| Author: | Jodie Angell |
| Genre(s): | ➡️ Fantasy ➡️ Young Adult ➡️ Romance |
| Series? | ✅ Yes |
| Goodreads Rating: | ⭐ 4 (33 ratings; 26 reviews) |
| Personal Rating: | ⭐ 2 / 5 Overall |
🚧 DISCLAIMER 🚧
I received a free copy of this book from the author for an honest review.
🛑 Spoiler Warning 🛑
I’ll be recounting events, characters, and themes so IT WILL BE FULL OF SPOILERS.
If you’d like to read a review with the spoilers hidden, kindly scroll to the bottom to read my spoiler-free review or head to my Goodreads post. You don’t need an account to read it. 🙂
Description
Evalyn is on the run and desperately searching for refuge. Her home is not safe. A war is raging in Arogath, and the Orcs are after her. As Heir to the Realm, she must protect her people and take control. The Elves, Gnomes, and Humans are depending on her. Amongst the terror, she finds herself falling for Felix, a knight sworn to protect her. Is their love built on true foundations of love or rooted in the hardship of war?
Prophecy and magic combine in an epic of war and dangerous magic. Will the Ancient Spell of the Crimson Kiss be Evalyn’s undoing? How many lives will they lose in this dance of blood and war?
World Building
I can see the vision of what the world was intended to be and I would’ve really loved to see it. Unfortunately, there were so many creatures, groups, and places in this fantasy world that were unveiled too quickly. I think the beginning was rushed to jump into the action when there could’ve been a chapter or two more dedicated to just building this fantasy world from the protagonist’s (Evalyn) point of view. The most description I got was what the castle grounds looked like filled with fleur-de-lys. I’m not exaggerating about the pacing. In just 40 pages a lot has already happened: the orcs invaded the castle, a prophecy was dropped, they reached the territory of the gnomes and carried them to the next land, they reached the centaur-human lands, and met an oracle that instructed Evalyn with her powers. All of those are in the first 40 pages! There were already a lot of fantasy terms dropped that I had to pull up a scratchpad so early to keep a word cloud and maintain a sense of what was going on in this world. The creatures were easy enough to remember but then their groupings and the territories and the magical splits came in and it just became chaotic.
On a positive note, the characters did travel a lot and the change of scenery was appreciated. I admire the effort to establish all these lands and the variety of the elements and colors provided a really great texture of fantasy to the story.
The magical concepts were also interesting. The acceptance of a higher power when ascending to the throne and changing the physical appearance was cool. I really thought it would have a greater impact on the story, like a hidden magical line in the ancestry or something but unfortunately not. I also like that the magic changes colors depending on the protagonist’s emotions. That can eventually create meaningful color combinations and powerful imagery in the next installments. The ‘purgatory’ concept also had a well-paced introduction that came back later in the story.
Plot Progression
Good note: a lot happens. Think of as many tropes as you can in a YA fantasy and it’s probably here. Destiny? Forced proximity? The chosen one? Family issues? Friends dying? Spying? People who are supposed to be dead turned out to be alive? A magical training montage? Check on all of those.
On the downside, they happen too quickly. Not enough atmosphere is built for me to actually believe there’s a lot at stake here. Examples:
- The prophecy is a big plot mechanic in this story. However, it was so casually dropped at the beginning that I had to double-take and read back just to see if I missed any context. A random silk merchant who turned out to be insignificant in the storyline is the one who dropped it and the protagonist did not even acknowledge it at all.
- The next ‘peeled layer’ of the prophecy comes while the orcs march towards the castle. The uncle – the king – again just abruptly says something along the lines of ‘Your father told me about the prophecy, you have to go’ which really does make sense but the delivery felt so flat and so lacking in emotion that it didn’t have the impact it was supposed to have. I won’t go into my further frustration on how ‘confidential’ this prophecy is even supposed to be. The rule about who knows what is so confusing that it felt like the standard boiled down to everyone who needs to know based on plot progression.
- The political side is so nonconfrontational it’s almost boring. Evalyn goes through the territories and is immediately respected even though she literally walked in on the gnomes in the middle of putting out fires from their homes because of an attack and the crown was blamed for the lack of protection. Their leader had one dialogue blaming the king for the lack of help sent to them but he gave in so quickly it was pretty useless. She arrived at the centaur + human territory and received no valid resistance from their leaders letting the entire remaining population of gnomes stay despite claiming that they were already suffering a shortage. Basically, everyone who’s not an enemy automatically succumbs to her without her trying.
- As further proof, Evalyn visits the Elementals to get their allegiance but they weren’t really necessary. Their “meetings” are done in about 10 minutes tops and nobody haggles or shows political dominance. They all either agree out of loyalty or are forced due to magic that’s not even conjured by any character – just the magic in nature, apparently. She doesn’t really convince or force anyone into an alliance.
- There’s nothing exciting on the battle strategy front either. When they escaped, Felix, a guard, took charge of their trip. I’d think the princess who has a map and who should’ve spent years learning the layout of her land would have some sort of contribution or command to the situation but nope. Later on, Evalyn’s not even the one planning anything nor heading a productive war meeting; she just asks around what the others can do with their powers and they do it. Here are her exact words toward them:
- “If I may, I’d like to discuss your role in the war as we need to prepare our strategy.”
- “What are your abilities?” (This is Felix but he’s speaking on the same side as Evalyn)
- “Please tell us how you plan to use your gifts against the Dark Triads.”
- Furthermore, a lot of the plot progressed because the characters ‘don’t have a choice.’ That phrase stood out so much because different characters kept using it that it just destroys the illusion that any of this is happening as the effect of the characters’ choices or destiny but more so because the plot demands it.
- The soft and romantic moments are wasted due to a lack of character foundation and chemistry. So early in the book we already get Felix giving Evalyn a lucky charm but there’s really not enough history described enough for me to feel anything for them. Even the empowering moments where they acknowledge Evalyn as their queen felt underwhelming. She was supposed to ‘accept the magic,’ which I thought would be monumental because she made such a big deal about it but eventually, she just becomes one. Don’t even get me started about the family reunion that doesn’t feel like one at all.
- I’m not sure if it’s because of the lack of character building, the fast-paced flow of the plot, or the writing style choices but the plot twists in this are underdelivered. A random orc knows about a big political spy’s secret identity… why? Aside from plot convenience, I’m not really sure. Even the surfacing of the people who are supposed to be dead felt underwhelming due to the lack of reactions coming from the characters. Even when characters hide their feelings, the reader should be clued in with, at the very least, some physiological descriptions. A deep breath, furrowed eyebrows, an intense look, a hard face, a soft look at the floor to show guilt, tears forming at the corner of someone’s eyes, closed fists; a combination of any of those during the conversation with someone you thought was dead would be nice. The expositions just need a more emotional buildup.
The ending was a nice touch though. I can’t say I was invested but it was an ending that provided a good twist and catchy hook for the next book.
Character Building
The characters were well-described but they lacked the depth I needed to get invested in their well-being. The backstories didn’t go hard enough to create sentiment. For example:
- Evalyn and Felix’s history was just briefly described at the beginning and the next thing I know Felix is having a moment and gave Evalyn a good luck charm one night.
- Evalyn had this supposed deep bond with her parents when she was reminiscing their great moments in the banquet hall but the moment she saw her father alive the narration didn’t go into much detail explaining the complexity of her emotions. She actually calmed down pretty quickly for someone who was abandoned by her father and was treating her so coldly.
- Felix had a potentially rich backstory, we even witnessed him bury his close friend but their relationship was described by the Oracle rather than being shown through their dialogues together.
It was also difficult to take their characters seriously when there are so many potential plot holes.
- Let’s start with Evalyn. What was she doing growing up as royalty if not learning royal duties and getting to know her future subjects and territory? She can’t have been doing that because she had to ask what the other Elemental clans are, she had to ask what their powers are, and she relied on Felix to get them through their journey. She showed no strategic expertise or political prowess because she didn’t really have to convince anybody or pull a political maneuver to get allies, and she trusted her council so completely that she dropped her orc informant’s name so casually even though a spy was just discovered among their high ranks. She can’t have been practicing magic despite being the last Light Mage since the Oracle had to teach her. She apparently wasn’t learning royal protocols either because she kept allowing Felix to speak over her to her fellow diplomats, she asked a guard to allow the gnomes to reside in the land despite common sense and royal protocol dictating that you’d talk to a leader for that, she was too comfortable with Felix by already sleeping beside him on their first journey despite their official positions (in fact, she never pulled rank even for the sake of appearance), she allowed Felix to announce their wedding to his council and order them to prepare despite him not being king or having any official title to do such thing. She’s not even a strong, female character as she pleads and relies on everyone for help. As soon as she’s in position everyone’s just asking her to rest and take it easy.
- As for Felix, it breaks my heart to see a poorly written male character since I crush on them a lot. He’s just too bland. His role is just to be Evalyn’s supporter. He didn’t even do a good job protecting her. You can count on their interaction to have at least one line about being there for her and how they’ll go through it together when all he is is just an emotional cheerleader. His biggest role is to be the seed provider. I don’t even know how good of a royal guard he’s supposed to be because he was already so casual with the princess from the beginning that I don’t feel like a well-respected palace guard could ever be. When they were traveling, instead of offering the blanket to the princess like a royal’s subject, he immediately assumed they were sharing it and lays down next to her. He speaks on behalf of her towards other territory’s guards and even towards the leaders of the Elemental clans. A royal guard who knows his principles to serve will most probably not do that. He just oversteps in situations where a reputable guard would have a little bit more respect toward royal protocols.
- All the side characters were pretty black and white. Not much complexity there, the moment you meet them you can pretty much guess their supposed role in the story – the allies, the supportive servant to show the princess’s kindness to her subjects, the mentor, etc. Even the council where usually the most notorious political players or most passionate servants are were not up to par. No one suspected the spy at all and they feel more like babysitters to Evalyn than anything. Even the revelation that their previous king and queen were alive didn’t really shake them too much either. The oracle was pretty disappointing too. The ‘training montage’ was so quick I didn’t really feel like Evalyn earned her magic returning.
Because of the poor character buildup, the chemistry was lacking too. Some of the scenes were really well-written. I remember the first paragraph describing Felix from Evalyn’s point of view and thinking it had a better, slower, atmospheric pace than any situation before that. The ‘friendships’ that Evalyn was so mad about in the end didn’t really feel earned either so I just thought she was just selfish for saying those things about them. But I understand, the ending was needed to push the next story.
🌟 Review (2/5)
Wonderful big ideas but a convoluting execution.
@the.stray.reader
Overall, I think this has really great potential. I really wanted to like this story. I’m at a fantasy high after devouring Grishaverse and ACOTAR these past few months and I’m aching for a good bodyguard romance. However, this was more a miss than a hit for me. I’d recommend that the author slow down and deduct some plot points in the next installments to enable the overall depth and atmosphere to improve. I’d recommend this book to anyone looking to ease into the high-fantasy genre. It’s fast-paced enough to maintain the reader’s interest. And it’s complex due to multiple plot points but not too deep into the lore that it would bore a regular non-fantasy reader.
The Stray Reader 
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