DNF 61%

This has been a pure spur-of-the-moment read. You mean there's what looks like a slice of life book about tiny fae-like people living in the grass? Written by an older woman? Sign me up! Like way too many books lately, however, it turned out to be an exercise in frustration instead of a chill, enjoyable read it seemed to promise.

It's doubly frustrating because it started off so well. It's not badly written by any means. The worldbuilding in particular is what kept me reading for as long as I did. The concept of "what if tiny fae-like people lived in our grass" is wonderfully realised, intricate, and thoughtful, without going too far into infodump. They go on their daily errands, watch for predators, and live in eternal fear of the mower. It's slow and slice of life, and feels very much like a story told by your grandma, but again, all well and good there.

The problem is in the characters. It's not that they're unrealistic or badly written, not at all. The problem is more the opposite - they're too realistic. The village is what I could call a small town dystopia. Everyone knows each other and everyone is really set in their ways, traditionalist, and looking down upon anything new and anyone who dares to be even the slightest bit different. Dyra especially comes off as selfish and often contradicts himself. I somewhat sympathised with his son, Hoyim, who wants to do things his own way, but everyone else I wanted to punt into the sun. They're against women working, or building their own houses, or people not marrying, and there's hypocrisy galore. It was irritating to the extreme, but I wondered where will it all go - will the elders be ultimately be proven correct as I feared or will young people introduce some welcome change? On whose side will the book end up being, if any?

After about halfway in, the switch flipped from "enjoying, but slightly annoyed" to a full on hate read when a larger city was introduced as a counterpoint, to show how idyllic the traditional life is and how corrupt a seemingly more "modern" way. Sure, the city did sound crappy, nobody knows each other, there's crime, everything's about money - and, you know, I don't disagree with critique of consumerism at all, I don't think the city trying to gain authority over the villages is good, but not when the alternative is rigid traditionalism. The way it seemed to be set up to highlight the rightfulness of the village life I criticise above left a bad taste in my mouth. I don't really believe people would lose their moral fiber after moving into the city either. It's an odd, irritating strawman.

I guess an argument could be made that both are shit and there is a third way, but at the point I left off, it sure didn't seem like it had anything valuable left to offer and I was frustrated beyond belief. I doubt the ending would change my feelings any - if a book makes me angry and irritable enough I want to toss it at a wall, it's generally a sign to stop reading and find something else, so I did.

The Grass People is puzzling. In some ways, I enjoyed it because of the interesting creatures and the inventive spirit of the story. In some ways, I did not enjoy it because of too many povs and getting lost in the names and the story at times. It's fun and engaging but also confusing. If that makes any sense!

Excellent writing was obvious right out the gate. Interesting characters and world-building. I don't much fantasy (which is where I'd put this), but I liked this. I found it engaging and pleasantly complex. Recommended.

I was lucky enough to receive an advanced copy.

Wowee what a unique magical fantasy with all of my go to kinds of creatures, lore and mythology all rolled into one big ball of bizarre that I enjoyed.
Elves, faeries, grass people, wild creatures, birds, tall people, it's prophecy filled & dangers lurk in deep dark corners combined in the oddest world.
This fantasy is characters aplenty which at times becomes confused and the multiple sub plots throughout take away from the core plot yet it gives off a nostalgic historic feel to the writing and world styling.

The plot was interesting, engaging, unique and exciting yet the multiple pov and character additions made the storyline difficult to follow at times.
I enjoyed this writing style it was rich and descriptive, full of depth, intricate dialogue yet controlled pacing.
The world building was unlike anything I've seen this year, it was filled with lore and mythology, rich, vibrant, filled with fantasy concepts, the tiny civilisation incredible imagery and the unique language of the grass people.
Language plays a massive role in this fantasy and thankfully there is a glossary contained at the back of the book and this helped imensly to decode any of the words unusual or that stuck.

Overall it was a fascinating, complex and magical read that was fresh and full of flair giving unusual perspectives and lore in this refreshing take on magical fantasy and I highly recommend it be given a go.
3.5 Stars ..

Many thanks to Radiant Press and Netgalley for an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.
(All opinions expressed are my own and are unbiased)

*I received an ARC by Netgalley but all opinions are my own. The fact that I got to read this book for free does NOT influence my rating. (Thanks for the free book though!)*

I am not sure what to do with this book. There are grasspeople in it, fairies, elves, prophecies, tall people, dangers from wildbeasts (= badgers) and wheelers (= birds), but even after finishing I still have no idea what I just read. Odd. Interesting world building but I couldn't immerse myself into the story as there were too many characters and too many sub-plots. The story somewhat lacked focus it was more of a narrated genealogy plus fantasy. I don't know. 2,5 stars because I actually skipped some pages...

Aside: The cover is beautiful!! I mean, look at it!
Aside 2: The author is over 90 years old. I am very impressed.

This was an unusual fantasy book that I really liked. It was an intriguing read with great writing, although it was a little tricky to keep track of all the characters. The world building was interesting and I really enjoyed the world overall. The plot was engaging throughout, however I would say that there were too many sub plots going on. Overall I really enjoyed this book and would recommend checking it out, if you are interested.

I kind of don't know what this book was about. It was a fairy story, and there were elves and fairies and humans and prophecies and stuff. There were also a ton of names, many of them crazy long, and not much of an actual plot. Nothing much actually *happens*. It wasn't exactly boring, but when asked, like now, I can't really describe what the book is about, so I'm not sure that's a good thing.

"When I was a boy
Flying feathers in trials
I thought that my roots
Were as deep as the pyles,
I thought that my home
Was my refuge for life
I thought that my village
Was sheltered from strife.
An apprentice at forge
I would make the blades ring,
For I knew that by evening
I'd dance and I'd sing.
My lady, my beauty,
Her hair and her smiles
Had me rafting a house
On our very own pyles.
My babe in his backpack,
My parents at home,
'Twas all that I wanted,
'Twas all that I've known.
The mower took all,
My lady, my home,
My babe in his backpack - I'm left all alone.
Oh, Life, keep my village
In store through the years,
And let me return
When I've shed all my tears.
Then nothing will vanish,
Nothing will die,
And we'll walk with my lady,
My baby and I."

The Grass People is about a tiny civilisation living in the grass. There is general discontent as many of the grass folk feel that they have lost their Way; which is their self application to life which relies completely on intuition, creativity and hard work in nature. They used to be in tune with the elves and the fairies and now nobody has seen one for years. The discord leads to the prophecy of a new Dokrimalitzla, which is a spiritual leader above all authority, and the restoration of the relationships the Grass people had with the elves. And with the rumours from the big city, Karep, that the major of that cave city wants to have complete control of all the villages, the Grass people need the Way more than ever.

I liked this book. I just didn't love it.

The prose has a consistent dream-like quality to it that was very easy to follow - even though the created language of the Grass people isn't familiar. I thought that the writing gave the most incredibly imagery. It seemed to provoke a dichotomy of childhood nostalgia where I believed in fairies, elves, and every body being friends. And the opposite end of the scale of basic survival instincts combined with brutal propaganda.

The little world reminded me of The Borrowers which I loved as a child. Although The Grass People was more of a slow burn.

There were always new names to learn of side characters who would become main characters and vice versa, these names seemed to slip my mind as easily as they slipped into it. To be honest, I felt like there were too many characters in general to really keep track of who's who. Especially when I had to dip in and out of the novel and couldn't stay in there for a prolonged period of time. Although the characters didn't really have an individual defining trait or persona to help me remember them, it did give the book a very community feel.

There was quite a bit of unfamiliar colloquial language as mentioned earlier, but the book does include a glossary at the back which was such a helpful tool to iron out any words that had flagged up in my mind after I finished the read.

I found the political sub plots really interesting although they didn't really peak or amount to anything, I would have liked a better conclusion to the attempt of widespread authority which went against many of the Grass people's beliefs rather than a general acceptance and then moving swiftly on.

Overall, this was a really intriguing and complex read that could easily ensnare the mind. The grass people are familiar in all the ways that matter and unfamiliar in their world building and perspectives. This was a really fresh, unusual fantasy read.

Thank you to Net Galley and Radiant Press for a copy of this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

This is a story about a family in a small village, the grass people. They are tiny and live alongside men, although they rarely come in contact with the big people. The village consists of a few families of the grass people, they all know each other and love traditions.

One day, another grass person arrives from the big town. He wants to know everything about the village's way of life and traditions.. thats where the members of our family get a little suspicious. The son, Hoyim, goes out to find out why all of a sudden there's interest in the little village. He finds out the government of the big village is trying to gain power of all the little villages...

This is a sweet story! Loved the grass people and their traditions. In the beginning it feels like nothing happens for a long while and now I'm done I'm still asking myself, did anything happen? Not really. But it's not boring, just not very eventful. A little troublesome was the great amount of characters, I found I couldn't keep up. The main characters are very relatable and great to follow. You really feel you get to know them.

Anyway, I enjoyed this, would recommend if you love fairy tales and stories as a grown up. Also love the little drawings at the end!

Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for the ARC. These are my opinions and are in no way influenced by the fact I got the ARC!

The grass people have forgotten how to listen and follow the way; the elves and fairies have disappeared from the tall prairie grasses. Their once Idyllic existence is now fraught with danger. They must evade or defeat wild beasts, predators, and four legged shadows. It also rumored that tall men exist and may arrive soon. Dyra leads his village with great courage while some grass people await the return of their spiritual leader, Dokrimalitzla, and the restoration of magic.

I loved this book! I loved the style of writing, the world building and the characters.
The book is lovely and entertaining.
A very good discovery.
Highly recommended!
Many thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for this ARC