Hal was once a knight, carefree and joyous, sworn to protect her future queen Banna Mora. But after a rebellion led by her own mother, Caleda, Hal is now the prince of Lionis, heir to the throne. The pressure of her crown and bloody memories of war plague her, as well as a need to shape her own destiny, no matter the cost.
Lady Hotspur, known as the Wolf of Aremoria for her temper and warcraft, never expected to be more than a weapon. She certainly never expected to fall in love with the fiery Hal or be blindsided by an angry Queen’s promise to remake the whole world in her own image—a plan Hotspur knows will lead to tragedy.
Banna Mora kept her life, but not her throne. Fleeing to Innis Lear to heal her heart and plot revenge, the stars and roots of Innis Lear will teach her that the only way to survive a burning world is to learn to breathe fire.
“The arrow of her heart forever pointed there.” Tessa Gratton's Lady Hotspur is a queer fantasy gender-swapped retelling of Shakespeare's Henry IV, set a few centuries after another book, The Queens of Innis Lear, another shakespearian retelling; events of the previous book are mentioned quite a few times, but I was able to easily follow even if I never read the first one. The retelling follows closely enough the plot of Henry IV before veering towards a gentler end than the play's, where the magical aspects of the novel also take center stage in stunning and lyrical moments of courage and sacrifice.
First and foremost, it's a tale of women trying to carve their place in the world. The narration takes its time to make us really know the characters, to make us love them and be vexed by them; it doesn't shy away from making them complex and real. The love story at the center of the novel is quite complicated, marred by conflicted loyalties and political machinations; revenge and betrayal move the plot along for a good portion of the story.
What starts as a subplot with more magical elements - and even features some (very tragic) mlm representation and truly heartbreaking moments - then takes center stage as the war for the crown becomes a war to reunite the magic of two lands that were torn from each other ages before, a war to return balance to the world. The magic of the island of Innis Lear is feral and dangerous in parts, elemental and grounded in the earth; it's broken because it's separated from the land it once came from. The deeds done to achieve balance will shape the course of the war.
Queer readers should be advised that, while two of the three female protagonists share a beautiful romance, the above political machinations also include political marriages to continue the dinasty and, in one instance, the union of a lesbian character with a man. While potentially triggering, the matter is treated with respect and little detail; it helps that the man in that relationships gets a few chapters from his point of view and is depicted as a respectful character, willing to compromise. That's really the only thing that didn't make me give this full 5 stars, because I did end up feeling queasy at times.
Lady Hotspur is a complicated tale of love and revenge, perfect for Shakespeare lovers.
✨ 4.5 stars
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