Name: Among the Beasts & Briars
Author: Ashley Poston
Publisher: Balzer + Bray
Date published: October 2020
Genre: Fiction, young adult, fantasy, romance, fairy tales
Pages: 352
Rating: 5/5
Cerys is safe in the kingdom of Aloriya.
Here there are no droughts, disease, or famine, and peace is everlasting. It has been this way for hundreds of years, since the first king made a bargain with the Lady who ruled the forest that borders the kingdom. But as Aloriya prospered, the woods grew dark, cursed, and forbidden. Cerys knows this all too well: when she was young, she barely escaped as the woods killed her friends and her mother. Now Cerys carries a small bit of the curse - the magic - in her blood, a reminder of the day she lost everything. The most danger she faces now, as a gardener’s daughter, is the annoying fox who stalks the royal gardens and won’t leave her alone.
As a new queen is crowned, however, things long hidden in the woods descend on the kingdom itself. Cerys is forced on the run, her only companions the small fox from the garden, a strange and powerful bear, and the magic in her veins. It’s up to her to find the legendary Lady of the Wilds and beg for a way to save her home. But the road is darker and more dangerous than she knows, and as secrets from the past are uncovered amid the teeth and roots of the forest, it’s going to take everything she has just to survive.
- From Goodreads.
This was a truly wonderful fairy tale style fantasy. I was really invested in the storyline and what happened to the characters and felt like it all lead to a satisfying conclusion that really was the perfect ending.
The world building was really fascinating and well written, I easily understood how the kingdom worked and its history, and how more of that history was revealed as the story went of was a very intriguing part of the story. The forest was written to be a very ominous presence throughout the book and was very creepy and sinister and the monsters were truly scary.
The characters were well written as well, all of them were interesting. Both the side and main characters kept my attention and there were some morally grey characters that were exciting to follow and were complex enough that you were not sure what they would do next.
The two main characters were wonderful and I really enjoyed following both of them. They each had flaws but were still so loveable and I really grew attached to them. Their romance was so sweet and lovely and I really felt their emotions and wanted things to end happily for them.
This was just a perfect book for me, with dark and enchanting magic and a really heartwarming romance. I would recommend this if you enjoy stories like Uprooted by Naomi Novik and The Wolf and the Woodsman by Ava Reid.
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