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Naondel

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This is the second book in The Red Abbey Chronicles: Naondel, this is a prequel about the founding Mother's of the Red Abbey. This book is written in a different style, the narrative is constantly changing, between characters, it was very in your face, and honest. You can definitely tell the characters apart, one of my favorite parts of this book are the sisterhood. There is a lot of violence against women in the book, it's present, but not graphic. For example, he treats each women as means to an end, to birth his heirs, and for his personal pleasure. The women learn that they are stronger together, and finally find something to fight for. Each women has her own story, and together they decide to create a place for women, and young girls to feel safe away from men to become their own women. I would totally recommend this book. *eARC Netgalley.*

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I wrote a long and thoughtful review of Naondel earlier this week, before I'd finished it, and for some reason it disappeared when I thought I'd posted it. This review will be much inferior, I am sure; the old one was poetry.

But I did just finish Naondel, Maria Turtschaninoff's sequel to Maresi, which I read earlier this year and loved so much that I don't know if I can explain it. Maresi was about the power of community, and women caring for each other, and the potential strength of just standing up for what is good and right. It's almost domestic fantasy, with a lot of the story being devoted to what it's like to live on the island of Menos, where men are not allowed, and where women from all over the world come to learn, or to escape, or to live in safety.

Going into Naondel, I knew it was the story of the founding of the Red Abbey. The experience of reading it was not what I expected, though. I guess you could consider this spoilers, though it's more like what the back of the book should have said; the fact that I was surprised by most of what the book contained actually probably hurt my enjoyment of it. It was a strong book, but not a good surprise.

The seven founding women of the Red Abbey each tell the story of how they came to be a part of this group, how their life took them to this point. The actual point of joining together to go to a new place and create a new home is the conclusion, practically the epilogue. The contents of the book are basically the brutal ways the world treated each woman before this. And not just the world, but one man.

We start with Kabira; she is the young daughter of a wealthy family. She falls for a handsome vizier's son, who is maybe courting her and maybe courting her sister. She shares the secret of her family's magic spring with him. It is in no way surprising that he turns out to be a power-hungry jerk and uses the spring to steal political and financial power. Bad things happen, Kabira (not incorrectly, but incompletely) blames herself. "And then forty years went by."

That line killed me. Wait, forty years? When do we get to the girl power?

It's a long time. We meet each of the women as they come together in the palace from different places, with different knowledge and magic and skills. We spend years with them as they are oppressed, beaten, raped, trapped.

This is not to say there's no beauty here. The strength of the imprisoned is actually one of the greatest lessons here; you don't have to escape your prison to be free in your heart, to own your own soul. It's not just those who break out of jail who are triumphant over their captors or live a complete life.

But the long brutality of the story is not entirely what I expected, and not as glorious as I had hoped. It's a powerful story, but powerful with sorrow and pain. It's got so much truth in it, but the claustrophobia of the palace isn't always pleasant. The introduction of so many characters is actually a skillful way of dealing with this problem--each one introduces us to a new culture and environment and cast, even if they only last a little while. They are a breather in between the breathless boredom of the House of Women.

I do recommend this book, for its beauty and for the important parts of the story of oppression and freedom that it tells. But I think that enjoyment of it depends on knowing that the feel-good warmth of Maresi is not what you should anticipate.

If anyone reads this book, though, I would love to talk about Kabira. I think she's a fascinating character, moreso for her long, deep, dangerous flaws. I would like to know what you think of what kind of leader the First Mother must have been.

Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for an advance review copy of this book.

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This is the second in the Red Abbey Chronicles, following the wonderful [book:Maresi|28818217], but taking place long before Maresi's story.

This is a dark book. There is a lot of violence towards and mistreatment of women. The abuse is always brutally recounted from the point of view of the women, and is never intended to be anything other than repugnant.

This is the story of the women who endure the presence of an extremely revolting ass who lies, steals, betrays and destroys his way to power. The women are all powerful in different ways, and for a while their lives are in the hands of said revolting ass.

It was a difficult book to read, but I could not stop reading.

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Naondel is the prequel companion to Maresi and tells the story of the First Sisters and how they came to the island of Menos. We first meet Kabira as a young girl. She has just been introduced to Iskan and has fallen under his spell. He is the son of the Vizier and very handsome and charming. He seduces Kabira and she shares with him her family’s secret spring Anji, who is a living force that influences those who drink her water. Iskan learns the ways of Anji and takes over the spring by killing Kabira’s family and marrying her. He becomes more and more brutal as Anji gives him more and more power.

The other sisters come into Iskan’s household as slaves and concubines. Garai knows about the sacred places of the world as her family has been caretakers for generations. Orseola is a dreamweaver with the power to shape and give dreams. Sulani was a warrior empowered with the spirit of the River until Iskan destroyed her place of power. Claras was a prostitute sold to Iskan. Estegi is a servant in Iskan’s household who takes care of the women. Iona is the youngest. She was a sacrifice to a monster who was taken by Iskan before her sacrifice could be made. Each is brutalized by Iskan in some way and that brings them together and eventually leads them to escape together and form the sisterhood.

This is definitely not a book for everyone. There is a lot of rape, it is not depicted graphically, but there is a lot of it. It is also a very dark and depressing book. The first 2/3 introduces each of the women and shows the depth of Iskan’s depravity and greed for power. There are no happy times and Iskan has no redeeming qualities. He is corrupt and evil by nature and the power of Anji makes him more so. The escape doesn’t really happen until the last few chapters when the women find their power and make their way to Menos. Despite this dark and depressing start to the book, I actually did enjoy it. I liked finding out how Menos was settled and how the Sisterhood started. I liked knowing about these characters and the hardships they had to go through in order to become who they were meant to be and to create the sanctuary they were meant to create.

If you liked Maresi, you will appreciate this back story. However, I don’t believe you have to read Maresi beforehand in order to appreciate the struggle of these women.

I received this book from the publisher and from Netgalley. It will be published in January 2018.

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This has been a really good month for me! First I got The Girl in the Tower which I was dying to read. Then I got this book, Naondel, and I’ve been so excited to read this! The book gods are shining down on me right now!

This book is the second in the Red Abbey Chronicles series, but it actually serves as a kind of prequel to the first book, Maresi. You can read my review of that book if you follow the link. This book follows the same themes, but it fills in the backstory to Maresi.

The Red Abbey, the setting for Maresi, lies on an island and is home to displaced girls and women. It is a haven for the broken, abused and powerless. The women there raise the girls and they work together to create a society of love, acceptance, and safety. They receive education and training as well. It sounds wonderful! Naondel is the story of the women who founded this society.

The story begins with a woman named Kabira, she has access to a source of magical power which has belonged to her family. She is courted by a man named Iskan, who only wants access to this magic. He is a cruel sociopath, and as the years pass he becomes more and more powerful and sadistic. He collects women and girls into his harem, all gathered from different continents and cultures, they are similar in their courage and resolve. These wives and concubines, are abused and controlled by Iskan, but they are in the end indomitable. These women come to care for and respect one another and how they are able to cope with their circumstances, and rise above them. They are a remarkable group of women.

Maresi was a little feminist gem of a book. I knew Naondel would be written in the same vein, but this book pleased me more than I had imagined. It reminds me a little of The Joy Luck Club and other books by Amy Tan who writes moving stories full of wonderful, strong women and their relationships with one another. It also reminded me of a tv show I watched recently. Big Little Lies starts out as a “Real Housewives of Monterey” type show, but deepens into a conversation about violence against women. It highlights, particularly in it’s final moments, how powerful women can be when we act as advocates for one another. When we can get past the superficial differences among us, in order to assist each other is when we can start to achieve great things.

Please read Naondel & Maresi, especially if you’re of the feminist persuasion. You won’t be sorry you did. I can’t wait for the next book to come out. I fully intend to grovel at the Publisher’s door when ARC time arrives for book 3.

Song for this book: Mr. Moon by Eisley

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