BOOKS | Review: Girl, Goddess, Queen by Bea Fitzgerald

Name: Girl, Goddess, Queen

Author: Bea Fitzgerald

Publisher: Penguin Books

Date published: July 2023

Genre: Fiction, young adult, romance, fantasy, mythology, Greek mythology, retellings

Pages: 474

Rating: 2/5

Thousands of years ago, the gods told a lie: how Persephone was a pawn in the politics of other gods. How Hades kidnapped Persephone to be his bride. How her mother, Demeter, was so distraught she caused the Earth to start dying.
The real story is much more interesting.
Persephone wasn't taken to hell: she jumped. There was no way she was going to be married off to some smug god more in love with himself than her.
Now all she has to do is convince the Underworld's annoyingly sexy, arrogant and frankly rude ruler, Hades, to fall in line with her plan. A plan that will shake Mount Olympus to its very core.
But consequences can be deadly, especially when you're already in hell...

- From Goodreads.

I think I liked some of the ideas in this book and it had some fun moments, I liked some of the humour, but overall the story was not for me.

I think I struggled with the writing style. A lot of things were told to us instead of shown, and a lot of moments felt like they could have used more subtlety. The way the characters talked was also a little too modern and casual for me, sometimes it is fun when things are anachronistic but I think in this case it was too much for me and it pulled me out of the story too much and I could not take it seriously enough.

I also struggled with understanding the character motivations and feelings sometimes. It felt like Persephone was made to be a little too oblivious and assumed too much and could sometimes be pretty hypocritical even when that was not the intention of the author, it could be frustrating to read.

It also felt like Hades sometimes had to be made lesser for Persephone to be great. I think the intention was there to show that Persephone was powerful and his equal, but it often came across like he was the weaker one to show how great she was. I love to see a character discovering their power and freedom, but I do not think I enjoyed how it was executed in this case.

Overall, the story had a lot of potential and a few good moments, but it did not work for me unfortuately. I can see other people liking it if they enjoy the writing style, so it may still be worth giving it a try if you think you could like it.

BOOKS | Review: The Thorns Remain by J.J.A. Harwood

Name: The Thorns Remain

Author: J.J.A. Harwood

Publisher: Magpie Books

Date published: February 2023

Genre: Fiction, adult, fantasy, historical

Pages: 410

Rating: 3/5

A dance with the fae will change everything
1919. In a highland village forgotten by the world, harvest season is over and the young who remain after war and flu have ravaged the village will soon head south to make something of themselves.
Moira Jean and her friends head to the forest for a last night of laughter before parting ways. Moira Jean is being left behind. She had plans to leave once but her lover died in France and with him, her future. The friends light a fire, sing and dance. But with every twirl about the flames, strange new dancers thread between them, music streaming from the trees.
The fae are here.
Suddenly Moira Jean finds herself all alone, her friends spirited away. The iron medal of her lost love, pinned to her dress, protected her from magic.
For the Fae feel forgotten too. Lead by the darkly handsome Lord of the Fae, they are out to make themselves known once more. Moira Jean must enter into a bargain with the Lord to save her friends - and fast, for the longer one spends with the Fae, the less like themselves they are upon return. If Moira Jean cannot save her friends before Beltine, they will be lost forever...

- From Goodreads.

This book had a great use of folk tales and mythology and it was fascinating to learn about all the different creatures included in the story and to see what the faerie realm looked like. The atmosphere was created very well and you could really feel the fear and tension build throughout the story. I was definitely kept in suspense and was hooked until the end to find out what was going to happen.

The characters were all interesting and distinctive, I think the Lord Under the Hill was especially well written and really felt like he was not human and saw the world differently.

Unfortunately I did not end up feeling completely satisfied by how some of the plot threads wrapped up, not that it was a bad ending, and it was fun to read, but it did not feel like quite the right ending from the way the story had been building up, and some parts never felt fully explained.

Overall while I did not completely love it, I still think that there was a lot of good to it and I could see why other people might enjoy it more than I did. I think it is definitely worth a try if you enjoy stories using folklore and stories about fae.

BOOKS | Review: Blood Mercy by Vela Roth

Name: Blood Mercy (Blood Grace series #1)

Author: Vela Roth

Publisher: Five Thorns Press

Date published: January 2022

Genre: Fiction, adult, fantasy, romance

Pages: 648

Rating: 4/5

 

When Cassia seeks out a Hesperine, he could end her mortal life in a heartbeat. But she has no fear of his magic or his fangs. She knows the real monster is the human king, her father. If he finds out she’s bargaining with his enemy, he’ll send her to the executioner.
As a Hesperine diplomat, Lio must negotiate with mortals who hate him. Cassia is different, but politics aren't why she captivates the gentle immortal. He wants more than her blood, and if he can’t resist the temptation, he’ll provoke the war he's trying to prevent.

- From Goodreads.

This was a really fascinating story with a very detailed world and a lot of interesting characters. This is definitely a book for anyone who is a fan of a slowly paced story that carefully builds up a mystery of interweaving plot lines. It was exciting to unravel the mystery and see all the plot twists revealed. The only downside to the way the mystery slowly became revealed was that sometimes we were left a little too much in the dark and could have used a little more context to understand what was happening, or sometimes there were scenes we were told about that had happened off-page that would have made the story easier to follow if they were on-page. But mostly it was a great plot to follow and I was excited to see it through to the end and find out what happened.

I loved the way Lio and Cassia's romance was built slowly over a lot of deep and thoughtful conversations, it was lovely to see how their bond grew and how they came to understand and trust each other and it was very believable that they felt such love and attraction to each other. It was also lovely to see how they comforted each other and helped each other grow and gain confidence in themselves. Lio really helped Cassia to believe in herself and it was wonderful to see her develop over the course of the book, how she came to realise she was not alone in the palace and that she had friends and allies there too and she did not just have to survive, she could live and find her own power and start to change things.

I will definitely be reading the next book to find out how their story continues, this book left off at an exciting place and I am curious to see how all the threads resolve.

BOOKS | Review: Where the Dark Stands Still by A.B. Poranek

Name: Where the Dark Stands Still

Author: A.B. Poranek

Publisher: Penguin Books

Date published: February 2024

Genre: Fiction, young adult, fantasy

Pages: 416

Rating: 4/5

This review contains minor spoilers.

Raised in a small village near the spirit-wood, Liska Radost knows that Magic is monstrous, and its practitioners, monsters.
After a deadly mistake, Liska delves into the dangerous spirit-wood, guarded by a demon to steal a mythical fern flower. Pluck it, and she can use its one wish to banish her own power.
Everyone who has sought the fern flower has fallen prey to the horrors of the Czantory, so when Liska is caught by the demon warden of the wood - The Leszy - a bargain seems better than death: one year of servitude in exchange for the fern flower and its wish.
Whisked away to his crumbling manor, Liska soon makes an unsettling discovery. She is not the first person to strike this bargain. And If Liska wants to survive the year and return home, she must unravel her taciturn host’s spool of secrets and face the ghosts - figurative and literal - of his past.
Something wakes in the woods, killing off villagers one by one. Something that frightens even The Leszy... something that cannot be defeated unless Liska embraces the monster she’s always feared becoming.

- From Goodreads.

The atmosphere, setting and descriptions in this book were all perfect. I loved how it was both a little scary and creepy with all the creatures in the woods and the curse, but also beautifully magical with the house that came alive and had a personality of its own. The magic that Liska and the Leszy could do was also fascinating and so exciting to learn about.

The plot really had me hooked, I was so invested in learning all the mysteries and following Liska and the Leszy as they learnt more about each other and came to understand each other. The way their relationship slowly built was just perfect and I adored them together.

The whole story was like a brilliant combination of Howl's Moving Castle, Beauty and the Beast and darker fairy tale style stories like Naomi Novik's Uprooted. I think the author did a wonderful job of weaving together all the different elements of inspiration to create a new story.

The only thing I was conflicted on was the ending, which was left quite open-ended. While it did have a hopeful note at the end, I had been hoping for more of a happy ending, after everything the characters had been through. This might just be a more personal preference as I know not every book needs a completely happy ending and it is not always a bad thing when they do not have one, and since this was a darker fairy tale style story I was not even expecting a total happily ever after, but I think personally I just needed something a little bit more satisfying at the end.