Thank you to Net Galley for the ARC of this book.
Tirzah has lived an extremely sheltered life in the Welsh valleys. Her parents are members of the Christian church and are experts at telling Tirzah what to do and how to behave. As Tirzah's mind wanders she unintentionally and continuously fails to meet the standards her parents and God require of her. When she meets Bran and has decidedly ungovernable thoughts about him, Tirzah swings between becoming the nice Christian girl that everybody expects, and becoming the free spirit connected to nature, like Bran.
Now, firstly, I want to exaggerate just how well-written Tirzah and the Prince of Crows is, to be honest, the intricate usage of semantics and imagery is probably one of the best I have ever read, the only reason this book didn't score a 5/5 for me, is because it is simply not my cup of tea. I don't usually buy or request books with a strong religious tone to it, but I was far too intrigued by the Welsh author and the Welsh setting. Being from South Wales myself, I felt like me reading and reviewing this novel would be a pleasure, and I was correct; Deborah Kay Davies makes me think of the Welsh valley's in a more textured light.
The use of colloquial language may not appeal to some, but for me, every word spoken was like my friends, my mum, my nan, speaking to me. This book made me crave tea and toast because that is the ultimate comfort meal of an upset Welsh person. I thought it was a down-to-earth touch, that adds to the fictitious existence of the story.
Not to say that I was upset reading this book, because that wasn't the case, I was genuinely enthralled with the narrative. I found Tirzah to be a truly great, three dimensional character with lots of personality, and all that awesome ying and yang that makes up a real person. The side characters were just as in depth. Biddy and Osian, Tirzah's best friends, are the kind of characters that you root for when you least expect it.
Saying that, Tirzah could get a little annoying. A little woe's me. But, her insight is mature and deep, and she's not annoying to the point where I'm feeling physically frustrated, but more where I think now and then 'get on with it,' and the story continues.
For the plot, Deborah Kay Davies has explored the use of welsh mythology to tell us this tale, and her portrayal of Bendigeidran - who is a king in Welsh mythology - through her character Bran, is a magical and interesting stance. In our mythology, he is the God of Ravens, and that is depicted throughout the story to entice the reader into the most captivating imagery that is both real and fable-like.
I don't want to give any of the plot away because if I'm being honest, there isn't much of one. Character development is more of a theme here, and although this book isn't exciting to read, per se, but it is pretty tense, and the small side stories that happen within are made to feel no less important than the main plot.
This is an interesting piece of work and I fully recommend it if you love the fairy-tale feel.
