The Heretic's Guide to Homecoming: Book Two: Practice by Sienna Tristen

The Heretic’s Guide to Homecoming: Book Two: Practice was, as the author put it, definitely a doorstopper of a book. I definitely enjoyed every moment, though I think Part Four could have probably been its own book.

I really liked Part Four. The tribes were well enough fleshed out. I liked the different wisewomen and the way they represented their tribes. I really enjoyed Nazum and what they brought to the Ronoah/Chasakava dynamic.

Part Five was interesting. Ronoah may have figured out how to be a person, but he hasn’t quite figured out how to talk about his feelings properly yet. I usually have a problem with this sort of “I’m not going to talk to you even though it might fix things” plot device, but I think it makes sense for Ronoah. He did come from a culture where that’s pretty much ALL they do, after all.

Part Six we finally arrive at The Pilgrim State. I thought it was neat. I also really liked finally getting more backstory on the being known toward the end of this part as Ybh. I liked Ronoah gaining some powers from Ybh. Seeing Tycho again was lots of fun, too.

Part Seven, we finally get to meet Ronoah’s family. This return was sweet and chill, every bit the homecoming Ronoah deserved. I liked this section a lot.

So yes, this was a doorstopper of a book. Highly enjoyable and a fully fleshed out world.

Favorite Lines

"You can’t always talk to someone the way you’d wanna be talked to. People learn all kinds of ways, and fancy feelings demon or not, you en’t in a position to begrudge ‘em that.” - Nazum

"You subjugate each other in the microcosm instead, it’s far more insidious.” - Haneong

“The gods give us a life and a role to play in it, but that role doesn’t mean much without other people to see it and know it’s real. We’re all held up by each other.” - Tycho  

Theory by Sienna Tristen

I am honestly at a loss as to how to review this. Normally, there’s something for me to talk about — and I probably could, if I were discussing The Heretic's Guide to Homecoming, Book One: Theory with someone else — but as I’m doing a review, that is daunting. Theory is very good, first and foremost. It’s philosophical and a way I’m certain I haven’t really encountered up to this point in my life of reading. I also felt very seen at some points. Ronoah reminds me of myself.

Reilin/Özrek gives me Doctor (from Doctor Who) vibes. He’s definitely not human. Turns out, also isn’t shalledra and probably not a god. Just god-like, at times. He’s… hard to describe, really. But really gave me Doctor vibes.

I also quite enjoyed the world-building. Both the wider stuff and the smaller things. The discussions of how different races and sections of humanity worked were fun. The tales interspersed throughout were an interesting addition and not something I’ve seen utilized the way they were here.

But yeah, not really sure what else to say. I highly recommend giving Theory a read.

Favorite Lines

“Truth is picky about her friends,” the man continued, with a smile like he and Truth had discussed this over tea a couple years back. “She does not yield herself so easily. Can’t have everyone knowing how the whole of everything works, can you, that’s asking for trouble and it takes away the fun besides—so she sets up stumbling blocks, dresses up decoys, fashions false dichotomies galore, and even then, does she wait patient at the end of her obstacle course?” He swept the air clean with a dismissive flick of the hand. “Of course not. If you want to truly know anything, you are obliged to run the gauntlet and you must be prepared to come out the other end only to discover that Truth is not sitting pretty at the finish line as you presumed, she’s up and moved again, and there’s a whole new cast of challenges lined up as punishment for your slowness or perhaps, if you’re unlucky, for your cleverness, your overconfidence.” - Reilin/Özrek

“It is the unexpected things that impact us the most.” - Reilin/Özrek

"Change is reciprocal. Change is symbiotic. And change is work." - Reilin/Özrek

"Know this: the most interesting people are interested people. The ones who sink their teeth into everything. The ones who ask what no one else is mad enough to ask. The ones who know you need to drown in something before you can understand it." - Reilin/Özrek

"We are all bigger than ourselves. We all contain multitudes." - Reilin/Özrek

 

“When two great shards of the planet scrape up against each other in a collision so forceful it squeezes the molten blood out of the earth, it behooves one to take notice.” - Reilin/Özrek

 

"It’s a delightful paradox, that the more stable a kingdom is forced to be, the more likely it is to fall apart—if you’re aiming for longevity, you need to give the thing a little space to breathe." - Reilin/Özrek

In Other News

The Heretic's Guide to Homecoming, Book One: Theory marks my 110th book this year, meaning I have smashed my reading goal for this year again. My new goal is 116, which is how many books I read last year. Here's hoping I get my GoodReads confetti for it next time.