Rating: 5/5 stars
Series: Trickster Trilogy
Pages: 384
Genre: fantasy, urban fantasy, magical realism
Publisher: Penguin Random House Canada
Pub Date: October 2, 2018
Summary: After facing off with the otters and barely making it out alive, Jared is determined to turn over a new leaf. In an attempt to escape the magic that surrounds him, he quits drinking and doing drugs, and moves to Vancouver to attend school. But he only manages to find more trouble in Vancouver. Faced with a series of toxic relationships, finding a new non-pot-cookie-selling job, and trying to keep his grades up, he hardly has time to also deal with his mom’s dangerous ex - David, a preppy guy bent on revenge. With spirit otters knocking on his door asking for their pelts back, a coy-wolf for an Aunt and the voice of the trickster still his head, Jared’s got more than enough on his plate, but sooner or later he’s going to have to face the magic and supernatural that he was born into.
Filled action, relatable characters and magic in all the right places, this book is even better than the first in the series and I’m so excited for the next book. Eden Robinson’s writing is gorgeous and impossible not to get drawn into. I wasn’t sure on Jared in Son of a Trickster, but now that I’ve come this far, I’m totally sold on and rooting for this baby trickster. He’s easily taken a place as one of my favourite protagonists.
Robinson has seamlessly sewn magic into the real world and it is brilliantly and believably done, not only that, but it often comes together with an unbeatable sense of humor (how on earth can she write such dark things and then make me laugh out loud?). One of the greatest aspects of this book is the characters, she has a knack for writing larger than life, completely believable characters and relationships. Not only is Jared’s family wonderfully complex and realistic, but she captures the complicated nature of dealing with a family like that perfectly.
This book is a roller-coaster ride into magical realism and a wonderfully indigenous world and I recommend Eden Robinson’s work to absolutely everyone (Seriously, I can give you a list of her must-reads. Spoiler: It’s all of them).
To learn more about Eden Robinson and her work, check out the links below:
https://www.strongnations.com/gs/show.php?gs=3&gsd=664
https://www.penguinrandomhouse.ca/books/532532/son-of-a-trickster-by-eden-robinson/9780345810793
Interested in buying the first book in the series?
https://www.penguinrandomhouse.ca/books/532532/son-of-a-trickster-by-eden-robinson/9780345810793
Thank you to Netgalley and Penguin Random House Canada for providing me with an ARC of this book.