Genre: Adult Fantasy, Gothic
Release Date: September 27th, 2022
Pages: 432
Publisher: Orbit Books
My Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐
Publisher’s Synopsis:
“Elspeth Spindle needs more than luck to stay safe in the eerie, mist-locked kingdom of Blunder—she needs a monster. She calls him the Nightmare, an ancient, mercurial spirit trapped in her head. He protects her. He keeps her secrets.
But nothing comes for free, especially magic.
When Elspeth meets a mysterious highwayman on the forest road, her life takes a drastic turn. Thrust into a world of shadow and deception, she joins a dangerous quest to cure Blunder from the dark magic infecting it. And the highwayman? He just so happens to be the King’s nephew, Captain of the most dangerous men in Blunder…and guilty of high treason.
Together they must gather twelve Providence Cards—the keys to the cure. But as the stakes heighten and their undeniable attraction intensifies, Elspeth is forced to face her darkest secret yet: the Nightmare is slowly taking over her mind. And she might not be able to stop him.”
My Review:
I love the magic system, with all the unique powers of the cards and their respective costs to the user as well.
The lore is interesting and the world-building is rich – the mythology, old gods, prophecies, and the kingdom on the brink of death.
It is a very intoxicating atmosphere that the author creates and I was absorbed into it for every minute of my experience reading this book.
The complexity of family issues and the kingdom politics adds an extra dimension to the plot. And the plot itself is adventurous and drives the story forward nicely.
The texts from an important book within the story that are at the beginning of each chapter helped to add to my understanding of the world and lore.
It has all the gothic undertones that I love in a fantasy as well.
I love Elspeth, the female protagonist. She is a strong, feisty character like I adore and I was rooting for her the entire journey.
I felt connected to her isolation and wariness of others and enjoyed seeing her open up under the most unlikely of circumstances.
I even loved getting to know the illusive “character” that speaks to El inside her mind.
This story is chalk full of interesting dark characters who are not at all what they appear to be. Blurring the lines between good and evil is always one of my favorite tropes.
And, of course, anyone who knows my reading habits knows how much I love the sullen, broody, self-destructive love interest (Ravyn) *swoon*.
This is the perfect slow-burn, enemies-to-lovers, fantasy story. Also, if you love the fake dating trope, this one will be for you.
It is categorized as an adult fantasy, and the author has given a few content warnings, but it felt “new adult” to me, in that it could also be suitable for older young adult readers too.
It is definitely a solid 4 star read, maybe 4.5 if I rated books in halves. It didn’t completely blow me away enough to reach that 5 star mark, there was just that indescribable spark that was missing to push it into the 5 star category for me, but nonetheless, I loved this book and really enjoyed it.
Overall, it is a fast read and I devoured the story in a matter of days. The author has stated that it is part one of a duology and I can’t wait for what happens next!
Disclaimers:
Huge thank you to Netgalley and Orbit for gifting me an early copy of this amazing story! I voluntarily read and reviewed this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.
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