.what_eats_owls' Painted Devils is many things -- a rollicking fantasy sequel, a search for a place to belong, a love story -- but nothing so much as a story of healing. LacyMB reviews:
is essentially a perfect fantasy adventure romp, featuring a feisty heroine, a unique twist on a familiar fairytale framework, rich worldbuilding, and a unique hierarchical system of gods and other immortal beings. But, thankfully, it’s also the sort of book that, while it ends in such a way that makes the story it’s telling feel complete, it also leaves the door open for further adventures with its characters.
Because despite her success in Minjka, her burgeoning relationship with Junior Prefect Emeric Conrad, and her reclamation of her own identity and name, Vanja is still adrift emotionally, convinced that she’s not good enough for any of the people in her life and certain that she ruins everything she touches.
The story picks up as Vanja, drunk and adrift, stumbles into the small town of Hagendorn and accidentally starts a cult by conning the locals into believing she’s a priestess of a goddess called the Scarlet Maiden so that they help her find some lost gemstones before they’re washed downriver. This is all basically Peak Vanja, particularly when it seems she has summoned a real version of the goddess she had assumed she made up, who now wants a blood sacrifice in her name.
Though Vanya and Emeric’s physical journey—to both unravel the mystery of the Scarlet Maiden and to track down the seven siblings who may be able to thwart her curse—is at its best as it explores Vanja’s struggles with identity, self-worth, and vulnerability.
That said, although Owen’s handling of Vanja’s emotional insecurities is deft and honest, there are several frustrating moments where it does feel as though the story is treading water. Given all the traumas and abandonments our heroine has endured, it makes sense that she is not particularly eager to trust others or make herself vulnerable, even to the people she most cares about.
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