I should preface this review by saying that fantasy is not my preferred reading style. My husband is a fantasy author, and while I enjoy his work, as well as that of C.S. Lewis and Madeline L’Engle, generally fantasy is not my go-to genre. In the immortal faerie realm, a cousin of the queen, the fairest of the land, is kidnapped by a dragon. The resident poet and the captain of the guard, rivals for her affection, set off to rescue her. While on his quest, the poet encounters a young woman who he assumes must be a princess of some kind. She cannot speak (though we the reader can hear her thoughts), and he is certain it is because she is under some kind of enchantment.
This book was a struggle to get through. In fact I was nearly 50% of the way through before I became heavily interested. This is how long it takes before we hear Starflower’s story. Her story is far more interesting than the interactions of the faerie realm. How did Starflower end up in this immortal realm? What horror did she escape from and why can’t she speak? These are questions that will eventually be answered, but in my opinion it took far too long.
This book is well written by the plot seems to meander. Would I recommend it to a friend? That depends. If the friend enjoys all styles of fantasy and revels in the drawn out nature of this epic storytelling style, then yes. But if a reader is looking for a first introduction to fantasy this isn’t it. The average reader is likely to be come bored and listless and possibly give up before the best parts of the story.
I was not compensated for this review but I did receive a free copy of the book to review.
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