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readingwithmrleo 's review for:
A Tale of Mirth and Magic
by Kristen Vale
lighthearted
slow-paced
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
It pains me to give this one a rating on the lower side because I loved Barra so damn much. But still, I had quite a few frustrations with that story.
Tropes
Cozy/Low-stakes fantasy
On the run
Forced proximity
Sweet big MMC
Independent badass FMC
Insta-lust
The premise of this story was a fun one, with putting our heroes on the run together and trying to hide away. It definitely created a lot of forced proximity with melting tension to it, which is always enjoyable. As the story went on, we could see our two characters opening up little by little and forming a friendship and more. There wasn't much world-building but things still went pretty smoothly and it served the cozy vibe well.
I'd say that the spice happened quite early on and quite often, which is far from being my favourite. It made everything feel a bit superficial for me. But what really got on my nerves was how Elikki was acting. I do love a strong badass woman who knows what she wants, but I cannot get on board with one that acts the way she wants no matter how hurtful it is to others. She was selfish and always trying to get into Barra's pants which got pretty annoying.
Barra was the most perfectly anxious big giant teddy bear and I freaking wanted to hug him all the time. He also was quite open about how he felt and even though he constantly tried to talk things through to protect himself, Elikki always brushed it away and went on with acting in such a poor way. Half of this book was just me being heartbroken for poor soft Barra, so I was not really having fun that much. They still reached their happy ever after but it was a bit hard for me to be happy about it or find it satisfying after all of that to be honest.
Overall it was an interesting world with just a twist of magic, a story with low stakes but still a bit of action, with a fait amoung of spice and the loveliest anxious MMC ever that you just want to protect.
Thanks to HBGCanada for the ARC. All opinions are my own.
Tropes
Cozy/Low-stakes fantasy
On the run
Forced proximity
Sweet big MMC
Independent badass FMC
Insta-lust
The premise of this story was a fun one, with putting our heroes on the run together and trying to hide away. It definitely created a lot of forced proximity with melting tension to it, which is always enjoyable. As the story went on, we could see our two characters opening up little by little and forming a friendship and more. There wasn't much world-building but things still went pretty smoothly and it served the cozy vibe well.
I'd say that the spice happened quite early on and quite often, which is far from being my favourite. It made everything feel a bit superficial for me. But what really got on my nerves was how Elikki was acting. I do love a strong badass woman who knows what she wants, but I cannot get on board with one that acts the way she wants no matter how hurtful it is to others. She was selfish and always trying to get into Barra's pants which got pretty annoying.
Barra was the most perfectly anxious big giant teddy bear and I freaking wanted to hug him all the time. He also was quite open about how he felt and even though he constantly tried to talk things through to protect himself, Elikki always brushed it away and went on with acting in such a poor way. Half of this book was just me being heartbroken for poor soft Barra, so I was not really having fun that much. They still reached their happy ever after but it was a bit hard for me to be happy about it or find it satisfying after all of that to be honest.
Overall it was an interesting world with just a twist of magic, a story with low stakes but still a bit of action, with a fait amoung of spice and the loveliest anxious MMC ever that you just want to protect.
Thanks to HBGCanada for the ARC. All opinions are my own.