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A review by books_ergo_sum
Half a Soul by Olivia Atwater
emotional
4.0
This book was lovely. I read it in a day. Loved the mix of regency historical romance and fae magic fantasy. Great characters, cute romance.
I particularly enjoyed the single POV in here. And I thought the ‘half a soul’ metaphor for neurodivergence (which seems like it could be derogatory at first glance) was actually super beautiful and emotional.
For me, it had one flaw though. A major theme in here was a social critique of war, inequality, and child labour—social critiques I love. But this one was way too twee.
If you’ve read this, did you find the social critique twee? (I read a bunch of reviews that found it compelling) But here’s my criteria—and tell me what you think—if the 19th century social critique is less than 50% as gritty as Charles Dickens (who writes silly characters like Wackford Squeers and Serjeant Buzfuz), then it’s very solidly twee.
I particularly enjoyed the single POV in here. And I thought the ‘half a soul’ metaphor for neurodivergence (which seems like it could be derogatory at first glance) was actually super beautiful and emotional.
For me, it had one flaw though. A major theme in here was a social critique of war, inequality, and child labour—social critiques I love. But this one was way too twee.
If you’ve read this, did you find the social critique twee? (I read a bunch of reviews that found it compelling) But here’s my criteria—and tell me what you think—if the 19th century social critique is less than 50% as gritty as Charles Dickens (who writes silly characters like Wackford Squeers and Serjeant Buzfuz), then it’s very solidly twee.