Prompt – A book published in 2020.
Medium – Book
About the Book – Written as a accompanying novel to April Tucholke’s ‘Boneless Mercies’ (which I haven’t read!), this book tells the story of Torvi. She is a young woman who has recently lost her mother and lover to a plague (which seems very apt at the moment) and is trying to protect her younger sister Morgunn. Despite her best efforts though, Morgunn goes missing, kidnapped by the ‘Wolf-Priests’ who roam the world burning towns and villages, looking for young women to turn into priests. Torvi meets a druid, Gyda, and three Butcher Bards, Ink, Madoc and Stefan to help her find her sister.
My Rating – 8/10. I really enjoyed this book, though it is one of those that definitely improves in the second half of the story. The storyline was really engrossing as the characters move closer and closer to their goal, and the characters of Torvi, Ink and Madoc in particular were ones that I enjoyed reading and wanted to know more about. The various characters and groups of people could have been a bit confusing, but actually the author introduced them in such a way that you generally know who is who and what they are doing or what group they are with.
I think there could have been more back-story for a number of the characters, especially those who follow the main character through the story from almost the beginning – like Ink and Gyda. Both of the characters sound like they had really interesting stories, but both are glossed over in preference for keeping the main storyline moving. It is also a story that definitely needs a sequel. It ends with our main characters, several years older, heading off on a quest, and with several loose ends that need tying up. I came to the end of the story wanting to know more and to continue on the quest that the whole book seemed to be setting up (including the finding of the main character’s father and long-lost family).
Would I read it again? Yes – I really enjoyed this one, and although it is not as good as my all-time fave ‘girl-led fantasy’ (that would be the Throne of Glass series), I really enjoyed it. I would like to see a sequel though!
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