This was pretty depressing to read. I recognize that it's inspired by the brutality/inequality of medieval Europe, but I just could not get into this. Lizzy being so easily executed over letters while Christina actually has sexual partners with no consequence made the former feel like it was done only for the shock value. Camilla being forced to take on Aruna's identity because she's a lesser noble and being seen as some annoying ugly side character until her death also rubbed me the wrong way.
Then there's the unchallenged misogyny - the way both intelligence *and* beauty is needed to be a great female ruler, which is emphasized by multiple characters on multiple occasions. The beauty standard of light hair and eyes was also uncomfortably emphasized imo - esp between Anne and Christina (though this in no way excuses Anne and her schemes).
I'm also not into the budding romance between Arthur and Aruna. They're a stale pairing. I'm not understanding Arthur's love for her at this point in time, and I'm honestly more intrigued by the relationship Aruna had with her previous partner at her kingdom.
Wish the story would also be more clear on where it's heading. The reasoning behind Arthur hiding his identity as King, having multiple Queen candidates, what future they're trying to build is really weak/underexplained.The story asserted early on that the Church is very powerful, and so a queen cant be chosen, an innocent girl can't be saved, the countrymen are rotten to the core because of the values it purports, but after 20+ chapters with no real exertion of authority, a view of the organization, or even a peek into how religion is embedded in society - it makes the whole plot seem half-baked and aimless.
I feel like there's a lot of strong characters in this series, but they're not being utilized to their full potential. Ultimately, this is a mediocre story being carried by great art.
This was pretty depressing to read. I recognize that it's inspired by the brutality/inequality of medieval Europe, but I just could not get into this. Lizzy being so easily executed over letters while Christina actually has sexual partners with no consequence made the former feel like it was done only for the shock value. Camilla being forced to take on Aruna's identity because she's a lesser noble and being seen as some annoying ugly side character until her death also rubbed me the wrong way.
Then there's the unchallenged misogyny - the way both intelligence *and* beauty is needed to be a great female ruler, which is emphasized by multiple characters on multiple occasions. The beauty standard of light hair and eyes was also uncomfortably emphasized imo - esp between Anne and Christina (though this in no way excuses Anne and her schemes).
I'm also not into the budding romance between Arthur and Aruna. They're a stale pairing. I'm not understanding Arthur's love for her at this point in time, and I'm honestly more intrigued by the relationship Aruna had with her previous partner at her kingdom.
Wish the story would also be more clear on where it's heading. The reasoning behind Arthur hiding his identity as King, having multiple Queen candidates, what future they're trying to build is really weak/underexplained.The story asserted early on that the Church is very powerful, and so a queen cant be chosen, an innocent girl can't be saved, the countrymen are rotten to the core because of the values it purports, but after 20+ chapters with no real exertion of authority, a view of the organization, or even a peek into how religion is embedded in society - it makes the whole plot seem half-baked and aimless.
I feel like there's a lot of strong characters in this series, but they're not being utilized to their full potential. Ultimately, this is a mediocre story being carried by great art.