Let's Talk Books

I’ve seen a real mixed-bag of criticism and praise for this book, and to an extent I see why. A lot of people seem either not to enjoy the humour, or to find the way death / torture / villainy is handled to be in poor taste. To those people, I would say, lighten up. This is a humorous, clearly tongue-in-cheek romantasy novel, involving elements of a (more contemporary) work-place romance. Maehrer weaves in little modern touches (like coffee or HR) to her otherwise medieval inspired fantasy world.

I had a lot of fun with this. It isn’t a serious high fantasy kind of a story, and I think if you go into it expecting something contemporary, or something with a rock-solid adventure plot at its heart, you will be disappointed. At the end of the day this is a rom-com, and should be approached as such.

Evie is a fun, sunshine-y, sometimes ditsy, but ultimately enjoyable character. Her ruthlessness was unexpected, but I really enjoyed it. She doesn’t shy away from the violence or gore of her work, and that adds a lot of humour to her characterisation.

Trystan was a delight, his POV chapters were always satisfying, and his approach to their budding relationship was sweet if frustrating to witness.

This book loses some marks due to actual errors. Whilst it isn’t the author’s fault (something editors should have picked up on even if she missed it) there was more than one instance where the wrong character name was used. Also, and I know this is a debut, but some of the writing was really repetitive, and sometimes a word was used that just… literally does not mean that. I think it’s a shame, there was a lot more potential here, and I think maybe the editors let Maehrer down a little.