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eleventeen 's review for:
Radiance
by Grace Draven
Oh this was just delightful and such a nice palate cleanser from dystopian sci fi. I've read a Grace Draven book before, and it was rote and wooden in its tone, but this book really hit all its marks as a fantasy romance with a wonderful, wonderful build.
I am not typically a friends to lovers trope fan, but when presented as it is here with a human and a Kai arranged marriage, each race thinking the other hideous in appearance, the romance starts with a strong core of friendship. It starts with two people caught in a bad situation trying to make the best of it and realizing - wait a second - they couldn't have asked for a better partner.
It's a wonderful, slow, fall and there was only a moment or two where i was jolted from the story by a particularly obvious turn of phrase. Most of it was naturally formed bonds through the very effective circumstances of two drastically different races joined, and the economic and political impact of that joining.
A high point of the book is that the female lead, Ildiko, is not presented as a wilting flower, but rather someone who Brishen (her arranged husband) learns to see incredible strength in. We learn to admire her through his own admiration. We learn to appreciate Brishen's personality through Ildiko's appreciation. It's wonderfully done and heartwarming and you just end up rooting for these characters.
Granted there's a rather obvious plotline running through, which is why i'm not really wasting time with a summary here, but you read on anyway because it is so, so wonderful to read about people that respect and admire each other so much.
I am not typically a friends to lovers trope fan, but when presented as it is here with a human and a Kai arranged marriage, each race thinking the other hideous in appearance, the romance starts with a strong core of friendship. It starts with two people caught in a bad situation trying to make the best of it and realizing - wait a second - they couldn't have asked for a better partner.
It's a wonderful, slow, fall and there was only a moment or two where i was jolted from the story by a particularly obvious turn of phrase. Most of it was naturally formed bonds through the very effective circumstances of two drastically different races joined, and the economic and political impact of that joining.
A high point of the book is that the female lead, Ildiko, is not presented as a wilting flower, but rather someone who Brishen (her arranged husband) learns to see incredible strength in. We learn to admire her through his own admiration. We learn to appreciate Brishen's personality through Ildiko's appreciation. It's wonderfully done and heartwarming and you just end up rooting for these characters.
Granted there's a rather obvious plotline running through, which is why i'm not really wasting time with a summary here, but you read on anyway because it is so, so wonderful to read about people that respect and admire each other so much.