Started reading: January 3rd 2018
Finished the book: January 17th 2018
Pages: 368
Genres: Fantasy, Retelling
Published: November 26th 2017
Source: Got a digital copy from the author
Goodreads score: 4.05
My score:
A plague sweeps across the emerald hills of Uí Néill, leaving a young midwife’s father with months to live. To save her people, Sorcha makes a deal with a dangerous Fae. She must travel across the sea, through merrow and kelpie lands, to find a forgotten king on a crumbling throne.
With the help of brownies, pixies, and will-o’-the-wisps, Sorcha battles to break through his crystalline shell and persuade him to take back his stolen throne.
My thougths
I love retellings if they're done right, and this one is. The book starts with a list of magical creatures one is about to meet in the book. It's always cool to read about. Sadly it's hard to skip back and forth on my Kindle, so I wasn't able to go back to the list, but I always like features like that. This book is definitely a must read for people who like magic, retellings, Beauty and the Beast, fantasy and Irish Mythology.
Pros
- Crystals: The fact that Eamonn is disfigured and banned from his country is not something that's never been done in a book, but that he has CRYSTALS instead of wounds is something new to me. It's unique and different from anything that I've read and I love the way Sorcha is looking at this disfigurement and how she talks about it with him.
- Combination: The combination between a Beauty and the Beast retelling, Irish Mythology and magic/fantasy is great! The Beauty and the Beast is very easy to find back in this book. There's even a character that reminds me of Mrs. Potts, which is great.
- Ending: I was 5% away from the ending and I was shocked! I didn't see think this book would end this way and I really like the choice the writer has made. It makes me crave for more and it leaves you with a lot of questions!
Cons
- Feminism: Some parts in the book have a bit of hidden feminism in it and I just don't care for the subject. It sometimes makes me cringe that a feminine character is portrayed in a particular way and it just doesn't add anything for me.
- Plot twists: I felt like some plot twists that happened didn't add anything to the story and some plot twists were very abrupt as well. Also; Sorcha is forgetting about her goal at some point and it felt like she wasn't even trying to rescue here people anymore. I felt like she could've tried harder to achieve her goal.
Overall
A great book for fantasy lovers who can enjoy a nice retelling. This is a quick book, that's easy to read with enough happening during the whole story. Beware; this book will make you crave for more once you've finished it!
Memorable quotes from this book
"Right and wrong suggests that there is only black and white. I refute that belief and instead replace it with my own."
Thanks for reading!
Please let me know what you think about this book/review.
