Swallow, Daughter, pull them in, those words that sit upon your lips. Lock them deep inside your soul, hide them ‘til they’ve time to grow. Close your mouth upon the power, curse not, cure not, ‘til the hour. You won’t speak and you won’t tell, you won’t call on heav’n or hell. You will learn and you will thrive. Silence, Daughter. Stay alive.
The day my mother was killed, she told my father I wouldn’t speak again, and she told him if I died, he would die too. Then she predicted the king would trade his soul and lose his son to the sky.
My father has a claim to the throne, and he is waiting in the shadows for all of my mother’s words to come to pass. He wants desperately to be king, and I just want to be free.
But freedom will require escape, and I’m a prisoner of my mother’s curse and my father’s greed. I can’t speak or make a sound, and I can’t wield a sword or beguile a king. In a land purged of enchantment, love might be the only magic left, and who could ever love . . . a bird?
You know what’s a rare combination to find? Pure fantasy in adult genre!
So when I read about this book, I honestly was excited – I have been, for a while now, unable to relate to characters in YA Fantasy genre – starting so many books, and yet I end up with keeping them aside, because I JUST AM NOT ABLE TO FEEL THAT CONNECTION.
And honestly that scared me. Because I genuinely adore the fantasy genre – there is something relaxing about letting go of reality and immersing myself in a world that is so unlike my own and yet no different from it at all.
So when I cam across this new release from Ms. Harmon – I just had to check it out – hoping against all hope that my loosing interest in fantasy genre was just that – a fluke.
And this book gave me back so much more than I had even expected!
“It wasn’t funny—I wasn’t funny. He’d been given every word he needed, and every word had been stripped from me. I wanted them back. All of them.”
Lark is a beloved daughter of a mother cruelly murdered for her gift – in a kingdom that abhors gifts of all kinds – even the ones that could help them.
In the world where Lark resides, many have Gifts and Words have power – sometimes even to bring life – a truly fantastical place that once I started reading about I just couldn’t let go – I mean, seriously – I didn’t even realize where the time had gone.
Lark and the young King met under some really unfortunate circumstances in their childhood – but that meeting had an impact that neither would understand until the very end.
“I couldn’t explain how it felt to converse with another human being. To actually converse. I had been reduced to sharing nothing of my innermost thoughts for most of my life. Reduced to throwing things when I was angry. Reduced to tears when I was sad. Reduced to the simplicity of nods and bows, of having people look away from me or become frustrated when they didn’t know what I was trying to communicate.”
When the King and Lark meet again, it isn’t love at first sight – but more of a political maneuver that had them both going at each other throats – more often than not yet they just couldn’t seem to let go of each other either.
Lark couldn’t talk – silenced by the words of her mother – she has powers though she herself rarely understands them, but knows enough to keep them a secret for Gifted aren’t revered in her world – they are hunted like animals – and no matter what she maybe she knows that she doesn’t deserve to be treated like one.
The young King on the hand, has a secret- a secret that is slowly killing him or so he believes. There isn’t much he can do, but what he can do is make sure that his enemies don’t get their hands on a kingdom he has protected till now and that he believes is the only use he has for Lark.
*silly king*
“What could a lark teach an eagle?” he dared, and I felt that challenge from the grip of his hands to the gleam in his black gaze.
An eagle can’t sing. It was the only thing I could think of.
His lips twitched. “And my lark can’t speak.”
I am not your lark.
“You are.”
Don’t get me wrong – this is purely a fantasy novel but it is in foundation a Romance – an what a beautiful enchanting romance it actually is – this is the ind of romance that after you are done reading, stays with you in your heart, making you feel warm and cuddled.
*am I making any sense yet?*
Despite the way, The King and Lark met, you get to see a love enfold that will embolden you, remove any cynicism you may have had about the idea of love and loyalty – a love that will warm your cold cold heart and give you a reason to understand why, just WHY it is that romance genre is the most selling genre of fiction in this world.
“You are easy to overlook. Slim and pale and so quiet. But now that I’ve studied your soft grey eyes and traced the fine bones of your face, now that I’ve kissed your pale pink mouth, I don’t want to look anywhere else. My gaze is continually drawn back to you.”
Without hesitation I gave him another truth.
You . . . are . . . impossible . . . to overlook.”
But DO NOT FORGET, that it is, even with romance a purely fantasy novel – meaning brace yourself for an adventure of a lifetime – with kings, queen, monsters and magic, with scandals and rebellion and betrayals – you will go on an epic adventure but with love at your side and rooting for the King and Lark, together.
This book is emotional, enchanting and poetic – written in a way that will make your forget everything except the book in front of you and that is the best gift this author has ever given me!
“You were not supposed to love me, Lark. I did not set out to make you love me. And I was not supposed to love you. But I do. And it is terrible.”
“I have loved you every moment of every day, and I will love you until I cease to be. Bird, man, or king, I love you, and I will always love you.”
And why might this book became ONE OF MY FAVORITES? Not only is the writing an experience that is absolutely OUT OF THIS WORLD, but this book made me realize that I still haven’t lost my love for fantasy!! YEEEHAAWWW!!
Seriously, just go pick up this book, I promise that neither would you regret it, nor would you even think about going back to normal romances – this is a story that is brilliantly and expertly handled and I can’t wait to check out more of Ms. Harmon’s books!
“You chose me because I am of use. But I chose you because I wanted you. All I ever wanted was for you to love me in return.”
⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐
For The Love of Fictional Worlds 