Nature is out of balance in the human kingdom. The sun hasn't shone
in years, and crops are failing. Worse yet, strange and hostile
creatures have begun to appear. And the people's survival hangs in the
balance.
To solve the crisis, the oracle stones are cast, and
Kaede and Taisin, two seventeen-year-old girls, are picked to go on a
dangerous and unheard-of journey to Tanlili, the city of the Fairy
Queen. Taisin is a sage, thrumming with magic, and Kaede is of the
earth, without a speck of the otherworldly. And yet the two girls'
destinies are drawn together during the mission. As members of their
party succumb to unearthly attacks and fairy tricks, the two come to
rely on each other and even begin to fall in love. But the Kingdom needs
only one huntress to save it, and what it takes could tear Kaede and
Taisin apart forever.
I really liked this book, which felt spiritually similar to Ash as it is set in the same world. At first I thought that Huntress told the real version of the fairytale Kaisa tells Ash, but upon rereading my Ash review I saw it was actually a story about a huntress falling in love with the fairy queen (if my memory was correct), which is not what happens in this book. Kaede does end up having a sort of connection to the fairy queen as a result of what happens in the book, but it's not romantic or long-lived. Maybe the fairytale mixed stuff up? Inaccuracies can happen in old stories. Or maybe it was a different fairytale altogether.
The magic system and culture are more closely inspired by Chinese culture; the book summary says Huntress is "overflowing with lush Chinese influences and details inspired by the I Ching". I've never read a fairytale-inspired book with the traditional fae and changelings etc. with a Chinese influence, and it felt fresh and interesting. The fae stuff in the forest was really creepy to the point of being horror, and also fascinating to read. Some of the magical creatures preying on humans were Chinese-inspired, such as the fox-lady best known to me as a kitsune. The humanoid Fae were the same kind of creepy and attractive as the fairy prince in Ash.
I like reading about Kaede learning
to fight with different weapons and Taisin learning to use her magic. I
liked the other members of their party as well, and was saddened when
bad stuff happened to them. There was this weird thing throughout the
book where we'd switch from the perspective of the main 2 girls to
another character, and it was jarring and felt like telling rather than showing. I wish Lo had kept the omniscient
third person narrator to just the 2 girls. The economic inequality and desperate poverty the common people live with made me angry. The love aspect of the story was made interesting by Taisin having a future vision that she would lose Kaede while being in love with her. Naturally she fights her attraction to Kaede in order to keep Kaede and herself from being hurt. Spoilers, highlight to read: IDK if it's that much of a spoiler since the book summary literally says they fall in love, but it bummed me out that they parted ways despite loving each other so much. Taisin wants to be a sage, and sages cannot marry or have romantic entanglements. It is a common story ending though. There is no homophobia in this world, which is nice. Kaede becomes the first Huntress. I found the ending rather abrupt and sad. My copy, which I bought at The Strand in NY, includes a short story set not long after Huntress where Kaede grapples with her grief and a kitsune. It was interesting but didn't really add anything. Are all of Lo's books and stories this soaked with grief?
I read this book in the JFK airport as my flight kept being pushed back and my gate kept being changed, and reading Huntress really helped keep me sane. Thanks Malinda!
Score: 4 out of 5 stars
Read in: March 22
From: The Strand at Columbus
Status: keeping
See my aesthetics moodboard for Huntress!
Representation: lesbian mc, sapphic mc (no other love interests so can't confirm if she's a lesbian), butch minor character?, all
the characters are Chinese/Eurasian but idk if that counts
Cover notes: Love it. I thought Kaede was holding a sword but it's actually a bow. A king's guard teaches her how to shoot with a bow and arrows.
Trigger warnings: murder, death, dead bodies, not-really-a-baby death (a changeling is killed in monster form but reverts to baby form after it dies), horror, gore, blood, imprisonment of sentient magical creatures, enchantments/spells to control/endanger/kill humans, economic inequality with rich people hoarding the food/resources, sad ending where they don't end up together. "The Fox" short story: magical dubious/non-consensual s3x (a monster magically disguises herself as Taisin and initiates s3x with Kaede to feed from her)
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