Early Review – Among the Beasts and Briars by Ashley Poston (4.5/5 stars)
Reading Level: Young Adult
Genre: Fantasy
Length: 352 pages
Publisher: Balzer + Bray
Release Date: October 20, 2020
ISBN-13 : 978-0062847362
Stand Alone or Series: Stand Alone
Source: eGalley from NetGalley
Rating: 4.5/5 stars
“Cerys is safe in the Kingdom of Aloriya. Here there are no droughts, disease, or famine, and peace is everlasting. It has been this way for hundreds of years, since the first king made a bargain with the Lady who ruled the forest that borders the kingdom. But as Aloriya prospered, the woods grew dark, cursed, and forbidden.
Cerys knows this all too well: When she was young, she barely escaped as the woods killed her friends and her mother. Now Cerys carries a small bit of the curse—the magic—in her blood, a reminder of the day she lost everything.
As a new queen is crowned, however, things long hidden in the woods descend on the kingdom itself. Cerys is forced on the run, her only companions a small and irritating fox from the royal garden and the magic in her veins. It’s up to her to find the legendary Lady of the Wilds and beg for a way to save her home.
But the road is darker and more dangerous than she knows, and as secrets from the past are uncovered amid the teeth and roots of the forest, it’s going to take everything she has just to survive.”
Series Info/Source: This is a stand alone book (I think). I got an eGalley of this from NetGalley to review.
Story (5/5): This was very good and I liked it a lot. It’s quite a departure from Poston’s other series (Heart of Iron, Once Upon a Con). This has a classic fairy tale feel to it but also a lot of action and adventure along with some witty banter. I loved the dark fairy tale vibe to this story. There are some fun twists and turns to the story, some of them were predictable and some of them were not. I really enjoyed the adventure and the way everything was resolved. This seems to be a stand alone story but there are hints that there may be stories about some of the other characters to come, which I would love to see.
Cerys lives in an isolated city where King Sunder ruled with a magic crown that protected everyone from the evil forest and the monsters that surround the city. Cerys’s best friend, Anwen, is set to inherit the crown after King Sunder’s death but then everything goes horribly wrong. Cerys is left to venture through the evil forest with only Fox (her pet fox) by her side and her strange magic (that makes her blood grow vegetation) to help her through. Her and Fox are searching for the lost city in the woods that should be able to save them.
Characters (4/5): Cerys was an okay character but came off as a bit vanilla to me at times. I absolutely adored Fox, he was funny and witty and complex. Some of the side characters were more interesting than Cerys and sounds like they might feature in their own stories at some point.
Setting (5/5): I loved the setting of this evil forest, it was so creative and well described. Poston did a great job of developing the setting here and really making it come alive.
Writing Style (4/5): I always enjoy Poston’s ideas for stories, however I am not completely sold on her writing style. It’s technically well done but always seems to be lacking a little more description or something to give it a bit more depth and complexity. A vague complaint I know, but I have read all of her books to date and am always left feeling like, “Well, I liked that story but I just felt like it was a but thin at points.”
My Summary (4.5/5): Overall I would definitely recommend if you love dark fairy tales and adventures. This was well done and there aren’t a lot of books like this out there. If future books are released that are off-shoots from this one I definitely plan on checking them out.
