Book Review: Legacy of the Brightwash by Krystal Matar
Legacy of the Brightwash was a brutal, beautiful exploration of humanity through a fictional lens.
Who would tattoo a child? Tashué’s Blackwood, Tin Man of the authority asks himself as he looks down at the body of a limbless dead girl that has washed up on the Brightwash. This was the case that would change everything.
Tashué has always followed the law, protected it, and enforced it as a part of his day to day, never questioning his role as a Regulation Officer. So why was he the only one who cared about this child on the shore? Taking down the numbers on the girls’ neck was only the beginning. When he crosses paths with a local journalist with a story of young boy in the same condition, it becomes apparent, this case was larger than anyone first thought. As Tashué starts to question everything he has ever stood for, more and more secrets of the authority come out through the cracks. Will he have the strength to stand against everything he has ever believed in to break the case?
Legacy of the Brightwash was nothing short of incredible in my opinion. While the subject matter of this book is grim, Matar has delivered an unapologetic deep dive into the human condition and how we respond to trauma. The thematics and character work steal the show throughout this story with everyone reacting to the world around them in various ways. The magic of the “tainted” and how it was used as a tool for oppression versus empowerment was also a cool aspect worth unpacking.
There are two themes which demand your attention as you read Legacy, one is authority as a tool for power and corruption, the other is how we respond to trauma and use it to grow or allow it to poison our existence. Our main character has never questioned his place in the authority before. But over the last few years his observations and experiences have led him to believe that perhaps all is not right with how the authority and military groups treat the world around them. As he reflects on the good and bad of an authoritative body, the reader is encouraged to do the same. I felt myself reflecting on my own life, and things I have seen around me in the name of “good”. Who determines what is good or right, and what isn’t? Conversations around the manipulation and secrets of those in power rise to the surface and grip you when you least expect it. From these themes, we come to trauma, and while there is an exploration of how those in authority can create and enhance a traumatic experience. I would argue that multiple aspects of trauma are explored in this story, physical, mental, psychosomatic, familial, the list goes on. Each character had a story to share, some form of history they were carrying on their shoulders and each story was unpacked with respect and care for the humans inside of their shells.
Moving on to our characters because this story was all for them. I would argue the plot is very much underlying for about 80% of the book as we unpack the people that make up this world. Every single person has a purpose, and every single person was grey in some way, shape or form. The way the people of this story were unpacked was remarkable, no one was left out or made lesser than, even side characters were fleshed out, and able to jump into the main story line without a second look. Matar was masterful in the way these stories were bought to life. From the political outlook of Iilia Winter, using Tashué for an advantage in more ways than one. Stella Whiterock, the woman who stole our main protagonist’s heart that had an extremely compelling backstory, Jason the son sentenced to death in the Rift for not registering his talent with the Dominion, and then we have Ceridwen. I don’t think I have read of a child, more self-aware, more charming, or more into sweets than this beautiful young girl who, I must admit weaselled her way into my feels during this reading experience. These characters didn’t just have a place in the story, they were celebrated for who they were.
Finally, let’s talk about the magic, or we could be here for hours. The ‘tainted’ or the ‘talented’ depending on who you talked to were one of two things. Useful members for society or prisoners. Any person with a talent must register and be put to work where the Dominion sees fit. If you don’t you are sent to the Rift to live out your days as a prisoner, devoid of touch, love, and freedom. Unless of course you were in the breeding program, used as the Dominion’s own personal power supply of those magically inclined. The talents explored were well thought out and used liberally throughout the story. An example of the magic in use could be seen in Stella, the whisperer who could ease someone’s pain through end of life, and Rodrishi, a healer who pulled parts of himself to stich others together and the list goes on, but these were the two most thoroughly explored. The use of the talented and oppression of those who chose not to use it could lead into more conversations around the thematics, but I will just say, this book gave the reader a lot to think about!
Legacy of the Brightwash is one of those books that never leaves you, its lasting effects will have you thinking about how your own life has been shaped by its themes long after that final page is closed.
