Book Reviews
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“Silver Blood” – A Prequel Worth the Read
*Note: This review contains spoilers to the Gilded Blood series by Rachel Rener. I highly recommend reading the series in release order, rather than reading the prequel first.
Early last year, I blazed through the Gilded Blood series by Rachel Rener. I loved it so much, I ended up reading pretty much everything Rener had published at the time as well. When I saw she was releasing a prequel to the Gilded Blood series, I was 100% on board.
Much to my enjoyment, Silver Blood did not disappoint. The book follows Zayn’s viewpoint from the moment Talia walks into his tattoo shop through the first 2 or 3 chapters (in truncated form) of Inked. We get a clear look into the mind of our favorite tortured book boyfriend.
The insights we glean from Zayn’s point of view confirms everything we saw of him in the Gilded Blood series. He loathes the demon inside, and is entirely selfless in his interactions with those he deems innocents. He views himself as a monster to the point of near self-destruction, but he truly is anything but.
I found it interesting Rener had Zayn discover his parentage in Silver Blood. It came as a surprise revelation to readers in the Gilded Blood series, but to know he knew all along paints a different spin on some of his actions and feelings towards how Sol treated Talia throughout Gilded Blood. All of his pain surrounding Sol trying to claim Talia seems amplified knowing he was his father.
As far as prequels go, Silver Blood is near perfect in my opinion. Weaving the back story with the main story was done in such as way as to not feel forced. We see Zayn’s POV on their one-night stand, how he protected Talia for years before letting her in, and his reaction to Roy’s snake tattoo shenanigans. Upon finishing, I wanted to dived right into a re-read of Inked and keep the story going.TL:DR Details
Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Spice: 🐓🐓🐓🐓🐓 (Just read the dedication – there are 25.)
Diversity of characters: ⭐⭐⭐⭐
Inclusion of lifestyles: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐Favorite Quotes:
“You don’t exactly come off as someone with anger issues.”
“Yeah, because I listen to a lot of death metal.”“Despite everything, she remained the singular bright spot in my bleak existence. I couldn’t openly love her, but I could cherish her. I couldn’t hold her, but I could protect her. And while I would never again be her lover, I would forever be her guardian and steadfast friend – albeit in my own quiet distant way.”
“…it was almost as though destiny had devised a greater plan of its own for me, and I was just along for the ride.”
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“Weyward” – Book Review
Weyward by Emilia Hart Simultaneously following the timelines of three inter-connected women, Weyward by Emilia Hart explores the mystique of what it would look like for the magic and mystery of old to appear in as a subtle force modern times. The three women are connected through bloodlines. The first, Altha lives in the times of the witch trials of old. Violet is a young girl living through the turmoil of WWII. While Kate is the most modern, entering the timeline in 2019.
Weyward covers many difficult topics. Overcoming abusive parents, abusive partners, and rape are the strongest themes in the book. While Weyward portends to show the overcoming spirit of the women involved, I walked away feeling the tragedy of generational traumas, each one living and experiencing similar traumas through different timelines seemingly repeating the misogyny of men over and over. All of the women eventually overcome their traumas, but none of them (with the exception of Kate…maybe) seem to put much value in helping future generations in overcoming. Violet, in particular and slightly redeemed in the epilogue, could have done more in helping the next generation.
Weyward needs the increasingly common content warnings at the beginning as I truly had no idea what I was entering into. Some of the scenes could be extremely distressing to readers. While Kate’s timeline in the description mentions an abusive partner, there is no indication to the traumatic themes of the other women. Part of my disappointment with Weyward may even be tied to this lack of warning, as I was expecting a book of women overcoming together and was left with women overcoming alone and in the dark.
Aside from content, I found the consistent changing of point of view from 1st person to 3rd person past to 3rd person present jarring. Changing character POV each chapter was expected, but each character being told in a different way within that POV felt disruptive. I have no personal preference of 1st person vs 3rd person, but I would like it to be consistent through the whole book. Kate’s 3rd person in present tense was particularly awkward to read as it felt like it was even slipping tenses at times.
Overall, the constant POV changing and the seeming focus on the trauma more than the overcoming left me less than enthralled with Weyward. I’m willing to try more by the author, but this one simply wasn’t my cup of tea.TL:DR Details
Rating: ⭐⭐⭐
Spice: -🌶️(What little spice there is could be traumatic to read.)
Diversity of characters: ⭐
Inclusion of lifestyles: ⭐⭐Favorite Quotes:
“The physician spoke with confidence. He was a man, after all. He had no reason to think he would not be believed.”
“Fiction became a friend as well as a safe harbor; a cocoon to protect her from the outside world and its dangers.”
“Everything is made out of magic, leaves and trees, flowers and birds, badgers and foxes and squirrels and people. So it must be all around us.” -
A “Divine” Review
Rebecca Ross weaves a compelling story of love and magic in the midst of a war between gods.
…reads the description of every romantasy book on the market. I have to say, while I love the genre and will read just about every romantasy book on the market, the Letters of Enchantment series was a breath of fresh air.
Set in what feels like 1910s London, the story of rival journalists and enchanted typewriters embraces it’s turn of the century/WWI feel. Immediately, you feel the tensions of Iris’ life – a young girl with an alcoholic mother and an older brother missing in the war. Her decision to become a war correspondent seems like a no-brainer way for her to try and gain some semblance of purpose in her upside-down world.
Billed a fantasy, I felt Divine Rivals was lacking a bit in the fantasy department. Outside of the magically tied typewriters (and the fact the war is between gods), the myths were presented more as bedtime stories than facts. The gods were not inherently central to the story. I felt as though the book could have been any WWI period romance novel with a bit of whimsy thrown in.
This is not to say I didn’t thoroughly enjoy it. The book gave me You’ve Got Mail vibes – one of my all-time favorite rom-coms. When Iris discovered who was on the other side of the typewriter, it felt like the final scene when Meg Ryan looked at Tom Hanks and said, “I wanted it to be you.” *swoon* Well, after she got over being pissed, that is.
Ruthless Vows dives in on the fantasy world created by Ross. The focus shifts from the romance (though it’s still very much there), and transitions to focus on the climactic ending of the war. Dacre is a truly loathsome being. He’s cold, cruel, manipulative, and abusive. At no point do you ever feel sympathy for him or his cause. The moment the feeling even creeps in, Ross crushes it with another truly despicable act.
Despite the lure of the presumed happy ending, there were hard moments to go through. A beautiful, hard moment (SPOILERS) was the way Ross shifted through multiple character viewpoints during the bombing of Oath. It was a powerful, poignant display of humanity in a truly disturbing event. This moment, more than any other in the book, has lingered with me in the aftermath of the read.
I truly enjoyed reading through Rebecca Ross’s interpretation of a fantasy war. It felt different and refreshing, while keeping with the ideals expected in a romantasy novel. Definitely worth a read through.
TL:DR Details
Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐
Spice: 🌶️
Diversity of characters: ⭐⭐⭐⭐
Inclusion of lifestyles: ⭐⭐⭐⭐Favorite Quotes
“You will learn to live outside of it again, as impossible as that may sound. Others who share your pain will also help you heal. Because you are not alone. Not in your fear or your grief or your hopes or your dreams.” ~ Roman Kitt, Divine Rivals
“It’s not a crime to feel joy, even when things seems hopeless.” Roman Kitt, Divine Rivals
“Many pieces of the past have been rewritten or lost. Forgotten. Think of all the books in the library with pages torn free.” Security Guard, Ruthless Vows
“Write me a story where there is no ending, Kitt. Write to me and fill my empty spaces.” Iris Winnow, Ruthless Vows* A review of Divine Rivals and Ruthless Vows (Letters of Enchantment) by Rebecca Ross. I was not compensated for these reviews.