Wren
She didn’t need an easy life. She didn’t need a safe life. Like she had told Cenric, she wanted a life of freedom.
Like many, I’ve come to know Elizabeth Wheatley from her amazingly fun YouTube shorts. I relate to both Book Goblin and the unhinged romance writer so hard, and all those “romance subgenre” videos are my jam. So it was only a matter of time before I decided I had to check out her books.
I guess this was… fine? I definitely enjoyed the overall idea of the book, but every individual aspect of it was a little on the “but not enough” side. The prose was straightforward, to the point, and flowed smoothly most of the time, but there was nothing memorable about it, and the book definitely needed another round of copyediting, what with the number of missed words and typos. I appreciated the research that went into constructing this low fantasy version of the Saxon kingdom, but I felt like the historical details and the fantasy aspects didn’t fully mesh.
And then, of course, there was the romance. I liked the characters’ dynamic in the first couple of chapters and looked forward to a slow burn development where Brynn slowly thawed from her grief and trauma. And for the most part, I did get that! I liked the portrayal of grief and healing here. But there was a small part early on, while the characters were traveling to Cernic’s land after the wedding, when suddenly they were getting all flirty and mutually interested and looking forward to consummating their marriage, which was only postponed because Cernic had to urgently leave upon arrival. Then after he came back, the slow burn returned, but that odd little foray into practically insta love territory really confused me. And afterward, the characters also spent so much of the plot apart. Presumably, they had that extended period of taking long walks together nightly and getting to know each other. But all of those walks save for the first one were summarized in a couple of paragraphs, while their times apart were full scenes with actual plot and character development. So basically, the bones of a nice slow burn story focused on healing from trauma were there, but that skeleton needed a lot more flesh.
Then there was the characterization. Brynn had a bunch of interesting moments, particularly early on, and like I’ve said already, I appreciate the depiction of trauma and healing in her arc. But there were also a lot of moments where her entire personality turned into “absolutely perfect at doing her duty.” At those times she kind of reminded me of the way Sansa Stark is often depicted in Sansa-centric fan fiction: flawlessly great at everything a lady should be great at and then some, from running a household to negotiating with hostile neighbors, very concerned with doing her duty, somehow fully prepared to be underappreciated for her efforts. As for Cenric, he just often seemed kind of… young? Like, a good person, but still figuring himself out in many ways.
I did really, really love the telepathic dogs and the way the communication with them went. I liked the way the narrative discussed the subject of revenge. I enjoyed the whole political tangle behind the marriage and Brynn’s mother’s plans, although I wish the mother herself was a less obviously villainous villain. Like, seriously, this whole thing would have been even more compelling if she was morally grey rather than abjectly terrible. I intend to continue the series to see if it grows beyond all these “almost but not quite” moments for me!
She didn’t need an easy life. She didn’t need a safe life. Like she had told Cenric, she wanted a life of freedom.
Like many, I’ve come to know Elizabeth Wheatley from her amazingly fun YouTube shorts. I relate to both Book Goblin and the unhinged romance writer so hard, and all those “romance subgenre” videos are my jam. So it was only a matter of time before I decided I had to check out her books.
I guess this was… fine? I definitely enjoyed the overall idea of the book, but every individual aspect of it was a little on the “but not enough” side. The prose was straightforward, to the point, and flowed smoothly most of the time, but there was nothing memorable about it, and the book definitely needed another round of copyediting, what with the number of missed words and typos. I appreciated the research that went into constructing this low fantasy version of the Saxon kingdom, but I felt like the historical details and the fantasy aspects didn’t fully mesh.
And then, of course, there was the romance. I liked the characters’ dynamic in the first couple of chapters and looked forward to a slow burn development where Brynn slowly thawed from her grief and trauma. And for the most part, I did get that! I liked the portrayal of grief and healing here. But there was a small part early on, while the characters were traveling to Cernic’s land after the wedding, when suddenly they were getting all flirty and mutually interested and looking forward to consummating their marriage, which was only postponed because Cernic had to urgently leave upon arrival. Then after he came back, the slow burn returned, but that odd little foray into practically insta love territory really confused me. And afterward, the characters also spent so much of the plot apart. Presumably, they had that extended period of taking long walks together nightly and getting to know each other. But all of those walks save for the first one were summarized in a couple of paragraphs, while their times apart were full scenes with actual plot and character development. So basically, the bones of a nice slow burn story focused on healing from trauma were there, but that skeleton needed a lot more flesh.
Then there was the characterization. Brynn had a bunch of interesting moments, particularly early on, and like I’ve said already, I appreciate the depiction of trauma and healing in her arc. But there were also a lot of moments where her entire personality turned into “absolutely perfect at doing her duty.” At those times she kind of reminded me of the way Sansa Stark is often depicted in Sansa-centric fan fiction: flawlessly great at everything a lady should be great at and then some, from running a household to negotiating with hostile neighbors, very concerned with doing her duty, somehow fully prepared to be underappreciated for her efforts. As for Cenric, he just often seemed kind of… young? Like, a good person, but still figuring himself out in many ways.
I did really, really love the telepathic dogs and the way the communication with them went. I liked the way the narrative discussed the subject of revenge. I enjoyed the whole political tangle behind the marriage and Brynn’s mother’s plans, although I wish the mother herself was a less obviously villainous villain. Like, seriously, this whole thing would have been even more compelling if she was morally grey rather than abjectly terrible. I intend to continue the series to see if it grows beyond all these “almost but not quite” moments for me!