This was a strong sequel in the Women of Ireland series, i thought it worked as a historical fiction novel and had the feel that I enjoyed from the first book. I was invested in what was going on and thought the overall story worked overall. Kristin Gleeson has a great writing style and left me wanting to read more.

I have enjoyed this novel very much! I found it extremely interesting to read about Ireland in the Middle Ages, particularly about the place and role of women. I learned a lot about this country ravaged by numerous wars and starvation before many succumbed to the plague. The descriptions of the lands, the people and how Ireland was politically organised were well reflected in the characters' own lives. Highly interesting indeed!
I received a digital copy of this novel from NetGalley and I am leaving voluntarily an honest review.

I thought that I was approved to read and review the second book in the series but the first book was sent to my kindle. I enjoyed the atmosphere and the history but I found the gallic difficult as I couldn't flip back to the glossary.

A historical fiction about women in Irish Middle Age. A vivid portrait of their life, of the age and how they could be able to find a way for them.
Well plotted and well written.
I want to read the first in the series, this one can be read as stand-alone
Recommended.
Many thanks to the publisher for this ARC, all opinions are mine

Despite having all the ingredients for a book I would love, this one fell really flat for me, which kind of makes the disappointment sting more. I love the medieval period, I love Ireland, and I love the plague, so this book's premise was extremely promising. However, if I could use one word to describe this book, it would be "meandering." This book felt like a video game in that the main character had quest after quest to do, but somehow the majority of the time was spent on traveling between questgivers.

Then, when plot does happen, there are a few issues. Firstly, a big part of the tension between Meadbh and her mother is that her mother holds Meadbh responsible for the death of her brother. But for all the navel-gazing Meadbh does in this book, all she says is that it isn't true. We never actually find out what really happened. We just kind of have to take Meadbh's word for it, which ends up making her mother seem incredibly unreasonable. It might have been a more interesting relationship if we could see things from the mother's point of view.

The next problem is the use of the plague as the setting. It ends up being more of a plot device and an inconvenience rather than being an intrinsic part of the story. Meadbh's father just as easily could have fallen ill with tuberculosis instead and the plot would have proceeded exactly the same. Meadbh's personal brush with the plague towards the middle of the book just serves very little purpose. She recovers quite quickly (in terms of page time, not actual time elapsed) and since she's the sole POV character, I wasn't exactly worried about her prognosis. This then proceeds to have absolutely no impact on her. She doesn't learn anything from her experience and it doesn't even seem to affect her emotionally or psychologically.

Finally, the confusion over who is the true overlord of the Ui Fhlionn clan makes NO sense. Meadbh, her mother, and Eoin all seem to believe that O'Mathghamhna is their overlord, and so, it seems, did Daddy Ui Fhlionn and O'Mathghamhna himself. But, somehow, Mac Carthaigh is the REAL overlord and only he and Diarmuid know it??? NOBODY in the Ui Fhlionn clan knew this? I know most of them died or fled but surely Eoin or Meadbh's mother would have known.

The last of my gripes with this book is the EXTREMELY gratuitous use of medieval Irish words. It makes sense to use the medieval Irish spellings of names and places, like Meadbh instead of Maeve. It does not make sense to use a medieval Irish word when a direct English translation exists, for example the constant use of "sliocht" instead of "clan" or "leine" instead of "tunic." There are a few instances where the author uses several medieval Irish words where a single English word would have done fine, and a few others where she uses an Irish word followed by the English translation. This is incredibly repetitive and breaks immersion, since the characters wouldn't actually be repeating themselves in English.

All this being said, there were several things I did like about the book. The prose was good. It flowed very well (apart from the repetitive gratuitous Irish) and was an easy read. It did feel almost lyrical, which was a nice touch in a book where poetry and song played a crucial role. Meabdh was a tad bland, but she was certainly likeable and easy to root for. Especially at the beginning, she also had some really nice chemistry with Diarmuid and I felt their attraction to each other was believable. The historical research in this book is also INCREDIBLY well done, and the author's passion for Ireland and the medieval period there certainly comes through. I really enjoyed the historical note at the end (and it actually explained a point of confusion I had about a certain plot point).

Heavy with historical context and a bit confusing to understand, at first, as someone who knows nothing of medieval Ireland. However, as the story develops it begins to piece together beautifully. The prose is gorgeous. It is clearly well-researched. Bees are a central motif for community, which is something I’ll always enjoy in a novel. The main character starts as a blank slate and discovers herself along the way.