Today I’m reviewing Miranda and Caliban – a retelling of The Tempest by Shakespeare, which, I must admit, I have not read. That has had me worried about writing this review, but I guess it IS a retelling, so it’s okay if you read it as a standalone. I hate to say it, but as much as I’ve read of Shakespeare (and that’s basically just the compulsory reading we had to do at school), I wasn’t fond of it, and it’s mostly because I dislike reading plays. It’s just not a structure that’s fun to read. Don’t you feel that way? But I would still love to see this at a theatre. Maybe one day?
Miranda and Caliban by Jacqueline Carey
★★★✮☆ 3.5 stars
Miranda is a young girl who scarcely remembers living anywhere else but on a deserted island with her father – a strange man who claims to be Christian, and yet keeps household demons, enslaves spirits and sacrifices the occasional goat.
Which brings me to the next bit. Apparently, there’s someone else on the island. He has been living there for quite a while. They call him the wild boy, and he does not talk. He offers them a gift, and to his own undoing – because through it, he is enslaved by Prospero, Miranda’s father.
The next bit deals a lot with questions of freedom. To me, this part of the book felt like it was about Stockholm syndrome – should we be thankful to our gracious captors? Is it alright to bind a human being to your will through power, even if you treat them well?
Even though Prospero sees Caliban as a specimen, as a dirty lowly slave, sub-human at best, Miranda is yet a child and possesses a soft, loving heart. More than that, she is lonely! For she is a girl, growing up alone on an isolated island – it’s a fact her father seems to be too carried away to understand. So it’s no surprise that the two children form a bond, a friendship, which later blossoms into love.
But nobody in this tale has any will of their own, because Prospero is a grand puppet master, holding the strings to everybody’s fate. He will have his way, which will inevitably be tragic for the two young ones.
Things I liked about this book:
★ Prospero is a very good villain. He’s not all bad, he has so many human qualities about him. You can understand where he’s coming from and why he is the way he is. You wonder that maybe deep down there someone he even cares for Miranda. He just can’t help seeing the world the way he does because of how he’s been betrayed.
★ The tragedy in this tale is portrayed very well. Especially the ending – the ending is quite strong. I knew it was never going to end well, but knowing that and still provoking so many feelings? I applaud you, Jaqueline Carey.
★ The prose was good. And, as I’ve read in other reviews already, it seems it was trying to follow the style of Shakespeare himself – that would explain why I felt so utterly transported into the world the characters lived in, especially the time frame.
★ I liked the little world and the way it’s built – spirits, sylphs, gnomes. Stars and planets, celestial beings. Everything was so magical!
Things I disliked about the book:
✮ I know this was a retelling, so the author must have been a little bit limited in the time frames. But how old is Miranda? Can a child of 6 really teach another to talk? Can such a young kid even think the way she does? That really got me. She felt at least 13, good god. Especially contrasting that with Caliban, who at that point was about double her age, but acted and learned as a child younger than her. It just didn’t feel right.
✮ A lot of people have also mentioned this, but I just hated the way Caliban talked. Creepity creep, poppity pop. I know you are making him sound a little bit.. odd, cause he only learned to talk at age 12. But really? If I learned to talk so late and am basing my thoughts on the simplest of words, would I really use creepity creep? Where would I even learn that if no one else in the book says that? Just so unnatural. Apart from being extremely cringeworthy. I don’t think I cared much about words like that before this, but I know I’m going to cringe every time I hear them now.
✮ The book is simply too TMI! I understand most people think it’s YA? Not sure though, because alright – menstruation is okay for YA. But jerking off scenes? Should.. we really..? I mean, ugh. It was too much for me. A lot of that didn’t give anything to the book (in my opinion). But it might just be me, cause I dislike things like this in a book. We can catch on to things without being told. And we’ll elaborate as much as we want to. But being forced into being exposed to it, meh, I just don’t like that.
So… It was an okay book. There are definitely high points, and the story is told well. But these negative points were just too much for me. I have also heard similar TMI facts about other books by this author, so I don’t think I will be reading, say, Kushiel’s Dart.
But! I think there is a high chance you could still enjoy this. If you are not sensitive to graphic parts (there was no sex, in the author’s defense), then you are totally fine and you should enjoy the story.
Have you been hearing about this book lately? I know I have. Maybe you’re planning to read it?
I’m Evelina and I blog about books that made an impression on me. I love middle grade, women’s, scifi and some literary too.