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The Magicless Elf: An Enchanted Forest Novella
Not yet published
Expected 5 Jun 26- GenresFantasy
210 pages, Kindle Edition
Expected publication June 5, 2026
About the author
K.J. Bradford
7 books65 followers"I hold my hopes and dreams as an author in the bags under my eyes."
KJ Bradford is a creator of worlds, living in Kentucky with her husband, daughter, and zoo of pets. She loves reading, cats, flowers, anime, and writing, but maybe not in that order. She’s an awkward little dragon who either holes up in her writing cave or talks about her current obsession to anyone who will listen, with no in-between. Multiple stories are playing out in her head at all times and writing has become her solace as well as her entire personality. Her writing can be described as dark and swoony, gritty and fantastical. When she’s not writing or reading, she’s taking care of her amazing family while thinking about writing.
KJ Bradford is a creator of worlds, living in Kentucky with her husband, daughter, and zoo of pets. She loves reading, cats, flowers, anime, and writing, but maybe not in that order. She’s an awkward little dragon who either holes up in her writing cave or talks about her current obsession to anyone who will listen, with no in-between. Multiple stories are playing out in her head at all times and writing has become her solace as well as her entire personality. Her writing can be described as dark and swoony, gritty and fantastical. When she’s not writing or reading, she’s taking care of her amazing family while thinking about writing.
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Review of advance copy received from Author
I was fortunate enough to receive an ARC from the author in exchange for an honest review, for which I am grateful.
The Magicless Elf is an epistolary novella that consists of the journal entries of a (magicless) elven princess who has been sentenced with a multi-century long exile from her homeland for unethical experimentation.
The protagonist, Starwynn, must contend with survival, love, loss, and desire while she travels on the path to self love and acceptance, as she clinically writes down all the details of her adventures in this new life of hers.
I was surprised at how emotional the story could get in spite of how surgical the writing style was. Though honestly, it is the writing style that allowed those emotional moments to shine through. In between anatomical analyses or basic descriptions of her surroundings, you could truly feel how those instances of new love or debilitating grief affected Starwynn, shattering her distanced view of the world.
Ultimately, this is a story of self-acceptance and personal development, which is why the endgame love interest was only introduced once you were quite late in the book. Usually when I am eager to dig into a romantic plot, I read with the anticipation of when the love interest is finally introduced and the story can begin. Here, though, was not the case. The romance between the two would not have hit nearly as good as it did if the subplot began before Starwynn's development, as it was that development that allowed her to wholly love Xandria (the way she finally loved herself).
My only wish was that Starwynn's sister was explored more, though I understand why she wasn't as that would have changed the focus of the novella quite a bit (as well as add 100 pages more to the story)
Overall, The Magicless Elf was a pleasure to read with a lovely protagonist, intriguing writing style, and an emotional journey that sucks you in
The Magicless Elf is an epistolary novella that consists of the journal entries of a (magicless) elven princess who has been sentenced with a multi-century long exile from her homeland for unethical experimentation.
The protagonist, Starwynn, must contend with survival, love, loss, and desire while she travels on the path to self love and acceptance, as she clinically writes down all the details of her adventures in this new life of hers.
I was surprised at how emotional the story could get in spite of how surgical the writing style was. Though honestly, it is the writing style that allowed those emotional moments to shine through. In between anatomical analyses or basic descriptions of her surroundings, you could truly feel how those instances of new love or debilitating grief affected Starwynn, shattering her distanced view of the world.
Ultimately, this is a story of self-acceptance and personal development, which is why the endgame love interest was only introduced once you were quite late in the book. Usually when I am eager to dig into a romantic plot, I read with the anticipation of when the love interest is finally introduced and the story can begin. Here, though, was not the case. The romance between the two would not have hit nearly as good as it did if the subplot began before Starwynn's development, as it was that development that allowed her to wholly love Xandria (the way she finally loved herself).
My only wish was that Starwynn's sister was explored more, though I understand why she wasn't as that would have changed the focus of the novella quite a bit (as well as add 100 pages more to the story)
Overall, The Magicless Elf was a pleasure to read with a lovely protagonist, intriguing writing style, and an emotional journey that sucks you in
April 28, 2026
I enjoyed this story so much!!
I absolutely loved Starwynn. Her character growth throughout the book was so good. She started out as seeing humans and creatures as nothing but an experiment but after exile she interacts and creates a family and her whole world and perspective changes. The loss of that family hits hard! But one day she stumbles across a castle with a creature who needed put back together and they found something Starwynn never thought she would find and that is love!
This book is written in a journal entry style and I really enjoy it!
Sapphic romance
Frankenstein vibes🖤
Found Family
Short read
I absolutely loved Starwynn. Her character growth throughout the book was so good. She started out as seeing humans and creatures as nothing but an experiment but after exile she interacts and creates a family and her whole world and perspective changes. The loss of that family hits hard! But one day she stumbles across a castle with a creature who needed put back together and they found something Starwynn never thought she would find and that is love!
This book is written in a journal entry style and I really enjoy it!
Sapphic romance
Frankenstein vibes🖤
Found Family
Short read
Review of advance copy received from Author
Advanced Reader Copy Review:
A breathtaking story following the gorgeous Princess Starwynn, who was born without magic & is considered a disappointment to the royal family. Desperate to find a source of magic for her own Starwynn begins to experiment on her fellow elves leading to her banishment for 300 years. Starwynn sets off with her journals & few belongings. Using her scientific mind Starwynn hopes to find her older banished sister, a safe place to continue experimenting & maybe return home with magic of her own. Starwynns beauty attracts & being pansexual she is open to encounters as she journeys through several villages & towns. At first, she merely is curious but eventually Starwynn finds the beauty & value in mortal company. Starwynn experiences love & loss in ways she never expected when interacting with mortals. I cried several times reading this novella. Meeting magical creatures & finding family of her own along the way Starwynn continues her journey of discovery until she finds the castle of her older banished sister at long last. Her sister isn't there but the castle is alive & brings her the journals of her sister. It also delivers various body parts that enchant Starwynn. Even in pieces Xandria is the most beautiful person Starwynn has laid eyes on. Most would consider Xandria a monster with her wings & tail but Starwynn is enchanted from the moment she finds all of Xandria's body parts. Can Starwynn successfully repair Xandria without magic? If she can will she be in danger from this beautiful person? Or will she find love and acceptance that she never expected?
This story took many twists & turns. I did not know what to expect next.Some of it was dark but most of it lifted my heart. While it primarily was told from Starwynns perspective of written journals there were a few articles & letters from other characters which broke it up nicely & gave us an outside of Starwynns mind view which I appreciated. I really loved the variety of magical beings & creatures. Especially the beautiful feathered dragon. I want one of my own to snuggle! Every character was well written & interesting. This is a fade to black romance primarily with a couple of more specific naughty scenes. Starwynn is Pansexual but prefers women mostly so there was only one mention of male parts. Im looking forward to reading more from this author. If you like a sapphic Frankenstein fantasy retelling you will love The Magicless Elf!
#KJBradford #TheMagiclessElf
A breathtaking story following the gorgeous Princess Starwynn, who was born without magic & is considered a disappointment to the royal family. Desperate to find a source of magic for her own Starwynn begins to experiment on her fellow elves leading to her banishment for 300 years. Starwynn sets off with her journals & few belongings. Using her scientific mind Starwynn hopes to find her older banished sister, a safe place to continue experimenting & maybe return home with magic of her own. Starwynns beauty attracts & being pansexual she is open to encounters as she journeys through several villages & towns. At first, she merely is curious but eventually Starwynn finds the beauty & value in mortal company. Starwynn experiences love & loss in ways she never expected when interacting with mortals. I cried several times reading this novella. Meeting magical creatures & finding family of her own along the way Starwynn continues her journey of discovery until she finds the castle of her older banished sister at long last. Her sister isn't there but the castle is alive & brings her the journals of her sister. It also delivers various body parts that enchant Starwynn. Even in pieces Xandria is the most beautiful person Starwynn has laid eyes on. Most would consider Xandria a monster with her wings & tail but Starwynn is enchanted from the moment she finds all of Xandria's body parts. Can Starwynn successfully repair Xandria without magic? If she can will she be in danger from this beautiful person? Or will she find love and acceptance that she never expected?
This story took many twists & turns. I did not know what to expect next.Some of it was dark but most of it lifted my heart. While it primarily was told from Starwynns perspective of written journals there were a few articles & letters from other characters which broke it up nicely & gave us an outside of Starwynns mind view which I appreciated. I really loved the variety of magical beings & creatures. Especially the beautiful feathered dragon. I want one of my own to snuggle! Every character was well written & interesting. This is a fade to black romance primarily with a couple of more specific naughty scenes. Starwynn is Pansexual but prefers women mostly so there was only one mention of male parts. Im looking forward to reading more from this author. If you like a sapphic Frankenstein fantasy retelling you will love The Magicless Elf!
#KJBradford #TheMagiclessElf
May 10, 2026
𝑰 𝒓𝒂𝒏 𝒐𝒖𝒕 𝒐𝒇 𝒉𝒂𝒓𝒅 𝒄𝒂𝒏𝒅𝒊𝒆𝒔. 𝑰 𝒕𝒉𝒐𝒖𝒈𝒉𝒕 𝑰 𝒄𝒐𝒖𝒍𝒅 𝒎𝒂𝒌𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒎 𝒍𝒂𝒔𝒕 𝒍𝒐𝒏𝒈𝒆𝒓.
^ Girl, same. Me too!
This was such a fun read. I gobbled this story up! I've never read a book where it's all journal entries, which I've now found out I absolutely love! This was such a creative way to jump timelines as our FMC Starwynn is experiencing her 300 years of banishment.
Starwynn our magicless elf does some shocking things. It shouldn't be shocking when you realize why she was banished but still it did. In reality, that is a reason what made this so good. I didn't expect to read about it and here I was reading about it 🤣 This ends up being an important part of who she was, is and will affect her future.
"𝒀𝒐𝒖'𝒗𝒆 𝒏𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒓 𝒃𝒆𝒆𝒏 𝒄𝒂𝒍𝒍𝒆𝒅 𝒖𝒈𝒍𝒚, 𝒉𝒂𝒗𝒆 𝒚𝒐𝒖?" 𝒔𝒉𝒆 𝒂𝒔𝒌𝒆𝒅, 𝒉𝒆𝒓 𝒆𝒚𝒆𝒔 𝒔𝒕𝒊𝒍𝒍 𝒄𝒓𝒊𝒏𝒌𝒍𝒆𝒅 𝒘𝒊𝒕𝒉 𝒈𝒍𝒆𝒆.
"𝑶𝒇 𝒄𝒐𝒖𝒓𝒔𝒆 𝒏𝒐𝒕, 𝒘𝒉𝒚 𝒘𝒐𝒖𝒍𝒅 𝒔𝒐𝒎𝒆𝒐𝒏𝒆 𝒍𝒊𝒆 𝒕𝒐 𝒎𝒚 𝒇𝒂𝒄𝒆 𝒍𝒊𝒌𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕?"
If you love Found Family, check this out. I am a sucker for found family and this didn't disappoint one bit. It had me laughing and crying! Y'all, I was getting my nails done in a salon crying!!
𝑰'𝒍𝒍 𝒈𝒍𝒂𝒅𝒍𝒚 𝒄𝒖𝒕 𝒐𝒇𝒇 𝒂 𝒇𝒊𝒏𝒈𝒆𝒓 𝒕𝒐 𝒍𝒂𝒚 𝒎𝒚 𝒍𝒊𝒑𝒔 𝒖𝒑𝒐𝒏 𝒚𝒐𝒖𝒓𝒔 𝒂 𝒕𝒉𝒐𝒖𝒔𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒕𝒊𝒎𝒆𝒔.
The romance was good. Considering Starwynn can live so long and the concept of time is different for her compared to humans, I loved how she took her time in the castle getting to know Xandria. I enjoyed reading their progress!
By the end of the story I loved Starwynn and the person she had become.
🐉Found Family
🐉Black FMC 30+
🐉Sapphic
🐉Frieren Meets Frankenstein
🐉Novella
^ Girl, same. Me too!
This was such a fun read. I gobbled this story up! I've never read a book where it's all journal entries, which I've now found out I absolutely love! This was such a creative way to jump timelines as our FMC Starwynn is experiencing her 300 years of banishment.
Starwynn our magicless elf does some shocking things. It shouldn't be shocking when you realize why she was banished but still it did. In reality, that is a reason what made this so good. I didn't expect to read about it and here I was reading about it 🤣 This ends up being an important part of who she was, is and will affect her future.
"𝒀𝒐𝒖'𝒗𝒆 𝒏𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒓 𝒃𝒆𝒆𝒏 𝒄𝒂𝒍𝒍𝒆𝒅 𝒖𝒈𝒍𝒚, 𝒉𝒂𝒗𝒆 𝒚𝒐𝒖?" 𝒔𝒉𝒆 𝒂𝒔𝒌𝒆𝒅, 𝒉𝒆𝒓 𝒆𝒚𝒆𝒔 𝒔𝒕𝒊𝒍𝒍 𝒄𝒓𝒊𝒏𝒌𝒍𝒆𝒅 𝒘𝒊𝒕𝒉 𝒈𝒍𝒆𝒆.
"𝑶𝒇 𝒄𝒐𝒖𝒓𝒔𝒆 𝒏𝒐𝒕, 𝒘𝒉𝒚 𝒘𝒐𝒖𝒍𝒅 𝒔𝒐𝒎𝒆𝒐𝒏𝒆 𝒍𝒊𝒆 𝒕𝒐 𝒎𝒚 𝒇𝒂𝒄𝒆 𝒍𝒊𝒌𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕?"
If you love Found Family, check this out. I am a sucker for found family and this didn't disappoint one bit. It had me laughing and crying! Y'all, I was getting my nails done in a salon crying!!
𝑰'𝒍𝒍 𝒈𝒍𝒂𝒅𝒍𝒚 𝒄𝒖𝒕 𝒐𝒇𝒇 𝒂 𝒇𝒊𝒏𝒈𝒆𝒓 𝒕𝒐 𝒍𝒂𝒚 𝒎𝒚 𝒍𝒊𝒑𝒔 𝒖𝒑𝒐𝒏 𝒚𝒐𝒖𝒓𝒔 𝒂 𝒕𝒉𝒐𝒖𝒔𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒕𝒊𝒎𝒆𝒔.
The romance was good. Considering Starwynn can live so long and the concept of time is different for her compared to humans, I loved how she took her time in the castle getting to know Xandria. I enjoyed reading their progress!
By the end of the story I loved Starwynn and the person she had become.
🐉Found Family
🐉Black FMC 30+
🐉Sapphic
🐉Frieren Meets Frankenstein
🐉Novella
May 11, 2026
Cozy, dark, addictive and so many raw emotions to be found in this fantasy. I want to call it a journal or a record as to how it is written out in entries. Starwynn’s banishment is a strange one. From healer to murderer, seeking the magic she doesn’t have…just to be accepted by her own Royal Family, and her people.
Princess Starwynn was banished for doing experiments on her own people to find the magic within. The drawings in the journal are explicit and very well drawn. They add a chemistry component one doesn’t expect. And then the descriptions of sexual encounters and her follow up experiments are done with such finesse.
Being immortal isn’t everything, and it’s even worse when you don’t have your people’s magic, and everyone around you keeps dying. Loved ones, friends gone and you’re left to grieve them all. All Starwynn needs is to understand this bond, right?
There are a lot of sexual experiences followed by murders and experiments, and these are all so eloquent and precise that you get to understand Starwynn medical mind. Her bonds and emotions become more complex than before her banishment.
I thoroughly enjoyed this journey. Although I have never watched Frieren Journeys End, I can appreciate the comparison due to seeing clips of the show while reading this journal!
Princess Starwynn was banished for doing experiments on her own people to find the magic within. The drawings in the journal are explicit and very well drawn. They add a chemistry component one doesn’t expect. And then the descriptions of sexual encounters and her follow up experiments are done with such finesse.
Being immortal isn’t everything, and it’s even worse when you don’t have your people’s magic, and everyone around you keeps dying. Loved ones, friends gone and you’re left to grieve them all. All Starwynn needs is to understand this bond, right?
There are a lot of sexual experiences followed by murders and experiments, and these are all so eloquent and precise that you get to understand Starwynn medical mind. Her bonds and emotions become more complex than before her banishment.
I thoroughly enjoyed this journey. Although I have never watched Frieren Journeys End, I can appreciate the comparison due to seeing clips of the show while reading this journal!
May 22, 2026
5⭐️
I went in expecting a fun, quirky story about an elf finding herself and ended up getting so much more. There were moments that made me grin ear to ear, and others that brought me to tears. I would read 300 more pages of this story just to get to spend more time with the characters and world.
I absolutely adored the FMC. It was so interesting to see the world through her eyes. The writer conveyed her emotions really well, and I felt deeply during all of the character’s highs and lows. The way she changed and grew based on the people she let into her life had me rooting for her every step of the way.
Each of the FMC’s relationships with the other characters felt unique and important, whether they were romantic or platonic or familial. For a novella-length story, the author did a great job of really building up each relationship and making them feel real and earned. I’ve read full-length novels that don’t handle such a wide arrange of relationships nearly half as well.
I found the writing style very charming. Most of the book is written like a series of journal entries made by the FMC, which I believe is what made it so easy to relate to her throughout the story.
Disclaimer: I received a free eARC of this book. No review was required to receive the eARC, and I’m leaving mine of my own volition. All thoughts and opinions expressed above are my own.
I went in expecting a fun, quirky story about an elf finding herself and ended up getting so much more. There were moments that made me grin ear to ear, and others that brought me to tears. I would read 300 more pages of this story just to get to spend more time with the characters and world.
I absolutely adored the FMC. It was so interesting to see the world through her eyes. The writer conveyed her emotions really well, and I felt deeply during all of the character’s highs and lows. The way she changed and grew based on the people she let into her life had me rooting for her every step of the way.
Each of the FMC’s relationships with the other characters felt unique and important, whether they were romantic or platonic or familial. For a novella-length story, the author did a great job of really building up each relationship and making them feel real and earned. I’ve read full-length novels that don’t handle such a wide arrange of relationships nearly half as well.
I found the writing style very charming. Most of the book is written like a series of journal entries made by the FMC, which I believe is what made it so easy to relate to her throughout the story.
Disclaimer: I received a free eARC of this book. No review was required to receive the eARC, and I’m leaving mine of my own volition. All thoughts and opinions expressed above are my own.
Review of advance copy received from Author
With poetic storytelling, epic world-building, and characters that burrowed into my marrow, The Magicless Elf gently cleaved my heart from my chest as I read.
Author KJ Bradford weaves actual magic throughout protagonist Starwynn's journey. While banished, Starwynn sets out to acquire magic and finds it in unexpected experiences, in all the ways one can love and be loved, and in self acceptance.
In an epistolary format, this book explores grief, many forms of love, Autism, motherhood, joy, heartbreak, and healing. Excelling at tugging at all the heartstrings, crafting almost painfully relatable characters, and writing a layered plot, Bradford writes for the readers who find home in the macabre and seek whimsy and joy in fantastical settings.
I had the absolute honor of reading this as both a a Beta and ARC read and thoroughly enjoyed it. I look forward to reading what Bradford writes next!
Author KJ Bradford weaves actual magic throughout protagonist Starwynn's journey. While banished, Starwynn sets out to acquire magic and finds it in unexpected experiences, in all the ways one can love and be loved, and in self acceptance.
In an epistolary format, this book explores grief, many forms of love, Autism, motherhood, joy, heartbreak, and healing. Excelling at tugging at all the heartstrings, crafting almost painfully relatable characters, and writing a layered plot, Bradford writes for the readers who find home in the macabre and seek whimsy and joy in fantastical settings.
I had the absolute honor of reading this as both a a Beta and ARC read and thoroughly enjoyed it. I look forward to reading what Bradford writes next!
May 20, 2026
Thank you to K.J. Bradford for a copy of this arc!
This was truly a spectacular read. Starwynn is such an interesting character, as we see how she grows into such a beautiful person ever since her banishment, even if in many people’s eyes she is a monster. Her growing love for those around her was heartbreaking yet felt so real, it is a shame that I cannot read this for the first time again because it was just gorgeous.
The story of her adventure really helped Starwynn shine, as we got to see her fascination with dissecting everything she comes across and how she writes it all down in her journals. I really enjoyed reading about the outcomes of her research and the people she met, it makes me excited to read more from this author!
The writing itself was also BEAUTIFUL! The prose was rich and flowery in a way that made me hooked, I could not put this book down and will be thinking about it for a long time!
This was truly a spectacular read. Starwynn is such an interesting character, as we see how she grows into such a beautiful person ever since her banishment, even if in many people’s eyes she is a monster. Her growing love for those around her was heartbreaking yet felt so real, it is a shame that I cannot read this for the first time again because it was just gorgeous.
The story of her adventure really helped Starwynn shine, as we got to see her fascination with dissecting everything she comes across and how she writes it all down in her journals. I really enjoyed reading about the outcomes of her research and the people she met, it makes me excited to read more from this author!
The writing itself was also BEAUTIFUL! The prose was rich and flowery in a way that made me hooked, I could not put this book down and will be thinking about it for a long time!
Review of advance copy received from Author
I received this book as an ARC.
This was a weird read.
This book is the story of a monster who meet humains and slowly discovere her own "humanity" in the process. It's the story of a child with terrible parents who will become a better person once she finaly discovere (planotic) love. Aka: when people finally show her what love is.
I'm not gonna lie, the first part of this book is rather disturbing. There is a lot of murder from the protagoniste part. And it's not just to people who "deserve it". The MC is a serial killer who enjoy dissecting people in a scientific kind of way.
The 2nd part (out of 3) of this book made me cry. The MC discovere love and grief and death.
Then came the last part. It's a little bit spicy and I didn't care much about it.
In any case, it was a nice read. Even if some part of it where really disturbing.
This was a weird read.
This book is the story of a monster who meet humains and slowly discovere her own "humanity" in the process. It's the story of a child with terrible parents who will become a better person once she finaly discovere (planotic) love. Aka: when people finally show her what love is.
I'm not gonna lie, the first part of this book is rather disturbing. There is a lot of murder from the protagoniste part. And it's not just to people who "deserve it". The MC is a serial killer who enjoy dissecting people in a scientific kind of way.
The 2nd part (out of 3) of this book made me cry. The MC discovere love and grief and death.
Then came the last part. It's a little bit spicy and I didn't care much about it.
In any case, it was a nice read. Even if some part of it where really disturbing.
Review of advance copy received from Author
Whats the deal with true immortality?
The Magicless Elf leaves the unchanging, sociopathic apathy of the elvish lands (banished), discovering the 70% of the world that was beyond its walls.
Raised by parents who knew nothing of kindness, so is an absolute terror. Her thirst for knowledge and terrifying skill with blade and bow make her an unsettling POV.
Putting the events into a series of vignettes, via diary entries, letters, newspaper articles etc gives the reader time to appreciate the growth and aging of the MC and the side characters.
She learns so much about humanity and life that when she faces a mirror, it is shocking to both reader and MC.
The Deal with True Immortality is that it *is forever*. How would you like to spend it?
The Magicless Elf leaves the unchanging, sociopathic apathy of the elvish lands (banished), discovering the 70% of the world that was beyond its walls.
Raised by parents who knew nothing of kindness, so is an absolute terror. Her thirst for knowledge and terrifying skill with blade and bow make her an unsettling POV.
Putting the events into a series of vignettes, via diary entries, letters, newspaper articles etc gives the reader time to appreciate the growth and aging of the MC and the side characters.
She learns so much about humanity and life that when she faces a mirror, it is shocking to both reader and MC.
The Deal with True Immortality is that it *is forever*. How would you like to spend it?
Review of advance copy received from Author
Most accurate rating would probably be 4.25-4.5 (I literally finished about an hour ago, still processing 😂)
Anyways, despite the author’s note & content warnings, I was admittedly unprepared for how dark the first part of the book was—which I think is on me.
That said, I really enjoyed this book. We got: a sapphic romance, characters over 30, monster/dark fantasy, found family, and self-discovery.
It’s a quick read, journal entry style which I thought was fun!
I try to avoid saying too much in my reviews, cause either you read the blurb and you wanna go for it or you don’t, but, I’d encourage checking it out! Will also be reading the rest of the series now (loosely interconnected series, all the books can be read as standalones)
Thank you to the author for the eARC !!!
Anyways, despite the author’s note & content warnings, I was admittedly unprepared for how dark the first part of the book was—which I think is on me.
That said, I really enjoyed this book. We got: a sapphic romance, characters over 30, monster/dark fantasy, found family, and self-discovery.
It’s a quick read, journal entry style which I thought was fun!
I try to avoid saying too much in my reviews, cause either you read the blurb and you wanna go for it or you don’t, but, I’d encourage checking it out! Will also be reading the rest of the series now (loosely interconnected series, all the books can be read as standalones)
Thank you to the author for the eARC !!!
Review of advance copy received from Author
First, thank you to the author for this ARC.
It was hard for me to connect and be drawn into this book, but I was able to push through. I think the journal entry format was a bit of the issue for me and made it harder for the storytelling to flow for me — but I was able to push through.
I did enjoy the dark essence that this book has because I think it was a bit unexpected in a way which might not be someone else’s cup of tea, but enjoyable at least to me. I do like that the format of the journals felt a bit personal and you could see the character development within the MC as the story went on.
While this storytelling style may not have been for me, I do think this story was nice!
It was hard for me to connect and be drawn into this book, but I was able to push through. I think the journal entry format was a bit of the issue for me and made it harder for the storytelling to flow for me — but I was able to push through.
I did enjoy the dark essence that this book has because I think it was a bit unexpected in a way which might not be someone else’s cup of tea, but enjoyable at least to me. I do like that the format of the journals felt a bit personal and you could see the character development within the MC as the story went on.
While this storytelling style may not have been for me, I do think this story was nice!
Review of advance copy received from Author
Plot or Character Driven: Character
Strong character development: Yes
Loveable characters: Yes
Diverse cast of characters: Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes
A diary style story in the eyes of a lonely immortal, going through years - centuries - to learn what she enjoys and what she wants. Follow along as she endures the cost of morality, heartbreak, and a tentative step back into love. Live is full of adventures and experiences, what will you do to shape yours?
Strong character development: Yes
Loveable characters: Yes
Diverse cast of characters: Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes
A diary style story in the eyes of a lonely immortal, going through years - centuries - to learn what she enjoys and what she wants. Follow along as she endures the cost of morality, heartbreak, and a tentative step back into love. Live is full of adventures and experiences, what will you do to shape yours?
Review of advance copy received from Author
Thank you K.J. for an arc copy if the Magicless Elf in exchange for an honest review.
The Magicless Elf was such an interesting story. I loved the formatting and the keeping of time to know how much time had passed for our immortal main character.
I thought the characters were fun, had good growth and overall it was a fun book about immortality, what someone does while banished, love and loss.
The Magicless Elf was such an interesting story. I loved the formatting and the keeping of time to know how much time had passed for our immortal main character.
I thought the characters were fun, had good growth and overall it was a fun book about immortality, what someone does while banished, love and loss.
Review of advance copy received from Author
Now, I love an epistolary as much as the next person, but combine it with this scientific/clinical pov and what you get is pretty much a masterpiece. I love The Enchanted Forest novellas and this one is no exception.
It was heartbreaking and beautiful and I couldn't put it down.
Xandria is the best monster gf anyone could ask for. 💚
It was heartbreaking and beautiful and I couldn't put it down.
Xandria is the best monster gf anyone could ask for. 💚
Review of advance copy received from Author
This book was literally so good. For alot of the book, it is in the format of journal entries of an elf who was banished from their home land because of their.. odd.. proclivities. You get to hear about her journey as she finds out about herself and learns what love is in many different ways. This book made me laugh, made me absolutely SOB, and even made me blush.
Review of advance copy received from Author
I love everything wrong with Starwynn 😂 and the line "Will you remember me after I turn into flowers?" has been forever etched in my brain 🥹
Review of advance copy received from Author
A beautiful angsty dark romance. Loved it from the beginning to the end.
Review of advance copy received from Author
I was very lucky to receive a ARC read, and i just started getting into fantasy and i will say i wasn’t too big on this read. I almost had to DNF it just wasn’t that interesting to me.
May 8, 2026
I loved this!
Starwynn is..I just have no words for her. I just want to be a fly on the wall of her life a little longer. Captivating! Her incessant need to know how things and beings work, the way she documents her findings ("First occurrence of sex with a human male was mildly more disappointing than sex with an elf male.."), and watching her grow into such a self assured bad ass elf, all of it, loveeee.
Starwynn is..I just have no words for her. I just want to be a fly on the wall of her life a little longer. Captivating! Her incessant need to know how things and beings work, the way she documents her findings ("First occurrence of sex with a human male was mildly more disappointing than sex with an elf male.."), and watching her grow into such a self assured bad ass elf, all of it, loveeee.
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