Podcast review (Swedish): http://lashart.podbean.com/e/foz-mead...

Actual rating is 4.5. I knew very little about this book before diving in. I’d read a little blurb about it in an article talking about diverse fantasy books and decided on a whim to get in from my library. AND I’M SO GLAD I DID!!! Oh my goodness, this book was so good! I mean, I’m a sucker for a good portal story (partially because I’m still holing out hope that I can fall into a portal of my own some day). But, aside from vicariously living out my fantasies, the book itself was so well written. You guys need to check it out! One of the things I really appreciated about this book was that Meadows did a great job showing the gritty, “darker” side of this world, while at the same time not overloading the reader with a billion scenes of death and sadness. The world created is not a totally good world, nor is it a terrible pit of doom. It felt very real. As did the characters’ reactions to the events in this world. So now on to what’s normally my favorite part of a story: the characters. First off, HELLO DIVERSITY! I loved how many different, diverse characters were portrayed here. There’s bi characters, lesbians, polyamory, lots of different ethnicities and skin colors, and a whole lot more! Plus, each character themselves was so unique and individual. It made me so happy. Gwen was definitely my favorite, although I do love almost all of the rest too. Ok, so I’ve gushed about all the many things I loved about this world. There were a few little aspects I was less fond of though. First, I felt like the “bad guys” weren’t quite fleshed out enough. I get that they were supposed to be evil, but sometimes it was hard to figure out exactly why. And there were a few other plot points that also needed a little more development/explanations. Overall, I absolutely loved this book. It was so much fun to fall into a world of magic, intrigue, and delightful characters. If you like fantasy books, and have always dreamed of finding your own Narnia, do yourself a favor and check this out!

At one point, I started reading this and DNFed it but coming back to it now, that was obviously due to the downward swing in my depression cycle and not the book itself because I adored this book. This portal fantasy is not only totally aware of the genre it inhabits, it's also unflinchingly honest about the bone deep toll that a brief jaunt into a war-torn world will have on the unexpected traveler. Saffron absolutely doesn't come away from Kena unscathed, and it's something she starts thinking about almost as soon as she enters the portal. This book also acknowledges the way how we see race affects the way we think and act - both on Earth and in how we imagine other worlds. Saffron is white, and that affects how she views the people she meets in Kena, even if she doesn't want it too. And it also turns her whiteness around on her. She's suddenly alien and lesser in a way she's never felt before living in middle-class Australia. And then there's Gwen, a black woman who felt safer in this foreign magical world than in 1980s Britain. Real world and fantasy alike are unequal and not always to the same person's benefit. The last thing I super loved about this book was how damn queer it was. It's just blatantly, unapologeticly queer in a variety of ways. Gwen is aro. Saffron is bi. Literally all of Kena is poly. There's a trans character (who is unfortunately outed without her consent which is how we find out about it but it's also acknowledged in the text that that was a super shitty thing to do and her gender is her business alone and the person who does it is basically a villain). There are no token characters here and it's amazingly refreshing to read.

Actual rating is 4.5. I knew very little about this book before diving in. I’d read a little blurb about it in an article talking about diverse fantasy books and decided on a whim to get in from my library. AND I’M SO GLAD I DID!!! Oh my goodness, this book was so good! I mean, I’m a sucker for a good portal story (partially because I’m still holing out hope that I can fall into a portal of my own some day). But, aside from vicariously living out my fantasies, the book itself was so well written. You guys need to check it out! One of the things I really appreciated about this book was that Meadows did a great job showing the gritty, “darker” side of this world, while at the same time not overloading the reader with a billion scenes of death and sadness. The world created is not a totally good world, nor is it a terrible pit of doom. It felt very real. As did the characters’ reactions to the events in this world. So now on to what’s normally my favorite part of a story: the characters. First off, HELLO DIVERSITY! I loved how many different, diverse characters were portrayed here. There’s bi characters, lesbians, polyamory, lots of different ethnicities and skin colors, and a whole lot more! Plus, each character themselves was so unique and individual. It made me so happy. Gwen was definitely my favorite, although I do love almost all of the rest too. Ok, so I’ve gushed about all the many things I loved about this world. There were a few little aspects I was less fond of though. First, I felt like the “bad guys” weren’t quite fleshed out enough. I get that they were supposed to be evil, but sometimes it was hard to figure out exactly why. And there were a few other plot points that also needed a little more development/explanations. Overall, I absolutely loved this book. It was so much fun to fall into a world of magic, intrigue, and delightful characters. If you like fantasy books, and have always dreamed of finding your own Narnia, do yourself a favor and check this out!