A Kiss of Shadows – Chapter 25: Faerie is the true hero of WWII, y’all

· by · in Book Reviews, Merry Gentry Book 1: A Kiss of Shadows. ·
Chapter 25 begins with Merry describing when the sidhe first came to America. They were offered any land they so desired, and they chose Cahokia. When they moved in, they had to evict the ‘old magic’ that was contained deep within the mound site. The old magic fought the fey, and all the courts of Faerie joined forces to overcome it. Eventually, the old magic embraced the fey and they accepted it.

LKH then REWRITES HISTORY to explain that the last time the fey had banded together had been during WWII. Hitler had wanted to mingle the fey of Europe with his perfect Aryan race; however he then met some of the lesser-human fey and decided he’d rather eliminate all the lesser-human fey. He assumed that the sidhe would appreciate the act and accept him into their ranks. Instead, Hitler’s fey allies turned on him. Hitler was found, along with his wizard allies, hanging by their feet, dead, inside Hitler’s underground bunker. Eva Braun was never found. Merry suspects that something of the fey simply ate her.

Yep, just group the fey in with everyone affected by the Holocaust. That’s great. I’m totally okay with alternate history story-lines. In fact, one of my favorite series, Jacqueline Carey’s Kushiel’s Legacy, is a huge alternate history epic. However, Carey’s world is gorgeously fleshed out, unlike this. This just feels tacked on and tacky. OUT OF NOWHERE suddenly Hitler tried to also kill off all the non-sidhe fey because they were also different. Because that’s all the Holocaust was about, right? This whole bit seems like LKH just went “how can I be controversial?” and got the bright idea to throw this in without even bothering to research. 

 

Anyway, Doyle notices that Merry is being a bit quiet so he asks her what she is thinking about. She had been drawing parallels between Washington DC and Cahokia/Faerie, about how all great civilizations fall after some time. Cahokia had disbanded long before the fey took over, and now Faerie is somewhat crumbling and diminished from its heyday. It makes Merry sad to think that DC may one day be like Cahokia/Faerie. 

Merry realizes that Doyle has his hair loose. She has never seen his hair out of his trademark braid, or pulled into a club at the back of his head. What the fuck is a club, by the way? I tried googling it and just got a bunch of balding dudes. I’ve never been able to picture what exactly LKH means here, hairstyle-wise. Doyle has fucking ankle length hair, which means that if he pulls it back into anything it’s going to be this huge clump of hair. Gross.

Doyle begins flirting with her, now knowing that Merry is into his long hair. He removes his cape to show off what he is wearing: a leather and metal harness from the waist up, leather pants and boots. He keeps trying to bespell Merry with his eyes, and Merry calls him out on it. Doyle then hints that the queen has some news that Merry may enjoy, which is why his attitude had changed so severely from the night before, where he blasted man custard all over his pants. He continues with the flirting, which just unsettles Merry.

The chapter ends with Merry asking Doyle to find a middle ground between his uber-flirtiness and how off-limits he was the day before.

Characters Introduced:

Hitler, apparently?

Themes Introduced:

Let’s just conveniently rewrite one of history’s most horrific moments!


Sex: what the fuck is Doyle wearing.

 

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