So, I've been reading a lot more romance than I usually do. I don't necessarily have a preference for genre, I generally read anything that is not discriminative in any way. Lately, I've been in the mood for romance and I was in a little bit of a reading slump as well. So, when I saw that Daphne Press had a fantasy-romance book available on NetGalley, I knew this was a sign.
First, I want to thank Daphne Press and NetGalley for giving me this ARC to review.
Second, here's my review:
They're beautiful, terrible, glorious creatures ridden by beings equally beautiful, terrible and glorious.
Faraine, p. 14/310 (ebook)
Image taken from Goodreads.
This novel is a new adult fantasy-romance which follows the journey of a shunned princess, Faraine, and a reluctant king, Vor.
Although Faraine is the eldest princess of her kingdom, her chronic illness makes her a liability to the royal family. So, she's kept aside and far away from the royal court.
But when the Shadow King Vor needs a human wife, though not eager, he sets his sights on Faraine's sister, Ilsevel.
Then, tragically, Ilsevel dies before marrying King Vor. Compelled by her family, Faraine had to take Ilsevel's place at the altar and marry the Shadow King.
So, can Faraine win Vor's heart? Or will he resent her for the deception?
This novel is advertised as a slow-burn and it is truly a slow-burn romance. I LOVE slow-burn romances, the build-up, the tension, and the relationship development. EVERYTHING. At times the plot itself felt slow BUT we got plenty of relationship development. So, I had zero issues with the pace, I thought it was perfect since this is a slow-burn.
What makes it better is that this is a dual-POV novel as well, so we get Faraine and Vor's perspectives!
The one major thing I didn't enjoy was the writing style. Some aspects of the dialogue especially, felt immature and unsuitable for a fantasy universe. For example, having a character say "sis" in a medieval setting felt very strange. While other aspects of the writing style felt like it was overcompensating because it was a fantasy novel. For instance, we had the characters speaking in old-fashioned English which was mixed with more modern-day English as well. I think the balance was not struck between the old-fashioned language and modern language.
However, I did think that the fantasy/world-building aspects of this novel were very unique. For example, Vor is half-human and half-troll; we've been getting a lot of male characters being fae so it was refreshing having a different species thrown into the mix. Also, I think this is the first time in a LONG time unicorns were mentioned in a fantasy novel. So, I enjoyed the uniqueness of this universe.
Overall, I did enjoy this novel. It was new and refreshing but also familiar and swoon-worthy. It's not exactly my favourite fantasy-romance, but it got me out of my reading slump, so that counts for something.
So, that's it for my review, thank you again to Daphne Press and NetGalley for giving me an ARC to review! And of course, thank you for reading my review, and I hope you have a lovely day.
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