One of the hardest things about reading a lot of books is you begin to see patterns. Romance novels and fantasy both have some pretty standard beats, and this book is a little of both. It follows the patterns. That doesn’t mean it’s a bad thing! Authors like to use these pieces because it works. Margaret Rogerson wrote a fun romance/fantasy novel.
I think my favorite element of this book is that these fae are not nice. They have a vindictive, almost evil streak. The magic of this world is scary to mortals. It is gruesome, the greatest hits of the fears of humanity made solid. Classic fairy tale stuff. Not this wussy, pansy new-age fae-are-just-misunderstood stuff. I love it. Partly because I don’t know that I could immerse myself into such darkness and so there is some serious writer-to-writer respect to be paid.
The lore of the world left me wanting more. If Rogerson writes more in the same universe (she has a few other books, but they don’t seem to be in the same world), I will order them and devour them just for the world.
There is an interesting array of characters. There is one character I feel like Rogerson wanted more and an editor made her cut it back. The winter hunter was too important with too small a part, and a few dribbles of “wait, you mean I don’t get to know that?” about them…. I wanted more and it felt like there was supposed to be more.
The plot is probably the most predictable thing, but again I’ll say that doesn’t make it bad. I read fantasy to escape, so some familiarity is not a terrible thing. There are some places I would have appreciated a shift. Specifically, the love story side of things. I walked away still mildly confused why this 10,000 year old fae prince fell in love with this 17 year old human girl… Really, people need to give me a little more on these things.
My favorite romance novels is Untamed by Elizabeth Lowell. Not because she breaks the model either, but because she uses it. It makes sense why Lowell’s characters fall in love. Their physical desire is somewhat separated from their emotional growth. All other romance stories get held up against that book because of this. Unfortunately, this is a place where Rogerson fell short for me. Seriously, I have no idea why either of these characters fell in love with the other. I guess it’s just magic?
Dream by Day 