Marquise’s Reviews > The Unicorn Hunters > Status Update
Marquise
is 8% done
*deep sigh*
Hello, Disappointment, my old friend...
It's early, but I already caught the scent of "I don't like how my favourite woman was treated by her patriarchal time & mores, so I'll age her up to make her Assertive & Empowered to suit my modern sensibilities, but the outcome will be the same anyway."
AKA, altering historical realities you dislike.
I'll power through, but I'm on my guard & not in a good way.
— Apr 01, 2026 05:58PM
Hello, Disappointment, my old friend...
It's early, but I already caught the scent of "I don't like how my favourite woman was treated by her patriarchal time & mores, so I'll age her up to make her Assertive & Empowered to suit my modern sensibilities, but the outcome will be the same anyway."
AKA, altering historical realities you dislike.
I'll power through, but I'm on my guard & not in a good way.
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Marquise’s Previous Updates
Marquise
is 20% done
So that's all there was to the unicorn hunt?
What a dumb unicorn hunt. Contrived, convenient, contradictory. The 3 Cs of doom. And of course I noticed the one (well, two) contradictions that would blow the whole unicorn stuff.
And now they'll leave it behind like it never happened?
Do we even trust Arden to pull it off at this point? No. Do we guess why she aged Anne up? Yes. Shall we continue? Grudging yes.
— Apr 02, 2026 06:16PM
What a dumb unicorn hunt. Contrived, convenient, contradictory. The 3 Cs of doom. And of course I noticed the one (well, two) contradictions that would blow the whole unicorn stuff.
And now they'll leave it behind like it never happened?
Do we even trust Arden to pull it off at this point? No. Do we guess why she aged Anne up? Yes. Shall we continue? Grudging yes.
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Freefall
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Apr 01, 2026 06:13PM
red flags this early on… 💔
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OH NOOOOO this hurts my soullll, i have this arc too :[[[ im scareddd
Freefall wrote: "red flags this early on… 💔"Either that, or it's just me. Either way, I'll continue reading, but I'm very cautious now.
cyd⭐️ wrote: "OH NOOOOO this hurts my soullll, i have this arc too :[[[ im scareddd"Let's hope it's not what I think, I really want to like this. Arden is one of my favourite authors.
At that point just write actual fantasy? This is why I prefer secondary worlds
Meishuu wrote: "At that point just write actual fantasy? This is why I prefer secondary worlds"Yeah, I'm starting to dislike Historical Fantasy more and more... :'(
History is ugly and bloody, especially for women, what do we achieve by retroactively altering that?
Nooo! Bummer. That trope pets my peeves. I'm preparing myself for disappointment, because I do tend to like this author.
Cori wrote: "Nooo! Bummer. That trope pets my peeves. I'm preparing myself for disappointment, because I do tend to like this author."I like her too. Which is why I'm hoping for the best (that I'm wrong), but am prepared for the worst (disappointment).
Marquise wrote: "History is ugly and bloody, especially for women, what do we achieve by retroactively altering that?"Exactly, if it had been relatively easily possible to rise above the customs of the times, more would have done so.
Also, I had hopes for that one... feels like whatever was on my radar for 2026 is underperforming so far!
Leilin wrote: "Exactly, if it had been relatively easily possible to rise above the customs of the times, more would have done so."The funniest part when authors do this is, for me, that the end result is exactly the same. You change all sorts of things, even the root causes, but events end like the historical records say they did.
Like playing uchronia/What If? without answering the what if, ha!
ugh, they just cannot help it. So sick of this presentism in books set in the past.
Marquise said: "I don't like how my favourite woman was treated by her patriarchal time & mores, so I'll age her up to make her Assertive & Empowered to suit my modern sensibilities, but the outcome will be the same anyway."AKA, altering historical realities you dislike."
Agreed, wholeheartedly! And you know where I hate this tactic the most? In books touted as "based on a true" person or incident. For example, The Frozen River or The House Is On Fire. It seems almost mocking.
oh no, I had high hopes for this one!
Noooooooooo!!!!! Say it isn’t so!! I wish for you, and for me, that it takes a U turn and you love it. 🤞
Morena wrote: "ugh, they just cannot help it."Honestly, it wasn't even needed here. :(
Renee wrote: "Agreed, wholeheartedly! And you know where I hate this tactic the most? In books touted as "based on a true" person or incident."Me too, Renee. In this book, the FMC is a real person.
Ellen wrote: "oh no, I had high hopes for this one!"My most anticipated reads must be back to being cursed on arrival. :'(
Kealyn wrote: "Yikes, I hope it picks up though."Fingers crossed!
Victoria wrote: "Noooooooooo!!!!! Say it isn’t so!! I wish for you, and for me, that it takes a U turn and you love it. 🤞"I'll be overjoyed with just not hating it, honestly. 3 stars will be a triumph!