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When foreign elves threaten total annihilation, King Silveryn is forced to look for allies. And who could be better protectors than the fire-spitting demons that inhabit the neighboring mountain? A political marriage seems like a great way to seal the deal, but what if their king is not interested in the princess and instead asks for the hand of the royal nephew? What ensues is a clash of cultures and personalities, a great war and a greater love.
227 pages, ebook
First published July 26, 2019
10 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews
January 18, 2024
AngelFire, I owe you a fruit basket for this one. I never would've heard about it, much less prioritized it, without your championing.
I LOVED this story and don't understand how it's so, so hidden. The author's evocative prose brought alllll the feelings. The world building was vivid and dimensional — it came alive in a way that made me wish it was the backdrop for a long series, not just <300 pages.
The last 20% or so had some room for improvement, didn't feel quite as tight as the rest, but nothing that detracted from my wholehearted enjoyment of it. I will reread this one for sure.
Thanks for the awesome buddy read, Ele and Rosa!
#TeamRakhadar but also really #TeamBebukul MY HEART
Get the story from AO3 here.
I LOVED this story and don't understand how it's so, so hidden. The author's evocative prose brought alllll the feelings. The world building was vivid and dimensional — it came alive in a way that made me wish it was the backdrop for a long series, not just <300 pages.
The last 20% or so had some room for improvement, didn't feel quite as tight as the rest, but nothing that detracted from my wholehearted enjoyment of it. I will reread this one for sure.
Thanks for the awesome buddy read, Ele and Rosa!
#TeamRakhadar but also really #TeamBebukul MY HEART
Get the story from AO3 here.
January 18, 2024
With its engaging writing and great worldbuilding, this book held my interest 10 times better and more easily than a lot of published books, I can’t even imagine how great it could’ve been with a little of professional attention from an editor to polish the bits that weren’t perfect.
I loved how the author made me often want to slap one of the MCs (Maegorn, of course) without any of the frustration that usually comes with that kind of reaction. He was annoying at times, but his behavior and reactions were realistic and I really liked his character arc and growth, how he learned to
Rakhadar was already amazing from the beginning and the great worldbuilding regarding all things fireblood made his side of the story even better. Bebukul helped, too, but somebody needs to teach that boy the meaning of , LOL. I guess Maegorn found a good solution for that.
The romance was good, but not perfect. Maegorn’s didn’t feel completely natural, it seemed to come almost all at once, but it wasn’t so abrupt to become a real problem and the rest more than compensated for it. As did the amazing cast of secondary characters and the humor. Always appreciated.
The last chapter caught me by surprise and seemed a little out of nowhere. In the end I loved getting their story, too, but I still think it would’ve been better for it and for the book, if it had been written as a separate short story in the same universe. It’s a small price to pay for getting to read it, so I’m not complaining (too much).
All in all, definitely a winner. 😊
I loved how the author made me often want to slap one of the MCs (Maegorn, of course) without any of the frustration that usually comes with that kind of reaction. He was annoying at times, but his behavior and reactions were realistic and I really liked his character arc and growth, how he learned to
Rakhadar was already amazing from the beginning and the great worldbuilding regarding all things fireblood made his side of the story even better. Bebukul helped, too, but somebody needs to teach that boy the meaning of , LOL. I guess Maegorn found a good solution for that.
The romance was good, but not perfect. Maegorn’s didn’t feel completely natural, it seemed to come almost all at once, but it wasn’t so abrupt to become a real problem and the rest more than compensated for it. As did the amazing cast of secondary characters and the humor. Always appreciated.
The last chapter caught me by surprise and seemed a little out of nowhere. In the end I loved getting their story, too, but I still think it would’ve been better for it and for the book, if it had been written as a separate short story in the same universe. It’s a small price to pay for getting to read it, so I’m not complaining (too much).
All in all, definitely a winner. 😊
January 18, 2024
An AO3 gem: link to book
I'm thanking my friends Moony, Rosa and Ele for pulling me in to read this and also for being friends with AngelFire who found it and shared it with the world. Thanks to you all! I had so much fun.
I imagine YKET one day was playing D&D and someone said: "You should write a book about our campaign."
And YKET said: "Hold my root beer!" and began writing one of the funniest books I've read in the past 2 years. But this isn't only funny. When it's serious, it's really serious, and it makes you bawl, snot and all.
The only reason it's not a 5 stars it's because of some artistic choices that annoyed me during the last 20% (because they turned what could have been a great book into a good book).
I join my friends on #TeamRakhadar (but as Moony said, it's really #TeamBebukul who stole the show).
I'm thanking my friends Moony, Rosa and Ele for pulling me in to read this and also for being friends with AngelFire who found it and shared it with the world. Thanks to you all! I had so much fun.
I imagine YKET one day was playing D&D and someone said: "You should write a book about our campaign."
And YKET said: "Hold my root beer!" and began writing one of the funniest books I've read in the past 2 years. But this isn't only funny. When it's serious, it's really serious, and it makes you bawl, snot and all.
The only reason it's not a 5 stars it's because of some artistic choices that annoyed me during the last 20% (because they turned what could have been a great book into a good book).
I join my friends on #TeamRakhadar (but as Moony said, it's really #TeamBebukul who stole the show).
January 19, 2024
This was amazing, I can't believe this story is out there for free for everyone to enjoy. If you're a fantasy fan, you shouldn't miss this. It's been a while since a fantasy grabbed me this way. Usually I need some time to get a feel for the characters and world, but not in this case. This had me hooked since the very beggining.
The worldbuilding is very good and I liked how the author created unique traits for Elves and Firebloods, and how much care they put on giving attention at what those difference would affect the characters actions. I wish this would have been a bit longer so the ending would have been tighter but despite that I'm very satisfied with the story in general.
As usual, because when I think of Elves, I think about LOTR Elves, I was surprised at what an assh*les the Elves were (as usual in most of the stories, but I tend to forget that)... OMG... I wanted to punch them and wipe out that air of superiority they had. That "we know better" attitude is infuirating
I liked a lot how
I also loved Bebukul
This was an amazing read in amazing company, thank you Ele and Moony for the BRead!
I'm adding the link to the story here.
The worldbuilding is very good and I liked how the author created unique traits for Elves and Firebloods, and how much care they put on giving attention at what those difference would affect the characters actions. I wish this would have been a bit longer so the ending would have been tighter but despite that I'm very satisfied with the story in general.
As usual, because when I think of Elves, I think about LOTR Elves, I was surprised at what an assh*les the Elves were (as usual in most of the stories, but I tend to forget that)... OMG... I wanted to punch them and wipe out that air of superiority they had. That "we know better" attitude is infuirating
I liked a lot how
I also loved Bebukul
This was an amazing read in amazing company, thank you Ele and Moony for the BRead!
I'm adding the link to the story here.
September 19, 2024
DNF @ 77% - 9/18/24
I decided to give this another try since I was finally able to banish the image of Keebler elves and Mushu from my mind's eye. And it went a lot better, for awhile. The world building is still lacking. Almost nothing is really described, and while we get a good idea of the general appearance of firebloods as the story goes on, there are still details that pop up out of nowhere. Like they can fly. And that they have wings (which is established after the fact they can fly; I was wondering if they had wings or just flew by some other method that didn't require them). And spikes that grow out of their elbows. I still have no idea what the jakothars are supposed to look like, since they only thing we're told about them is they have a tail and ears and their young are called cubs. Bears, I suppose? Could be cougars though. Who knows? I'm not even sure the author knows.
So much of this felt like the author was just making things up on the fly as they went and didn't bother to go back to edit for consistency. And boy, were there inconsistencies. Rakhadar leaves Maegorn at the feast, demanding that Maegorn meet him elsewhere; Rakhadar stomps of to the meeting place, and despite being left behind, Maegorn is somehow already there. At another point, there's a lot of emphasis about how Rakhadar hasn't eaten anything in weeks, possibly months, only for an immediate flashback to happen where he remembers several people coming up with excuses for him to take the food they were offering him. So he was eating, just not regularly. There's a pretty big difference there. There were other things, but I didn't keep track.
Anyway, I was getting along with the story despite not really being all that invested in Rakhadar and Maegorn at first. But they grew on me, and I especially loved Bebukul, Rakhadar's kid brother. And I was really liking all the stuff we were learning about the firebloods and their home and culture, though I did wish we'd seen more, or any, of the practice sessions Maegorn was having with Bebukul and the other youths. Irrillion was a godsend, too. I wanted to slap Maegorn several times, but he finally came around and I was finally starting to root for them when the Big Misunderstandings started and killed any interest I'd gained. And then the biggie Big Misunderstanding It just doesn't make a lick of sense, and two seconds spent critically thinking about it proves how idiotic it was to set up the situation the way the author did only to generate false melodrama. It's lazy writing. I knew from the beginning I was going to dislike how that whole subplot would be brought back up into the plot, but this is pure author manipulation. This could have been a much better story than it was.
DNF @ 12% - 1/15/24
My first DNF of the year! 🥳
I wasn't feeling this one. For some reason, I thought these might be more like Tolkien's elves, or maybe even like the 'fae from Nightrunners. But alas, these are Keebler elves. I think. They live in trees. I don't know if they bake cookies. But lacking any of description of any real kind, that's the best image my brain could come up with. I'm also not sure at all what Rakhadar is supposed to look like. He has horns and is maybe blue. There's something about fire, but they're called dogs by the elves. I'm guessing he's a dragon, though his race would have to be little dragons. Because Keebler elves. By 12%, I should know these things and be able to picture all these characters much more clearly.
I liked Rakhadar initially, though he's hopelessly naïve and only seems to like Maegorn based on looks and cultural fetishism. Then he got drunk and turned into a violent idiot. Maegorn...I have no opinion on him. I can't fault him for not caring about this arranged marriage. 🤷🏻♀️ But he suddenly . If this is the way conflicts are going to be invented in this story, I don't have the time or energy for that right now.
Anyway, while the writing is decent, though riddled with typos, the world building was too sparse, and I couldn't really get into the story.
I decided to give this another try since I was finally able to banish the image of Keebler elves and Mushu from my mind's eye. And it went a lot better, for awhile. The world building is still lacking. Almost nothing is really described, and while we get a good idea of the general appearance of firebloods as the story goes on, there are still details that pop up out of nowhere. Like they can fly. And that they have wings (which is established after the fact they can fly; I was wondering if they had wings or just flew by some other method that didn't require them). And spikes that grow out of their elbows. I still have no idea what the jakothars are supposed to look like, since they only thing we're told about them is they have a tail and ears and their young are called cubs. Bears, I suppose? Could be cougars though. Who knows? I'm not even sure the author knows.
So much of this felt like the author was just making things up on the fly as they went and didn't bother to go back to edit for consistency. And boy, were there inconsistencies. Rakhadar leaves Maegorn at the feast, demanding that Maegorn meet him elsewhere; Rakhadar stomps of to the meeting place, and despite being left behind, Maegorn is somehow already there. At another point, there's a lot of emphasis about how Rakhadar hasn't eaten anything in weeks, possibly months, only for an immediate flashback to happen where he remembers several people coming up with excuses for him to take the food they were offering him. So he was eating, just not regularly. There's a pretty big difference there. There were other things, but I didn't keep track.
Anyway, I was getting along with the story despite not really being all that invested in Rakhadar and Maegorn at first. But they grew on me, and I especially loved Bebukul, Rakhadar's kid brother. And I was really liking all the stuff we were learning about the firebloods and their home and culture, though I did wish we'd seen more, or any, of the practice sessions Maegorn was having with Bebukul and the other youths. Irrillion was a godsend, too. I wanted to slap Maegorn several times, but he finally came around and I was finally starting to root for them when the Big Misunderstandings started and killed any interest I'd gained. And then the biggie Big Misunderstanding It just doesn't make a lick of sense, and two seconds spent critically thinking about it proves how idiotic it was to set up the situation the way the author did only to generate false melodrama. It's lazy writing. I knew from the beginning I was going to dislike how that whole subplot would be brought back up into the plot, but this is pure author manipulation. This could have been a much better story than it was.
DNF @ 12% - 1/15/24
My first DNF of the year! 🥳
I wasn't feeling this one. For some reason, I thought these might be more like Tolkien's elves, or maybe even like the 'fae from Nightrunners. But alas, these are Keebler elves. I think. They live in trees. I don't know if they bake cookies. But lacking any of description of any real kind, that's the best image my brain could come up with. I'm also not sure at all what Rakhadar is supposed to look like. He has horns and is maybe blue. There's something about fire, but they're called dogs by the elves. I'm guessing he's a dragon, though his race would have to be little dragons. Because Keebler elves. By 12%, I should know these things and be able to picture all these characters much more clearly.
I liked Rakhadar initially, though he's hopelessly naïve and only seems to like Maegorn based on looks and cultural fetishism. Then he got drunk and turned into a violent idiot. Maegorn...I have no opinion on him. I can't fault him for not caring about this arranged marriage. 🤷🏻♀️ But he suddenly . If this is the way conflicts are going to be invented in this story, I don't have the time or energy for that right now.
Anyway, while the writing is decent, though riddled with typos, the world building was too sparse, and I couldn't really get into the story.
October 2, 2023
Original Read: July 2020
Re-Read: Aug 2023
This story is available on AO3.
This is one of my favorite MM fantasy romance stories and it has remained so over multiple re-reads (not all of which are recorded here on GR). This is the story I compare similar ones to because this one does so many things perfectly and I've discovered that pretty rare in this genre. This is absolutely one of my favorite fantasy romances, MM romances and enemies to lovers romances of all time.
Side note - it's not perfect but the imperfections are so minor that I'm not going to dock any stars for it. There are random typos but they aren't too numerous to be distracting and the author created this story purely out of a love of storytelling and shared it for free with the world so I don't mind them. Also - do yourself a favor and skip the final chapter (Chapter 21). It switches POV to a side character and focuses on the romance between two side characters who honestly aren't important. There's also a rushed and kind of dumb explanation shoe-horned in regarding the story title. Both of these things weren't needed and I wish the author had come up with a much better title and ended the story with Chapter 20.
Onto my gushing praise for this absolute gem of a story!!
The Worldbuilding
The two main fantasy races who inhabit the island that's the focus of the story are Firebloods and Elves. What I loved was that the author made sure every single detail of the different races fit their specific race perfectly. Their physical appearance (skin colors, skin thickness, ear shapes, hearing abilities), living locations, food choices, clothing styles, weapon choices, housing styles, music preferences, combat styles - every single thing perfectly fit their race. As an example - the Elves live in the humid forest close to the coast that's inhabited by tons of dangerous animals. So it makes sense that the Elves live in the trees, they have the ability to jump and have amazing hearing abilities that allow them differentiate between the noises made by different animals. The Firebloods live on and in the volcanic mountain in the center of the island so their ears are tiny and their skin is thick to protect them from the heat and the latter also allows them to be comfortable using rocks as chairs and beds. These are just tiny examples but I loved how much thought the author put into these two cultures and how every single detail perfectly fit them.
Another thing I loved was that the author paced the worldbuilding in such an amazing way that I never felt bored or overwhelmed. Details were introduced if and when they were needed. For example, when we learn that Firebloods can spew fire and fly, we don't learn about their need to eat salt or coals right then - the author only tells us about both of these things when either situation is relevant. Amazing!
Enemies To Lovers Done Right
I always complain about MM romance authors not doing enemies-to-lovers properly but this story does it right. Both MCs are older (which I also love) and both have spent their lives being career soldiers. They're the same age so they've participated in decades worth of wars that their island had been part of as they've moved up the ranks and both eventually ended up becoming Generals. The reason they're enemies is because Maegorn is an Elf and Rakhadar is a Fireblood and the wars on their island have always involved their people battling each other. So they've grown up not only being natural enemies due to generations of war and hatred but they've also spent decades fighting each other in battles. To make things even more interesting - due to the generational war that's taken place, both of their families have long, intertwined histories with each other and this has resulted in their relationship being even more complicated.
But making things EVEN MORE interesting is how and why the MCs end up in an arranged marriage with each other and what happens after that. This story has so many amazing plot twists that I refuse to spoil the best parts even under spoiler tags so I won't add more details but I promise you - the relationship between the MCs is constantly developing and changing throughout the story.
Like with the worldbuilding, I also adored the pacing of the romance. When King Rakhadar (he went from being in the military to having to be King once his mother passed away) realizes that Maegorn is 100% against their marriage, he takes a step back and decides to put no pressure on him. They live separate lives and Rakhadar only interacts with Maegorn when the latter wants him to. This allowed them to get to know each other slowly and to have them be brought together through other people and other circumstances, which was the perfect way to bring these two long time enemies together.
Cultures Coming Together Done Right
I adore stories where one person is forced to live in a completely new culture and then he slowly falls in love with that culture, is accepted by it and he becomes part of it. This story is my go-to when somebody wants a recommendation for this trope because I've never seen it done it better.
Maegorn starts out hating Firebloods. It's for good reason, but his attitude towards them is pretty extreme. He's not only dismissive and hateful but he's outright racist and believes he's perfectly entitled to be that way. The author makes it clear pretty quickly that the reason for Maegorn's racism is that he's never bothered learning much about Firebloods and has spent his life happily believing the ridiculous rumors that the Elves have about Firebloods.
But when he suddenly finds himself living in the mountain castle, surrounded by Firebloods, he starts learning how many of those rumors are wrong. Even more importantly, he learns the huge number of things that Elves have never bothered asking Firebloods about. For example, . No, I refuse to spoil it for you - you can be as surprised as Maegorn when you find out!
The pacing of Maegorn's arc in this story is actually my favorite part. While I love his romance with Rakhadar, Maegorn's journey from being a racist, arrogant asshole to being somebody who understands, respects and eventually also admires Fireblood culture was amazing. Whenever I'm re-reading the first half of the story and I hear him calling the Firebloods 'dogs' and lamenting about having to live in 'dogland' and how nasty and dumb they all are, I always have a hard time believing that he ends the story .
But the reason I love the cultural related storylines so much isn't just because of Maegorn. Rakhadar goes through his own incredible journey as well. I don't want to spoil anything but I'll just say that Rakhadar's problem is sadly similar to Maegorn's. As in - neither of them have a lot of good things to say about Firebloods when the story starts.
Incredible Twists And Turns
Every time I re-read this masterpiece, I always end up being blown away by many of the plot twists. The author's slow and methodical pacing of the MCs journeys, the deliberate worldbuilding and the slow additions to the cast of characters means the author is easily able to add more complexity to any situation at any point without it getting confusing or overwhelming.
I'm usually not a fan of having many side characters, but the author did such an incredible job of using those side characters to add more complexity to the world and the story that I ended up liking the majority of them. The plot twists and turns never stop and I loved that the author foreshadows many of the biggest twists throughout the entire story. You may pick up on some as you go, you may miss some but in any case, when the reveal comes - it'll always feel incredible because it feels like a natural fit for the story.
The only plotline that I felt wasn't done well was the one related to Pereliv. No spoilers but I felt certain individuals should have realized what was happening based on other specific people's actions. Maegorn didn't behave the way he should have if the assumptions were right so the author should have either changed Maegorn's behavior or had the suspecting person realize what was happening much earlier. In general, I felt the Pereliv confusion was the worst done plotline and it wasn't needed. I loved Pereliv's actual role in the story and due to the confusion thing, he had minimal on-page time despite being talked about frequently. He was a great character so I wish the author had used him differently.
Amazing Ups And Downs
This is one of the very few stories I've ever read that contains scenes that made me laugh, scenes that made me cry AND had me remember the best examples for each even years after my last re-read. I refuse to spoil either of these scenes by even giving hints but if you read the story, I bet you'll know which scene made me laugh hardest and which scene made me cry the hardest (two scenes made me cry but one was much more devastating than the other due to the reasons behind it).
Conclusion
Please, please, please do yourself a favor and try this story! I'm not a huge fan of fantasy romances in the first place and I'm especially not a fan of creature romances or large cast stories so the fact that this has all three and it's one of my favorite stories of all time should tell you something.
I deliberately kept this review way more vague than I usually do, mostly because if I start discussing specific scenes that I loved, I'd reach the character limit and be sad because I'd be like 5% done. But to anybody reading this review in the future who loves this story as much as I do, I'll list some of my favorite things. Don't worry about spoilers because none of this will make any sense to you if you haven't read the story.
+ Significance of the purple guiding light wedding gift and what it revealed in Maegorn's room (once he learned how to use it right)
+ "Why didn't she take cover when I ordered?"
+ The Young Fire Festival
+ "Karachu idha oro" (you scorch my blood) and "Chodah tharog ida o" (my heart blazes for you)
+ Rakhadar assigning Bakoo-ra to Maegorn
+ Maegorn, Rakhadar and Pereliv's relationships with Shuck-cha
+ The Young Fire Regiment
+ Every single scene Bebukul was in
+ "Whatever you do, do no kick your heels into her sides."
+ The Major-Tag that Rakhadar gives Maegorn
+ The Well + "Here, grab my hand" + Secret Pen Pals
Re-Read: Aug 2023
This story is available on AO3.
This is one of my favorite MM fantasy romance stories and it has remained so over multiple re-reads (not all of which are recorded here on GR). This is the story I compare similar ones to because this one does so many things perfectly and I've discovered that pretty rare in this genre. This is absolutely one of my favorite fantasy romances, MM romances and enemies to lovers romances of all time.
Side note - it's not perfect but the imperfections are so minor that I'm not going to dock any stars for it. There are random typos but they aren't too numerous to be distracting and the author created this story purely out of a love of storytelling and shared it for free with the world so I don't mind them. Also - do yourself a favor and skip the final chapter (Chapter 21). It switches POV to a side character and focuses on the romance between two side characters who honestly aren't important. There's also a rushed and kind of dumb explanation shoe-horned in regarding the story title. Both of these things weren't needed and I wish the author had come up with a much better title and ended the story with Chapter 20.
Onto my gushing praise for this absolute gem of a story!!
The Worldbuilding
The two main fantasy races who inhabit the island that's the focus of the story are Firebloods and Elves. What I loved was that the author made sure every single detail of the different races fit their specific race perfectly. Their physical appearance (skin colors, skin thickness, ear shapes, hearing abilities), living locations, food choices, clothing styles, weapon choices, housing styles, music preferences, combat styles - every single thing perfectly fit their race. As an example - the Elves live in the humid forest close to the coast that's inhabited by tons of dangerous animals. So it makes sense that the Elves live in the trees, they have the ability to jump and have amazing hearing abilities that allow them differentiate between the noises made by different animals. The Firebloods live on and in the volcanic mountain in the center of the island so their ears are tiny and their skin is thick to protect them from the heat and the latter also allows them to be comfortable using rocks as chairs and beds. These are just tiny examples but I loved how much thought the author put into these two cultures and how every single detail perfectly fit them.
Another thing I loved was that the author paced the worldbuilding in such an amazing way that I never felt bored or overwhelmed. Details were introduced if and when they were needed. For example, when we learn that Firebloods can spew fire and fly, we don't learn about their need to eat salt or coals right then - the author only tells us about both of these things when either situation is relevant. Amazing!
Enemies To Lovers Done Right
I always complain about MM romance authors not doing enemies-to-lovers properly but this story does it right. Both MCs are older (which I also love) and both have spent their lives being career soldiers. They're the same age so they've participated in decades worth of wars that their island had been part of as they've moved up the ranks and both eventually ended up becoming Generals. The reason they're enemies is because Maegorn is an Elf and Rakhadar is a Fireblood and the wars on their island have always involved their people battling each other. So they've grown up not only being natural enemies due to generations of war and hatred but they've also spent decades fighting each other in battles. To make things even more interesting - due to the generational war that's taken place, both of their families have long, intertwined histories with each other and this has resulted in their relationship being even more complicated.
But making things EVEN MORE interesting is how and why the MCs end up in an arranged marriage with each other and what happens after that. This story has so many amazing plot twists that I refuse to spoil the best parts even under spoiler tags so I won't add more details but I promise you - the relationship between the MCs is constantly developing and changing throughout the story.
Like with the worldbuilding, I also adored the pacing of the romance. When King Rakhadar (he went from being in the military to having to be King once his mother passed away) realizes that Maegorn is 100% against their marriage, he takes a step back and decides to put no pressure on him. They live separate lives and Rakhadar only interacts with Maegorn when the latter wants him to. This allowed them to get to know each other slowly and to have them be brought together through other people and other circumstances, which was the perfect way to bring these two long time enemies together.
Cultures Coming Together Done Right
I adore stories where one person is forced to live in a completely new culture and then he slowly falls in love with that culture, is accepted by it and he becomes part of it. This story is my go-to when somebody wants a recommendation for this trope because I've never seen it done it better.
Maegorn starts out hating Firebloods. It's for good reason, but his attitude towards them is pretty extreme. He's not only dismissive and hateful but he's outright racist and believes he's perfectly entitled to be that way. The author makes it clear pretty quickly that the reason for Maegorn's racism is that he's never bothered learning much about Firebloods and has spent his life happily believing the ridiculous rumors that the Elves have about Firebloods.
But when he suddenly finds himself living in the mountain castle, surrounded by Firebloods, he starts learning how many of those rumors are wrong. Even more importantly, he learns the huge number of things that Elves have never bothered asking Firebloods about. For example, . No, I refuse to spoil it for you - you can be as surprised as Maegorn when you find out!
The pacing of Maegorn's arc in this story is actually my favorite part. While I love his romance with Rakhadar, Maegorn's journey from being a racist, arrogant asshole to being somebody who understands, respects and eventually also admires Fireblood culture was amazing. Whenever I'm re-reading the first half of the story and I hear him calling the Firebloods 'dogs' and lamenting about having to live in 'dogland' and how nasty and dumb they all are, I always have a hard time believing that he ends the story .
But the reason I love the cultural related storylines so much isn't just because of Maegorn. Rakhadar goes through his own incredible journey as well. I don't want to spoil anything but I'll just say that Rakhadar's problem is sadly similar to Maegorn's. As in - neither of them have a lot of good things to say about Firebloods when the story starts.
Incredible Twists And Turns
Every time I re-read this masterpiece, I always end up being blown away by many of the plot twists. The author's slow and methodical pacing of the MCs journeys, the deliberate worldbuilding and the slow additions to the cast of characters means the author is easily able to add more complexity to any situation at any point without it getting confusing or overwhelming.
I'm usually not a fan of having many side characters, but the author did such an incredible job of using those side characters to add more complexity to the world and the story that I ended up liking the majority of them. The plot twists and turns never stop and I loved that the author foreshadows many of the biggest twists throughout the entire story. You may pick up on some as you go, you may miss some but in any case, when the reveal comes - it'll always feel incredible because it feels like a natural fit for the story.
The only plotline that I felt wasn't done well was the one related to Pereliv. No spoilers but I felt certain individuals should have realized what was happening based on other specific people's actions. Maegorn didn't behave the way he should have if the assumptions were right so the author should have either changed Maegorn's behavior or had the suspecting person realize what was happening much earlier. In general, I felt the Pereliv confusion was the worst done plotline and it wasn't needed. I loved Pereliv's actual role in the story and due to the confusion thing, he had minimal on-page time despite being talked about frequently. He was a great character so I wish the author had used him differently.
Amazing Ups And Downs
This is one of the very few stories I've ever read that contains scenes that made me laugh, scenes that made me cry AND had me remember the best examples for each even years after my last re-read. I refuse to spoil either of these scenes by even giving hints but if you read the story, I bet you'll know which scene made me laugh hardest and which scene made me cry the hardest (two scenes made me cry but one was much more devastating than the other due to the reasons behind it).
Conclusion
Please, please, please do yourself a favor and try this story! I'm not a huge fan of fantasy romances in the first place and I'm especially not a fan of creature romances or large cast stories so the fact that this has all three and it's one of my favorite stories of all time should tell you something.
I deliberately kept this review way more vague than I usually do, mostly because if I start discussing specific scenes that I loved, I'd reach the character limit and be sad because I'd be like 5% done. But to anybody reading this review in the future who loves this story as much as I do, I'll list some of my favorite things. Don't worry about spoilers because none of this will make any sense to you if you haven't read the story.
+ Significance of the purple guiding light wedding gift and what it revealed in Maegorn's room (once he learned how to use it right)
+ "Why didn't she take cover when I ordered?"
+ The Young Fire Festival
+ "Karachu idha oro" (you scorch my blood) and "Chodah tharog ida o" (my heart blazes for you)
+ Rakhadar assigning Bakoo-ra to Maegorn
+ Maegorn, Rakhadar and Pereliv's relationships with Shuck-cha
+ The Young Fire Regiment
+ Every single scene Bebukul was in
+ "Whatever you do, do no kick your heels into her sides."
+ The Major-Tag that Rakhadar gives Maegorn
+ The Well + "Here, grab my hand" + Secret Pen Pals
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dnf
May 18, 2023Dnf @15%. I enjoyed this imaginary elf world, but the love story didn't work for me.
February 2, 2024
Very nice read. I enjoyed the world building, the characters and the progress of the plot. I must name Bebukul as one of my favourite teen characters - he's that adorable and wise.
The only reason I gave 4 stars was that some well-placed editorial tweaks will help make this book a 5 stars.
The only reason I gave 4 stars was that some well-placed editorial tweaks will help make this book a 5 stars.
January 9, 2024
Thanks to AngelFire for pointing this beautiful story out to me 😍
I absolutely loved this. I am not a huge fantasy reader, tbh I've only just started dipping my feet into fantasy. And... omg, how stunning is this story? f the author ever decided they wanted to publish it as a traditional novel I would spam the shit out of this everywhere so more people could get to know it and read it.
Anyway. There's so much to love here. Mostly, the worldbuilding is exquisite: the differences between elves and firebloods are so well drawn, so creative. I loved how they got highlighted by the culture shock of Maegorn going to live in Jorotaja. It reminded me so much of *real* culture shock, and culture differences, and it was just amazing to see their friendship and then their love blossom through that. I adored Rhakha, of course. My absolute favourite character, because who doesn't love a fireblood king who spits fire, has deep blue skin, horns, claws, red eyes, is a fierce, strong warrior and demon slayer but also is in love with elven culture, elven music, delicate things, paintings, stories, and is also a sweet sweet guy just looking to be loved by his forever one? I loved the fact that Rhakha had been in love with Maegorn for ages, and also that they shared a connection as kids which will be unveiled to be extremely meaningful for both. I loved how Maegorn embraces his place between the firebloods after, how fiercely he loves his husband, fighting at his side, and I had understood that .
Anyway, I have covid and I am not entirely lucid so excuse the rambling review. I cannot explain in words right now all the things I loved about this, just know it left me with a terrible book hangover, and I'm already looking forward to reading this again.
so long
I absolutely loved this. I am not a huge fantasy reader, tbh I've only just started dipping my feet into fantasy. And... omg, how stunning is this story? f the author ever decided they wanted to publish it as a traditional novel I would spam the shit out of this everywhere so more people could get to know it and read it.
Anyway. There's so much to love here. Mostly, the worldbuilding is exquisite: the differences between elves and firebloods are so well drawn, so creative. I loved how they got highlighted by the culture shock of Maegorn going to live in Jorotaja. It reminded me so much of *real* culture shock, and culture differences, and it was just amazing to see their friendship and then their love blossom through that. I adored Rhakha, of course. My absolute favourite character, because who doesn't love a fireblood king who spits fire, has deep blue skin, horns, claws, red eyes, is a fierce, strong warrior and demon slayer but also is in love with elven culture, elven music, delicate things, paintings, stories, and is also a sweet sweet guy just looking to be loved by his forever one? I loved the fact that Rhakha had been in love with Maegorn for ages, and also that they shared a connection as kids which will be unveiled to be extremely meaningful for both. I loved how Maegorn embraces his place between the firebloods after, how fiercely he loves his husband, fighting at his side, and I had understood that .
Anyway, I have covid and I am not entirely lucid so excuse the rambling review. I cannot explain in words right now all the things I loved about this, just know it left me with a terrible book hangover, and I'm already looking forward to reading this again.
so long
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