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3.78 AVERAGE
3.78 AVERAGE
adventurous
emotional
funny
hopeful
lighthearted
fast-paced
Didn’t care for the voice, don’t care about any of the characters. Stolen IBD valor, no bathroom symptoms. Do not like the sequence of events that leads to him being a horse, it’s not satisfying. Awful miscommunication trope when they’re both human at the beginning and somehow NO COMMUNICATION BARRIER SHENANIGANS when he’s a horse?? No one is actually making sure these kingdoms run at all, no bureaucrats this is amateur hour.
adventurous
funny
hopeful
lighthearted
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
adventurous
hopeful
inspiring
lighthearted
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
This was such a refreshing read. It didn't have some of the romance cliches I've seen in a lot of other romance books. For example, in many other romance books the male lead is overly confident and really tough. But the prince in the book was a normal person, with fears and insecurities.
I liked that the story's setting had gender equality (for example- guards are both males and females, the person officiating the wedding was female) and that it had lgbtq characters. And that being attracted to the same gender was accepted as normal. No questions asked. So refreshing!
There were plenty of slow and sweet romance scenes throughout the book. I loved how the two main characters accepted each other's weaknesses and supported each other. At the beginning they misunderstood each other. It was great following their love story.
I liked that the story's setting had gender equality (for example- guards are both males and females, the person officiating the wedding was female) and that it had lgbtq characters. And that being attracted to the same gender was accepted as normal. No questions asked. So refreshing!
There were plenty of slow and sweet romance scenes throughout the book. I loved how the two main characters accepted each other's weaknesses and supported each other. At the beginning they misunderstood each other. It was great following their love story.
adventurous
emotional
funny
lighthearted
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
adventurous
funny
lighthearted
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
adventurous
emotional
hopeful
lighthearted
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
From birth, Bianca has been trained to as "how high?" when her parents tell her to jump - so when her parents tell her she is to marry the neighboring kingdom's heir in a bid to stave off war, she dutifully packs her bags and leaves everything she knows behind. Yes, Bianca grins and bears it - even when her new fiancé is cold and aloof; even amidst her own worries about her mysterious illness; even when what could possibly be the worst wedding night ever ends in an assassination attempt and her new husband turning into a horse. When the sun sets and her horse-husband Aric returns to his two-legged form, it's to find that Bianca has been framed for his murder; that there's a plot bigger than the both of them lurking in the background; and that they only have a few days (days being the operative word, since Aric returns to his horsey form during the day) to figure out how to reset everything before their absence spells war. With time, options, and possibly their hearts galloping away faster than the wind, Bianca and Aric have a lot of work to do.
I need some studio to pick this story up and turn it into a late 90s, early 2000s banger of a movie IMMEDIATELY - I'm talking "The Princess Bride", "A Knight's Tale", "Ella Enchanted" realness. This book has everything: the fairytale of a lifetime for the horse girl buried (or not buried, it's 2025 live your best life while you can); YEARNING; bookish soft MMC X chronic illness (literal) warrior FMC; queer rep; one bed/one stable; having to get over your first impression of someone and apologizing for it; parental angst; a sister who's a chaos junkie; forgiveness; and sassy back-talking to courtly idiots. I had so much fun listening to the audio for this book, it was a perfect road trip companion, and I wish there was a sequel to this story because I would eat it all the way up (something something hay is for horses). Can't wait for M. Stevenson's next book!
I need some studio to pick this story up and turn it into a late 90s, early 2000s banger of a movie IMMEDIATELY - I'm talking "The Princess Bride", "A Knight's Tale", "Ella Enchanted" realness. This book has everything: the fairytale of a lifetime for the horse girl buried (or not buried, it's 2025 live your best life while you can); YEARNING; bookish soft MMC X chronic illness (literal) warrior FMC; queer rep; one bed/one stable; having to get over your first impression of someone and apologizing for it; parental angst; a sister who's a chaos junkie; forgiveness; and sassy back-talking to courtly idiots. I had so much fun listening to the audio for this book, it was a perfect road trip companion, and I wish there was a sequel to this story because I would eat it all the way up (something something hay is for horses). Can't wait for M. Stevenson's next book!
Content Warnings
Moderate: Sexual content
adventurous
funny
lighthearted
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
adventurous
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
if I had a nickel for every book I've read about a girl getting Arranged Married to a guy who turns into a horse I'd have two nickels. which isn't a lot but it's weird that it happened twice
readability: very good
enjoyability: fair
craft: eh it's fine
0%: I know nothing about this other than that it seems to be My Lady Jane minus the silly Whimsy. Goin' in blind let's go
2%: you're telling me this girl's last name is "Liliana" and her sister's name is "Tatiana"? "Tatiana Liliana"? does she put on a blonde wig and perform concerts for all the hippest tweens
5%: oh sure so her house emblem is a flower and her husband's is a My Little Pony. between this and the pink sprayed-edge pages we're not being super subtle about our target audience here are we
100%: Hmm, what can I say about Behooved? (And I do love that 2010s-Pixarcore title, though I wish it actually worked as a pun here.) A chronically ill duchess of Spainitaly must arranged-marry the ice block new king of Germireland only oops, they're attacked by assassins and he gets turned into a horse and now she's been framed for his murder and they must go on the run together. It's fine. It's cute. The writing is solid-ish, if a little after-school-special-y. The humor (pretty much all of the "getting flustered and making Freudian slips" variety) didn't really land for me. But the book has some nice chronic illness rep, and I like the theme of redefining "strength" in a fantasy context. The story itself is a medium-believable fast burn with some head-scratching contrivances, but nothing I haven't come to expect from 2020s romantasy.
And that's kind of my problem with it? It just feels like there's so much more you can DO with "guy who turns into a horse." That concept alone should make for a BONKERS wild time. What we get instead is a very traditional "going on the run through some vaguely European fantasy villages" story where the horse thing is one physical comedy scene and the occasional punchline, but otherwise doesn't really matter (the furries are gonna be so disappointed.) Behooved isn't a BAD book by any means, I'm simply left wondering: why write something weird if you're not gonna get weird with it?
readability: very good
enjoyability: fair
craft: eh it's fine
0%: I know nothing about this other than that it seems to be My Lady Jane minus the silly Whimsy. Goin' in blind let's go
2%: you're telling me this girl's last name is "Liliana" and her sister's name is "Tatiana"? "Tatiana Liliana"? does she put on a blonde wig and perform concerts for all the hippest tweens
5%: oh sure so her house emblem is a flower and her husband's is a My Little Pony. between this and the pink sprayed-edge pages we're not being super subtle about our target audience here are we
100%: Hmm, what can I say about Behooved? (And I do love that 2010s-Pixarcore title, though I wish it actually worked as a pun here.) A chronically ill duchess of Spainitaly must arranged-marry the ice block new king of Germireland only oops, they're attacked by assassins and he gets turned into a horse and now she's been framed for his murder and they must go on the run together. It's fine. It's cute. The writing is solid-ish, if a little after-school-special-y. The humor (pretty much all of the "getting flustered and making Freudian slips" variety) didn't really land for me. But the book has some nice chronic illness rep, and I like the theme of redefining "strength" in a fantasy context. The story itself is a medium-believable fast burn with some head-scratching contrivances, but nothing I haven't come to expect from 2020s romantasy.
And that's kind of my problem with it? It just feels like there's so much more you can DO with "guy who turns into a horse." That concept alone should make for a BONKERS wild time. What we get instead is a very traditional "going on the run through some vaguely European fantasy villages" story where the horse thing is one physical comedy scene and the occasional punchline, but otherwise doesn't really matter (the furries are gonna be so disappointed.) Behooved isn't a BAD book by any means, I'm simply left wondering: why write something weird if you're not gonna get weird with it?
adventurous
funny
hopeful
inspiring
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I enjoyed that our fmc and mmc were a bit unconventional. While both smart and strong in their own ways, they weren’t the traditional bad ass warrior types and both held a lot of insecurities that they helped each other through.
Sometimes the story was a bit cheesy or silly, but overall a fun read with a nice ending.
Sometimes the story was a bit cheesy or silly, but overall a fun read with a nice ending.