Prince of the Sorrows (Rowan Blood, #1)
Kellen Graves
Without an academic endorsement to make him valuable to the high fey, Saffron will be sent back through the veil to the human world. The place he was traded from as a changeling-baby, and a place he is terrified of. And while getting an endorsement shouldn't be impossible, it's hindered by the fact his literacy is self-taught, using books stolen off of Morrígan Academy's campus of high fey students. When mistaken identity leads to Saffron learning the true name of brooding, self-centered, high fey Prince Cylvan, what begins as a risk of losing his life (or his tongue) becomes an opportunity to earn the future he wants. In exchange for an endorsement, he and Cylvan form a geis where Saffron agrees to find a spell to strip power from Cylvan's true name. While Prince Cylvan doesn't know Saffron can barely read, Saffron is determined to meet his end of the deal in order to remain in Alfidel—or, maybe, just to remain by Cylvan's side, as affections grow stronger every night they spend alone in the library together. But as other human servants soon fall victim to a beast known only as “the wolf”, Saffron realizes he has embroiled himself in a manipulative reach for power like he never anticipated—and even Prince Cylvan cannot be trusted. Between the wolf, uncovering forbidden magic, and his growing feelings for the prince, Saffron will have to decide which is most important to him—his endorsement, the lives of his friends, or the prince’s life and wellbeing. Prince of the Sorrows is a queer fantasy romance for New Adults.
I am rereading Prince of the Sorrows and the rest of the Rowan Blood books in preparation for Vessel of Woven Night's publication later this year. And honestly, Prince of the Sorrows is better than I remember it. I often tell people that this first book is a little rougher around the edges than the rest of the series. While I do still think it has flaws, some of my worst gripes about it aren't nearly as severe as I remember them. The prose is much better than I remember. I think my reading comprehension was still a little wobbly last year after a decade long dry spell and my brain just wasn't prepared for Graves metaphor-laden descriptions. Now that's one of my favorite aspects of their writing. It also helps to know that all these random or seemingly offhanded and unnecessary world-building are actually very important seeds for payoffs that will occur much later on in the series. There are still a few anachronistic details that bother me. This book is supposedly set during the Industrial Revolution. One of the fae comments on how the Industrial Revolution and rapid modernization have made humans on the other side of the Veil less interested in folkways and interactions with the fae. There is also talk about how light bulbs and trains are both recent human inventions imported into Fairy. So we seem to be firmly in the 1880s/1890s. However but mimosas exist (a phrase coined in the early 20th century) and people's pants are often referred to as slacks which was not popularized until around the late 19th, early 20th century. I say all this but we have yet to go to the human world in this series and this is Kellen Graves we're talking about. They have routinely surprised me with what seemed to be "lazy worldbuilding" that turned out to actually be a lie the PoV character was told, or a misunderstanding based on not enough information at the time. So maybe we'll land in the human world in VoWN and it will be the roaring 20s and the long-lived high fae simply still see the human 20th century as part of this new fangled industrial revolution. If so, I will happily eat my words. If not, I will get over the mimosas... eventually.
0Your rating:
0Setting: 5/5 Enjoyment: 5/5 Writing: 4/5 Characters: 5/5 Plot: 4/5 Readability: 5/5 What did you think of the book? What will you take away from it? This is my second read of this book and I liked it a lot more the second time around. The lush details and world-building stand out amongst the crowd of slap-dash romantasy settings that generally lack depth and interest. What was the aim of the book, and how well did the author fulfill it? Ultimately, Graves is simply writing a love story about two star-crossed lovers who are torn apart by social status, community expectations, and their respective abusers. But they are also sowing the seeds of a much grander tale of curiosity, autonomy, legacy and discovering your own magic. Would you recommend this book to others? Who is the target audience? I would recommend this book to anyone who wants "high fae/human romantasy but make it gay," but I would also recommend it to anyone who is skeptical of romantasy as a subgenre. It is a very well-balanced mix of fantasy and romance elements. There's enough character development and romantic scenes for romance readers and enough delicious details about the world for a fantasy fan to chew on. Additional Notes I found myself appreciating Saffron as a protagonist much more the second time around. Knowing the context of who he will become makes it much easier to clock the foundation Graves is laying down in this book. My own lack of reading comprehension and rustiness is to blame for many of the complaints I originally had with this book. Graves' style is heavily metaphoric, bordering on surrealist at times. There are still minor grammatical issues here and there as can be expected from an independently published book. But they're not distracting. Overall, I had a great time diving back into this world and experiencing all these characters again. Cylvan is capricious, petty, and vain as a high fae love interest should be. But he is also deeply empathetic, thoughtful, and attentive even before Saffron returns his affections. He also has a bone-dry sense of humor that both Saffron and I find delightful. The supporting cast is also fantastic in this series; from charming best friends and mentors, to deliciously vile villains with competing complex motivations. They are all distinct and add so much to the story. Sometimes the supporting cast in a romance book can feel like cardboard cutouts or plot devices. But in Rowan Blood, they really feel like other people with their own lives and motivations outside the main couple.
0CWs: fantasy-based xenophobia, class-based discrimination
0
© 2024 Pagebound