Slewfoot by Brom Published by Tor Nightfire (9.14.2021)
Genres: Adult, Fantasy, Historical Fiction
Format: Audiobook, 305 pages
Length: 14 hours, 28 minutes
Narrator: Barrie Kreinik
Source: Library
A spirited young Englishwoman, Abitha, arrives at a Puritan colony betrothed to a stranger – only to become quickly widowed when her husband dies under mysterious circumstances. All alone in this pious and patriarchal society, Abitha fights for what little freedom she can grasp onto, while trying to stay true to herself and her past.
Enter Slewfoot, a powerful spirit of antiquity newly woken ... and trying to find his own role in the world. Healer or destroyer? Protector or predator? But as the shadows walk and villagers start dying, a new rumor is whispered: Witch.
Both Abitha and Slewfoot must swiftly decide who they are, and what they must do to survive in a world intent on hanging any who meddle in the dark arts.
Complete with 8 pages of Brom’s mesmerizing full-color artwork and chapter illustrations throughout, his latest book is sure to delight.
My thoughts
Oh look, yet another wildly popular book that I didn’t enjoy. Baa.
Not to say it was all terrible. There were some things I liked: namely, Father/Samson and the Wildfolk. I thought the magic/lore side of the story was really cool, and I enjoyed those parts.
However, I wasn’t a huge fan of Abitha’s parts. Or Abitha’s character. Actually, I found all the characters to be rather flat, and didn’t connect with any of them. Not to mention there were far too many that weren’t fleshed out, so I couldn’t keep them all straight. Other than being indignant over the injustice, I didn’t feel a thing about that was happening. I was a little bored in the middle, too – I could have walked away at any point. In fact, I thought about DNFing just because I didn’t care about it enough to continue. (If it hadn’t been for the narration, I definitely would have.)
I wish I had, because here is my next complaint about the book, and what almost made me rage quit: the gratuitous torture and murder of Abitha’s cat. Listen, I get it – they were awful people. I get that they felt they had to murder him because they were convinced he was her familiar. But the fact that it was described in such detail was the part I really had an issue with, as well as the way it was drawn out. View Spoiler » Absolutely unnecessary. I can handle all kinds of gore, murder, and body horror, but cat torture is something I just can’t handle. To some people this may sound ridiculous, but that’s just my personal trigger.
I found I didn’t particularly care about the things Abitha went through toward the end. I knew she would be fine and make it out of it. View Spoiler » I will say that her revenge in the last 20% was quite satisfying, which I’m guessing is why most people loved this book so much.
Other things I didn’t care for: the over-the-top religious fervor and the fact that nearly every character was excessively awful, the ‘not like other girls’ vibe of Abitha (like really, you couldn’t make even one more female in this book non-conforming?!), and the uncomfortable portrayal of Indigenous people.
I didn’t hate it, but overall it just left me feeling underwhelmed and unimpressed. Maybe I just hyped it up in my head too much. Womp, womp.
Overall Assessment
Plot: 3/5
Premise: 4/5
Writing style: 3/5
Originality: 3/5
Characters: 0.5/5
World-building: 3/5
Pace: 2/5
Feels: 0.5/5
Narration: 4/5
Cover: 3.5/5
Overall rating: 2/5
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