Spell Borne

ℕ𝕖𝕥𝕘𝕒𝕝𝕝𝕖𝕪 𝔹𝕠𝕠𝕜 ℝ𝕖𝕧𝕚𝕖𝕨:
𝒮𝓅ℯ𝓁𝓁 ℬℴ𝓇𝓃ℯ 𝒷𝓎：
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️✨

“𝒮ℴ𝓂ℯ 𝒸𝓊𝓇𝓈ℯ𝓈 𝓈𝓉𝒶𝓇𝓉 𝓌𝒾𝓉𝒽 𝒪𝓃𝒸ℯ 𝒰𝓅ℴ𝓃 𝒜 𝒯𝒾𝓂ℯ“

ᴀʜʜʜʜ ᴡʜᴇʀᴇ ᴅᴏ ɪ ᴇᴠᴇɴ ʙᴇɢɪɴ?!? ᴛʜᴇ ᴀᴜᴛʜᴏʀ ʀᴇᴀʟʟʏ ᴜᴛɪʟɪᴢᴇᴅ ɪɴ ᴅᴇᴘᴛʜ ʀᴇsᴇᴀʀᴄʜ ᴡʜɪʟᴇ ᴡʀɪᴛɪɴɢ ᴛʜɪs ɴᴏᴠᴇʟ ᴀɴᴅ ɪᴛ sʜᴏᴡs!!

ᴛʜᴇ MCs ꜰᴀᴍɪʟʏ ʜᴀs ʙᴇᴇɴ ᴄᴜʀsᴇᴅ ʙʏ ᴀ ʙʟᴏᴏʟɪɴᴇ ᴄᴜʀsᴇ ᴛʜᴀᴛ ᴄᴀᴜsᴇs ᴛʜᴇᴍ ᴛᴏ ɢᴏ ᴛʜʀᴏᴜɢʜ ᴛʜᴇɪʀ ᴏᴡɴ ꜰᴀɪʀʏᴛᴀʟᴇs. ʟᴏʀᴇɴ’s ꜰᴀᴍɪʟʏ sᴇᴇᴍs ᴛᴏ ʙᴇ ᴘʟᴀɢᴜᴇᴅ ʙʏ ᴛʜᴇ sʟᴇᴇᴘɪɴɢ ʙᴇᴀᴜᴛʏ ᴄᴜʀsᴇ ʙᴜᴛ sʜᴇ sᴛʀɪᴠᴇs ᴛɪ ᴛᴜʀɴ ᴛʜᴇ ᴛɪᴅᴇs ᴛᴏᴡᴀʀᴅs ʙᴇᴀᴜᴛʏ ᴀɴᴅ ᴛʜᴇ ʙᴇᴀsᴛ.

ᴡɪᴛʜ ᴛʜᴇ ʜᴇʟᴘ ᴏꜰ ʜᴇʀ ɴᴇᴡ ꜰʀɪᴇɴᴅs sʜᴇ ᴛᴀᴋᴇs ᴏɴ ᴛʜᴇ ʀᴏʟᴇ ᴏꜰ Bᴇʟʟᴇ, ᴀɴᴅ ɪ ᴡᴀs ᴇxᴄɪᴛᴇᴅ ᴛᴏ ꜰᴏʟʟᴏᴡ Lᴏʀᴇɴ ᴀʟᴏɴɢ ʜᴇʀ ᴘᴀᴛʜ!

ᴛʜᴇ ᴄʜᴀʀᴀᴄᴛᴇʀs ᴅᴇᴘᴛʜ ᴍᴀᴅᴇ ᴛʜᴇ sᴛᴏʀʏ sᴏ ʀᴇʟᴀᴛᴀʙʟᴇ, ᴀɴᴅ ɪ ᴡᴀs ᴘʟᴇᴀsᴇɴᴛʟʏ sᴜʀᴘʀɪsᴇᴅ ᴀs ᴛʜᴇʏ ᴇᴠᴏʟᴠᴇᴅ ᴛʜʀᴏᴜɢʜᴏᴜᴛ ᴛʜᴇ ʙᴏᴏᴋ. ɪ ʀᴇᴀʟʟʏ ᴇɴᴊᴏʏᴇᴅ Lᴏʀᴇɴs ɪɴɴᴇʀ ᴛʜᴏᴜɢʜᴛs ᴀɴᴅ ᴍᴀɴʏ ᴛɪᴍᴇs ʟᴀᴜɢʜᴇᴅ ᴡɪᴛʜ ʜᴇʀ.

𝙾𝚟𝚎𝚛𝚊𝚕𝚕 𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚋𝚘𝚘𝚔 𝚠𝚊𝚜 𝚊 𝟺.𝟻 𝚜𝚝𝚊𝚛 𝚛𝚎𝚊𝚍 𝚏𝚘𝚛 𝚖𝚎 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝙸 𝚌𝚊𝚗 𝚗𝚘𝚝 𝚠𝚊𝚒𝚝 𝚏𝚘𝚛 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚗𝚎𝚡𝚝 𝚋𝚘𝚘𝚔! 💜

🅠🅞🅣🅓: 𝙸𝚏 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚛𝚎𝚌𝚎𝚒𝚟𝚎 𝚊𝚛𝚌𝚜 𝚝𝚑𝚛𝚘𝚞𝚐𝚑 𝙽𝚎𝚝𝚐𝚊𝚕𝚕𝚎𝚢 𝚠𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚠𝚊𝚜 𝚢𝚘𝚞𝚛 𝚖𝚘𝚜𝚝 𝚛𝚎𝚌𝚎𝚗𝚝 𝚋𝚘𝚘𝚔 𝚘𝚛 𝚛𝚎𝚌𝚎𝚗𝚝 𝚍𝚎𝚗𝚒𝚊𝚕?

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I saw this book advertised on Instagram for a few weeks before finding out I could apply for the ARC. And HOLY SMOKES thank goodness I did.
This is a sensational fairy tale reimagining. Sensational!

Whilst the story starts out slow (a long monologue then a time leap, not much but I did loose track here slightly) The world building is familiar and easy to follow yet super captivating and engaging. The plot is full of hilarious little quips and still somehow remain so serious at the same time.
I sat on the edge of my seat the majority of the way through, through our female protagonist Lorens trials and tribulations.

It’s very clear that Auden likes to incorporate fairy tales into their writing and is obviously au fait with them, they use their knowledge and incorporated that into this magical, ‘spell’ binding book.

There is also a clear message in this book to ‘decide your own fate/take your own path’ and to stay true to yourself which felt really important to me as a female and I love reading about female protagonists who are the same.

I’m excited to read more by Auden, and thank you so much for this opportunity to read this arc!

So well written. Is a great fantasy book, and the author really describes the setting as if you are there. I would recommend clearing a afternoon to read the whole book because it’s that good!
This book was gifted to me by NetGallery, all opinions are my own.

A fairy tale that deconstructs the fairy tale. A story about fate, free will and self-fulfilling prophesies. An exploration of trauma and its place in the history of our stories. A jab at the lack of representation in the common zeitgeist. You’ll find all these in Spell Borne by Auden Llyr, following protagonist Loren as she recovers from a concussion and is accosted by family secrets.

I honestly don’t want to tell you much more about the plot than you get from the book blurb already. A lot of the fun of this book is being brought along as the plot unfolds and takes unexpected twists and turns.

I’ve read a great many fairy tale retellings and quite a lot of the originals, I’ve seen all the Disney movies, I’ve watched Once Upon A Time and The 10th Kingdom. I thought I knew my fairy tales quite well, I didn’t think this book would give me anything more that I hadn’t read or seen before. I didn’t expect how it would use the fairy tale to turn the readers eye towards how our choices affect our society and how that then affects us in turn. I didn’t expect an academic deconstruction of fairy tale tropes or how incredibly effective use of the lamp-shading technique could turn tired tropes into active plot beats.

I loved that this book surprised me not in its final destination but in the long winding journey it took to get there, including a few very dark turns (please take the content warnings the book gives seriously). I loved that I wasn’t just told that Loren was smart, the book took the time to prove it to me. I love that the ‘make a stupid decision for the sake of plot’ or the ‘I will not give you important information because plot!’ tropes never made an appearance. I love that Loren was scatter brained and the trait was present through the whole novel and didn’t just disappear or peter-out. It was endearing.

In short, there wasn’t much I didn’t love but it wasn’t quite perfect either. There was one issue I felt wasn’t as well explored as it could have been to service the plot. I won’t actually say which as I feel that would be too much of a spoiler. It is an issue that enters the story quite late in the game so perhaps there wasn’t enough time or maybe the author will tackle its many intricacies in a sequel. I’m still giving this book a full five stars though because it is closer to perfect than not. I highly recommend it, whether you love fairy tales or not.