A review by aasplund
Tehanu by Ursula K. Le Guin

adventurous emotional inspiring reflective sad medium-paced
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

This is probably the best Eartsea book so far. And by far the most applicable to me.

One thing I love about the Earthsea books is that they are so layered and complex. I think returning to each book at different points in my life would let me take very different perspectives on each reading. And this is one story that I really look forward to rereading in several years. While there are so many levels on which I can understand and connect with Tenar at my current place in life, I think this will have so much more meaning to me when I'm a parent and especially after children have grown and life goals and accomplishments get reexamined. And one beautiful thing about this book is that I can really see myself rereading this and enjoying it immensely each time. And hopefully connecting with and understanding Tenar in a new way.

So much of this book is introspective and features Tenar pondering her decisions and the world around her. That really resonated with me. I highlighted way more in this book than I usually do in fictional stories and there are several lines and paragraphs that I want to go back and ponder on, which is not something I often do with my reading. But this book gave me a lot to consider.

Highly recommended for fantasy readers and feminists everywhere.