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A review by bookish_blanche
A Dragonbird in the Fern by Laura Rueckert
5.0
An amazing debut fantasy novel
-I got this book as an eARC with Netgalley in exchange for an honest review-
Ever since she's been murdered, Jiara is haunted by her sister, Scilla, who's demanding her to find her assassin. Jiara is determined to help her sister, but when King Raffar, Scilla's former betrothed, asks for her hand instead, she has to leave with him to his land. Struggling to learn the new language, Jiara still plans on finding her sister's murderer to set her free. But now, she has other things on her hands...
This book is an absolute jewel! I loved every second of it and it's even more impressive since it's a debut novel. Jiara is amazing. She's unique, realistic and incredibly relatable. I loved how her dyslexia was a part of the story in a casual way and I found it quite fascinating. The story in itself is really interesting. We altern between trying to find Scilla's killer, the romance between her and the king, and the political intrigue behind it all, which keeps us on our toes. As for the world in itself, I loved it. I really liked the fact that the author raised the issue that Jiara struggles to be understood and to understand the new language. It was really realistic, but not boring at all, which I really liked. The mythology with the Watchers, earthwalkers, Gods... was also quite interesting and original. I was really entertained throughout the book and couldn't put it down. I was enthralled in trying to find Scilla's killer but all that was going on besides that made my heart race faster and I was here for it! I also loved how the author turned the arranged marriage trope around because most of the time, it's enemies to lovers, but in this book, Jiara and Raffar created their own story, which I found beautiful. Honestly one of the best fantasy standalones I've read so far and I cannot wait to read more books by this author.
Just go for it! It has everything a good fantasy book needs, plus a bit of murder mystery!
"But everything wasn't fine, not at all."
-I got this book as an eARC with Netgalley in exchange for an honest review-
Ever since she's been murdered, Jiara is haunted by her sister, Scilla, who's demanding her to find her assassin. Jiara is determined to help her sister, but when King Raffar, Scilla's former betrothed, asks for her hand instead, she has to leave with him to his land. Struggling to learn the new language, Jiara still plans on finding her sister's murderer to set her free. But now, she has other things on her hands...
This book is an absolute jewel! I loved every second of it and it's even more impressive since it's a debut novel. Jiara is amazing. She's unique, realistic and incredibly relatable. I loved how her dyslexia was a part of the story in a casual way and I found it quite fascinating. The story in itself is really interesting. We altern between trying to find Scilla's killer, the romance between her and the king, and the political intrigue behind it all, which keeps us on our toes. As for the world in itself, I loved it. I really liked the fact that the author raised the issue that Jiara struggles to be understood and to understand the new language. It was really realistic, but not boring at all, which I really liked. The mythology with the Watchers, earthwalkers, Gods... was also quite interesting and original. I was really entertained throughout the book and couldn't put it down. I was enthralled in trying to find Scilla's killer but all that was going on besides that made my heart race faster and I was here for it! I also loved how the author turned the arranged marriage trope around because most of the time, it's enemies to lovers, but in this book, Jiara and Raffar created their own story, which I found beautiful. Honestly one of the best fantasy standalones I've read so far and I cannot wait to read more books by this author.
Just go for it! It has everything a good fantasy book needs, plus a bit of murder mystery!
"But everything wasn't fine, not at all."