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A review by odunayo_y
Valerin the Fair by Rien Gray
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.0
Actual Rating: 3.5 stars
The prose was beautiful and the bits of worldbuilding were compelling. So much so that I was way more interested in the setting than the actual romance.
As for the romance it was honestly not to my taste, quite frankly I despise the age gap trope, and thankfully this was the bare minimum in that both parties were adults (Valerin is like 20/21). But it was eh. Even minus the age gap I didn't feel the connection at all. Like the sorceress burns down your home fvks up your family and kidnapps you and you go from wanting to decapitate her to mashing genitals and being the love of your life in less than 10 hours?????
The insta-love/lust is another one of my mehs in romance. Yes it's a novella so there couldn't be too much content,but there could have at least been a significant time skip to make the relationship development feel more realistic.
That being said the sex scene was elite very nicely done. Even if the "bigger butch top/smaller femme bottom" dynamic is more than a little overplayed, but the way it was done didn't annoy me too much. Bonus points that because it was written in the same flowery prose as the rest of the novella, there wasn't any anachronistic switch to more "modern/vulgar" wording.
And it was queer as hell so I can't complain too
much. Despite this is a fantasy romance series the the non romance aspects of the story/World really got me going.
Finally verdict; pretty damn good despite my whinging. Beware reader there be fvking in this lol, like very explicitly, great if you're looking for that but if you prefer your romances more fade to black with empathise on the emotional side, this might not be the book for you.
The prose was beautiful and the bits of worldbuilding were compelling. So much so that I was way more interested in the setting than the actual romance.
As for the romance it was honestly not to my taste, quite frankly I despise the age gap trope, and thankfully this was the bare minimum in that both parties were adults (Valerin is like 20/21). But it was eh. Even minus the age gap I didn't feel the connection at all. Like the sorceress burns down your home fvks up your family and kidnapps you and you go from wanting to decapitate her to mashing genitals and being the love of your life in less than 10 hours?????
The insta-love/lust is another one of my mehs in romance. Yes it's a novella so there couldn't be too much content,but there could have at least been a significant time skip to make the relationship development feel more realistic.
That being said the sex scene was elite very nicely done. Even if the "bigger butch top/smaller femme bottom" dynamic is more than a little overplayed, but the way it was done didn't annoy me too much. Bonus points that because it was written in the same flowery prose as the rest of the novella, there wasn't any anachronistic switch to more "modern/vulgar" wording.
And it was queer as hell so I can't complain too
much. Despite this is a fantasy romance series the the non romance aspects of the story/World really got me going.
Finally verdict; pretty damn good despite my whinging. Beware reader there be fvking in this lol, like very explicitly, great if you're looking for that but if you prefer your romances more fade to black with empathise on the emotional side, this might not be the book for you.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content
Moderate: Violence