2019 EDIT: Rating's changed due to becoming aware of how unhealthy and codependent the main romance in this book is. The heroine gives up everything to be with Death, thus disappearing from her loved ones' lives forever. I don't remember why. What do they even see in each other? They barely know one another, having spent only a few night times together, with Keturah fearing for her life in Death's presence. Then there's the love square, and the annoying obsession the village girls have in wanting to find her "true love". With a man, of course. Tide-By-Rood sure is a bachelor town! Keturah should have stayed single and independent, or been queer; those would have been clever twists on the fairy tale retelling. But she's passive, stupid, and domesticated. I've also grown to really hate romances in YA; I barely tolerate them anymore.
'Keturah and Lord Death' is a weird one, and not in a way that has aged well. Nice writing, though.
Final Score: 3/4
Original Review:
I first wanted to read 'Keturah and Lord Death' because I saw a review that compares the book's writing to that of Laini Taylor's. That and the premise sounded really interesting. A girl who charms Death himself by telling him stories in order to prolong her life? Sounds like a smart heroine for a book set in times during which fairy tales would have been written by man. I'm always game for old tales written from a modern perspective and the like: made even better when the tale itself is original. And since 'The Book Thief', I've been wanting to read another book about Death personified; to see another interpretation of it (and I mean this in the least morbid way possible).
And in the end, after reading through the lovely, memorable prose and characters and themes and symbols, I've come to the conclusion that yes, I enjoyed 'Keturah' very much.
Slight issues to have with it could be explained away; and it all does come down to interpretation of a work of art. After thinking about it, here's what I interpret:
'Keturah' is a romance, through and through. The romance itself has lots of build-up and suspense, with many red herrings along the way (there's not so much a love triangle present as there is a love square). I genuinely wasn't sure who village orphan girl Keturah Reeve was going to end up with, or if she ends up with nobody: that she is better off single and independent. But in a romance novel - a good romance at that - the girl has to decide on her own who is her 'true love' (the author really hammers in that phrase in the book to the point of parody) and what her own thoughts and feelings tell her if she is unsure exactly what she wants. No magical charm or other outside influence can tell her what she truly wants and believes, particularly in a partner in life and death. Love is complicated like that.
As for the theme of the pure, innocent virgin falling for the dark, dangerous man being "moral", I like to think that the author is going deeper into it than past fairy tales have done ('Beauty and the Beast' was originally meant to get girls to accept arranged marriages and men for who they are, or so I've heard).
Keturah herself is not as strong as I would have liked her to be. She is rather meek, and bakes and cooks. But for her time (which remains ambiguous, like a true fairy story) she is passionate, caring, and has dreams and doubts and fears, but never gives up. She has a brain and uses it to her advantage over Lord Death, who falls for her for her imagination and daring bravery over him, and not strictly for her beauty. Keturah is in fact anything but passive, and she helps the people of her village of Tide-by-Rood anyway she can. But she is conscious of its mortality and decay, no matter how much people and places are cleaned up and made to look presentable for kings and queens.
Another thing to note is that Keturah knows she is beautiful - judging by how many men at Tide-by-Rood fancy her, including, typically, a lord's son. She has no low self-esteem. Her grandmother tells her that her storytelling skills will not get her a man, and that her beauty will be enough (plus her cooking) - oh how Keturah proves her wrong! as is shown throughout her story about her survival and the consequences of her own actions.
She even has to prevent a plague from killing everyone she holds dear at home - so the stakes are risen, and do not just involve her love life.
Maybe Lord Death symbolizes the imperfect man, as indeed no man can be perfect. This is shown in the relationship between Gretta and Tailor (there are other romances in 'Keturah', in its different forms). Lord Death is lonely in his existence, and may require a bride to ease that loneliness. He will want Keturah because she tells stories outside of his world, and they may hit closer to home than he would think possible. She fascinates him, and vice versa, in the many complex emotional reactions that can be expressed when facing death. And love; which can be just as frightening in its unpredictability.
And even taking away the love and romance aspect of this book, it is overall a well-written, well-structured story containing many unique magical symbols and motifs - such as the seemingly immortal hart, the eye charm from Soor Lily the witch, and the plague fruit. These are interwoven seamlessly. 'Keturah' has themes of friendship - I adored Gretta and Beatrice - and of accepting people for who they are. Because no one, not even Death personified, is perfect. We are all complex, and a powerful fairy tale can show us that.
And there you go, my thoughts on 'Keturah and Lord Death'. It's a lovely and well-thought out story that would really pass as an old fairy tale; one that isn't too old-fashioned, but Gothic and almost dreamy in its prose and medieval substance. It's filled with dark themes, tension, and the nature of love.
I wish the heroine could have been a bit stronger and more self-aware. But she and the rest of the characters are nonetheless imperfectly beautiful in their own way.
There is magic to be found here. There is magic to be found in love, life and death. To be haunted by this magic is to realize ourselves.
Final Score: 4/5
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