Aster. Violet. Tansy. Mallow. Clementine. Sold as children. Branded by cursed markings. Trapped in a life they never would have chosen. When Aster's sister Clementine accidentally murders a man, the girls risk a dangerous escape and harrowing journey to find freedom, justice, and revenge - in a country that wants them to have none of those things. Pursued by the land's most vicious and powerful forces - both living and dead - their only hope lies in a bedtime story passed from one girl to another, a story that only the ...
Read More
Aster. Violet. Tansy. Mallow. Clementine. Sold as children. Branded by cursed markings. Trapped in a life they never would have chosen. When Aster's sister Clementine accidentally murders a man, the girls risk a dangerous escape and harrowing journey to find freedom, justice, and revenge - in a country that wants them to have none of those things. Pursued by the land's most vicious and powerful forces - both living and dead - their only hope lies in a bedtime story passed from one girl to another, a story that only the youngest or most desperate would ever believe. It's going to take more than luck for them all to survive. Content warnings: sexual assault, addiction, violence, references to rape and suicide.
Read Less
Choose your shipping method in Checkout. Costs may vary based on destination.
Seller's Description:
Dispatched, from the UK, within 48 hours of ordering. Though second-hand, the book is still in very good shape. Minimal signs of usage may include very minor creasing on the cover or on the spine.
Choose your shipping method in Checkout. Costs may vary based on destination.
Seller's Description:
Good. All orders are dispatched within 1 working day from our UK warehouse. Established in 2004, we are dedicated to recycling unwanted books on behalf of a number of UK charities who benefit from added revenue through the sale of their books plus huge savings in waste disposal. No quibble refund if not completely satisfied.
Choose your shipping method in Checkout. Costs may vary based on destination.
Seller's Description:
Very good. Simply Brit – welcome to our online used book store, where affordability meets great quality. Dive into a world of captivating reads without breaking the bank. We take pride in offering a wide selection of used books, from classics to hidden gems, ensuring there's something for every literary palate. All orders are shipped within 24 hours and our lightning fast-delivery within 48 hours coupled with our prompt customer service ensures a smooth journey from ordering to delivery. Discover the joy of reading with us, your trusted source for affordable books that do not compromise on quality.
Choose your shipping method in Checkout. Costs may vary based on destination.
Seller's Description:
PLEASE NOTE, WE DO NOT SHIP TO DENMARK. New Book. Shipped from UK in 4 to 14 days. Established seller since 2000. Please note we cannot offer an expedited shipping service from the UK.
Choose your shipping method in Checkout. Costs may vary based on destination.
Seller's Description:
PLEASE NOTE, WE DO NOT SHIP TO DENMARK. New Book. Shipped from UK in 4 to 14 days. Established seller since 2000. Please note we cannot offer an expedited shipping service from the UK.
When Clementine's big day arrives, she is both excited and terrified. She has been waiting for years to become a Sundown Girl, one of the elite girls at the Green River Welcome House. Although she will have to spend her nights entertaining rich brags and doing whatever they choose, she will also be freed from her cooking and cleaning responsibilities, be given a luxurious bedroom and a wardrobe of fine dresses. The best part however, is that she will be closer to her sister Aster, who has been a Sundown Girl for a year.
When the night comes, Clementine tries her best to fulfil her duty, but when her Lucky Night takes a turn for the worst, her instincts kick in, causing her to make a big mistake.
Forced to make a run for it, Clementine and Aster find themselves with a group of girls ready to do what it takes to fight their way to freedom.
This book is set in a very special and well thought out world. Something akin to the American wild west mixed with a Victorian penny dreadful, the land of Arketta is both uncivilised and tightly regulated. Half the population don't have shadows due to an ancient debt, and ghostly apparitions haunt the woods. Miners spend their lives digging for mystical theomite, and poor families sell their daughters to Welcome Houses to pay off their debts.
This is a story of the fight for freedom; freedom from the law, freedom from the past, freedom from inner demons. These women are downtrodden from their lives of oppression and slavery, but each has a flame of rebellion and hope to carry them forward on their journey to a second chance at life.
Revenge also plays heavily into the theme of this book, as the girls find themselves in a position of power, in which they can take back some of what was taken from them. I am on board with the narrative as far as that goes, but when they choose to hurt because they have been hurt, and do to others what has been done to them, "because it's their turn", their actions start to get iffy for me, and I found myself questioning what the author was trying to say. I understand fighting back may be a stage that each person must pass through on their way to wholeness, but as a standpoint it makes me uncomfortable. What was done to them was clearly wrong, and the way to fix that is not to do wrong to others. Of course this story is about people who are freshly out of their abusive situation, and so I wouldn't expect them to be thinking clearly about how to fix the world, or even who they want to be. As far as the narrative goes, I ended up agreeing that this pathway was believable and worth exploring.
By the end I was very into this story, and read through it very quickly. The events didn't always twist in the way I expected them to, and I do love a book that surprises me. However, there was still something a little bit lacking in terms of how fleshed out this book was, only I can't quite put my finger on what. It took some time to get into, and I think it may have lacked some sensory descriptions. I never quite felt like I was there like I do with my favourite books.
Overall, this book was fantastically adventurous, and phenomenally feminist. The setting was exciting and absorbing, and the characters were complex and believable. I would recommend this book to fans of Samantha Shannon's Bone Season series and Wynonna Earp.