Hello everyone!
Tonight's book of choice is just over one month in the world today! So congrats to it, and the author, because that's an amazing feat.
I'd actually read a copy of this book way back in December, but didn't get a chance to talk about it on here much at all, because I was too busy with other books, and of course, the Christmas thing that I have going on here.
But now I finally can, so here we are.
There's a whole lot of fantasy characters all bopping around in here, and of course there's a prophecy that will probably make you want to cry your eyes out.
Without further ado, here we go, then.
I don't really have any other works by K. M. Mohr, so this post won't feature any links at the bottom of the page, as is my usual deal.
Instead, we'll be jumping straight into the review proper.
Seraph is the Chosen One - there's no mincing words, no dancing around it, she is IT, people, and she's being led across enemy-infested paths to the kingdom that's going to sacrifice her to restore order to the universe, and seasons to their rightful course.
See, the Faerie Queen, who all call mad, is searching for her so that Seraph won't be sacrificed, because if she is, then the Queen loses her grip on Winter, and Winter returns to its rightful place among the seasons.
The Queen doesn't want that, because she's obsessed with Winter and wants him to stay with her, or to go with him, as you can see through the text if you read it, so she spins some magic and ... the world kinda goes to hell in a hand basket.
But there's this prophecy that says Seraph is going to make things right.
Now, whether this ACTUALLY means her death remains to be seen, because I feel like prophecies get misinterpreted a lot. That's their whole shtick, and if you ask Percy Jackson he'll tell you the same thing.
Anyway, Seraph is with two spies of the court which has harboured her while she was growing up, her guardian Aurorian, a unicorn warrior, when they go to pick up their last fellowship member, the deymon Venyx - who's apparently been drinking himself stupid after losing his entire team on a botched mission, and oh also, he's been exiled.
He's very handy in a fight, however, which proves to be a good call since the inn is attacked, Aurorian hightails it out of there to figure out what's happened, and where the leak in court is, leaving Seraph with the spies and Venyx.
Naturally things don't go smoothly, because they get picked up by a raiding horde almost immediately; thankfully, its leader goes back ways with Venyx so they're pretty much good. Until the Queen's White Army, hunting for Seraph like mad, comes chasing down after them, forcing them to flee into the night, unable to save the very people who'd given them shelter.
Then one of the spies gets killed during the flight, and the remaining trio take refuge in the only major city of this kingdom ... only for the other spy to prove himself a traitor.
The kicker here? He's been sleeping with Seraph for a while now, basically schmoozing her.
I had my suspicions about the asshole from the beginning, because a lot of the things are just too convenient in this book, but I have to say it is HYSTERICAL that he legit thinks, even as she tries to run away but he finally catches her, that she wants him to have sex with her one last time.
MY BROTHER IN CHRIST. The knife through your eye is your own damn fault.
Running with Venyx first, then panicking when seeing him unleash his full deymon powers and running alone, Seraph gets herself caught by a fraction of the White Army - and very nearly assaulted. Thankfully, Venyx is VERY fast and a great tracker.
He's also fantastic in terms of a support system, because all the events up until that point crash down on her head, leaving her a bit of a mess.
They grow closer as they once again evade the Army, taking a shortcut through an abandoned mine ... to find that it's a vampyire nest.
When Venyx bumps his head hard enough to be down for the count for a couple of days, Seraph learns her blood is ACTUALLY divine. The vampyres won't feed off her, and will actually die if they drink it, so that's an eyeopener, and all she wants is Venyx, alive.
Luckily deymons have a grand way of healing, and once on the other side of the mountains, out of the cold North, they get picked up by warriors from the kingdom they've been trying to get to all along. The ones who will deliver Seraph to her judgement, not heeding the fact she's also an individual with wants and desires, thinking only that if she dies, the world is safe.
Venyx is the first one to try and argue against this, but Seraph has been conditioned to go to her own death since childhood - though one thing he says does give me pause. He says it's all BS, especially if Aurorian is trying to assuage her own feelings of guilt. There is WAY more to the unicorns and the whole deal with angels than we've been told so far, and I'm going to eagerly wait reading more on that!
Firstly, however, all the tension and pent-up emotions flare up, as Seraph and Venyx FINALLY collide in an embrace forever in the making.
... also, it's always Chapter 54 at this point. LOL.
She admits that, were she free to choose, she'd choose him, a simple life, and children, if they had any. So naturally Venyx sneaks her out of camp so that they can flee to the place where all shit went to hell in the first place, where they'll be harder to track, and where they can wait for a friend of his to get them out of there.
Only, they get caught running off, and the entire Horde runs after them.
And the White Army clashes with them, too.
In the ensuing fight, Seraph gets badly wounded by a crossbow bolt, although Venyx learns from the shooter that the kid did it to save her, as he wants her to live rather than die. But her only option is to be taken directly to the city she and Venyx had been trying to run away from ... and Venyx loves her enough to deliver her there so they can heal her and save her from dying.
This successful mission erases his exile and makes him free once more - and I'm over here PRAYING he concocts a way to rescue Seraph now that his movements aren't restricted.
Because, of course she survives. She's back with Aurorian now, in the city that's going to sacrifice her life so the Faerie Queen releases Winter again.
And all she wants is Venyx.
DUN DUN DUN!!!
This was something else.
Not because of the Chosen One trope, or what I suspect may be a fated mates included in the bargain (if there isn't, I'll eat my best scarf), but because it is RAW.
It's raw, it's real, and it is PAINFUL.
If you pick this book up, do be sure to look at the disclaimer, and the warnings, and know your mental health matters.
And if you do end up reading this - boy are you in for a TREAT.
Seraph is the kind of heroine I wouldn't usually root for, because I prefer them to have more of a backbone, and yet something about Mohr's writing hooked me in and ohmygosh Seraph should be protected at ALL. COST. ALWAYS.
Aurorian has shit to answer for. That's all I'm gonna say.
Venyx - well, he's an interesting conundrum because I can't quite recall ever meeting a male character like him before, and I've been reading pretty much over 30 years at this point, in basically all genres. I think he might quickly join my list of favourite MMCs once we get further into this over-arching story.
And there's just SO MUCH to unpack here! The Faerie Queen - and what exactly she's done, because one of the inserts in this book implies she was actually attempting to do something else, so did her spell backfire? The Unicorns, and this prophecy that everything hinges on?
But the most powerful thing about this book is that it's basically Seraph's emotional diary. We run the full ass gamut with her, and man is it both eye-opening and exhausting.
Mohr has woven a very, very intricate political situation throughout this story and we've only really glossed over the surface, because this is, of course, the introduction to everything. And I have a feeling that the deeper we go, the more we delve, the more we'll uncover just what all ACTUALLY happened, what are peoples' hopes, and what's a full-on lie.
I'm clinging to the hope that Seraph trusts Venyx enough to cling to his promise even when he's not physically there with her, because girl needs a bright spot on her horizon and he is it. I really, really hope that there won't be too much of, he-abandoned-me-like-everyone-else before common sense kicks in and she thinks this through, and reaches for his mind (oh yeah, mind link established bby!). Fingers crossed!
I was thoroughly engrossed in this book and I'm so thankful the author decided I was a good enough reader and reviewer to offer me an early ARC copy. Thank you SO much, and I cannot wait to go forward on this journey with you!
... and if y'all didn't see Miran (the spy who slept with her) coming, then I don't know what to tell you. Burn in the deepest level of Hell, asshole.
Not because of the Chosen One trope, or what I suspect may be a fated mates included in the bargain (if there isn't, I'll eat my best scarf), but because it is RAW.
It's raw, it's real, and it is PAINFUL.
If you pick this book up, do be sure to look at the disclaimer, and the warnings, and know your mental health matters.
And if you do end up reading this - boy are you in for a TREAT.
Seraph is the kind of heroine I wouldn't usually root for, because I prefer them to have more of a backbone, and yet something about Mohr's writing hooked me in and ohmygosh Seraph should be protected at ALL. COST. ALWAYS.
Aurorian has shit to answer for. That's all I'm gonna say.
Venyx - well, he's an interesting conundrum because I can't quite recall ever meeting a male character like him before, and I've been reading pretty much over 30 years at this point, in basically all genres. I think he might quickly join my list of favourite MMCs once we get further into this over-arching story.
And there's just SO MUCH to unpack here! The Faerie Queen - and what exactly she's done, because one of the inserts in this book implies she was actually attempting to do something else, so did her spell backfire? The Unicorns, and this prophecy that everything hinges on?
But the most powerful thing about this book is that it's basically Seraph's emotional diary. We run the full ass gamut with her, and man is it both eye-opening and exhausting.
Mohr has woven a very, very intricate political situation throughout this story and we've only really glossed over the surface, because this is, of course, the introduction to everything. And I have a feeling that the deeper we go, the more we delve, the more we'll uncover just what all ACTUALLY happened, what are peoples' hopes, and what's a full-on lie.
I'm clinging to the hope that Seraph trusts Venyx enough to cling to his promise even when he's not physically there with her, because girl needs a bright spot on her horizon and he is it. I really, really hope that there won't be too much of, he-abandoned-me-like-everyone-else before common sense kicks in and she thinks this through, and reaches for his mind (oh yeah, mind link established bby!). Fingers crossed!
I was thoroughly engrossed in this book and I'm so thankful the author decided I was a good enough reader and reviewer to offer me an early ARC copy. Thank you SO much, and I cannot wait to go forward on this journey with you!
... and if y'all didn't see Miran (the spy who slept with her) coming, then I don't know what to tell you. Burn in the deepest level of Hell, asshole.
xx
*image not mine
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