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A review by waywardsky
Breeze Spells and Bridegrooms by S.O. Callahan, Sarah Wallace
emotional
lighthearted
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
While I have a couple of negative comments, there are a lot of things to like about this book, from the charming writing, dialogue, and customs reminiscent of a Jane Austen script, except in a wholesomely queer-normative society, to the pair of fascinating and lovely magic systems present, and of course the adorable, bully-to-boyfriends romance that morphs into something so honestly caring, sweet, protective, and pure as to utterly melt my heart.
All that being said, there were a few things that I found that could have been improved. A big one was the SHIFT in the bully, Wyn's, personality which happened at first so gradually and then ALL AT ONCE in practically a complete 180 that it felt a little bit unbelievable and off. He was quite MEAN in the first 200ish pages, and while as the reader, I could tell his feelings and thoughts were subtlety shifting, his spoken words continued to be terribly harsh. However, once he and Roger were accidentally engaged, he completely changed, not only to Roger, but to his other acquaintances, and I found the sudden transformation after all the nuance to be just a wee bit jarring.
I also have to say that the book, while readable and largely enjoyable, felt unnecessarily long. There was a lot, especially in relation to Roger and Wyn's magic work, that could have been condensed. By the 2/3rds stage of the story I was ready for it to be done, but there was still yet so much to be wrapped up. It was never exactly monotonous, but there were a lot of similar chapters, and while there were several moments of soft cuteness happening between Roger and Wyn through these chapters that I did enjoy, I still felt like it was all stretched out more than it needed to be.
My last critique is that I DID find a couple of small discrepancies. Nothing big enough to throw off the plot or the story, but little time discrepancies like where the first character would be wondering how many days the second character had been putting up a front after being told something, when the first character knew very well the second character had only been told the something the day before. I'm trying to explain without directly quoting or spoiling anything, but it was time discrepancies things like this that cropped up a couple of times.
Regardless of these critiques I have on the story, at the end of the day I had a good time reading Breeze Spells and Bridegrooms. While those things pulled the rating down for me, it was still SUCH a cute story with highly lovable characters, winsome magic, and some lovely main character representation of what I believe was a subset of asexual - perhaps demisexual.
I LOVED how sweetly protective and caring Roger and Wyn became for one another, each thinking of the other's happiness and comfort first. Their slowest of slow burn romance morphed into gentle touches, soft affirmations, and stoic, kindhearted protectiveness, and I really enjoyed every single look, touch, or longing thought between them.
Honestly, Roger and Wyn became couple goals.
In the end, this is an exceptionally CUTE, magical, slice-of-life story that I would recommend for anyone who likes the idea of a bully-to-boyfriends, sweet romance in a regency-style setting.
All that being said, there were a few things that I found that could have been improved. A big one was the SHIFT in the bully, Wyn's, personality which happened at first so gradually and then ALL AT ONCE in practically a complete 180 that it felt a little bit unbelievable and off. He was quite MEAN in the first 200ish pages, and while as the reader, I could tell his feelings and thoughts were subtlety shifting, his spoken words continued to be terribly harsh. However, once he and Roger were accidentally engaged, he completely changed, not only to Roger, but to his other acquaintances, and I found the sudden transformation after all the nuance to be just a wee bit jarring.
I also have to say that the book, while readable and largely enjoyable, felt unnecessarily long. There was a lot, especially in relation to Roger and Wyn's magic work, that could have been condensed. By the 2/3rds stage of the story I was ready for it to be done, but there was still yet so much to be wrapped up. It was never exactly monotonous, but there were a lot of similar chapters, and while there were several moments of soft cuteness happening between Roger and Wyn through these chapters that I did enjoy, I still felt like it was all stretched out more than it needed to be.
My last critique is that I DID find a couple of small discrepancies. Nothing big enough to throw off the plot or the story, but little time discrepancies like where the first character would be wondering how many days the second character had been putting up a front after being told something, when the first character knew very well the second character had only been told the something the day before. I'm trying to explain without directly quoting or spoiling anything, but it was time discrepancies things like this that cropped up a couple of times.
Regardless of these critiques I have on the story, at the end of the day I had a good time reading Breeze Spells and Bridegrooms. While those things pulled the rating down for me, it was still SUCH a cute story with highly lovable characters, winsome magic, and some lovely main character representation of what I believe was a subset of asexual - perhaps demisexual.
I LOVED how sweetly protective and caring Roger and Wyn became for one another, each thinking of the other's happiness and comfort first. Their slowest of slow burn romance morphed into gentle touches, soft affirmations, and stoic, kindhearted protectiveness, and I really enjoyed every single look, touch, or longing thought between them.
Honestly, Roger and Wyn became couple goals.
In the end, this is an exceptionally CUTE, magical, slice-of-life story that I would recommend for anyone who likes the idea of a bully-to-boyfriends, sweet romance in a regency-style setting.