BOOKS | Review: Radiance by Grace Draven

 Name: Radiance (Wraith Kings series #1)

Author: Grace Draven

Publisher: Independently published

Date published: 2014

Genre: Fiction, adult, fantasy, romance

Pages: 296

Rating: 5/5

The Prince of no value

Brishen Khaskem, prince of the Kai, has lived content as the nonessential spare heir to a throne secured many times over. A trade and political alliance between the human kingdom of Gaur and the Kai kingdom of Bast-Haradis requires that he marry a Gauri woman to seal the treaty. Always a dutiful son, Brishen agrees to the marriage and discovers his bride is as ugly as he expected and more beautiful than he could have imagined.

The noblewoman of no importance

Ildiko, niece of the Gauri king, has always known her only worth to the royal family lay in a strategic marriage. Resigned to her fate, she is horrified to learn that her intended groom isn’t just a foreign aristocrat but the younger prince of a people neither familiar nor human. Bound to her new husband, Ildiko will leave behind all she’s known to embrace a man shrouded in darkness but with a soul forged by light.

Two people brought together by the trappings of duty and politics will discover they are destined for each other, even as the powers of a hostile kingdom scheme to tear them apart.

- From Goodreads.

Radiance was a really wonderful read, it had me engaged from beginning to end and made me really happy to read. 

The romance was addictive and unusual. I do not think I have ever read a story where the couple finds each other ugly at first and it made for some really amusing moments, and was a good way for their relationship to start with friendship and develop into more in a believable way. I loved the way they talked to each other, and were quite honest with each other from the beginning and saw each other as equals. I really rooted for them as individual characters and together in a relationship too.

The world building was interesting to read about, and I liked how the author created the different cultures and how the people from the different kingdoms were so different from each other but could get along and find similarities between them too.

Along with that, the side characters were well developed too, especially Lord Serovek Pangion, who I thought had a very well layered personality and was a great addition to the story, and Anhuset, who was always enjoyable to read and a very fierce character.

The author built up the plot well, including enough action to keep things thrilling but also including a lot of scenes between Brishen and Ildiko that developed their relationship and made the romance intriguing. All of this lead towards an exciting climax that made for a great conclusion to the story and set up for what could be some fascinating stories set in this world in future books.

Overall, this was a really great book and it made me look forward to reading more of Grace Draven's work in the future. It was a marvellous love story that I really enjoyed and will read again many times. I would definitely recommend this to anyone looking for a fantasy romance with a unique premise. 

BOOKS | Review: A Court of Thorns and Roses by Sarah J. Maas

Name: A Court of Thorns and Roses

Author: Sarah J. Maas

Publisher: Bloomsbury

This edition published: 2020

Genre: Fiction, young/new adult, fantasy, romance, fairy tales, retellings

Pages: 432

Rating: 2/5

Feyre's survival rests upon her ability to hunt and kill – the forest where she lives is a cold, bleak place in the long winter months. So when she spots a deer in the forest being pursued by a wolf, she cannot resist fighting it for the flesh. But to do so, she must kill the predator and killing something so precious comes at a price...

Dragged to a magical kingdom for the murder of a faerie, Feyre discovers that her captor, his face obscured by a jewelled mask, is hiding far more than his piercing green eyes would suggest. Feyre's presence at the court is closely guarded, and as she begins to learn why, her feelings for him turn from hostility to passion and the faerie lands become an even more dangerous place. Feyre must fight to break an ancient curse, or she will lose him forever.

- From Goodreads.

A Court of Thorns and Roses had a promising start, a really great atmosphere, some very interesting characters and world building details, and a good premise (I find it difficult to resist a Beauty and the Beast retelling), but I felt let down by some parts of it that will probably mean I will not feel motivated enough to continue with the series, despite the things I did like about the book and the reasons why I could see it was so popular.

I really did enjoy the atmosphere, the way that Maas built up the world with her description was great, especially at the beginning of the book. Tamlin's estate and the surrounding lands were described particularly beautifully and I was able to fall in love with his home just like Feyre did.

I also really liked some of the characters, specifically Tamlin and Lucien, and the way they were written in most of their scenes, and I thought their backstories were interesting. Unfortunately, apart from a few background characters, there were not many more characters that I found to be likeable.

In relation to that, I did have a little trouble connecting to Feyre. While I did like her sometimes and occasionally really felt for her, I felt like something was stopping me from reacting really emotionally to her, which meant I could not get as lost in the story as I would have liked to.

My rating of the book would probably have been higher if it were not for the last part of the story, which I felt took a strange turn and did not connect well to the rest of the book for me. While for most of the book I had enjoyed Feyre and Tamlin's romance, in this part something seemed missing from it which made the challenges they had to face at the end and the sacrifices that had to be made fall a little flat. There was also a lot of explanation in this part of the story, a lot of backstory, just a bit too much exposition that left me a little lost, I could not quite keep track of it all. I also felt like the characters did not act quite like they would in that situation and there were just a few things that happened that did not make sense to me. One character's actions were explained away as if they had justifiable reasons for what they did, but I felt like they had gone too far and crossed a line and it should have been better addressed.

Overall, while A Court of Thorns and Roses began well, although it was not perfect, it was fun to read with an enjoyable romance and some exciting intrigue, however the ending became too frustrating and out of place and ruined the pacing of the story for me and I felt it was not the ending I wanted for the book. I do not think I will be reading on with this series as the first book left me with too much disappointment, but I would not discourage others from trying it if they want a faerie romance with some mystery and think it might be for them.