Review of A Court of Thorns and Roses

A Court of Thorns and Roses

Author: Sarah J. Maas

Publisher: Bloomsbury

Format: HC

View on: Goodreads | Barnes & Noble | Amazon

Summary

When nineteen-year-old huntress Feyre kills a wolf in the woods, a beast-like creature arrives to demand retribution for it. Dragged to a treacherous magical land she only knows about from legends, Feyre discovers that her captor is not an animal, but Tamlin—one of the lethal, immortal faeries who once ruled their world.

As she dwells on his estate, her feelings for Tamlin transform from icy hostility into a fiery passion that burns through every lie and warning she's been told about the beautiful, dangerous world of the Fae. But an ancient, wicked shadow grows over the faerie lands, and Feyre must find a way to stop it... or doom Tamlin—and his world—forever.

Perfect for fans of Kristin Cashore and George R. R. Martin, this first book in a sexy and action-packed new series is impossible to put down! 

Review

“‘I love you,’ I said, and stabbed him.”

Feyre is a hunter—a skill she was forced to learn to keep her family alive after ill luck  took away her family’s fortune left them destitute—and when she encounters a wolf in the woods, she does not hesitate to kill the faerie in wolf form even though he makes no move to attack her. But Feyre must pay for killing the faerie unprovoked, so when a faerie comes to claim Feyre’s life as retribution for the life she took, she has two choices: she can die, or she can cross the Wall separating human land from faerie land and live the rest of her life in Prythian away from her family. With no real choice in the matter, Feyre accompanies the faerie, Tamlin, to seek shelter with him in his court. 

Where do I begin with this? I’m a sucker for fairy tales, and A Court of Thorns and Roses is a retelling of Beauty and the Beast. I loved it. The faeries are monsters: they are powerful enough to easily kill humans and only a treaty prevents them from keeping humans as slaves as they once did. Even now encountering a faerie means almost certain death. Only under Tamlin’s orders is Feyre able to survive, but as she soon learns not all is as it seems. All the faeries are afraid of the powerful Her, unwilling to even speak of her, but Feyre knows she is a threat—a threat so powerful that even Tamlin, a High Lord, is afraid. I absolutely loved the nuances of the faerie courts, and although there were few surprises—ACOTR closely followed the traditional Beauty and the Beast storyline—it still drew me in. However, for fans (like me) of Holly Black's novels, there was not nearly enough development of the faerie courts comparatively, as most of the information was squeezed into the very end rather than developed from the beginning. 

Tamlin is the beast. He is a faerie, and Feyre hates the faeries for the threat they pose and the monsters that they are, and even more she resents Tamlin for taking her away from her family. Though he shelters her in his court, Feyre’s one goal is to figure out how to leave and return to her family. Her plan: befriend Lucien, Tamlin’s friend who despises her and only keeps her safe upon Tamlin’s orders (and also my favorite character). Although she was brought into Prythian against her will, Feyre gradually settles into her new life, though she is determined as ever to leave it, and she learns that not all is as it seems. The faeries are monsters, but she discovers Tamlin isn’t so horrible. She begins to learn their secrets: they can lie and iron has no affect on them despite what they have lead humans to believe. 

Just as Feyre is beginning to recognize her feelings for Tamlin, he sends her away to escape the threatening his court. But when Feyre leaves, she condemns Tamlin and his entire court to death. Now aware of all she lost, Feyre is resolved to win Tamlin back from Her, Amarantha, the Faerie who, in her twisted plot for revenge, now controls all the magic of the High Lords of the seven courts. Feyre must best Amarantha, a nearly impossible feat, or loose Tamlin forever. And that, for me, was the really fun part. 

I loved this book, and Sarah Mass does a fantastic job creating an intriguing and imaginative world, but as far as Beauty and the Beast retellings go, this one is not the best I’ve read. Cruel Beauty by Rosamund Hodge or The Hollow Kingdom by Claire B. Dunkle are much better Beauty and the Beast stories as they do not shy away from the ugly like ACOTR does. My main problem was that for all Tamlin is supposed to be a beast—and he is while in his wolf form—while in his faerie form he is also beautiful despite the mask that always covers his face. Poor Feyre falls in love with a stunningly handsome man. This changes the story and makes it slightly less interesting. After all, Beauty and the Beast is an enticing story because how could she ever fall in love with an ugly beast? This aspect was just missing from Tamlin. 

I love Throne of Glass, and was a bit disappointed by ACOTR, though it was still a good book. 

Cover: 5/5

Plot: 3/5

Characters/character development: 3/5

Writing style: 5/5

Overall: 3.8/5

Review of Assassin's Heart

Assassin’s Heart

Author: Sarah Ahiers

Publisher: HarperTeen

Format: ARC

Expected publication date: 2/2/16 

View on: Goodreads | Amazon | Barnes & Noble   

Summary

In the kingdom of Lovero, nine rival Families of assassins lawfully kill people for a price. As a highly skilled member of one of these powerful clans, seventeen-year-old Lea Saldana has always trusted in the strength of her Family. Until she awakens to find them murdered and her home in flames. The Da Vias, the Saldanas’ biggest enemy, must be responsible—and Lea should have seen it coming. But her secret relationship with the Da Vias’ son, Val, has clouded her otherwise killer instinct—and given the Da Vias more reason than ever to take her Family down.

Racked with guilt and shattered over Val’s probable betrayal, Lea sets out to even the score, with her heart set on retaliation and only one thought clear in her mind: make the Da Vias pay.

With shades of The Godfather and Romeo and Juliet, this richly imagined fantasy from debut author Sarah Ahiers is a story of love, lies, and the ultimate vengeance. 

Review

I wasn’t drawn into the story right from the start; it was too much like Romeo & Juliet, sappy romance and all. I wanted assassins and killing, but I was not disappointed for long. The story quickly diverged from the Romeo & Juliet meets The Godfather as in the description, and I found it much more like Throne of Glass meets His Fair Assassin. 

Oleander “Lea” Saldana is from one of the nine clipper, or assassin, Families of Lovero. The Saldanas and the Da Vias are enemies, and Lea has fallen for none other than Val Da Via. But that all changes when Val betrays Lea and uses her to help the Da Vias break into her family home and kill her entire family. As the only left Saldana alive, Lea must flea Lovero to seek the assistance of her estranged uncle, Marcello, in order to kill the Da Vias and avenge her Family’s death. Along the way she meets Les, a clipper in training, and finds her uncle Marcello, but with the Da Vias posing an even larger threat than before, it will cost Lea everything, perhaps even her life, to exact her revenge.

Where to start. Once I got into this book — read, once Val betrayed Lea and the fun revenge plot began — I absolutely loved it. Lea should not be likable. She is an assassin and she feels no remorse at her kills. In fact, she feels justified in them. Being a clipper in Lovero is to have status and wealth in a country where death at the hands of Safraella’s chosen Families is a form of worship. Lea is prickly and hell bent on revenge. She has no time for anything else save plotting the downfall of the Da Vias, but she is still a teenager and she still makes stupid mistakes, making her all the more human despite being a clipper. Lea shouldn’t be likable, yet she is, and as the story progresses, Lea really starts to change. It is slow going at first, and Lea struggles the hardest to remain focused on her mission. Lea’s mantra: 

“All that matters is killing the Da Vias.”

Although I would have been happier hearing that particular line repeated a few less times. 

Les is a clipper being trained by Marcello Saldana. He was abandoned as a child in Yvain, a city worships a god of agriculture and debts, but after being taken in by Marcello almost as a father, all Les wants to be is a clipper. Scared of being abandoned by Marcello, the one and only constnt person in his life, Les is unable to convince Marcello to train him fully. Unlike in Lovero where assassination by the clipper Families is a legal, highly respectable field, murder is unacceptable in Yvain. Lea agrees to continue Les’s training in exchange for his help in her quest for revenge. 

Then the romance begins, because this is a YA novel and Lea and Les must have romance. As sickening as Lea/Val was at the start of the story, Lea and Les’s romance develops slowly and gradually. It is not like at first sight. Far from it. Lea is not about to let anything distract her from avenging her Family’s death. Family before family, or blood, as the saying goes. Les only wants to help her, and along the way, prickly Lea begins to care. The development of the romance is slow and it actually feels natural, a rarity among YA novels. 

I loved this book. Its fast paced and exciting. And then came the deus ex machina moment that just about ruined my enjoyment of the story. 

The best part was the world building. Rich and imaginative, Ahiers creates a compelling world where death is a form of worship, assassins are revered, and Gods and Goddesses are not just myths but reality. This is a stand alone novel but I would eagerly read more stories set in this world. 

Cover: 5/5

Plot: 3/5

Characters/character development: 5/5

Writing style: 5/5

Overall: 4.4/5 

Review of Snow Like Ashes

Snow Like Ashes (Snow Like Ashes #1)

Author: Sara Raasch

Publisher: Balzer + Bray

Format: Paperback

Find on: Goodreads | Amazon

Summary 

A heartbroken girl. A fierce warrior. A hero in the making.

Sixteen years ago the Kingdom of Winter was conquered and its citizens enslaved, leaving them without magic or a monarch. Now, the Winterians’ only hope for freedom is the eight survivors who managed to escape, and who have been waiting for the opportunity to steal back Winter’s magic and rebuild the kingdom ever since.

Orphaned as an infant during Winter’s defeat, Meira has lived her whole life as a refugee, raised by the Winterians’ general, Sir. Training to be a warrior—and desperately in love with her best friend, and future king, Mather — she would do anything to help her kingdom rise to power again.

So when scouts discover the location of the ancient locket that can restore Winter’s magic, Meira decides to go after it herself. Finally, she’s scaling towers, fighting enemy soldiers, and serving her kingdom just as she’s always dreamed she would. But the mission doesn’t go as planned, and Meira soon finds herself thrust into a world of evil magic and dangerous politics – and ultimately comes to realize that her destiny is not, never has been, her own.

Review

I tried really hard to like this book. From the summary, I thought I would really enjoy it. There are eight kingdoms, four Seasons and four Rhythms. Angra, the King of Spring, is determined to destroy Winter. Meira is an orphaned Winterian, one of only eight to escape Spring’s enslavement after the fall of Winter. Raised by Sir alongside Winter’s King, Mather,  Meira wants to be a warrior and restore Winter. Sure this plot line is very familiar, and I really thought I would like it, but I just could not get into it. 

Meira is strong; she is certainly not the best warrior out there—Mather can easily best her in a fight—but she is determined to restore Winter. All she wants is to be given the opportunity to fight, and she is disgruntled as Sir forces her to stay safe and not go on missions while Winter’s King, Mather, risks his life. (And although the reason for this is the big reveal at the end of the book, by chapter two it was already obvious. No surprises here unfortunately.) While Meira is a likable character despite her occasional bouts of selfishness as one would expect from a heroine in a YA novel, I just couldn’t connect with her, which was odd because the entire story is told from her point of view. 

From the very beginning, Meira is in love with Mather, although she knows that because he will someday be king and she is just an orphan, there is no future for them. The few Winterian refugees travel to Cordell, one of the Rhythms, to seek an alliance, and in return for Cordell’s aid to restore Winter Meira must marry Theron, King Noam’s son and heir. (By this point it should be really obvious that Meira is not just an orphan.) Enter love triangle. I’m not a fan of them, but this one was not too awful. Both Mather and Theron are likable, well developed characters, and the most exciting part of the book for me was when the two had a spat, presumably over Meira—though the motivation on Theron’s part in the disagreement is unclear. 

One of the weakest parts of the book was all the excessive info dump. While this is expected to an extent in fantasy, there was quite a few history and culture lessons that seemed unnecessary to the book, and they appeared in almost every chapter. A quick summary of the excessive info dump is that the Kingdoms rely on magic, which each kingdom’s monarch is able to access through a conduit and an object. The problem: the Decay is taking over and threatening to destroy the kingdoms by taking over the monarchs and making them do evil things. Winter is a matriarchy and following the previous Queen’s death, Winter is unable to access its magic as Mather, the King, is male and only the Queens have access. Thus, Mather’s only useful purpose of king is to father the next queen of Winter, a gender role reversal that was quite refreshing. Even worse is that Winter’s object, a locket, was broken into parts and taken by Angra. Winter’s King must also have both parts of the locket restored before Winter has a chance of accessing its power again. 

Although the plot was nothing I haven’t seen before and very predictable, I enjoyed the writing. It felt a bit flowery and repetitive at times, and the book could have easily cut down to be a bit shorter because of it, but it was overall well written. This was not a bad book, but it was not good either. I simply could not get into the storyline. 

Cover: 5/5

Plot: 3/5

Characters/character development: 4/5

Writing style: 4/5

Overall: 3.8/5

Review of The Lord of Opium

The Lord of Opium (Matteo Alacran #2)

Author: Nancy Farmer

Publisher: Atheneum Books for Young Readers

Publication date: September 2013

Format: HC

View on: Goodreads | Amazon

Summary 

The new book continues the story of Matt, the boy who was cloned from evil drug lord El Patrón in The House of the Scorpion. Now 14 years old, Matt rules his own country, the Land of Opium, the only thriving place in a world ravaged by ecological disaster. Though he knows that the cure for ending the suffering is hidden in Opium, Matt faces obstacles and enemies at every turn when he tries to use his power to help.

Review

Following El Patrón’s death, fourteen-year-old Matt is now the ruler of Opium. With Opium’s borders shut down and isolating the country from the rest of the world, Matt sets about righting El Patrón’s wrongs. Having previously been a clone, Matt knows what it feels like to not be human, and his first mission is to free the eejits, brainwashed workers who behave and are treated like machines. Matt enlists the help of Dr. Rivas, the one doctor left in Opium who was not murdered during El Patrón’s funeral banquet, to work on finding a way to free the eejits. Matt’s other goal is to discover the secret of the biosphere to revitalize the over depleted soil and in doing so save the overused fields of Opium and the world.  

I loved The House of the Scorpion when I was younger, and when I learned there was a sequel, I was excited to read The Lord of Opium, but this is one of the cases where the sequel simply did not live up to the original. To start, the pacing in the book was very slow. There was a lot of world building—which I really liked—but the details sometimes became excessive. The beginning of the book really dragged on for me as nothing seemed to be happening. Matt and Cienfuegos traveled around trying to get Opium under control while concealing El Patrón’s death from the other drug lords, who would try to seize Opium if they learned El Patrón was dead. 

Then there was the romance. Matt meet Waitress, an eejit, and took a liking to her. He renamed her Mirasol and tried to restore her humanity, but he had little success. Instead, Matt ends up developing a fascination for her and takes advantage of her brainwashed state, which was very creepy and disturbing. While Matt is focused on Mirasol, he is still in love with/obsessing over Marìa. While Marìa is in New York and under her mother’s, Esparanza’s, control she wants to return to Matt and Opium. Their relationship is just plain weird. They are strangely obsessed with each other for being two fifteen-year-olds, and while Matt spends a lot of time thinking about Marìa, she barely appears in the book. 

There were quite a few new characters. Matt meets Listen, a clone of Glass Eye Dabengwa’s, another drug lord, dead wife, who Dr. Rivas has created to be his future wife. There is also Bug, a child with no impulse control who, like Matt, is one of El Patrón’s clones. Matt takes a liking to Listen and takes her with him, but I found her one dimensional and uninteresting. Her character was not well developed despite the fact that she was one of the main characters. 

The one part of the book that I really liked was Matt’s inner struggle against his inner El Patrón. As a clone, Matt still hears echo’s of El Patrón and his struggle to find himself, despite being a part of El Patrón, was interesting and well developed. 

I think I would have really liked this book had I not had such high expectation for it. Though there were a lot of parts I did not like, the book overall was quite good, but it just doesn’t compare to The House of the Scorpion. 

Cover: 5/5

Writing style: 5/5

Characters/character development: 3/5

Plot: 3/5

Overall: 3.8/5

Review of The White Rose

The White Rose (The Lone City #2)

Author: Amy Ewing

Publisher: HarperTeen

Format: HC

ISBN: 978-0-06-223581-7

Summary

Violet is on the run. After the Duchess of the Lake catches Violet with Ash, the hired companion at the Palace of the Lake, Violet has no choice but to escape the Jewel or face certain death. So along with Ash and her best friend, Raven, Violet runs away from her unbearable life of servitude.

But no one said leaving the Jewel would be easy. As they make their way through the circles of the Lone City, Regimentals track their every move, and the trio barely manages to make it out unscathed and into the safe haven they were promised—a mysterious house in the Farm.

But there’s a rebellion brewing, and Violet has found herself in the middle of it. Alongside a new ally, Violet discovers her Auguries are much more powerful than she ever imagined. But is she strong enough to rise up against the Jewel and everything she has ever known?

The White Rose is a raw, captivating sequel to The Jewel that fans won’t be able to put down until the final shocking moments. 

Review

After the crash and burn ending to The Jewel, I did not have high hopes for The White Rose, but after reading it all in one sitting, I was quite mistaken. With the resemblance The Jewel bears to the Selection series, I expected the series to continue on in the vapid fancy dresses and luxury obsessed fashion (no pun intended) of the first book, while largely ignoring the underlying—and much more fascinating—political issues. The White Rose was anything but glamorous. 

With Violet and Ash discovered, they find Raven and with the help of Lucien and Garnet escape the Jewel. Now fugitives, they cannot be seen. The movement Lucien heads, as the three fugitives soon learn, is much more extensive than they originally thought. Aided by a secret organization called the Black Key, Violet with her perfect score on her growth augury is the one who has the potential to bring down the royalty. After reading The Jewel where everyone just accepts the evils the royalty commit, I was quite pleased to see that there is now a rebellion brewing, and Violet is in the thick of it. She is finally becoming the interesting, well-developed character she is capable of being.

Violet soon learns that the auguries are not what she thought they were. Color. Shape. Growth. They aren’t real. The real power comes from somewhere else and it is far more powerful than anyone realizes. I don’t want to give away any spoilers, but suffice to say, the new information regarding the auguries goes a long way to explaining many of the questions I had from the first book. 

Now free of the Jewel, Violet and Raven must figure out how to use their powers and bring down the Jewel in a fight that will require the unification everyone the Jewel has wronged to win. With the help of Sil, a surrogate who escaped the Jewel decades previously, Violet begins to understand her true powers and she learns that the evils committed by the royalty extend far beyond exploiting the people and keeping them destitute. The Lone City is not all that it appears, and Violet knows she must fight the royalty not just because they are tyrants but to restore the island to its former glory.

The book ends with a massive cliff hanger—once again I won’t be giving anything away, but I will totally be reading the next book.  The writing style is once again compelling and easy to read, and it drew me in almost as much as the storyline.  Thankfully, the romance was toned down: there were fewer sappy romance scenes in this book, but the ones that did make it in were even more vomit inducing than the ones in the previous book. There is more Garnet, and I love him. His bad boy, rebel personality is charming, and we get to explore deeper facets of his character. Not to mention I totally ship Garnet/Violet more than Ash/Violet. How does she manage to choose the boring, underdeveloped guy anyways?

As much as I liked this book, there were still some issues I had with it. The naming conventions are still ridiculous. Ash is still a completely un-swoon-worthy love interest. That guy is boring and he does not have much of a discernible personality, but we are briefly introduced to his family, which helped him become a little less flat. 

Parts of the book were a bit rushed. It took Sil and Lucien’s sister a long time to unleash and discover their powers, and I feel Violet found hers too easily. A large part of the story for me is the struggle, and Violet does not struggle nearly enough. Sure it is Raven’s near death that motivated her to accept the power for what it was, but I still feel that part of the book was rushed. When Violet taught other surrogates how to use their powers and not the auguries, they learned even quicker still with no struggle whatsoever. That is just too convenient to be believable. That type of power should have taken a much greater struggle to acquire. And, surprise surprise, Ash, a companion, is also a trained fighter for some reason. Let me just say deus ex machina is not something I enjoy reading in books and it comes across as quite clumsy. Amy Ewing has certainly learned quite a bit about writing since her last book, but she still has a way to go. 

Regardless, I loved this book and I would highly recommend giving it a quick read. 

Cover: 5/5

Writing style: 4/5

Characters/character development: 4/5

Plot: 3/5

Overall: 4.1/5

Review of The Day Human Prince

The Day Human Prince (The Day Human Trilogy #1)

Author: B. Kristin McMichael

Publisher: Lexia Press

Format: Paperback

ISBN: 9780989121897

Summary (from book jacket)

Devin Alexander grew up as the only day human in a world surrounded by night humans who drank blood, sometimes his blood. He spent his life training toward one goal: the protection of one of those blood  drinkers, Arianna Grace. But what is he supposed to do when the blue-eyed girl of the legends doesn’t need him anymore? What does his life mean then? How is a guy supposed to move on when the girl he has yearned for over a decade has chosen someone else?

Before he can even start to figure out his new life without Arianna, Devin has to deal with another problem. He needs to take care of some unfinished business with a night human he has known for less than a month, but with whom he is magically bound.

Vanessa McKinny has promised that she knows a way to undo the spell she placed on Devin to save his life. Devin would do anything to break the bond to be free of her, even if it means traveling to the sidhe village, a place inhabited by a race of night humans that has not had a day human visitor in more than a hundred years. If he doesn’t want to get stuck, he must work with Nessa to find a way to break the bond. Only then can Devin have time to get back to finding his new goal in life, unless he discovers that his path lies with the sidhe. 

Review

Devin is a Day Human and Nessa is a Night human, and after Nessa creates a bond with Devin that saves his life, the two set off to find the person who will be able to break their bond. 

To be quite frank, the I think the characters are flat. Anything interesting about them, such as Devin’s unrequited love, is glossed over. It would have been better to leave it out completely than to have it be so vague. It also relies on common tropes: Devin’s the weak Day Human who is surprisingly strong and well informed for his kind and Nessa is the blood-sucking strong Night Human killer who is, for some reason, not killing Devin? I was a bit confused on that part. 

Given the summary of the book, I expected there would be some fun fantasy and world building elements. To say I was disappointed in this respect is a major understatement. While there are abundant opportunities to explore the fantastical and world building aspects, the first quarter of the story takes place during a car ride, and not a particularly interesting car ride either. There’s just a bit of talking and its not all that interesting conversation. Anything interesting about Night Humans and Day Humans is largely ignored and descriptions as to what they are were largely ignored, which also left me very confused. 

The writing is mediocre at best. The sentences rely on repetitive structures of consistent lengths that lead to monotony within the writing style. Almost all of the sentences start with a character name, ‘he’, ‘she’, ‘it’ or the like, which is equally plain. Rather than showing what is going on, the author relies heavily on info dump. While this is to be expected to some degree in fantasy novels, this is to such a great extent if made me zone off frequently, forcing me to reread significant portions to understand what I missed. Ironically, even though the story relied on info dump, I was incredibly confused the entire time. There are brief explanations given as to who the Night Humans, Day Humans, and sidhe are, but it is very vague, and though I read a lot of fantasy, I still can’t place whether they’re supposed to be vampires or faeries or something else. After reading this, I learned that though this is the first book in a series, it is a spinoff of another series. While I understand that some of the missing information I was confused over could have been answered in the other series, even a decent—not necessarily good—quality spinoff series should be able to be read and understood independently of the original series. 

I always try to say at least one positive thing about a book I review, so here goes: the cover was marginally enticing and I only found one typo.

Overall, the monotony of the writing also left me feeling a bored indifference towards the characters and the story as a whole. With the lack of well-developed characters, gag-worthy writing style, and general confusion, this book is one to be avoided—it is not worth the time or money. Although this is not generally the type of story that I like, I know that some people do and I would still recommend against reading this book.  Even an interesting plot cannot compensate for a truly amateur writing style.  

Cover: 3/5

Writing Style: 1/5

Characters/character development: 1/5

Plot: 1/5

Overall: 1.3/5

Review of Stolen Songbird

Stolen Songbird (Malediction Trilogy #1)

Author: Danielle L. Jensen

Publisher: Strange Chemistry

Format: Paperback

ISBN: 978-1-908844-96-5

Summary (from book jacket)

For five centuries, a witch’s curse has bound the trolls to their city beneath the mountain. When Cécile de Troyes is kidnapped and taken beneath the mountain, she realizes that the trolls are relying on her to break the curse.

Cécile has only one thing on her mind: escape. But the trolls are clever, fast, and inhumanly strong. She will have to bide her time . . . 

But the more time she spends with the trolls, the more she understands their plight. There is a rebellion brewing. And she just might be the one the trolls were looking for . . . 

Review

I wasn’t sure what to expect when I started reading Stolen Songbird, but this far exceeded any of my expectation. Magic. Check. Underground kingdom. Check. Evil king. Check. All the markings of the types of fantasy books that I enjoy. 

Cécile de Troyes has a talent for singing, but just as she is about to leave her father’s farm to become a singer in the city, she is kidnapped and taken underground to live in Trollus. The Trolls Cécile has heard of have imperfections that make them ugly, but what she soon learns is that some have hideous imperfections while others are unbelievably beautiful. But all of them have the ability to be cruel. The Trolls, trapped underground by a witch’s curse, believe Cécile will be the one to finally break the curse and set them free. Married to the prince — an arrogant Troll who detests humans and resents Cécile — upon arrival, Cécile must learn to survive in the dangerous underground world full of political intrigue.

That is when things really start to get interesting. Although the Prince Tristan is exceedingly arrogant and rude from first appearance, his bad boy charm and snark had me in love with him from moment one. Perhaps part of the reason is his manner of speaking that strongly reminds me of Oscar Wilde’s Earnest. 

Tristan and Cécile hate each other. Tristan does his best to goad and insult Cécile, but despite all that, he is drawn to her singing and when they are alone together out of sight from the other Trolls, Cécile begins to think Tristan is not as bad as he seems. As she comes to know him better, she learns Tristan, his cousin Marc, and others are all involved in a plot to depose the cruel Troll king and free the half-human half-trolls in the kingdom who are, by the King’s law, slaves and disposable.

Cécile now has a purpose in the kingdom: to help Tristan free the half bloods. But beyond all the political intrigue she finds herself in the middle of, her first goal remains to escape Trollus. One of the funnest parts of the story for me was watching Tristan and Cécile fall in love, because boy did they resist their feelings. And, even as they grew closer, they remained in denial of how they felt. Thank goodness for a good YA fantasy story where there is not instalove. Best of all, in a story with a Beauty and the Beast feel to it where Cécile is a captured bride, I love how even after they are ‘in love’ Cécile is still given her chance to escape, and she does. This makes Cécile’s and Tristan’s selfless love all the more believable. 

Although the magical beings are called Trolls, one of the parts that confused me most about the story — at least in the beginning — was the way they were described as eerily beautiful, bound by the promises they make, unable to lie, and weakened by iron, which kept making me want to call them something else. (Hint: the word beings with an 'F'.) There are enough hints in the story to let the reader know that while they are magical beings, they are not actually Trolls, and I hope this dynamic is further explored in Hidden Huntress, book two in the Malediction Trilogy. 

For all the storyline is enticing, the writing is even more so. Vivid and imaginative, the words themselves are so beautifully woven together they could leave a reader spellbound. A very well written, well executed story that leaves me wanting more. 

Cover: 5/5

Writing style: 5/5

Characters/character development: 5/5

Plot: 5/5

Overall: 5/5