The Storyteller's Tale by Judith Bouilloc - Book Review

Publication Date: 21st August 2024 

Genre: YA Fantasy 

3 Stars 

One Liner: A light and fluffy read 

Iliad is a young woman who loves books. She is a snatchword, a person who can snatch words from paper/ stories and make them come alive as images (think of historical-style holograph). She is happy in the library where she works but is delighted to get an invite from the Queen of Esmeria to be her personal storyteller. 

However, this commoner also gets a marriage proposal from a mysterious member of the royal family. Iliad goes to the capital to meet the queen and find out who her suitor is. For a girl used to simple life and bookish fantasies, the life and rules of the royals are overwhelming and exhausting. Of course, what’s a trip to the capital without getting involved in some royal coup? 

The story comes in Iliad’s third-person POV with random bits from Lord Tarlyn’s POV (third). 

My Thoughts: 

This is a translation of a French book, L'Arrache-mots, first published in 2019. No idea about the original language but the translation (by Madeline S. White) seems to be decent. The sentence flow is poetic and whimsical where it should be and normal at the other places. 

It’s a short book (200-odd pages), which means the world-building is not elaborate. There’s enough information to imagine the setting but no real explanation of what, why, and how. It didn’t bother me much as I could go with the flow. 

Iliad’s family is large, so they take up some space but have bare minimum roles (except for a couple). I wish there was more character development.  

Iliad is a typical bookish character – wishy-washy, living in a fantasy world, temperamental, naïve, etc. She is not always easy to empathize with due to her random reactions. Also, she is supposed to be 24 but reads more like a 17-18 year old. 

The MMC doesn’t enter until after 30% and is your grumpy, brooding but good guy (think of the Beast) with secrets, et al. His arc could have been great if he got enough space to prove himself. 

Grandma Cassandra (Iliad’s granny) is a fun character initially, though she does feel stereotypical after a point. The same complaint applies to all characters. I did like the King and Virginia more than everyone else. 

Despite having adult-aged characters, the book is aimed at the younger audience. This doesn’t allow for a detailed plot (though some YA books are quite elaborate). While it is good for the pacing, everything remains surface-level. 

There are quite a few snippets from classics that have clear footnotes (I read footnotes together at the end), though skipping the notes shouldn’t make any difference. The chosen snippet does the job well. 

To summarize, The Storyteller's Tale has an interesting premise and string bare bones but needs more development to reach its full potential. Right now, it’s a nice little palate cleanser to pick up between heavy reads. 

Thank you, NetGalley and Rivka Publishing, for eARC.  

#NetGalley #TheStorytellersTale