Dreamer's Pool
Ratings21
Average rating4
15
Ratings21
Average rating4
After escaping her wrongful imprisonment, magical healer Blackthorn, living on the fringe of a mysterious forest with a former prison mate named Grim, is duty bound to assist anyone who asks for her help.
"In exchange for help escaping her long and wrongful imprisonment, embittered magical healer Blackthorn has vowed to set aside her bid for vengeance against the man who destroyed all that she once held dear. Followed by a former prison mate, a silent hulk of a man named Grim, she travels north to Dalriada. There she'll live on the fringe of a mysterious forest, duty bound for seven years to assist anyone who asks for her help. Oran, crown prince of Dalriada, has waited anxiously for the arrival of his future bride, Lady Flidais. He knows her only from a portrait and sweetly poetic correspondence that have convinced him Flidais is his destined true love. But Oran discovers letters can lie. For although his intended exactly resembles her portrait, her brutality upon arrival proves she is nothing like the sensitive woman of the letters. With the strategic marriage imminent, Oran sees no way out of his dilemma. Word has spread that Blackthorn possesses a remarkable gift for solving knotty problems, so the prince asks her for help. To save Oran from his treacherous nuptials, Blackthorn and Grim will need all their resources: courage, ingenuity, leaps of deduction, and more than a little magic" --
Featured Series
3 primary booksBlackthorn & Grim is a 3-book series with 3 primary works first released in 2014 with contributions by Juliet Marillier.
Featured Prompt
1,973 booksWhen you think back on every book you've ever read, what are some of your favorites? These can be from any time of your life – books that resonated with you as a kid, ones that shaped your personal...
Reviews with the most likes.
I loved this book. It's exactly the type of story I enjoy. Beautifully written with flawed characters, mystery, fantasy. I was beginning to doubt I would ever find a book like this. I can't wait for the rest of the series to be released. If there was a way to speed up time to get them, I would.
I really enjoyed this book. The mysteries of what was going on was well thought out with very subtle clues revealed over the course of time. The mysteries were not too simple nor did it seem like a stretch when the characters finally solved them. I liked the characters and have to say my favorite POV was from Grim. I have already ordered the next book in the series.
Juliet Marillier is an author who isn't shy, isn't afraid, doesn't hold back from horrible traumatic experiences and details when called for. And she's expert at this pseudo-historical old Ireland when Christianity is already there, druids are still there, but she doesn't lecture either side or idolize them, either.
This book is in the same vein as her others in terms of setting, but does everything new in technical terms. The story is told through three first person narrators in both past and present tense. What's also new is that this is a kind of buddy cop story but with all the fantasy trappings. It isn't Marillier at her best, but it is her work. It makes me want to go re-read her other books on my shelf. The plot is brilliant, and still surprised me up to the last page. Quite suspenseful.
That being said, some of the execution is a little off. Some is a bit on the nose, though I'd like to blame mystery-genre expectations. I was able to move past those parts pretty easily, despite thinking more could have been left to the reader. I can't wait to read more of her work.
Mariliers schrijfstijl heeft me vanaf de eerste zin helemaal mee.
Het verhaal had ik al van in het begin voorspelt – een beetje sprookjes/folklore lezer zal het niet moeilijk raden vinden - maar dit maakte mij geen zier uit. Dit is geen boek waar de bestemming het hoogste goed is. De reis is hier het voornaamste en deze had me van begin tot einde gebiologeerd mee. Ik kijk er naar uit om meer over Blackthorn en Grimm te lezen.
