My Five Word TL:DR Review: Well, it’s spicy. Definitely spicy

Okay, the long and the short of it is I enjoyed this, it’s not my usual ‘go to’ type of book, but I am trying to read different things and step out of my comfort zone and, I’ve read this author before so wanted to give this a try and it definitely delivers on the promise of dark romantasy.

Now, first things first.  This book isn’t just saying it’s dark romantasy, it really is dark, quite violent, a lot bloody and with a good deal of sex.  I’m not kidding.  If those things are a no-no for you then heed this warning.  Personally, I found some of the scenes a little bit too much but that’s down to personal preference and if you’re at all concerned then I advise you to consult the author’s website.

What I will say is that I enjoyed this.  I’m not sure I’d want to read this type of story all the time but I appreciated the thought that went into the set up and the fantasy elements.  I do think certain things were only lightly touched upon but at the same time I can see that the author is probably leaving some of these plot points for later storylines that are clearly set up during this instalment.

So, we have a world of Gods and mortals, barely at peace.  A few hundred years ago war and chaos ruled the realms until a mortal made a pact with a God.  The pact still stands but comes at a price.  The Devaliant family pay that price in their blood, and this isn’t a regular sacrifice, the Devaliants are sacrificed and resurrected repeatedly.  None of them live to old age because they are driven insane with the terrible burden.  Princess Bryony Devaliant is one of the God’s sacrificial lambs, known as an anchor, she is sacrificed regularly and then brought back to life.  The people of the realm also pay a price but their contribution is much more modest, a drop of blood only, they’ve started to love their Princess and this is dangerous, particularly when you have capricious Gods in the mix.  When the God-king withdraws his protection, and indeed sends his assassin after the princess, rebellion is in the air.

What I liked about this.

I think it got off to a very quick start.  There’s not a lot of hand holding taking place but at the same time I think it was easy enough to pick up what was going on from the outset.  The writing is good, I really liked some of the dialogue (although I do have issues – more below) and I liked the overall push and pull between the two central characters.

We have Bryony and Evander (or the Wolf).  He’s just plain old weary and, well, so is she to be honest, it must get you down being sacrificed twice a month after all!  But, they’re also bitter enemies.  The Devaliants are still paying the price for the war and the Gods and demi-gods have long memories.  This brings me to a side plot that I actually really wanted to read more of – the trade in god ‘body parts’ – feathers for example – in order to steal magic.  This was not only intriguing but I would have thought the God-king would have been a lot more interested in hunting out this illegal trade rather than focusing on one young woman who seemed to be gaining the ‘people’s love’.  Anyway, leaving that aside.

Bryony and Evander. Clearly, from the outset there is something palpable between them.  I know this is described as ‘enemies to lovers’.  Personally I felt that the two had a virtually instant attraction, just that at the same time they were both aware they shouldn’t have these feelings and, as one of them was supposed to kill the other, there wasn’t really much point in trying to develop feelings.  But, Bryony obviously sparks something in Evander (lust, yes, but also something else, although more often than not it feels like a cat watching a mouse).  Bryony also changes.  I mean, this girl was at the end of her tether and she’s angry, and rightfully so.  The two of them clash and tear at each other like a catastrophe waiting to happen (beware, these earlier scenes can be a bit difficult to read).

Also, this does have hints of Beauty and the Beast.  Evander lives in a tower surrounded by wild roses.  He is monstrous – for the record, there are no wolves, that is simply a nickname – he kills people, lots of people, usually in some form of retribution for the God-king.  He takes Bryony as his own, to kill if he so pleases, as pay back to her family for their wrong doing.  There are also other little elements but I’m not going to elaborate because this isn’t a retelling so much as a story that takes inspiration from the original fairytale – or at least that’s my take.

Now, if you do like your books to come heavily spiced I think you’re in for a good time with this one because it has spice aplenty.  I would say it’s a guilty pleasure but to be honest I don’t feel any guilt about reading things that I enjoy.  Life is too short.

What gave me pause for thought.

Okay, talking of the sex, I thought we could have probably had a little less.  Sorry but there it is.  But, the scenes are well written and frankly, well, sexy.  But this is over 550 pages and at a certain point I felt like the storyline came to a screeching halt whilst these two took time out to discover each other.  Now, I don’t have any problem with that per se, (and in fact I kind of expected it) but it just felt like there was no urgency, no threat, just a little bubble in which spicy times were taking place even whilst the world (beyond the ‘tower of love’) was going to hell in a handcart.

Okay, the God-king.  He’s a bit of a mixed bag, very difficult to read.  But, setting that aside I’m absolutely flumoxed as to why he decided to kill off one of his anchors when they’re in such short supply!  Did he never hear the saying ‘don’t cut off your nose to spite your face’.  Which brings me to another point – how do the Devaliant’s even manage to bear children?  If they’re being sacrificed and resurrected every other week – it’s not really an environment conducive to procreation is it.  I might just have missed some important detail in that respect though.

As I mentioned, I felt like this got off to a really quick start, I could see where the story was heading and there were little interesting side plots, then everything slowed down (perhaps about half way through) and became a little bit repetitive and then it felt like the last quarter of the book was a little bit rushed as a result.  At one point I began to think this was going to end in the dreaded ‘cliff hanger’ because it didn’t feel like there was enough space to complete what was going on.

The only other little niggle.  I don’t expect these stories to have ‘ye olde worlde’ type speech.  But at the same time I sometimes find very modern mannerisms and figures of speech a little distracting.

In conclusion, yes, I had a few issues, but, overall it was a good read, I enjoyed the writing, the characters actually do go through a lot and it felt like they changed as a result.  I’m not ashamed to say that the spicy elements were easy to read (I would have preferred a better balance) and frankly if dark romantasy is your thing then you’re going to love this.  I certainly didn’t struggle to complete it.

I received a copy through Netgalley, courtesy of the publisher, for which my thanks.  The above is my own opinion.

My rating 3.5/4 of 5 stars (difficult to rate this one, I’m veering between 3.5 and 4 so will round up to 4)