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screechie's review against another edition
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.75
More of an invisible companion’s pov on a relocation than an adventure tale. Investing enough that I kept picking it up & finished it, but not engrossing enough to keep me from putting it down & walking away for a few days. (Good for a few-chapters-at-a-time-read vs a binge-it-all-read). The antagonist is overly clear but the character development of everyone other than that person is well done.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Ableism, Animal death, Bullying, Death, Homophobia, Incest, Physical abuse, Racism, Rape, Sexual content, Suicide, Violence, Antisemitism, Murder, Pregnancy, Outing, Gaslighting, Alcohol, and Pandemic/Epidemic
snslayer's review against another edition
dark
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
This was an interesting read but an absolutely brutal one. Very bleak so read with care, especially if you’re Jewish, queer, disabled, or a woman.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Ableism, Animal death, Body horror, Child death, Death, Homophobia, Incest, Misogyny, Racism, Suicide, Xenophobia, Antisemitism, Religious bigotry, Murder, Pregnancy, Outing, and Pandemic/Epidemic
Moderate: Animal death, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Blood, and Alcohol
eb2114's review against another edition
dark
emotional
sad
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Homophobia, Suicide, and Antisemitism
Minor: Child abuse, Child death, and Rape
Contains several characters who display period typical homophobia and antisemitism, including a main character, although the narrator and general attitude of the book is neither antisemitic nor homophobicmiastr's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Pregnancy
Moderate: Ableism, Adult/minor relationship, Animal death, Death, Homophobia, Incest, Misogyny, Rape, Sexism, Suicide, Blood, Antisemitism, Religious bigotry, Murder, Outing, and Alcohol
Minor: Eating disorder and Abortion
ceallaighsbooks's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
“The dancing orange flames cast huge grey shadows of us on to the wall of the cave, our every movement parodied in a grotesque form, like a mummers’ play performed for our mockery. Our shadows poured into one another, so that monsters appeared with two shaggy heads. Humpbacked dragons curled in sleep and mermaids flicked their sinuous tails. Shadows are such insubstantial things, yet they are bigger than any of us.”
TITLE—Company of Liars
AUTHOR—Karen Maitland
PUBLISHED—2008
GENRE—historical fiction/fantasy; folk horror; loose retelling
SETTING—medieval England, 1348 CE
MAIN THEMES/SUBJECTS—storytelling & magic, hope & delusion, faith & lies, medieval worldbuilding, loose Canterbury Tales retelling, medieval England, the Black Death & pandemics, found family, wolves & werewolves, misfits & outcasts, xenophobia, a mix of Norse, Celtic & Christian metaphysics & mythology
WRITING STYLE—⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
CHARACTERS—⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
STORY/PLOT—⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
BONUS ELEMENT/S—I loved the MC and the narrative voice; also each character’s story was really good (except Zophiel’s lol but he sucks)
PHILOSOPHY—⭐️⭐️⭐️/⭐️
EDITING—🤨 definitely some issues with a few things—especially continuity (i.e. characters participating in conversations after they’ve walked away from the group etc.)—that I feel like the editing team shouldddd have caught but 🤷🏻♀️
“Do you think words have the power to kill? Who knows where they go once they are spoken aloud; they drift off like seeds in the wind. ‘Speak no evil’, my nursemaid used to say, ‘for tiny demons lurk everywhere just waiting to catch your words and use them to tip their arrows with poison.’”
It’s been too long since I’ve read THE CANTERBURY TALES unfortunately so I can’t really talk about any connections between the classic and this loose retelling (though I intended to reread both books together later) but I will say that I thoroughly enjoyed this book.
Part historical fiction, part folk horror, it is dark and gruesome and the medieval worldbuilding is really absorbing. I also thought the characters were really original for this type of historical fiction book (no monks! lol). I also thought the plot was compelling enough to keep me interested but slow enough to let me linger in the world and get to know the characters better.
Honestly my only real “criticism” (except for the big misses by the editing team 🤨) is that the character of Zophiel got *tiring* after a while and like while I “get it” like, I was ready for his character to just not talk anymore. 🤣 (Also I feel like his backstory didn’t even get close to justifying his character traits but whatever. 😂) I was also a *bit* underwhelmed by the ending but at the same time it was still pretty perfect, so.
I would recommend this book to readers who like medieval European historical fiction—you could do a lot worse than this book. If you don’t like medieval European historical fiction, you’ll probably want to skip this one. If you like gothic & folk horror stories that are a bit slow and tense, you might want to give this one a try.
Final thoughts: The gloomy, ghostly atmosphere was probably my favorite thing about this book after the MC’s narrative voice and the characters’ individual tales. I’d read this again. In fact I *will* read this again after I reread THE CANTERBURY TALES. This is also the kind of book where it seems like it would be fun to read again, knowing how it ends, and seeing all the clues everywhere…
“It was hard to adjust to, but the old laws and the old order were crumbling about our ears. There was a new king and his name was pestilence. And he had created a new law—thou shalt do anything to survive.”
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️.5
TW // I mean it’s medieval England so there’s LOTS: some include graphic ableism, child abuse, animal cruelty & death, rape, misogyny, antisemitism, hanging, suicide, xenophobia, religious bigotry, incest (Please feel free to DM me for more specifics!)
Further Reading—
- The Story of Silence, by Alex Myers
- The Pillars of the Earth, by Ken Follett
- The Tale of the Tailor and the Three Dead Kings, by Dan Jones
- Lapvona, by Ottessa Moshfegh—TBR
- Wolf Hall, by Hilary Mantel
- Bernard Cornwell
- Sharon Kay Penman
Content Warnings
Graphic: Ableism, Body horror, Gore, Rape, Antisemitism, Murder, and Pregnancy
Moderate: Animal death, Child abuse, Child death, and Incest
Minor: Animal cruelty
derigibleplums's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
A solid audiobook for background noise while I was cooking. I actually really enjoyed this overall, it wasn't anything life-changing but I quite liked that, really well written though. Plus the twist at the end I actually wasn't expecting.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Ableism, Death, Murder, and Pregnancy
Moderate: Alcoholism, Homophobia, Racism, Rape, Suicide, Violence, Xenophobia, Blood, Antisemitism, Grief, and Outing
Minor: Incest
beckyo's review against another edition
88 pages in. I didn't enjoy the "wedding" scene, that really put me off. I wasn't interested enough in the characters or plot to continue after that. Not the historical fiction I was expecting.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Ableism
Minor: Rape