I enjoyed the book overall, but my reaction to it is complicated--as is the book. It follows Liam, a young Catholic man coming of age in 1970s Northern Ireland. He is repeatedly imprisoned and abused by the occupying British Army--and battles against his own dark nature. He does not understand that he is part fae, and that he has been targeted by his estranged father's old enemy.

Foremost, this is the only fantasy book I've read that is based in the Troubles, and it's brilliant. Dark and disturbing, but brilliant. For Americans like me, who grew up with mentions of the IRA and bombings in lands-afar with no personal connections to the conflict, it will be a necessary education. I didn't like the presence of rape throughout the novel, though I understand it is also part of the reality of the time period.

Liam is a fantastic protagonist to follow. He does terrible things, but he never lost me. Again, he feels real. Human and frail, even as he doubts his own humanity at times.

What drove me bonkers, though, was that almost all of the book happens because people cannot communicate about simple things. They hint, they hedge, but they cannot reveal the truth, even when people are brutalized and raped and killed. That might be realistic, yes, but it's also infuriating as a plot device. I didn't like it in old Flintstones episodes when I was a kid, and I don't like it now, especially when those frustrating secrets kept the major cool aspect of this world almost entirely hidden: I wanted to know more about the fae and the parallel war against the Fallen. I wanted to know more about magic, period. Instead, it feels like that has likely been pushed off for the next book. At this point, I'm left so frustrated by the pacing that I don't know if I want to continue to get to the bits I really wanted. ( )

This is a book about the fey. This is also a book about Ireland in the 1970s. I don't think it's necessary to have much knowledge of either in order to read this book, but I suspect you'll enjoy it a lot more if you do.

This story is painful. No surprise there, given where it's set. It's horrible and, yet, somehow the people in it still seem to find beautiful moments. Even Liam, who is perhaps the unluckiest man to ever draw breath.

This is a story about war and the impossibility of peace in some situations, about how hard it can be to tell your enemies from your friends, and about how long grudges can last. It's a story about families, and love, and all the ties that bind. Mostly this is a story about Liam and how he lives the life he was handed the best he can.

TRIGGER WARNING: Actual rape of a man. Mention of rape of a woman. Lots of violence.

[John W. Campbell Award for Best New Writer, 2013] ( )

Northern Ireland in the 70s is a war zone between protestant and catholic. Liam, in the wrong place at the wrong time, is caught up in the fight, and soon learns that there's another battle going on, too—this one between the fey and the fallen angels. The Catholic Church, having decided that anything supernatural is a demon, has spent years killing the fey, who have been trying to drive the fallen from Ireland.

Great characters, fascinating history, and an ear for dialect that makes the dialogue sing. ( )

This was a decent read. I found the plot too meandering; too much time is spent on Liam's everyday life, with only brief teases at supernatural matters. And then it reaches a conclusion that doesn't resolve much about Liam's life, or any of the details or happenings with the fey. (Other than the struggle between Bran and the redcap, which does get resolved, but remains contextless.) ( )

(Re-posted from http://theturnedbrain.blogspot.com/)

I finished this book a while ago, but I’ve held off on writing a review on it. Mostly because I was trying to figure out what I didn’t like about it, because while it’s clear to me that Stina Leicht’s debut and I didn’t connect, I can’t for the life of me figure out why. I think I can confidently say that the issue is between me and the book, and not with the book its self. Blood and Honey has garnered itself a slew of positive reviews across the internet, many from sources I trust.

It was these positive reviews that led me to picking up the book in the first place. When it was first released I gave the blurb a once over and disregarded the book as another urban fantasy, yawn. But then the reviews started coming in, painting the story as something much more. The book is set in 1970's Ireland, an era not exactly known for its stability, and revolves around a young kid called Liam. Liam has a real knack for being in the wrong place at the wrong time, and despite being mostly innocent, can’t seem to keep himself out a string of really nasty prison camps. On top this, and unbeknownst to poor Liam, it turns out that he’s part fae. Part nasty, violent, hard to control, beast shaped fae.

This is a dark, gritty book. Normally when a fantasy novel is described as dark or gritty you might expect a certain kind of style. But 'Of Blood and Honey' is not dark in that over saturated, hyper realized Abercrombie/Tarantino kind of way, it’s dark in a much more realistic, human kind of way. This might be at the root of why this book did not work for me. I make no apologies for the fact that I read to escape and be entertained, and there’s little escapism to be found in a book so deeply rooted in the muck and mire of the real world. Reading, for example, about Jant Shira of Steph Swainstan’s Castle book’s drug addiction was entertaining, reading about Liam’s addiction to heroin was just depressing.

The fantasy aspects of this book were fairly limited. This was a consequence of Liam being in the dark as to his true heritage for almost the whole novel, and I think we’ll see a lot more of the other worldly stuff in the sequels. What we do see certainly held promise. We have the fae and fallen angels at war with each other, and an order of human priest who think all other world creatures are on the same team, and are trying to eradicate them. Often in these books the ‘ancient order” or what have you has all the answers, and probably my favourite aspect the book was watching the priest assigned to watch over Liam trying to figure things out. The fallen angels, what little we see of them, are delightfully creepy.

But as I said, this novel definitely leans more on the urban than it does on the fantasy. Which is another aspect that probably effected my enjoyment. Knowing that the sequel is going to be more fantasy heavy is all well and good, but it doesn’t help with the book I’m reading now.

The characters are well drawn. We see the most of Liam, and he’s likeable enough and well meaning, but also a bit of an idiot. He’s definitely more passive than a usually like my characters to be, he tends to do what others tell him or to react to what others do, instead of ever taking the initiative for himself. The character I liked most, who we saw only little of, was Liam’s fae father Bran. Here’s a character with spark and wit, one who makes things happen. We see glimpses of a fascinating backstory, and more importantly, we get the impression that his current story, playing out almost entirely off page, is even more interesting. At the risk of repeating myself, I think book two is where a lot more of Bran will be seen.

The question is, can I forget how overall meh I found this book enough to pick up the sequel?

I would like to stress one last time that my feelings for this book were hugely subjective. Leicht writes very well, and despite my misgiving I never considered not finishing this book. I think this is one that you’ll have to try for yourself. ( )