13+

Usually when I go back for a reread (especially when I reread it within a year) then the plot doesn’t captivate me as much, but this one completely did. It feels so soft the plot and everything happens and then nothing but so many details and little emotions are worked into the whole world that you are never bored for a moment.

Elsie and Farrendel are in an arranged heavily political marriage between two countries that have been at war and in a country that is on the precipice of a much larger one. They don’t have the insta-love/attraction that I always struggle with in political marriage books, they understand each other and move slow. The exploration of cultural differences as well as the aftermath of war on people is really well explored but it is rarely heavy because we always have the hope of the new alliance and romance.

These series isn’t a rapid paced whirlwind so you get to know the characters which is especially important as later on in the series the POV changes. In this first book we get a real sense of the hope on both sides – no one wants war and so these two very different people from different cultures and life experiences are going to do everything they can to make this work.

World – 5/5 – classic fantasy, elves and humans and trolls yet fresh. It almost feels like a historical Victorian novel in places and then we revert into the very fantasy world of the elves. The juxtaposition between the traditionalist long lived elves and the Victorian feel humans shows just how the two kingdoms are so different but yet need to come closer to survive.

Plot – 4/5 – it is very much the wider plot, we have a lot of time we are playing with here over the series and a lot of war that happens before. But I was never lost and I was 100% there throughout all of the plot moments.

Romance – 5/5 – it is somehow the focus and not of the book, it is very sweet and slowburn while still giving us those deliciously sweet moments in places.

Characters – 5/5 – they are so realistic that sometimes I cant figure out how I feel about them. All of the characters are distinct and yet this hope binds them all. And they are reassuringly mature – well the mc’s are, the court is another thing entirely. It feels like it steps away from a YA fantasy romance into something that floats between and could be enjoyed by any young adult or adult adult looking for a fantasy read that steps out of tropes and delivers on all counts.

Content Warnings: violence, PTSD (pretty low in the first one but does increase as the series continues), ableism (as a country, Tarenheil is obsessed with surface perfectionism).