"When you love someone, they become a part of you, like bone or blood. The impact they had on you is impossible to erase."
-Dreams of Ice and Iron, Kayla Edwards
☆☆☆☆
I found Kayla through a reel on Instagram and was introduced to Kayla's books. I immediately loved her work. A huge thank you to her for sending me a free copy for an honest review. This book is wonderfully written and never had a dull moment. With fantasy, mystery and a touch of romance, this book is perfect for all fantasy lovers. It has badass heroines, enemies to lovers, fey, shapeshifters and a Dark Lord who wants to rule the continent.
Plot
The plot revolves around Avalon, the mortal princess in a fey world, trying to free a warrior trapped in a cursed mask. Through Avalon, we see the warrior's memories and learn that her name is Sable. The problem is Sable can't remember who cursed her. Avalon with the help of the captain of the Guard go across the courts to help free Sable from the mask and help her get revenge.
This story has a great plot. The deeper you go the more mysteries seem to appear. With the main plot, there are other side plots that help expand the world more. It also has multiple perspectives so you can see what characters are truly feeling adding more tension. It was easy to follow and I always looked forward to seeing a new perspective.
Characters
There is a wide cast of characters we get to see in the novel and most have a chapter where we get to see their perspective. The main duo is Avalon, a mortal princess, and captain of the guard Hadrian. Avalon is a loveable character being kind and at times a bit naive. She believes that there is good in the world and that there's a solution to every problem. Hadrian's character mainly revolves around Avalon, always wanting to protect her.
My personal favourite characters are Nocturne and Kit. Part of the Dark King's shifter army these two find themselves in a difficult situation of life and death. Reading their POVs was my favourite part of the novel. The tension on some of their scenes is amazing and I'm hoping to see much more of them in future books.
The characters all have great dynamics with each other and the more we learn about them the more we see how connected they are. There are so many characters all with different magical powers, but I found it was very easy to keep track of who was who.
World
The world was beautifully written, with our heroes going across the continent each new place was detailed you knew exactly where you were. Going from dark temples to Elf palaces everything was gorgeous.
Again thanks to Kayla for sending me a copy of her book. Reading this book was a joy and I loved it. It has everything a reader could want, fantasy, mystery, long-forgotten gods, enemies to lovers, and more. The characters are amazing, the world is gorgeous, everything about this story is fantastic. I'm looking forward to the sequel and where Avalon's story may go.
Kayla's Instagram: @kaylaedwardsauthor
Rating: Middle school and up
TRIGGER WARNINGS: Mild fantasy violence, death
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