Right off, the cover caught my eye...and it was all a losing battle from there. The title had me thinking it was going to be a super dark, melodramatic YA book, but the synopsis on the back cover kept me from putting this one back on the shelf- and I am quite glad of it.
PLOT:
I have to say, this one sucked in and utterly captivated me. It moved along at a steady pace throughout- the only time it felt slow in the least, was when Lia and Pauline first arrived at the village, neither the prince or assassin had, and we as readers, were clearly waiting for some danger & conflict to appear. Apart from that, the plot kept me hooked and reading quickly- despite its almost 500 page length. This book felt similar to Lisa T. Bergen's 'River Of Time' series, and is in my opinion, pretty much the perfect mystical land, conquests & kidnappings, gypsies & bandits, falling in love & saving the world (you know it) YA read.
LANGUAGE:
There were some uses of he**, da**, as*, bi**, maybe a few others I've forgotten, but they are interspersed throughout. Not used heavily, but every so often.
SEXUAL CONTENT:
Lia and the fellow she falls in love with, kiss at different times and spend a night together- as a reader I assume their relationship was consummated at that point, what with them kissing a fair bit, slipping clothing pieces off, and "tumbling in a bed of leaves".
It didn't get explicit, so as a reader we don't know, but it's implied.
Later on, a friend of Lia's boyfriend (it gives it away if I name him, so excuse the awkward, friend of friend of a friend business) asks if he (the boyfriend) put his baby in Lia's belly. The boyfriend replies the other fellow should speak more respectfully of Lia, but he doesn't confirm or deny the degree of their physical intimacy.
One of the Vendans attempts raping Lia when he finds her bathing by a river. He loosens his belt (maybe takes off his pants, can't quite remember) and pulls Lia against him, more manhandling her than anything else- when someone interrupts.
There is mention of Lia kissing both dudes at different times, them touching her back or face etc. and the sparks that fly- even just when exchanging a look- we all know the chemistry business, of which there is plenty in this book.
Lia is described as naked a few times throughout the book, first is at the beginning, when she's laying face down on a stone table to have her wedding kavah (it's like henna, or a temporary tattoo) applied to her back along with ceremonial prayers, & oil etc. Another few times when she's bathing or jumping in a river. Gwyneth (another woman from the village) goes out berry collecting with Lia, and they both take off their shirts and are wearing only their chemise's on top. Gwyneth's is thin enough to see her breasts through, (since wearing thicker chemise's is unrealistic, given the heat there during the summer) but I'm not certain about Lia's coverage situation, haha.
There may have been other instances with sexual content, but a girl can only recall so much from a 500 page book. That's the gist of it, but any who, I'm not writing this review to put every single instance in, just enough to give you as a reader, an idea of what each content level is like.
SPIRITUAL CONTENT:
There was plenty of spiritual content, from holy testaments to their many gods, to chants & prayers, to priests and holy festivals with processions and the like. Each chapter began with a prophetic-like excerpt from a book of holy text, usually Morrighan or Gaudrel (different people groups or tribes).
I didn't dig the amount of referencing to spirituality in this book, since it seemed an awful lot like an odd mishmash of religions from this world- which I found rather confusing, directionless & annoying, but anywho. That's that. It was what it was.
One thing I did find interesting about the spiritual content, was the gift Lia had (or didn't think she possessed, but did) which I thought was neat. There were a some metaphoric type goodies found in that area- but the rest of the spirituality just felt weird to me- and I wish it had been omitted.
CHARACTERS:
These guys really came off the page. They were perfectly unique, and I found myself falling in love with each of them for it. Love triangles are the worst, and it was painful on multiple levels. Grr. But it was subsequently awesome I have to admit, since it wasn't happening in real life, haha. Again, and I can't really say how much I loved the characters, but they are pretty much amazing.
I'm not sure exactly why, but up until about 3/4 of the way finished reading, I thought Kaden was the prince, and Rafe was the assassin. Where I got that, I'm not certain, but the whole way through, I was under the impression our two main guys...weren't who they were. So people, if you are reading this & haven't read the book...Rafe is the Prince, Kaden is the Assassin. Got it? Cool peas.
CONCLUSION:
4.5 stars. I heartily enjoyed this book. The amount and difficult to peg religion was not my jam, so hence the loss of a star- but religious content aside, I really enjoyed reading this one, and I cannot wait to get my hands on book 2!
I'd recommend this book for ages 16-17+
Again, the content in this book may not be appropriate for ALL 16 year olds, and it may be appropriate for certain 15 year olds. It's different for everyone. Check with your parents if you're wondering if it's right for you.
Read the full review for...
Book 3- The Beauty Of Darkness (Coming Summer 2016!)
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