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Marco Rocchi

Autor(a) de Gert and the Sacred Stones

9 Works 17 Membros 3 Reviews

Obras de Marco Rocchi

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Resenhas

Note: I accessed a digital review copy of this book through Edelweiss.
 
Marcado
fernandie | outras 2 resenhas | Sep 15, 2022 |
Too predictable. The artwork was okay but the plot was absolutely nothing new. Hence, predictable.
 
Marcado
pacbox | outras 2 resenhas | Jul 9, 2022 |
(Full disclosure: I received a free e-ARC for review through Edelweiss.)

Gert is just a young girl when her parents are killed by a sacred beast. And needlessly, at that: Gert's mother Bia, a healer, was experimenting with sacred stones to quell the uncontrollable rage of the beasts who live in the fog. While Bia's theories are largely met with derision by her peers, when a beast corners Gert by the forest, Bia is able to subdue him with the help of a stone. But then the village's beast-hunters, led by Gert's father, bumble-rush onto the scene and escalate the conflict, leaving Gert an orphan.

Gert is sent to live with her uncle, who wastes no time embracing the sacred stones: not to forge peace with the beasts, but rather to make them more compliant and easier to kill. Meanwhile, Gert trains as a warrior, hoping to find and slay the beast who killed her parents. But beast-hunting is the realm of men - and anyway, Gert inherited her mother's kind and compassionate heart, which makes her a terrible hunter indeed.

https://www.flickr.com/photos/smiteme/50767235277/

When Gert's attempt to hijack a beast-hunter initiation goes horribly awry, she's cast out of her village - but embarks on magnificent adventure that will transform not just her life, but those of all the kunya, molkhog, and sacred beasts that share her world.

GERT AND THE SACRED STONES is a lovely, all-ages tale about the power of friendship and found family; living in harmony with nature; and extending one's circle of compassion to creatures who don't necessarily look or behave or think like you.

I'll admit, I was a little confused at first, trying to figure out how all the animals - human and non - relate to one another. There are the kunya, or humans, who position themselves in opposition to everyone else; the molkhog, a species of humanoid nunhumans who can speak the humans' language but mostly live separately from them; and the sacred beasts, the nonhuman animals of the story. The kunya seem to lump the molkhog and sacred beasts together, which is puzzling at first - but also such an annoyingly human thing to do, this us vs. them thinking.

Yet, it's not just the kunya who are capable of wrongdoing: in his quest to defeat the fog (and free the beasts from its influence), a molkhog oracle defeats unspeakable acts of depravity. (And I'm not even referring to the god-slaying!)

https://www.flickr.com/photos/smiteme/50767118446/

In the end, Gert rejects the violence and bigotry of her people, forging a better way forward. While I wouldn't necessarily call this a vegan-friendly story - there is some circle-of-life, food chain killing that's justified for all the inhabitants of this world - it is rather animal-friendly. Also, the illustrations are spectacular and I enjoyed the variety of creatures dreamed up by Carità.
… (mais)
½
 
Marcado
smiteme | outras 2 resenhas | Dec 27, 2020 |

Estatísticas

Obras
9
Membros
17
Popularidade
#654,391
Avaliação
½ 3.5
Resenhas
3
ISBNs
8
Idiomas
4