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morwen1031 's review for:
Radiance
by Grace Draven
I have a number of books I keep on a mental list of “Things I Never Knew I Needed In My Life But Now I Can’t Live Without” and “Radiance” just moved to the top (or pretty close, anyway).
I’d never heard of this book or this author until I heard the many denizens of r/romancebooks raving about it, so I decided to give it a chance and I’m forever thankful to them for bringing this story into my life. It’s sort of similar to “The Winter King” in that regard, so they’re pretty much 2-for-2. I’m currently reading another r/romancebooks favorite, “Punk 57”, so let’s see if they can continue their streak of perfection.
I digress, though. I’m here to extoll the virtues of “Radiance” and they are many. This book works on many levels – a romance, a fantasy, a character/personality study in what it means to be human (kind of ironic considering that one of the MCs isn’t). Given its many points of appeal I’m kind of shocked that it’s not more popular than it is, but I’m a selfish little book dragon so I like to keep secrets like this to myself sometimes. Sue me.
Ildiko and Brishen are rivaling Jude and Cardan as my ultimate OTP. I’m on a romance kick right now, and I’ve been bemoaning the unrealistic depictions of relationships and the people that are in them, and “Radiance” sort of smashed all of those expectations to bits. It gave me reassurance for the current state of my own relationship and hope for the future. It made that 16-year-old insecure version of me that still lives in my head and has way too much influence over 42-year-old me’s thoughts feel so much better about herself.
I guess it is rather poignant that it would take a fictional depiction of a relationship between a human woman and a non-human (but still humanoid) man to show that it’s possible to love someone for who they are in an ephemeral sense, as opposed to physical, but there you have it. The growth of Ildiko and Brishen’s relationship, the way it blossoms from friendship to passionate love, the way their opinion of each other’s hearts so greatly influences their initial (negative) impressions of each other’s outer appearance is so heartwarming and portrayed so realistically that I want to cry just thinking about it. It makes me want to focus more on being a better person on the inside than trying to improve myself on the outside in an effort to get other people to recognize my worth. It makes me angry for all the time I wasted in my life doing the exact opposite. This is like the one thing that wouldn’t make think the statement about beauty being in the eye of the beholder not want to retch immediately.
I could sit and expound upon the actual plot, but it’s pointless really because it’s the relationship between the two main characters that makes this book shine as brightly as it does (dare I say it’s……radiant?). That’s not to say that this doesn’t stand alone on its own merits as a fantasy story with phenomenal world-building, because it does, but that’s not its strength.
I love this book. I love Ildiko and Brishen. I love them on their own and I love them even more together. My life is better for having read “Radiance” and I cannot recommend it enough.
I’d never heard of this book or this author until I heard the many denizens of r/romancebooks raving about it, so I decided to give it a chance and I’m forever thankful to them for bringing this story into my life. It’s sort of similar to “The Winter King” in that regard, so they’re pretty much 2-for-2. I’m currently reading another r/romancebooks favorite, “Punk 57”, so let’s see if they can continue their streak of perfection.
I digress, though. I’m here to extoll the virtues of “Radiance” and they are many. This book works on many levels – a romance, a fantasy, a character/personality study in what it means to be human (kind of ironic considering that one of the MCs isn’t). Given its many points of appeal I’m kind of shocked that it’s not more popular than it is, but I’m a selfish little book dragon so I like to keep secrets like this to myself sometimes. Sue me.
Ildiko and Brishen are rivaling Jude and Cardan as my ultimate OTP. I’m on a romance kick right now, and I’ve been bemoaning the unrealistic depictions of relationships and the people that are in them, and “Radiance” sort of smashed all of those expectations to bits. It gave me reassurance for the current state of my own relationship and hope for the future. It made that 16-year-old insecure version of me that still lives in my head and has way too much influence over 42-year-old me’s thoughts feel so much better about herself.
I guess it is rather poignant that it would take a fictional depiction of a relationship between a human woman and a non-human (but still humanoid) man to show that it’s possible to love someone for who they are in an ephemeral sense, as opposed to physical, but there you have it. The growth of Ildiko and Brishen’s relationship, the way it blossoms from friendship to passionate love, the way their opinion of each other’s hearts so greatly influences their initial (negative) impressions of each other’s outer appearance is so heartwarming and portrayed so realistically that I want to cry just thinking about it. It makes me want to focus more on being a better person on the inside than trying to improve myself on the outside in an effort to get other people to recognize my worth. It makes me angry for all the time I wasted in my life doing the exact opposite. This is like the one thing that wouldn’t make think the statement about beauty being in the eye of the beholder not want to retch immediately.
I could sit and expound upon the actual plot, but it’s pointless really because it’s the relationship between the two main characters that makes this book shine as brightly as it does (dare I say it’s……radiant?). That’s not to say that this doesn’t stand alone on its own merits as a fantasy story with phenomenal world-building, because it does, but that’s not its strength.
I love this book. I love Ildiko and Brishen. I love them on their own and I love them even more together. My life is better for having read “Radiance” and I cannot recommend it enough.