I’m unsure how I feel about this novel, which can easily be called an epic fantasy. The plot includes slavery, abduction, and mystical holy wars. Green is a girl whose path in life changes when her father sells her, but by the end of the book, the reader and the character have reason to question her destiny often.

Mostly, I found the writing and story absorbing even though I don’t favour first person storytelling, but in parts I found the narrative lagged because of meticulous description, which includes all the training Green goes through. This made the book feel overly long despite much of the training being interesting. When we learn of the planned life path various people have for Green, there’s good reason to feel increasingly sorry for her. None of her choices appear to be wonderful, none of them simple. The sexual content never feels entirely natural or necessary, though perhaps realistic and handled well for those whose companionship is restricted. The details become somewhat vague when dealing with the various deities.

I sometimes found Green’s character vs her age hard to believe despite her training, but it’s nice to see a young lead treated with the same respect an adult character would receive. For so long, the ‘rule’ has been a child lead marks a book for a young audience. That’s plainly not the case here, couldn’t be, and even though Green is in infancy when taken, we are privileged to her inner thoughts as she’s moulded into what others would make of her, while she battles to keep a sense of self. Strongly character driven, wonderful in parts, weaker in others, I’m pleased to have read this, but feel disinclined to read the rest of the trilogy, although Green makes for an interesting and capable female lead. ( )

Had a lot of promise, but never really delivered. ( )

Surprisingly, given the nature of a number of the reviews I've seen for this book, I really enjoyed it.

Let me rephrase. I opened it up briefly to peek at it and see what the writing was like, and ended up carting the book up and down the stairs with me while I got ready for work, reading over breakfast, reading the moment I got home, and reading well past my bedtime to find out what happened. I loved this book.

I think the author did very well communicating the depths of Green's lack of understanding about the world around her; I think he did well following her journey to understanding about her own nature; I think the journey itself had mythic qualities that not only follow the quintessential hero's journey, but the tales of folklore.

I also loved the writing style. For some reason, I found it almost lyrical and meditative.
( )

Not what I expected, at several turns. I kept expecting it to go one way, but it went another and I enjoyed it less for it. The premise was good, but I feel like it left that behind after the first 100 pages. Also, the sex/masochism aspects felt either tacked on carelessly or edited so thoroughly that they lost all meaning to the character.
After the first few chapters, I couldn't wait to find out what was happening and get the next book. After finishing this, I'll give any further books a pass. Sad, because I really could have liked this character and this world. ( )

This book had some interesting worldbuilding, if heavy-handed with its descriptions - I would've given it a 3.5, maybe, for the clumsiness in the writing, until the pedophilia aspect started.
No thanks. ( )