Reviewed by Silvara on
I loved this take on The Brave Little Tailor! Saville was believable and smart. She wasn't trying to best the giants for her own gain, she was trying to save the life of a younger boy who she had gotten attached to. And then everything started spiraling out of her control.
The romance was perfect. There was no insta-love, but rather a slow build where you could see just why each of them fell in love with the other.
The characters were fleshed out well, and had enough quirks to make them feel real. There is both plenty of adventure and a little heartbreak. I more than once wanted to hug Saville and smack someone on her behalf. There were some unusual words in the book, but they were explained in context and helped set the scenes. (The Giants call normal-sized humans "lite".)
The way the giants were portrayed was wonderful. Usually when you see giants in stories, they're stupid and or mean. They never seem to have a culture of their own, they are just used as a generic bad guy for the hero to kill or outsmart. Not so in this book. The giants not only have their own way of life, they have songs, hopes and dreams. They're also smart, and just like humans, there are bad and good giants.
The beginning of the book starts off a little slow, but once you're past those early bits, you won't want to put this down until the last word. If you like retellings and unique takes on stories, you need to read this book.
This review was originally posted on Fantasy of the Silver Dragon
Reading updates
- Started reading
- 24 September, 2015: Finished reading
- 17 December, 2015: Reviewed
- Started reading
- 17 December, 2015: Finished reading
- 17 December, 2015: Reviewed