Hello everyone!
Now if you know me, you'll know I will sometimes read re-tellings of my favourite stories, like Beauty and the Beast etc., which makes this one fairly obvious as well.
It's definitely one of those things that sort of sneaks up on you without you realizing!
It took me a second to sit down and read the book - even though I had it as an ARC, thanks to BookSirens, a platform I can't compliment and praise more than I already have thus far - but once I did, I think I read it through in one single sitting.
Yeah, it's THAT good.
Or at least, it's definitely good enough to warrant it!
So do you want to explore the realms of the Fae and some immortal love stories?
Then come with me into the magical world of Seeds of Sorrow.
I think I have one or two re-tellings of the Hades and Persephone mythos, so I'll try to look them up and link them down below, as per usual.
Onwards!
Our story begins with three king-brothers doing what they do best, which is killing some dark, twisted creatures that have crawled out of the realm of eternal night and keep feasting on their people. In the end, it's decided someone needs to actually go INTO this realm of night and take control, and Draven, the eldest, makes the choice to go, against his brothers' wishes.
Years later, people have generally forgotten about the king's sacrifice and remember him only as the king of nightmares who sucks the life out of anything remotely living, but he'll be attending a royal ball completely by accident because he gets tricked to travel there through the Veil (the magical area which separates all the realms).
At the same time, we learn that Eden, a young Fae of light, yearns to get out from under her controlling mother's thumb (and by controlling, I mean the kind of controlling that would drive me bonkers within a day because she can't even walk into town without someone escorting her). Apparently, her mom has been keeping her pretty much a secret or something, but Eden accepts the invitation to the same royal ball Draven's going to be at, much to her mother's chagrin (there are slaps involved, caution is advised).
Once there, she and Draven meet, and form a connection ... right until the moment it's announced the two will be betrothed and she's to travel back to the dark realm with him.
Eden feels betrayed, but in actuality this isn't Draven's idea - it's the idea of his younger brother, who's convinced Eden's mom is stirring up trouble against him, so this is a way to try to control her. Oh, and, Draven can't tell Eden, naturally, much to his annoyance.
So they take off to the kingdom that Eden was always told to fear and avoid if possible, though the truth of it is that there ARE Fae who travelled there to settle, and the kingdom changed them - just like it changed Draven, who is no longer completely Fae but is a Fae-vampire mix (or maybe he's pure vampire, it's unclear).
Anyway, Eden does NOT want to be there and does the role of sad, hapless maiden for a bit until she gets curious enough to trail Draven into town one time, witnessing his punishment of one of the monsters who'd been slaying children, not to mention an orphanage for the spirits of kids who are too confused to pass on into peace to begin with.
Slowly but surely, the pair begin circling one another with something better than simple mistrust, and Draven shows Eden that his kingdom HAS beauty, if one knows where to look for it.
Oh and, he takes her to some lake in the middle of nowhere for some sexy times, but that's beside the point.
See, there are issues in his realm, issues he's worried about because it took him hundreds of years to establish control and laws after he first arrived, and now someone seems hell-bent on breaking them. On top of that, an annoying vampire who used to be his lover (until he probably got bored of her possessiveness) keeps constantly popping up to tell Eden SHE will be the queen one day.
Sure, sister, sure. Keep telling yourself that.
Draven eventually holds a ball to announce and introduce Eden to his people, during which someone spikes her wine with his blood, which causes her to feel what he feels - which in that moment is lust for her - and they ALMOST do it, but he figures it out before he does something they'll both regret, and makes sure to let his courtiers know the penalty for this crime will be death.
Sadly however, the whole mystery aspect in this book isn't as well done because I could see what happened from a mile away yet for some reason Draven just ... didn't, regardless that he's supposed to be super smart.
Anyway, while he has Eden trained in self-defense (and there's some yummy sparring sequences too) and she realizes she's much more powerful than anyone's ever given her credit for, certainly not her overbearing mother (who, mind you, keeps sending her weird, obsessive letters that she's going to get her home and has found a way), Draven travels back to his brothers, because some of his creatures are apparently sneaking through to attack the other realms.
Not only that, but the Book of Creation seems to be missing, so it turns out that, even though Draven was convinced one of his vampire lords was behind it all, it's actually someone wielding some sophisticated magic, and he sends Eden back home for her own safety ...
Only, home ISN'T safe because her own mother's behind the whole plot, and she locks Eden away to "keep her safe while she kills the kings", but her daughter has grown under Draven's care and so she escapes to warn the royals.
A battle ensues during which one of the brothers almost dies, but thankfully Eden's healing powers save him, and her mother's taken prisoner, but someone else snatches the Book and disappears with it, someone Draven recognizes by scent and through memories of drinking his mother-in-law's blood.
She's sentenced to a mind prison of the insanity and pain she wanted to inflict on the worlds, and Eden returns with Draven, though they'll have to concoct a scheme which will allow her to remain Fae and unchanged, so she'll probably only stay for six months, then return topside for six months again.
Draven also undergoes a ritualistic trial for the crimes he's committed of sentencing innocent vampires to death, making it through and rising stronger than ever, proving his reputation is well-earned.
Then he and Eden focus on themselves for a time, but there IS a sequel on the way, so keep an eye on this space for when it drops, because I'll definitely be reading it!
So first off, I always love any Persephone/Hades retelling.
Combining this one with Fae and vampires was genius if you ask me, though I'll admit I legitimately needed 3/4 of the book to figure out our hero was one LOL. Don't mind me.
The general beats of the Greek myth are there but with the definite twist of why she needs to marry the King of the Underworld (or, in this case, King of the Dark Realm), which I found interesting, but I enjoyed their journey together and the way she adapted to what her life would be like. I'm wondering how they'll work through the 6 months thing, however, but hopefully we get to see that in the sequel?
There were some questions I had by the end of the book, like for example, why didn't our hero drink the blood of everyone he accused to be sure, if that's standard practice? Also, by the end, he says he knows who the enemy was working with in his kingdom … but conveniently doesn't share it with either his brothers OR the woman he's marrying, or us the readers! Plus we know that whoever took the book that'll cause more trouble in future (it's always a book, Evie in the Mummy movies should take note) was someone he actually knows, so I'm curious why nobody asked him about the name, and even demanded it.
That was a cliffhanger that I don't think was explained too well, however as I said, I'll pick up the sequel so I'll hopefully learn about it there.
For the rest, I loved the writing style, I enjoyed the characterization, and I REALLY admired the world building. I can't wait to spend more time in these realms and learn more of the three brothers and their family as a whole.
10/10 would recommend.
Combining this one with Fae and vampires was genius if you ask me, though I'll admit I legitimately needed 3/4 of the book to figure out our hero was one LOL. Don't mind me.
The general beats of the Greek myth are there but with the definite twist of why she needs to marry the King of the Underworld (or, in this case, King of the Dark Realm), which I found interesting, but I enjoyed their journey together and the way she adapted to what her life would be like. I'm wondering how they'll work through the 6 months thing, however, but hopefully we get to see that in the sequel?
There were some questions I had by the end of the book, like for example, why didn't our hero drink the blood of everyone he accused to be sure, if that's standard practice? Also, by the end, he says he knows who the enemy was working with in his kingdom … but conveniently doesn't share it with either his brothers OR the woman he's marrying, or us the readers! Plus we know that whoever took the book that'll cause more trouble in future (it's always a book, Evie in the Mummy movies should take note) was someone he actually knows, so I'm curious why nobody asked him about the name, and even demanded it.
That was a cliffhanger that I don't think was explained too well, however as I said, I'll pick up the sequel so I'll hopefully learn about it there.
For the rest, I loved the writing style, I enjoyed the characterization, and I REALLY admired the world building. I can't wait to spend more time in these realms and learn more of the three brothers and their family as a whole.
10/10 would recommend.
xx
*image not mine
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