Saturday, April 19, 2014

Keturah and Lord Death by Martine Leavitt Review


"I will tell you a story of magic and love, of daring and death, and one to comfort your heart. It will be the truest story I have ever told. Now listen, and tell me if it is not so.

Keturah follows a legendary hart deep into the forest, where she becomes hopelessly lost. Her strength diminishes until, finally, she realizes that death is near--and learns then that death is a young lord, melancholy and stern. Renowned for her storytelling, Keturah is able to charm Lord Death with a story and gain a reprieve--but he grants her only a day, and within that day she must find true love. Martine Leavitt offers a spellbinding story, interweaving elements of classic fantasy and romance."

Warning: Lots of spoilers. That's all I have to say for now.

Wow, this story was obvious from the beginning. You know what this story reminds me of? Persephone and Hades. Their story is rather similar. However, I'm not sure if Persephone developed any feelings for Hades other than respect. From this analogy, I'm sure you can probably guess who is Keturah's true love. 

It's a bit amusing, I'll say. Death gets cheated by the girl he likes. (Kind of like Poison Princess and The Endless Knight by Kresley Cole). He makes deal after deal after deal with her. And it is all in hopes that she will fall in love with him.

Keturah tries to evade Death's darkly grasps by telling a story of how a young girl found her true love. Let's just say that the story ends in death, quite literally. I sort of liked it, because it is kind of adorable. Keturah and Lord Death is a short, but also a happily ever after book. Most young readers will probably like it. Older readers? Not so much, unless they are hungry for "ever after." Still, it's adorable how Lord Death tolerates her.

Lord Death is a young lord. I don't know how he is one, but apparently he is what others perceive him to be. I like that. Death is what people think he is. It's fitting.

The plot goes by pretty fast. I'm surprised by how quickly I finished the entire book. It seemed to be just an eyeblink from the beginning to the end. Nevertheless, I think it's pretty. After all, Keturah is on stolen time. She tries her best to fight Death, but eventually she gets taken by him in the end. All stories end in death. There's no way around it. There's no way against it. All stories, all lives end in death. Although Keturah ends in something more than death. I guess that's the author's way of saying that the end of Keturah and Lord Death is the beginning of Keturah's story. As I said before, it's fitting.

Hmm... Let's go on. The best moment of this book is probably when Keturah finds out about Lord Death's true feelings for her. She sort of realizes it, but she unfortunately uses it to her advantage. It reminds me of unrequited love until the circle becomes whole. As I said before, all lives end in death. 

Rating: Four out of Five

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