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On the edge of a mystical border called the Limen, close to a beautiful canal-laced city, a humble candlemaker rescues a child whom he raises as his apprentice. Years pass and the child's unusual talents are revealed, the gentle art of candlemaking slowly transforming into something far more sinister. Lingering in the shadows, enemies watch and wait - a vengeful aristocrat, an exotic queen and the lethal creatures known only as the Morte Whisperers. They hunger after the child's ancient magic and will do anything to control it - betray, lie, manipulate. Even murder. A story of intrigue, deadly magic and a love so deep it transcends life itself.
411 pages, Paperback
First published October 1, 2009
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 78 reviews
August 11, 2016
There’s been quite a bit of buzz in the Australian spec fic scene lately over the recent release of Tallow, the first book in Karen Brooks’ new fantasy series, The Curse of the Bond Riders.
Brooks is known in Australia as an academic, cultural commentator and young adult fantasy author. Tallow is her latest offering, and the first of her work I’ve read.
Set in a city very much like Renaissance Venice, the novel tells the story of Tallow, an orphaned child raised by a lowly candle-maker (hence the child’s name), who also happens to be the last surviving member of a mystical race long ago banished from the canal city.
The child becomes a teenager and latent talents are revealed, watched from the shadows by men and women who each need the child’s talents for their own ambiguous ends.
The candle-maker and his frequently violent mother go to suffocating lengths to hide Tallow’s true identity, with the resultant consequences often frustrating. But those consequences also create the ever-present tension that continues to build throughout the novel.
The key drivers of the plot aren’t particularly original – an abused and isolated orphan with hidden talents; an ancient mystical religion suppressed by a patriarchal religion; confusion caused by hidden identities – but Brooks manages to deliver them in a fresh and new way.
And while the historical elements and add texture to the story, it’s the fantasy world that provides the hook.
Brooks has a clear talent for weaving elements of traditional Venetian society and politics with the dark, multi-layered fantasy world she’s created. The writing is solid, the storytelling rich with interesting twists, and the mythology is cleverly influenced by not only history, but also the Italian language itself.
Brooks offers several points of view from various narrative characters, which helps keep track of the increasingly layered plot. (Although, Tallow’s changing point of view is occasionally distracting – sometimes first person, sometimes third).
By the end of the first book, Tallow’s world has been turned upside down, and a series of clever twists makes it hard for the young orphan to tell friend from foe.
Much happens in this first book, which ends with a twist that sets the scene for an intriguing second book, assumedly due out this year.
Brooks is known in Australia as an academic, cultural commentator and young adult fantasy author. Tallow is her latest offering, and the first of her work I’ve read.
Set in a city very much like Renaissance Venice, the novel tells the story of Tallow, an orphaned child raised by a lowly candle-maker (hence the child’s name), who also happens to be the last surviving member of a mystical race long ago banished from the canal city.
The child becomes a teenager and latent talents are revealed, watched from the shadows by men and women who each need the child’s talents for their own ambiguous ends.
The candle-maker and his frequently violent mother go to suffocating lengths to hide Tallow’s true identity, with the resultant consequences often frustrating. But those consequences also create the ever-present tension that continues to build throughout the novel.
The key drivers of the plot aren’t particularly original – an abused and isolated orphan with hidden talents; an ancient mystical religion suppressed by a patriarchal religion; confusion caused by hidden identities – but Brooks manages to deliver them in a fresh and new way.
And while the historical elements and add texture to the story, it’s the fantasy world that provides the hook.
Brooks has a clear talent for weaving elements of traditional Venetian society and politics with the dark, multi-layered fantasy world she’s created. The writing is solid, the storytelling rich with interesting twists, and the mythology is cleverly influenced by not only history, but also the Italian language itself.
Brooks offers several points of view from various narrative characters, which helps keep track of the increasingly layered plot. (Although, Tallow’s changing point of view is occasionally distracting – sometimes first person, sometimes third).
By the end of the first book, Tallow’s world has been turned upside down, and a series of clever twists makes it hard for the young orphan to tell friend from foe.
Much happens in this first book, which ends with a twist that sets the scene for an intriguing second book, assumedly due out this year.
May 4, 2012
Wow... I haven't had this little fun with a book in a long time.
Months ago I got three quarters of the way through Tallow, and couldn't make myself turn another page. I finally picked it up again and forced my way through the rest of it. It was unpleasant.
For the life of me I can't figure out why I didn't like Tallow. It's everything I normally love in a novel: mystery, intrigue, magic, and, of course, fantasy. It's well written enough, has an original setting, interesting characters, but I didn't enjoy reading it. It felt like a chore.
I enjoyed the side characters a lot more than I liked the main ones. The clearly evil queen (Zarina?) plotting in the background, and Giaconda (Giovanna? G-something-a?) were more interesting than Tallow or Pillar to me... As was Tallow's pet dog, Cane.
The cast are interestingly multi-faceted. Pillar and Katina seem like good guys... But are they really? Pillar, for all his seeming kindness is a slave to his apathy and lack of backbone, and Katina seems to be harboring secrets that could cause Tallow a world of trouble. The characters are actually convincing, flawed, and (for once in a fantasy novel) not entirely archetypes or cliches. They have their good and bad, and I appreciated the way they conducted themselves (true to character), and their reasoning. Whether it was love, depression, curiosity--they were well-rounded and convincingly motivated.
The characters are brilliant, painted in subtle shades of grey, artfully handled, and depicted uncompromisingly. The problem was I didn't find myself liking any of them.
The book takes an interesting approach to story telling, with narration divided between Tallow's first person POV, and third person narration following various other characters. It was fascinating, allowing Brooks to show us a lot more of the world while still giving an intimate personal account, yet I wonder if this wasn't half my problem. I'm also not sure I bought Tallow's first person POV as being a convincing voice, or one that I could relate to.
The story is set in a beautifully imagined fictional Venice called 'Serenissima', and the pages are littered with what I'll call 'italianisms'. Dottore (Doctor), Padre (Priest/Father), Vino (wine). It adds to the feeling of an alternate version of the beautiful Italian city... but it also bothered me. Is the book in english or not? Does this mean they speak English, littering a few Italian words throughout? I know it's me being petty, but it's another thing that I was constantly aware of, always pulling me back out of the narrative, and stopping me from being able to immerse myself in this gorgeously imagined world.
Tallow is a slow paced novel, and I found it downright stressful. The book also ends on what is clearly a series setup (the cover, saying 'Curse of the Bondriders, Book 1 ', alluded to the fact, too :P), which is fine by me, but I want some sort of satisfaction after slogging through 400 pages of watching the main character getting the sh*t kicked out of them (physically and emotionally, not to mention the long term psychological issues this is kid gonna end up with) in excruciating detail. There is no closure at the end of this story. I hate it when books do this to me. The book has promise, and I really want to see how the series pans out; I'm just not sure I could make myself read another of the series.
I wanted to like Tallow. I should have liked Tallow. But for some reason I still can't understand, I did not like Tallow.
It's well written, full of heart aching beauty and magic... but I had to force myself to finish it so I could justify the time I spent reading the first three quarters of it months ago.
So, Tallow? I'm sorry... It's not you. It's me.
Regardless of my particular experience with the novel, I'd definitely recommend it to fantasy fans, and not just fans of YA fantasy. Tallow is a good book. Just not my cup of tea.
Months ago I got three quarters of the way through Tallow, and couldn't make myself turn another page. I finally picked it up again and forced my way through the rest of it. It was unpleasant.
For the life of me I can't figure out why I didn't like Tallow. It's everything I normally love in a novel: mystery, intrigue, magic, and, of course, fantasy. It's well written enough, has an original setting, interesting characters, but I didn't enjoy reading it. It felt like a chore.
I enjoyed the side characters a lot more than I liked the main ones. The clearly evil queen (Zarina?) plotting in the background, and Giaconda (Giovanna? G-something-a?) were more interesting than Tallow or Pillar to me... As was Tallow's pet dog, Cane.
The cast are interestingly multi-faceted. Pillar and Katina seem like good guys... But are they really? Pillar, for all his seeming kindness is a slave to his apathy and lack of backbone, and Katina seems to be harboring secrets that could cause Tallow a world of trouble. The characters are actually convincing, flawed, and (for once in a fantasy novel) not entirely archetypes or cliches. They have their good and bad, and I appreciated the way they conducted themselves (true to character), and their reasoning. Whether it was love, depression, curiosity--they were well-rounded and convincingly motivated.
The characters are brilliant, painted in subtle shades of grey, artfully handled, and depicted uncompromisingly. The problem was I didn't find myself liking any of them.
The book takes an interesting approach to story telling, with narration divided between Tallow's first person POV, and third person narration following various other characters. It was fascinating, allowing Brooks to show us a lot more of the world while still giving an intimate personal account, yet I wonder if this wasn't half my problem. I'm also not sure I bought Tallow's first person POV as being a convincing voice, or one that I could relate to.
The story is set in a beautifully imagined fictional Venice called 'Serenissima', and the pages are littered with what I'll call 'italianisms'. Dottore (Doctor), Padre (Priest/Father), Vino (wine). It adds to the feeling of an alternate version of the beautiful Italian city... but it also bothered me. Is the book in english or not? Does this mean they speak English, littering a few Italian words throughout? I know it's me being petty, but it's another thing that I was constantly aware of, always pulling me back out of the narrative, and stopping me from being able to immerse myself in this gorgeously imagined world.
Tallow is a slow paced novel, and I found it downright stressful. The book also ends on what is clearly a series setup (the cover, saying 'Curse of the Bondriders, Book 1 ', alluded to the fact, too :P), which is fine by me, but I want some sort of satisfaction after slogging through 400 pages of watching the main character getting the sh*t kicked out of them (physically and emotionally, not to mention the long term psychological issues this is kid gonna end up with) in excruciating detail. There is no closure at the end of this story. I hate it when books do this to me. The book has promise, and I really want to see how the series pans out; I'm just not sure I could make myself read another of the series.
I wanted to like Tallow. I should have liked Tallow. But for some reason I still can't understand, I did not like Tallow.
It's well written, full of heart aching beauty and magic... but I had to force myself to finish it so I could justify the time I spent reading the first three quarters of it months ago.
So, Tallow? I'm sorry... It's not you. It's me.
Regardless of my particular experience with the novel, I'd definitely recommend it to fantasy fans, and not just fans of YA fantasy. Tallow is a good book. Just not my cup of tea.
November 17, 2019
I really wanted to finish this book, I got to 50% but I just couldn't finish. I didn't like or engage with any of the characters. I usually love fantasy an I'm more than willing to suspend disbelief, but the world building fell short for me and I just didn't get what the world or the story was on about.
September 6, 2015
Tallow is an Estrattore - someone who can extract emotions from or distill them into, a person or object. She is believed to be the last surviving Estrattore and the key to a prophesy that says she will free her kind. Yes free her kind, even though she's believed to be the last one.. so I guess she can't be.
Bond riders are humans, or more precisely ex-humans, who have pledged themselves to something or some cause in exchange for their lives. Their souls get split and they become kind of immortal in that they can rejuvenate themselves by crossing into the Limen - a kind of mystical border where non human thingy's dwell and time doesn't exist - so that they don't age, but they can still be killed while in the normal world, .....I think?
Estrattore's were once free until a new king decided they were heretics and started killing them off in the name of religion around three hundred years ago.
A Bondrider discovers baby Tallow hidden inside the Limen and dies trying to keep her from these Morte Whisperer thingy's (it's not made clear what they are) but not before he crosses through the Limen into the temporal world and handballs her to Pillar, a kind but weak bloke in his forties who still lives with his hateful drunk of a mum who bashes Tallow all the time for no good reason.
Tallow grows up hiding from the world, pretending she is a boy. She manages to remain a nice person despite the fact that those around her are either cruel and small minded or really nice but too pathetic to stand up for her.
She gets to around 14yrs without knowing what she is but when her powers start to really kick in and she gets bashed up a lot by the drunk mum for making weird things happen, she starts to put two and two together.
Then one day she is discovered by a Bondrider who trains her to understand and control her powers. Finally someone nice who's also tough enough to look out for her. But for some unknown reason the Bondrider stays away from the Limen so long that she ends up at deaths door and Tallow and Pillar have to put themselves in potentially grave danger to get her back to safety... At least that's how it was built up, in the end there was nothing to it. Anyway, the only positive role model in Tallows life is gone.. (Her twin brother was the one who saved baby Tallow and he was "consumed by time" and died when he crossed over but none of the other Bondriders seem to be in such danger so the whole crossing over thing is seemingly only dangerous if it's convenient to the plot).
Add in a power hungry queen with an evil agenda, some nobiles (not a spelling mistake) who have fallen from grace and see Tallow as their ticket back to the big time, a Bondrider Council with unclear but doubtful motives where Tallow is concerned, an entire populous with an unaccountably vicious mob mentality and you've got the depressing tale of Tallows' miserable existence, heavily loaded with weak or hateful characters written especially, it seems, to appeal to the minds of our young adult population.
That's not entirely true. There is one slither of hope for Tallow's happiness. One friend who doesn't have a selfish agenda. A cool guy who's suffering from sexual confusion because he can't tell she's really a girl, poor thing. But then he (((. ))). Oh well, I'm sure he'll be (((. ))).
The writing - I thought the author couldn't decide whether to write in first or third person, so she switched between them from one chapter to the next. I personally found it off putting and I truly thought it was a weird oversight but I've since been informed that it was the authors narrative choice. It's like some nosy, random nobody swoops in uninvited to narrate what Tallows' perfectly capable of saying herself. Most off putting.
In Summation. Tallow and friends are not strong enough or likeable enough to counterbalance the overwhelming shittiness of everyone and everything else in this miserable world so what's the point? This is a bleak read.
Finally. The world building was cool, original and imaginative and it was full of promise but there were holes. When you're inventing a whole new world, the reader can't be expected to have assumed knowledge, we need a solid underlying framework for the fantasy to flourish in our minds. There were mentions of beasties and ghoulies and magiks and such that had me flicking back through the pages going 'wha'?
Bond riders are humans, or more precisely ex-humans, who have pledged themselves to something or some cause in exchange for their lives. Their souls get split and they become kind of immortal in that they can rejuvenate themselves by crossing into the Limen - a kind of mystical border where non human thingy's dwell and time doesn't exist - so that they don't age, but they can still be killed while in the normal world, .....I think?
Estrattore's were once free until a new king decided they were heretics and started killing them off in the name of religion around three hundred years ago.
A Bondrider discovers baby Tallow hidden inside the Limen and dies trying to keep her from these Morte Whisperer thingy's (it's not made clear what they are) but not before he crosses through the Limen into the temporal world and handballs her to Pillar, a kind but weak bloke in his forties who still lives with his hateful drunk of a mum who bashes Tallow all the time for no good reason.
Tallow grows up hiding from the world, pretending she is a boy. She manages to remain a nice person despite the fact that those around her are either cruel and small minded or really nice but too pathetic to stand up for her.
She gets to around 14yrs without knowing what she is but when her powers start to really kick in and she gets bashed up a lot by the drunk mum for making weird things happen, she starts to put two and two together.
Then one day she is discovered by a Bondrider who trains her to understand and control her powers. Finally someone nice who's also tough enough to look out for her. But for some unknown reason the Bondrider stays away from the Limen so long that she ends up at deaths door and Tallow and Pillar have to put themselves in potentially grave danger to get her back to safety... At least that's how it was built up, in the end there was nothing to it. Anyway, the only positive role model in Tallows life is gone.. (Her twin brother was the one who saved baby Tallow and he was "consumed by time" and died when he crossed over but none of the other Bondriders seem to be in such danger so the whole crossing over thing is seemingly only dangerous if it's convenient to the plot).
Add in a power hungry queen with an evil agenda, some nobiles (not a spelling mistake) who have fallen from grace and see Tallow as their ticket back to the big time, a Bondrider Council with unclear but doubtful motives where Tallow is concerned, an entire populous with an unaccountably vicious mob mentality and you've got the depressing tale of Tallows' miserable existence, heavily loaded with weak or hateful characters written especially, it seems, to appeal to the minds of our young adult population.
That's not entirely true. There is one slither of hope for Tallow's happiness. One friend who doesn't have a selfish agenda. A cool guy who's suffering from sexual confusion because he can't tell she's really a girl, poor thing. But then he (((. ))). Oh well, I'm sure he'll be (((. ))).
The writing - I thought the author couldn't decide whether to write in first or third person, so she switched between them from one chapter to the next. I personally found it off putting and I truly thought it was a weird oversight but I've since been informed that it was the authors narrative choice. It's like some nosy, random nobody swoops in uninvited to narrate what Tallows' perfectly capable of saying herself. Most off putting.
In Summation. Tallow and friends are not strong enough or likeable enough to counterbalance the overwhelming shittiness of everyone and everything else in this miserable world so what's the point? This is a bleak read.
Finally. The world building was cool, original and imaginative and it was full of promise but there were holes. When you're inventing a whole new world, the reader can't be expected to have assumed knowledge, we need a solid underlying framework for the fantasy to flourish in our minds. There were mentions of beasties and ghoulies and magiks and such that had me flicking back through the pages going 'wha'?
November 23, 2010
I liked the concelpt of this book, I felt it had real potential! But after slugging through page after page of making candles and how they change your life, I could not bring myself to finish it. All though I don't agree with leaving a book unfinished I couldn't bring myself to continue reading as it was a total bore. However, this is only my opinion, it is not the sort of book I would usually read, and only decided to read it as it was highly recommended. I, however have no interest in reading the process of making candles and practicing an art which is technically illegal and disgraces those you love.
April 26, 2010
What a great story. The characters were very believable and the historical fantasy atmosphere of Venice and the canals inspired me to find out more about the culture of this time and setting.
December 1, 2020
Abandoned at 60+% Couldn't continue with the audio.
May 9, 2021
Love love love this book. Read it as a kid and was so consumed
February 18, 2010
I give props to Karen Brooks’s imagination. I love the idea of candlewax imbued with magic, which is released when lit. The book is set in Serenissima or old world Venice, and it’s always refreshing to read a fantasy novel with an unusual setting. It’s a world of artisans, political intrigues and superstitions into which Brooks weaves a story of magic, prophesies and immortal beings.
I know this is my personal reading bias coming through, but by the end of the book I felt that Brooks laid on a little more anguish than was necessary for Tallow. It could be that forthcoming books will provide more balance, but I was left very much unsatisfied by Tallow’s ending. The book is first in a series, and there isn’t much of an attempt to tie up loose ends.
Tallow is one of those books I find very difficult to evaluate. I struggled to keep my interest for most of the first half of the book, yet I couldn’t put it down from page 200 onwards. Brooks shows flashes of the kind of lyrical prose I love in my fantasy novels, and the world of Serenissima was something new and exciting for me. I think some of the issues I had with Brooks’s writing stem from being an adult reading a book targeted towards children and young adults, who I think may well be enchanted by this new series.
For a more detailed review, see Book Thingo.
I know this is my personal reading bias coming through, but by the end of the book I felt that Brooks laid on a little more anguish than was necessary for Tallow. It could be that forthcoming books will provide more balance, but I was left very much unsatisfied by Tallow’s ending. The book is first in a series, and there isn’t much of an attempt to tie up loose ends.
Tallow is one of those books I find very difficult to evaluate. I struggled to keep my interest for most of the first half of the book, yet I couldn’t put it down from page 200 onwards. Brooks shows flashes of the kind of lyrical prose I love in my fantasy novels, and the world of Serenissima was something new and exciting for me. I think some of the issues I had with Brooks’s writing stem from being an adult reading a book targeted towards children and young adults, who I think may well be enchanted by this new series.
For a more detailed review, see Book Thingo.
December 4, 2011
This is the first book I've never finished. I started reading it like a year ago and thought I'd put it down for a little while and come back to it later. But I couldn't bring myself to do it. I have this thing that I hate not finishing books because I think that maybe the rest will be better and I will actually like the book in the end. But I decided not to pick it back up in the end because there are books out there that I'll enjoy reading a lot more than this one. I'm really disappointed though because I thought from the blurb that this book would become one of my favourites. But I just couldn't get into the story. It was maybe a tad bit too bizarre for me. But of course, this is only my opinion and you should definitely give the book a read and make your own judgement on it :)
November 10, 2012
I persevered and unfortunately it wasn't that great. It clearly states that it is a part of a series but it didn't offer any resolutions or any great progress in the story whatsoever. Several characters motivations weren't really made clear and so I couldn't really get in to the story line. Not a series I will be continuing with, and thats saying someething.
April 9, 2011
This one kind of went no where for a while, then got interesting in the second half, and then ended on a abrupt cliffhanger, which annoyed me. Even books that are part of a series can at least wrap things up a little instead of ending in the middle of an interesting part.
October 5, 2011
Ugh.
This is one of those books I literally had to bully myself into keeping on reading it.
:(
It took me nearly two weeks to read it! Two weeks!
D:
I respect that others found it immensely entertaining, but I have not been so bored with a book since Drowned Wednesday.
This is one of those books I literally had to bully myself into keeping on reading it.
:(
It took me nearly two weeks to read it! Two weeks!
D:
I respect that others found it immensely entertaining, but I have not been so bored with a book since Drowned Wednesday.
June 4, 2014
I didn't finish this book I got a 3rd of the way through and hated it. Not much more I can say, it was unpleasant and I felt very depressed thinking it was going to be a great historical nov r l but it let me down.
January 3, 2017
didn't necessarily 'give up' on reading it, but got about half way and had to return it... that was 2 years ago.. interesting, but not high on my list to read in order to finish.
July 8, 2012
Loved it & am looking forward to Votive.
October 17, 2012
I did not really enjoy this book, the begining I though that it was alright though by the time I was halfway through the book I had totally lost interest in it.
November 25, 2024
Tallow is a girl who was taken in by a candle maker and his mother, Quinn.
When Quinn is drunk she hits out at Tallow. The child must keep her head down, not raise her face to customers, and not show that she is different. Tallow is covered in bruises and has broken bones. (I can't help but feel her torment.) The Bond Rider and teacher of how to use her talents has left her alone with Pillar and Quinn. The dog Cane is her companion while Dante takes her on exploits at night to see the rest of Seressima.
Tallow sees the deathly creatures in many districts clutching at the lifeblood of the many citizens, who die not long after. She can't warn anyone. When Dante's grandfather becomes gravely ill, Tallow rends candles and gives them healing powers. She is delighted that the old man recovers and Dante's family is safe.
Quinn, on the other hand, beats Tallow because she disobeyed them when Tallow goes to Dante with the candles. She flaunts the sickness curfew and Quinn and Pillar's instructions not to leave the home. She's banned from the workshop and her beautiful golden glasses are smashed. She can't venture out without them to protect people seeing her silver eyes.
When Quinn becomes ill she forbids Tallow to use her candles. Pillar watches his mother die. He decides it's too dangerous for them to allow her shelter and he sends her away. Tallow leaves with Cane and finds a temporary home with Dante's family. Dante still doesn't know she is a girl but her aunt does.
People start to put two and two together. Tallow the apprentice to the candlemaker and now assistant in the chandlery is the golden-child who saved Dante's family from death. Crowds gather outside the shop and call for her to go out. The fear of discovering her Tallents is too much to bear. Tallow runs from the shop. Dante follows with Cane.
The ending of the book is no less climatic having read it from the second book 'Votive' retelling. A Bond Rider on a horse charges across the bridge Tallow has begun to cross to flee the crowd. The horse crushes Cane and Dante under its hooves. In his dying breath, Dante tells Tallow he loves her. She begs him not to die. The crowd presses in and Tallow jumps into the water below.
Unbeknown to Tallow, a gondola has been following her. The occupants rescue her and she is saved. But the man and woman, who rescue her, have an agenda of their own. All Tallow knows, is that Dante and Cane are dead. She accepts the rescue in the hope of finding a new life.
When Quinn is drunk she hits out at Tallow. The child must keep her head down, not raise her face to customers, and not show that she is different. Tallow is covered in bruises and has broken bones. (I can't help but feel her torment.) The Bond Rider and teacher of how to use her talents has left her alone with Pillar and Quinn. The dog Cane is her companion while Dante takes her on exploits at night to see the rest of Seressima.
Tallow sees the deathly creatures in many districts clutching at the lifeblood of the many citizens, who die not long after. She can't warn anyone. When Dante's grandfather becomes gravely ill, Tallow rends candles and gives them healing powers. She is delighted that the old man recovers and Dante's family is safe.
Quinn, on the other hand, beats Tallow because she disobeyed them when Tallow goes to Dante with the candles. She flaunts the sickness curfew and Quinn and Pillar's instructions not to leave the home. She's banned from the workshop and her beautiful golden glasses are smashed. She can't venture out without them to protect people seeing her silver eyes.
When Quinn becomes ill she forbids Tallow to use her candles. Pillar watches his mother die. He decides it's too dangerous for them to allow her shelter and he sends her away. Tallow leaves with Cane and finds a temporary home with Dante's family. Dante still doesn't know she is a girl but her aunt does.
People start to put two and two together. Tallow the apprentice to the candlemaker and now assistant in the chandlery is the golden-child who saved Dante's family from death. Crowds gather outside the shop and call for her to go out. The fear of discovering her Tallents is too much to bear. Tallow runs from the shop. Dante follows with Cane.
The ending of the book is no less climatic having read it from the second book 'Votive' retelling. A Bond Rider on a horse charges across the bridge Tallow has begun to cross to flee the crowd. The horse crushes Cane and Dante under its hooves. In his dying breath, Dante tells Tallow he loves her. She begs him not to die. The crowd presses in and Tallow jumps into the water below.
Unbeknown to Tallow, a gondola has been following her. The occupants rescue her and she is saved. But the man and woman, who rescue her, have an agenda of their own. All Tallow knows, is that Dante and Cane are dead. She accepts the rescue in the hope of finding a new life.
November 23, 2025
I read this book years ago, I came across it in a book store amongst the hoards of vampire/angel/demon novels. Twilight had just gained insane popularity and the fantasy scene had exploded. But perched at the back of the shelf, with an unassuming (possibly daggy at the time) cover was Tallow. It was so refreshing to read a book with new ideas and new world building, also broaching subjects that (at the time) were certainly not “woke” I adored reading this book, long before e-readers were a thing, I anticipated the sequel, trawling through stores for years, asking at the counter, receiving blank stares, but eventually gave up. I still own it and possibly will forever. It developed my reading brain away from juvenile texts, that all tell the same story wrapped up in a different set of fangs and opened my eyes to a new world of fantasy.
December 17, 2017
I enjoyed listening to this book, but I can easily say at the end there was zero point of me reading it. Nothing really happens. From the sounds of it, all the exciting things happen in the next book.
This book was mainly following our MC, Tallow while she/he stumbled about the place making the same mistakes over and over again, while she/he maintained her crazy optimistic POV.
There was also an interesting make-out scene towards the end. When I say interesting, I mean THE WORST MAKE OUT SCENE I HAVE EVER READ. Impressive really, I've read some truly terrible ones.
This book was mainly following our MC, Tallow while she/he stumbled about the place making the same mistakes over and over again, while she/he maintained her crazy optimistic POV.
There was also an interesting make-out scene towards the end. When I say interesting, I mean THE WORST MAKE OUT SCENE I HAVE EVER READ. Impressive really, I've read some truly terrible ones.
December 27, 2022
This has been on my tbr since 2011. Finally got around to reading it and honestly, it was a little underwhelming. I just feel like the stakes weren't very high, and throughout it I just felt… 'meh'. The interweaving plotlines didn't feel fully realised or even all that interesting and the writing was simple. It wasn't by any means a terrible book, just plain. Will I read the sequel? Maybe; we'll see how I feel in the new year.
October 30, 2025
I picked this up on my eBook without realising it was a book I read a long time ago. But I'm glad I did. Karen Brooks has a really interesting style, moving seamlessly from first to third person. And the story is immersive. Lots of magic and the exploration of how it feels to be 'other'.
Thoroughly enjoyed the re-read and have moved straight on to the sequel, Votive.
Thoroughly enjoyed the re-read and have moved straight on to the sequel, Votive.
September 2, 2021
Loved this series, this authors ability to collide dystopian adventure with such clarity and realism makes a feast for the mind. Fell in love with the characters and will never think of candles or Venice the same again. Magical and enchanting- an all time favourite!
August 13, 2025
Great world building. I thought Tallow was a great character and enjoyed the development of their skills and understanding of the limitations they should impose on themselves.
I’ll follow up with the remaining two books over a little time, but recommend this trilogy based on the first book..
I’ll follow up with the remaining two books over a little time, but recommend this trilogy based on the first book..
August 29, 2017
Just one word: TERRIFIC!
July 21, 2020
3.5 stars
October 3, 2022
Gave up on it. Didn’t grab me. I have read Karen Brooks in the past and really enjoyed her books but this one felt more like a teen read. Quite flat.
June 20, 2024
This has a good plot and some interesting characters but the story unravels at a snail’s pace and I didn’t think any of the characters were stand out.
September 14, 2024
This was a DNF for me. 9hrs into the Audible, with irritating accents, and decided I couldn’t take another 6 hrs.
Needed a good hard prune imo.
Needed a good hard prune imo.
November 8, 2024
3.5 stars
Interesting magic system, somewhat memorable, more predictable than I prefer
Interesting magic system, somewhat memorable, more predictable than I prefer
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