*Updated and edited because I wrote this on my phone yesterday before coffee and holy crap should I not write, or really do anything for that matter, before coffee. And I know that and yet I still did.*
So here's the deal. These stories are a dime a dozen; a quirky, kind of outcast girl who underestimates herself, catches the eye of a powerful and exceedingly attractive man, I've read two similar books in the last two weeks alone. And for the most part, they are all pretty good, if they weren't I don't think they'd be as popular of a genre. So if you have an ocean of the same books how do you decide which ones are exceptional? I've found that, at least for me, it is the author's unique voice that truly makes all of the difference. And that doesn't speak to technical writing ability or anything like that, that when they decided to sit down and write a book in a genre that is overpopulated they wrote one that is not just distinctly them but is important to them, that it means something and that myself as a reader can see that meaning through their words. Maybe I don't know exactly what it means to them, but I can tell through their story that it's well precious to them. Westwood nails that perfectly.
The Kingdom of Triaedian united the three races under the Ashwood reign one thousand years ago. The Ashwoods a Vampire family reign as monarchs and underneath them are the Counsel of Mages and finally the Counsel of Shifters. And while they are united each counsel creates the rules which dictate the social fabric of each race. Within the Vampire and Shifter races, women are looked upon as equal to men. Unfortunately, for Liana Monroe a young mage, the Mages do not see women that way at all. Female mages are taught just enough magic to keep their homes, their lives wrapped around the idea of marriage and motherhood from an early age. Liana wants more and at a young age, she starts practicing magic in secret so that by the time she is old enough to marry she is one of the most powerful mages in Triaedian. She also wants to have absolutely nothing to do with marriage, she makes it clear that she would much rather become a spinster living with her father where she can tend to her gardens and practice her magic for all of her days, unfortunately for her again her quirky ways attract the notice of none other than King Damien Ashwood himself and Liana must resign herself to marriage because who can say no to the King? But as a shadowy group from the kingdom's past rises up Damien and Liana find themselves bound together in a fight to protect what they hold dear, which may just be each other more than anything else. Even a kingdom.
Triaedian operates under a "Separate but equal" mentality. While yes, the kingdom is united the races do not intermix on a social level, this resembles the Civil Rights movement of the mid-twentieth century. There isn't a law calling for segregation in Triaedia, it is motivated purely by social customs and norms, and if our own history is any example these can be far harder to break than any law on paper. Income disparity is also a very real issue in this kingdom among all of the races. The reason I point these out is that by using real-world problems Westwood has already created a bond with the characters through her world-building. We can (especially women because of the Patriarchal rule of the Mages) understand Liana intimately through the social issues she faces in her world and the steps that she takes to try to better the world on her own.
And let's talk about Liana for a minute; because she's wonderful. She is one of the best most complete characters I've read recently. Her insecurities are understandable and even relatable if you were ever the "weird kid", hell if you still are the "weird adult". She's sweet and caring but she's erected this kind of shield because of the ridicule she's received her whole life for simply being herself which society deems as "different". Her smart-ass game is absolute perfection so for that alone I love her. Damien is great as well but kind of stereotypical of the male role in this type of book. He's super hot, he's pretty intelligent and desperately in love with Liana which I can't really blame him.
Once again I'd like to thank an author for introducing a shadowy villain who is brought to our attention in the book in several instances but since this book, in particular, isn't about them that's all we get, we've got another book coming so we can explore this evil group hell-bent on destroying the peace at a later date. We know they are bad we know they are out there and now we can look forward to book two!
Overall I really don't believe I have any complaints other than the whole vamps don't need blood thing, in this case, though no stars lost because Damien absolutely has a vampire moment towards the end of the book. I just finished a rather similar book so I wanted to take the time to really digest this one before reviewing it and make sure that I wasn't giving it five stars because I did find it to be better than the last. And I can say with certainty this is a great book that comes across as superficial on the surface but has some deep undercurrents to it.
I of course want to thank BookSirens for the free eArc of this magical book!
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