I know I severely slacked on writing and posting this review. I'm sorry! This is not one of those "I read it and forgot it" books. This is a "Holy fuck, I need a minute to digest it."
Of course, I couldn't only sit there and ponder it. Life goes on. Life is busy. The Untold Tale never left me. Every time I stopped to try and write this something else would pop up like a wack-a-mole.
Trigger Warning: Rape, Assault, Child Abuse,
First sentence:
I am upstairs when I catch sight of the approaching cart and its cargo through the thick glass of my window.
The Untold Tale immediately hooked me. Forsyth is smart and witty and a survivor. He makes me want to hug and squish him and make it all better. Of course, he’d be wildly embarrassed and insulted due to the toxic masculinity his world was built upon, which makes me want to do it more.
Lucy is a strong character, female. She’s an academic proving her thesis, a fan girl living a nightmare, an independent woman on an adventure. She’s snarky and daring and oh, so relatable. Growing up and loving fantasy is fraught with pain as an insider. She illustrates the problematic aspects of the Euro-centric heteronormative toxic white masculinity fantasy and changes this world for the better.
Kintyre Turn and his sidekick are disgusting and stupid as you’d think. At first. The ending brings surprises, progression, and redemption.
It’s impressively weaved, especially being self-aware. Lucy being a reader from our world, knows the tropes and formulaic plots. So how does a white guy fantasy world keep Lucy, and consequently us, on our toes?
There are several sex scenes throughout their travels and I found them enjoyable. It’s sweet and romantic, with one party an infatuated, bumbling newbie. The sex is still perfection, obviously. Which is eye-rolling-ly fitting.
The Shocking Twist is disturbing. Creepy enough to want to quit almost, but I was too involved in the story. I had to know how they moved forward, how it resolved. Was it all [redacted]?!?!
In the beginning I was very happy with how Lucy was given room to experience the aftermath and PTSD from the Villains. Towards the end though it rushed her forward to a split second decision that didn’t seem fair to anyone. Which makes the resolution a tad jarring.
Am I happy with it? Yes. My heart would have broken otherwise, TBH. Would I like more wiggle room to launch a defense of these events, which I cannot talk about specifically without major spoilage? Yes.
This along with the Turn’s abusive childhood home being brought up as the one defining thing, was rather annoying. Abusive childhoods have long reaching consequences in ways outsiders don’t understand. Forsyth’s problems and mindset is all surface expectations and nothing that sells it for me, as someone who’s been there personally.
If you like self-aware books, meta critiques, smart fantasy, fantasy that crosses with contemporary life, or just want a well-written, surprising fantasy, I highly recommend The Untold Tale.
I only warn away because the smarmy sexism and retroactive rape scenes. It’s not pretty or easy to read as they explore the damage of this disgruntled white man’s world, so if you’re looking for escape, find another book. But if you’d like to show ‘em up and dig in, The Untold Tale can be cathartic.
I will absolutely be continuing the series. I wish I could read it right now. But with the commitments and being exhausted all the time, I just don’t have the wherewithal to do anything right now.
So it’s on the very important list of books like #THUG and the Assassin’s Quest series, but oh god, I’m so tired.
QUOTES:
“What I wouldn’t give to have a spy network as efficient and quick as the grandmothers of Turnshire,”
(More than once I have brought my Shadow’s Men to such evenings and told them to observe the spying techniques of those with more experience than them.)
like a particularly finicky cat: not sure if she should enjoy the sensation or not, but clearly desperate for the experience of it all the same.
I’ve imagined myself in places like this for years, wanted to be here, wanted to hear the stories and laugh and clap along, but I . . . there’s no place for me, because I’m not a white face, because I’m a woman, because of the kind of world that Elgar Reed wrote.”