrick and Netta & Baldbeak had me cackling and as somebody with mild aphantasia there were descriptions that were so evocative I could truly feel the scene. I also love how she wrote Baldbeak's dialogue and behavior, it felt so natural for a raven ("for why the blood?" sounds like a curious corvid). One thing I love is how deftly Eames uses pacing as a storytelling device; Netta only ever barely has her own footing and a relentless pace keeps the reader in the same position. Our heroine is in a state of constant precarity and that mood is directly reflected in the text. Eames doesn't rely on cheap GOTCHA moments to sweep the world out from under Netta's feet; events are clearly foreshadowed in the same way people watching a horror movie know not to go into the basement. We have the shape of each misfortune before it occurs but that doesn't make them any less dire. And where we don't? They hit even harder.
I ADORE her treatment of necromancy as more than "ooky spooky/dark and scary/violent and evil (or 'morally grey')" but magic dealing in entropy and the body; breaking out of the western lens to find something that feels sacred, powerful, and awe-some which isn't explored enough despite the current popularity of necromancy in fantasy. Netta's power being tied to the "silly" and "pointless" art she does because she loves it - embroidery - speaks volumes to the way Eames encourages the reader to consider power dynamics, access, and meaning. Art is never pointless but we live in a society that is constantly defunding the arts or treating them as lesser and unimportant when without art, we couldn't survive - and the gendered aspect of embroidery and the importance of "women's work" as something that heteropatriarchal society under capitalism struggles to manage and contain also comes into stark relief. Fiber arts have been employed in resistance movements for centuries, and Netta's refusal to give in and be what is expected or desired of her feels reflective of that.
I am so grateful to NetGalley, Kensington Publishing and Erewhon Books, and Andrea Eames for giving me access to this ARC, I cannot wait for more Persinette and Baldbeak!