S
Sarah Wallis
March 5, 2022
A solid fantasy read with delicious enemies-to-lovers tropes & F/F omegaverse!
Fantasy is my fave genre, and enemies-to-lovers is one of my favourite tropes. This book did not disappoint!
There was so much delicious angsty goodness that I loved.
Technically this is book 2 in the whole series, but book 1 was a standalone with a different pair so you needn't have read it (Of Iron and Gold). This book is part 1 of a trilogy.
Tropes/tags
- tragic family backstory
- dead mother
- friends to enemies to lovers
- childhood friends
- background war
- arranged marriage
- F/F omegaverse
- butch alpha/femme omega
- jealous & possessive alpha
- royal/royal
- butch top teaches femme bottom how to use weaponry
- fully consensual, though with some angsty feels and undernegotiated touch
- some homophobia and fantasy gender-nonconforming phobia (e.g. antipathy towards alpha women)
How it made me feel
Tharon (the butch alpha) is unrepentently badass, which I loved, though both girls had a bit more softness in their youth than I'd have preferred. Roswynd, in particular, does not imo have the pragmatism needed in a royal of her birth order, though her compassion/softness provides a pleasing contrast to Tharon's cool demeanour.
This book knows well its fantasy & omegaverse tropes and is unashamed in nailing them, and I loved that. There's one line I screamed about on twitter in particular 😂
It's a bit frustrating at times that the characters don't realise they're in a fantasy novel; you just want to shake them and break the fourth wall. Because of the…