Daughter of the Otherworld

Themes & Sparks: Irish historical fantasy, folklore and mythology, sense of newness and homecoming, political intrigues, large cast of characters, a story about yearning for home, magic and mystery Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️(4.5) Daughter of the Otherworld by Shauna Lawless is the first book in a new era of Irish historical fantasy books set in the same world as the Gael Song series. What I loved about this novel was how it combined new and old characters, lore and stories creating a strong connection to the previous books, whilst simultaneously establishing a sense of newness. This newness most noticeably came from our new main character Isolde, who got thrown into an unfamiliar world of danger, secrets and unknowingness. Following her journey and story of both yearning for home and a following her curiosity was something that really stood out to me in Daughter of the Otherworld. Isolde was also the one who carried on bringing this spark of warmth and goodness into this otherwise rather rough and gloomy novel, just as her parents did in the Gael Song series. I am really looking forward to seeing how she (and her mysterious powers) will grow in the upcoming book. Despite this sense of newness, this novel also felt like a homecoming since we got to continue our journey through Irish history with some familiar faces, most importantly our cunning queen Gormflaith. What I loved was how these characters proceeded to bring so much brilliant anger and lust for power into this book, making it incredibly suspenseful and adding another layer to the political complexity of the story. Speaking of that, Shauna once again amazed me by how she’s able to weave together and deliver these rather complex strings of Irish history, this large cast of (side) characters and the complexity they create, in a way that wasn’t too overwhelming but still required you to pay attention and fully immerse yourself into the story. I’m excited to see and explore how this new era will continue !