All right, to start off this review: I will be the first to admit
that I have not read the Kushiel series. I can't tell you if Santa
Olivia holds up to that, or if it's anything like that (although it
sounds completely different). I *can* tell you that I have
absolutely no interest in that series and that what I've heard
about it kept me away from it, as well as wary of this title, but
Santa Olivia's plot sounded interesting, so I took a chance and
picked it up.
I was pleasantly surprised.
I adored the main character. Loup (pronounced "Lou"; she was named
after the French word for 'wolf') is unique and sympathetic and
oddly sweet despite how tough she is. She's the product of a
genetically engineered father, and she inherited his traits. She is
stronger than any normal person, male or female. She can run
faster. She's incapable of feeling fear.
Carey incorporates the very important nature of not feeling fear
into the book magnificently. She doesn't glorify it; in some ways,
it acts as a hindrance to Loup. There is one situation, however,
that Carey brings up that surprised me, as it was something I'd
never thought of. It's an offhand remark by another character --
"You don't embarrass easily, do you?" -- that made me realize how
well-realized Loup's lack of fear is. She doesn't embarrass because
she has no fear of being mocked or laughed at. Carey fleshes this
out beyond the usual usage of a lack of fear just in the face of
danger, making one reckless and cocky. Loup is neither.
All of the other characters are extremely well-done as well; I felt
close to all of them once Loup felt close to them. They're all
different, with their own dynamic, but without falling into the
trap of having simply one defining feature and feeling
one-dimensional because they *rely* on that defining feature to
define their entire self. Most characters have a history, and those
whose history we either don't know, or know little about, make up
for it with their personality.
I was also pleasantly surprised by the inclusion of a homosexual
relationship. There was absolutely no hint on the back cover of the
book that there would be any romance at all, much less homosexual
romance. There is no real hint for a good chunk of the beginning of
the book, either. I began this book without a single thought toward
whether or not the main character would be straight; it was in the
Sci-Fi/Fantasy section, after all. I simply unconsciously assumed
that she, like most characters in non-specialized fiction, would be
heterosexual.
That was not the case.
Loup experiments with boys, as well as with a girl; the woman who
becomes her lover has a more-than-healthy relationship with boys
and sex. She *likes* boys and sex. The fact that she finds sex with
men appealing doesn't spontaneously disappear when she begins a
relationship with Loup. It just means that she finds Loup (and sex
with Loup) *more* appealing.
In short, realism.
I think what got me about this book, beyond the characters and the
plot itself, was that nothing in the plot had anything to do,
really, with Loup's sexuality. It was a point in the book, but not
a plot point. It wouldn't have been interchangeable with a
relationship with a man, not in the least, and it wasn't treated as
though it was, but it was just refreshing to read a book where the
relationship was just *there*, if that makes sense. It's a lesbian
relationship. Great. Back to the plot. The relationship itself was
most certainly a plot point, but not because it was with a woman;
it was a plot point simply because Loup was in love.
I don't want to give the impression that the relationship is
treated flippantly. That isn't at all the case. I fell just as much
in love with the relationship as I did with the characters. It was
emotional and realistic and passionate, and just plain wonderful.
I suppose what it comes down to is that the relationship was
treated as a normal thing. There were certainly mentions that a
homosexual relationship wasn't the norm, but there wasn't this
sense that it was something *different*, something worrisome, the
way it is in most gay literature. I'm not saying that the way gay
relationships are usually presented is bad -- it's usually very
true to life -- but it was just... nice to read something where the
relationship simply existed on its own merit, without the plot
having to revolve around it at all.
In short, I would highly recommend reading Santa Olivia. I loved
the characters, the plot was intriguing and the pacing was spot-on,
and while I won't spoil the ending, I'll just say that it was just
as well-done as the rest of book.