REVIEW: A Deal With The Elf King & Bone Crier's Moon.
A Deal With the Elf King:
A Deal with the Elf King is the first in the series of standalone anthology books, married to magic, by Elise Kova. A deal with the elf king is set in the world of Capton and Midscape where magic and magical creatures exist with humans. Once upon a time, they used to co-exist but an event happened that caused the magic creatures and the humans to divide between Capton and Midscape.
We meet our main character, Luella in the city of Capton. Luella is a 19 year old herbalist and through her narration, it is revealed that every 100 years, a human Queen is taken to Midscape to marry the Elf King and bring spring back to them. She is the only human to possess magic. Luella is way past the age that she should have been present with magic so she thinks that she is not the human Queen but it is revealed that everything that she knows about herself is a lie. It is revealed that her childhood sweetheart put a protection spell on her to make it so that the Elf King can’t find her as she is the Human Queen.
It has been 101 years since the last Human Queen was taken and Midscape is in dire need of it’s queen as it has been a perpetual winter for the last year. Luella is forced to marry the Elf King who is cruel and handsome and she is sent to a land where she knows no one and so much is expected of her. Luella not knowing much about her new way of life and determined to go back home, is strongminded and puts her mind to finding a way to break the cycle and free herself and future human Queens. But a long the way, she finds herself falling for the Elf King and the Elf King for her but whether she completes her goal is all dependent on what they both want from each other and the obstacles along the way.
This book is literally what I needed at the time when I read this, I wanted something on the lighter end of the fantasy spectrum that I could easily consume and read. This exactly what I got from this book and I was so happy. Elise’s writing flows so easily Land she creates such a world that can be familiar with people that love the YA fantasy genre. Luella as a character is head strong and is never portrayed as the ‘damsel in distress’ and doesn’t like being told what to do and when to do it and as such butt heads with the elf king quite a few times throughout the novel. In the end, he finds her resilience as breathtaking and he becomes so taken with her. One thing that I would like from this, is that we get to see more of these characters throughout the anthology series as I do not want to see them get left behind. Elise’s writing made me fall in love with these characters and I just want to see more of them.
4 out of 5 stars.
Bone Criers’s Moon:
Bone Crier’s Moon is set in a world where sirens must kill their soul mates. Bone criers are the Leuress’ that ferry the guided dead souls into the after life whether that be the night heavens or the underworld. We meet our main character Ailesse who is the daughter of the Leuress’ matriarch. Ailesse is not a ferrier yet but she wants to become one. To become a ferrier of the dead, she must sacrifice her one true love to the gods and so to avoid falling in love with her supposed, she decides that she will kill him straight away. But one night when she plays the bone flute to summon him, she meets Bastien, a boy who had his father taken from him by the bone criers and he witnessed it all. Bastien has sworn vengeance on the bone criers and loops in his friends to abduct the ferrier on the bridge, this just happens to be Ailesse. Back at home, Sabine, Ailesse’s friend, has promised that she will rescue her at any cost to herself. This mean disobeying her elders who think that Ailesse is a lost cause, including her own mother. But Ailesse is determined to prove people wrong and become the true leuress heir despite her obstacles.
Bone Criers Moon is an imaginative tale and explores themes that are known in the young adult fantasy genre. This includes forbidden love and love triangles. The magic system set in this world was one that did definitely intrigue me. The bone criers draw their magic from the grace bones of animals. A Leuress does have to kill an animal and take one of its bones to do so, so content warning right here for animal deaths and killings. But when they wear these bones, they take on the grace of that animal, this may include enhanced hearing or strength. I honestly thought this magic system, though grotesque, is an intriguing take on a magic system.
3 out of 5 stars.