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A review by literaryweaponry
Among the Beasts & Briars by Ashley Poston
adventurous
mysterious
medium-paced
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
“Briars, brambles, bones, and blossom, I smell a girl who can’t be forgotten.”
Contains minor spoilers
One of my goals this year is to read all of my backlist books from past OwlCrate boxes and Among the Beasts & Briars was the first on my list to conquer. I had read one of Ashley Poston’s books in the past, Heart of Iron, and enjoyed it well enough but not being terribly familiar with her writing style I wasn’t sure what I was getting myself into.
The tags etc for this book all tell me that it is a fairy-tale retelling but I just don’t see what fairy-tale it is talking about. I was never terribly interested in the classic happily-ever-after fairy tales anyway so just reading this book I don’t know which one it is supposedly retelling.
Be that as it may, Among the Beasts & Briars was a pretty good read.
Our heroine, Cerys, is very much what you would expect from a ya fantasy heroine. She is kind, loving, and her soul longs for adventure even if her mind won’t accept it. Cerys loves her father, her home, and her best friend who is set to be queen. Overall, she is a very likable character and when push comes to shove she is determined, brave, and tries her best to make the right decisions in tough situations. Her journey from being the castle gardener’s daughter to the savior of the kingdom is fun to go along with her on.
On the flip side of that, we have Fox who is, sort of, an actual fox. Fox has been by Cerys side for years as her furry woodland companion who seemed to understand and sense more than a normal fox should. When, after a magical accident, he gets turned into a human he accompanies Cerys on her quest to save her father, her friend, and everyone who dwells near the magical, menacing forest. Fox was not a likable character and having him as a love interest was rather off-putting. I found him cowardly and weak, unwilling to help against a threat unless he had no other choice.
I’ve seen this book billed as sapphic by a few reviewers and if that is specifically what you are after I will say that perhaps you should try another title. There is a sapphic aspect to this story but it is little more than a quick little snippet hardly worth mentioning toward the end. Overall, this story was good and it was exactly what I was looking for as my first read of 2021. I wanted simple, easy to follow, and a happily tied up ending. If that is something you would like, too, then I would recommend this book.
Contains minor spoilers
One of my goals this year is to read all of my backlist books from past OwlCrate boxes and Among the Beasts & Briars was the first on my list to conquer. I had read one of Ashley Poston’s books in the past, Heart of Iron, and enjoyed it well enough but not being terribly familiar with her writing style I wasn’t sure what I was getting myself into.
The tags etc for this book all tell me that it is a fairy-tale retelling but I just don’t see what fairy-tale it is talking about. I was never terribly interested in the classic happily-ever-after fairy tales anyway so just reading this book I don’t know which one it is supposedly retelling.
Be that as it may, Among the Beasts & Briars was a pretty good read.
Our heroine, Cerys, is very much what you would expect from a ya fantasy heroine. She is kind, loving, and her soul longs for adventure even if her mind won’t accept it. Cerys loves her father, her home, and her best friend who is set to be queen. Overall, she is a very likable character and when push comes to shove she is determined, brave, and tries her best to make the right decisions in tough situations. Her journey from being the castle gardener’s daughter to the savior of the kingdom is fun to go along with her on.
On the flip side of that, we have Fox who is, sort of, an actual fox. Fox has been by Cerys side for years as her furry woodland companion who seemed to understand and sense more than a normal fox should. When, after a magical accident, he gets turned into a human he accompanies Cerys on her quest to save her father, her friend, and everyone who dwells near the magical, menacing forest. Fox was not a likable character and having him as a love interest was rather off-putting. I found him cowardly and weak, unwilling to help against a threat unless he had no other choice.
I’ve seen this book billed as sapphic by a few reviewers and if that is specifically what you are after I will say that perhaps you should try another title. There is a sapphic aspect to this story but it is little more than a quick little snippet hardly worth mentioning toward the end. Overall, this story was good and it was exactly what I was looking for as my first read of 2021. I wanted simple, easy to follow, and a happily tied up ending. If that is something you would like, too, then I would recommend this book.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Body horror