A review by maple_dusk
Extasia by Claire Legrand

adventurous dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

5.0

Extasia by Claire Legrand is about a girl joining a coven to save her village from the Devil.

I Liked:
  • Puritanism is not the same as modern Christianity, though, I find that some bigoted themes are shared in both. I like how this book confronted them numerous times.
  • The hero to morally grey character to hero arc! I've always wanted to do that!
  • The CHARACTER DEVELOPMENT!!! Amity to Rage? Hell yeah!
  • The LGBTQ+ representation

I Didn't Like:

Hmmmmmm.
I was kind of caught off guard with the revelation of another civilization near Haven.


And--I know I said I liked the hero to morally grey character to hero arc, but it all went by so fast and I was so caught up in Rage's morally grey self, that it kind of felt like . . . a letdown?


Quotes:

"You were not there. He was going to hurt Hun--He was going to hurt Blessing."
"And so you decided you would be the one to cast judgment on him? You alone would choose his fate?"
"Blessing asked him to stop. He would not listen. He beat her, and beat me." I point at my face. "I did not give myself bruises!"
"He was with Blessing, you say."
"Yes, in the barn. They were . . . " I clench my fists, nails into palms. "They were lying together. My sister wished to stop. He would not."
Samuel looks aghast. "Your sister was lying with him. She agreed to lie with him, and then she wished to stop."
"As anyone might wish to stop eating, or drinking, or wish to stop sitting and stand up instead! What if I told you I was no longer hungry, and you kept shoving food into my mouth all the same?"
"That is different, Amity."
"How? Tell me."
He looks away, but I will not allow him to hide. I rush around to stand before him. "Tell me!"
"Because she is a girl unwed," he bursts out, "and yet she chose to lie with Adam. She chose lust over virtue, when that is one of the very things that brought The World That Once Was to ruin!" (pg. 286)

RELIGIOUS TEXTS NEVER justify ignorance of consent and attempted rape.


Other comments:

On the second day's night I was reading, I COULD NOT PUT THIS BOOK DOWN! AHHHHHHHHHHHH
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