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sundazebookcafe 's review for:
Bride of the Shadow King
by Sylvia Mercedes
Thank you to Daphne Press and NetGalley for my advanced reader copy of this book in return for an honest review.
Clearly, I’m back in my fantasy bag because I really enjoyed reading Bride of the Shadow King by Sylvia Mercedes. Faraine, our main character, is a lovable heroine with a distinct voice. Sometimes, dual-voice narratives are tricky but it works mostly well here, nestled against Vor, our male lead, the Shadow King. This fantasy romance is a gorgeous slow-burner with some wonderful world-building and interesting back stories.
Shunned from court, Faraine has been living in a convent after supposedly embarrassing her family and also dealing with a chronic illness. As such, her right to the crown has been filtered to her beautiful younger sister. When the handsome Shadow King arrives, seeking a bride, he quickly agrees to an arranged marriage with Faraine’s sister, Princess Ilsevel. This is an easy, readable and captivating forbidden love fantasy romance. The worlds are rich, believable and fantastically written, and even the dual-voice style really serves to enrich the settings. However, at times, the dual POV technique makes the story feel hard to follow and throws off the pace, since we go back and forth in time as the author tells both Faraine and Vor’s perspective of a scene. It’d propel better with a forward-moving timeline. Equally, while I loved all of the writing, there’s actually not a whole lot of content here and in hindsight this feels like it could’ve been a prequel.
I thoroughly enjoyed reading this, and already can’t wait for the sequel!
Bride of the Shadow King publishes on 29 August 2023.
Clearly, I’m back in my fantasy bag because I really enjoyed reading Bride of the Shadow King by Sylvia Mercedes. Faraine, our main character, is a lovable heroine with a distinct voice. Sometimes, dual-voice narratives are tricky but it works mostly well here, nestled against Vor, our male lead, the Shadow King. This fantasy romance is a gorgeous slow-burner with some wonderful world-building and interesting back stories.
Shunned from court, Faraine has been living in a convent after supposedly embarrassing her family and also dealing with a chronic illness. As such, her right to the crown has been filtered to her beautiful younger sister. When the handsome Shadow King arrives, seeking a bride, he quickly agrees to an arranged marriage with Faraine’s sister, Princess Ilsevel. This is an easy, readable and captivating forbidden love fantasy romance. The worlds are rich, believable and fantastically written, and even the dual-voice style really serves to enrich the settings. However, at times, the dual POV technique makes the story feel hard to follow and throws off the pace, since we go back and forth in time as the author tells both Faraine and Vor’s perspective of a scene. It’d propel better with a forward-moving timeline. Equally, while I loved all of the writing, there’s actually not a whole lot of content here and in hindsight this feels like it could’ve been a prequel.
I thoroughly enjoyed reading this, and already can’t wait for the sequel!
Bride of the Shadow King publishes on 29 August 2023.