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A review by kathis_wonderland
The Moonfire Bride by Sylvia Mercedes
adventurous
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
The Moonfire Bride by Sylvia Mercedes is the first book in the Of Candlelight and Shadows series. Valera is pulled into the fae world to become the wife of a mysterious lord. She is not allowed to see her husband's face and therefore, only sees him at night. First being against their union, she soon realizes that this life is not that bad. But she wants to return to her sister and other forces try to separate Valera and Erolas, too.
I binge-read this book and have nearly no memory of it now. But what I can't get out of my mind is how much this book reminded me of the story of The Beauty and the Beast. Even Erolas' shadow (because Valera is not allowed to see his face) reminded me of the beast. But I like retellings. If they are done well. This was kind of okay. I never fully liked Valera. She blamed Erolas on everything, even though he explained everything as well as he could. And in my opinion, it was her own decision to become his bride, even though she blames him for forcing her, but in the end, it was her decision, because she did not listen to those who gave her advice. Erolas was nothing but kind, respected her wishes and looked after her. Especially towards the end, Valera became were dislikable. The betraying part was not the worst (this one was quite reasonable, but still unnecessary), but she led him on. She was quite manipulative, which I did not like, because overall, Valera is quite caring.
The book ends with a massive cliffhanger! I panicked so hard that I immediately downloaded the second book, even though I did not fully enjoy this one. But I really need to know how this series ends!
The book was okay. I did not fully enjoy it, but the cliffhanger made me buy the next book.
I binge-read this book and have nearly no memory of it now. But what I can't get out of my mind is how much this book reminded me of the story of The Beauty and the Beast. Even Erolas' shadow (because Valera is not allowed to see his face) reminded me of the beast. But I like retellings. If they are done well. This was kind of okay. I never fully liked Valera. She blamed Erolas on everything, even though he explained everything as well as he could. And in my opinion, it was her own decision to become his bride, even though she blames him for forcing her, but in the end, it was her decision, because she did not listen to those who gave her advice. Erolas was nothing but kind, respected her wishes and looked after her. Especially towards the end, Valera became were dislikable. The betraying part was not the worst (this one was quite reasonable, but still unnecessary), but she led him on. She was quite manipulative, which I did not like, because overall, Valera is quite caring.
The book ends with a massive cliffhanger! I panicked so hard that I immediately downloaded the second book, even though I did not fully enjoy this one. But I really need to know how this series ends!
The book was okay. I did not fully enjoy it, but the cliffhanger made me buy the next book.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child abuse
Moderate: Alcohol, Alcoholism, and Blood
Minor: Death, Injury/Injury detail, Physical abuse, and Death of parent