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katara
The Bride of Death by F.M. Aden
Series:
N/A
Genre:
Netgalley, Gothic, Fantasy, Romantasy, Romance, Standalone, Novella, Third Person Point of View
Publication Date:
March 1, 2024
Pages Numbers:
N/A
Read Date:
December 15th, 2023
Date Finished:
December 16th, 2023
Rating:
4.8/5
Blurb:
In the vein of Naomi Novik’s Uprooted and Katherine Arden’s The Bear and the Nightingale—this unforgettable adult debut follows the journey of a young woman who seeks to defeat Death himself and save her village from his torment.
As a young child, Zerryn grew up on tales of the Lord of Death, Erlik Khan, and his penchant for stealing wild girls. In her small village, she keeps to herself and tends to the temple gardens, spending her days with her best friend Çelik. But when Çelik begins to act strangely and removes himself to live on a crumbling estate atop Mount Ida, the rumors of him becoming possessed by a demon begin to swiftly arise. Each month that passes the demon within him grows stronger, his demands of the villagers growing oddly disjointed and nonsensical.
Her chances of saving him become all but impossible once Zerryn learns that it is no lesser demon that has a hold of him but Erlik Khan—a demon of untold power who lords over the dead. It isn’t long before word spreads that he is in search of a bride, and creatures of untold power come before him to rule by his side. Zerryn knows that she cannot take down Erlik without power and she cannot gain power without becoming his bride.
But becoming Erlik’s wife is nothing as simple as an offer for his hand. To become the queen of the Underworld, she must complete three impossible tasks or risk losing everything she holds dear.
Review:
In The Bride of Death, our young heroine, Zerryn, grew up on tales of magic knowing that she carried within her. Of the Lord of Death, Erlik Khan, with a penchant for stealing young women and feasting upon their torn-apart bodies. So, she keeps her head down and tends to the temple gardens in the company of her closest friend, Çelik. Until one day, Çelik begins acting differently and departs to the castle upon the mountain. Zerryn offers to go, defeat the Lord of Death, and return with her friend, but the Lord of Death has three tasks she must undertake before she can leave.
I am going out here to say I loved this book. This book had been haunting me ever since I had come across it on Netgalley. I mulled on the requesting it but the premise of the novel sounded promising and I could not shake the hold it had on me. So, I inquired, not quite sure I would get it, but happy I did. The characters. The world-building. The storyline. All are uniquely crafted. The characters in this book are so well-developed and complex. Each one has a distinct personality and motivation, and I found myself becoming emotionally invested in their journeys. The author did a fantastic job of making them feel real and relatable. I know we should never like the villain but I could not help it. To be honest, I was rooting for him the moment he arrived on the scene.
Honestly, I did not care at all for Çelik. There was something about him that rubbed me the wrong way and his character at the end just cemented my dislike for him. And let's not forget that aunt. I wanted to tear her hair out. Sorry, not sorry.
I love it when the world-building is a fascinating aspect of the story. When uniquely done, it creates a world that can draw the reader in with the beauty and wonder built around the characters. Magic. Lore. Mythology. All of these were weaved into a single part of the world and I was there for it. This was a world where Christianity was starting to spread its spinny fingers across the continent removing old gods from those who still clung to the old way.
With that being said, I enjoyed this story. I loved the characters. The world-building. The storyline. I loved that I devoured this book quickly and it made me still think about the storyline and characters. Still made me dislike characters that I don't think the author intended for me to do so. LOL. Otherwise, I recommend this book when it has its release in March.
*Disclaimer: Thank you to the author, her publishers, and Netgalley for allowing me to read and review this book. The opinions of this review are mine and mine alone.
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