Tiadone faced danger early in her life. When she was born, her father had to decide whether to allow the priest to take her to the wilderness to die, or to declare her a male. Unable to face losing his wife and child, he chooses life for Tiadone and she becomes the first ever declared male living in their village. However, wearing an amulet with a wild cat heart and some of her father’s hair locks is not enough to suppress her femaleness and eventually, Tiadone has to face her true self. Will she and her father be able to remain true to their beliefs in their Creator Spirit? Or will they bow to embrace worship of the Four-Winged Condor?
I thought from the description that Tiadone was raised as a male, but that no one else in her village knew she was actually a female. This is not the case. Everyone knew she was actually female, but being raised as a male. The idea of this book has so much potential to it! Gender roles, faith in amulets, Creator Spirit, idol worship, tyrannical regimes, love, family, sacrifice, friendship, I could go on and on. What was disappointing was that the author touched on all these different ideas, but not quite enough to leave me, the reader, satisfied. The ending was a little ambiguous. I was left wondering, is there going to be a sequel? I feel as if Tiadone’s story is left unfinished and I want to know what comes next.
Although I am disappointed in the book, I still enjoyed reading it and would read a sequel if Grover writes one. I would like to see some of the ideas put forth in the book more fully developed, with a stronger viewpoint. However, even though this was not my favorite book, I can see a lot of people enjoying this book, particularly teenagers. It is different from any book I have ever read, and I had no idea what was coming next. I just wanted more from it.
I received a complimentary copy of this book from BookLook Bloggers in exchange for my honest review. All opinions are my own.
A Book A Day 