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adventurous
challenging
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
2.0
“What is the point of doing anything if it doesn’t feel natural?”
An adventurous Arthurian love story that is also way too long and frustrating.
This book was weird. I enjoyed it, yet I didn’t. Honestly it could have been two separate books. The first half of the book was a fun escapade over the continent, and then suddenly it was a second chance romance two years later and everything was falling apart.
The main characters were so sweet and had strong voices. I especially loved that Lucien’s point of view really sounded like a scientist. The supporting cast was amazing. When a book opens with two old ladies matchmaking and stealing recipes, I’m sold. And Pell, Lucien’s cousin, was hilarious and deserved his own book.
But then we come to the most frustrating villain. I can’t say that calling Morgan bad is a spoiler, because you can tell from her first words, and also because in a book with heavy King Arthur overtones a character named Morgan is bound to be a villain. The way NO ONE realizes she’s behind everything is incredibly frustrating.
But then, the whole second half of the book is frustrating! He doesn’t get her letters, she doesn’t tell him who Guinevere is, he doesn’t believe anything she says. I wanted to pull my hair out! It was even more upsetting because I had enjoyed the first half of the book so much. When he had only known her a few days I understood why he didn’t believe her, but when so much time has passed it just didn’t logically make sense that this smart man hadn’t pieced anything together.
So I can’t really tell you if I enjoyed this book. The writing was awesome. Vivienne Lorret treats us to some truly beautiful word choices, like flibbertigibbet, fuddling, and deliquesce. The main couple was also really sweet and actually made me tear up. But the second half of the book made me anxious and antsy. Overall I think it’s a good book if you’re ok with some edge of your seat, slightly unbelievable shenanigans.
I received an eARC of this book via NetGalley. Opinions are all my own.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Toxic relationship, Vomit, Terminal illness, Abandonment, Violence, Murder, and Death of parent
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