This is the First book in the Storyteller's Series. Grace is a born storyteller, at 18, she finds herself on the shores of a shadow world that was created to help heal. She is not alone, can she handle the emotions and open herself up, or will they overwhelm her?

I really wanted to like this book, and was intrigued by the synopsis, but unfortunately I just could not get into it,
The idea of a woman being whisked away to a fantasy world where she can develop her gifts and recover from her trauma is one I love the idea of, however the voice and perspective of this book were odd. Often it felt like I was being shown the world and having the character's experiences described to me rather than seeing them for myself, and this made it very difficult to empathise with the characters as it felt like I was hearing their story second or third hand.
Could be very cathartic for the right person, but not the book for me.

Note to the publisher: I’m sorry, but this is not the review that you were expecting. My old phone broke, and all the titles that I had saved to it went too. Since NetGalley has archived the books, I am no longer able to access them. My sincerest apologies.

I was intrigued when I read the blurb for The Storyteller’s Throne. A woman, scarred by traumatic events that happened in her life, finds herself in a world that can help her heal. It caught my interest. I wanted to know how this world would help her heal. I also wanted to know who Kai was and why Grace had such a connection to him. So I decided to read the book. For the most part, I liked the book. But it was the direction the book took towards the end that made me go “WTH” and give it the rating I did.

Grace’s story disturbed me. She was raped by someone when she was 6 years old. I didn’t like having to read about a 6-year-old being raped. I understood why the author chose to have Grace react the way she did to the rape. Her unresolved feelings led her down a road of self-harm. But once she got into the Shadow Lands, she was forced to face and accept what she went through. But, then her story took a turn that I didn’t expect. Her romance with Kai wasn’t expected as was her traveling into the future. I will get into that later in the review. I couldn’t connect with her.

I felt bad for Kai. His story was different from Grace’s but it was also similar. Kai didn’t speak. He could speak but chose not too. He chose to speak through his music. His entire life, he had been compared to his older brothers and fell short. Falling into addiction, Kai ends up in The Shadow Lands the same time as Grace. I would have loved it if the author kept his character on that path. Instead, he went down a path where he fell in love with Grace. It almost seemed like an obsessive love, to be honest. He was more relatable to than Grace but I still didn’t have a connection.

I would have been fine with the book if it hadn’t gone into an anti-medication rant. Then Grace went into the future. There the adults were medicating themselves and the kids to keep them easy to manage. But the minute that mental health medication was blamed for the kids being zombies, I went “Oh no. This book didn’t go there.” That affected my rating.

Also, I didn’t like that there was Instalove. Instalove is fine in some books but in this one, no. I couldn’t with this book. I also couldn’t deal with Grace and Kai having sex. While I understand that it was healing, it didn’t do it for me.

The end of The Storyteller’s Throne confused me. I am not going to get into it but there were several situations that made me go “What!!” and “How on earth did she not know that?” and “Well, chaos didn’t happen, so now what“. None of the storylines were wrapped up. Which either was an oversight or the author is planning a book 2. I was left unsatisfied with the ending.

I gave The Storyteller’s Throne a 2-star rating. I could not connect with any of the characters. I would have been OK with the book if it hadn’t turned into an anti-medication rant. And there was Instalove.

I would give The Storyteller’s Throne an Older Teen rating. There is sex. There is violence. There is mild language. There are triggers. There are child rape, self-harm, and drug use. Also, there is a strong anti-medication for mental illness in the last half of the book. I would recommend that no one under the age of 16 read this book.

I would not reread The Storyteller’s Throne. I also would not recommend this book to family and friends.

I would like to thank Independent Book Publisher’s Association, Member’s Titles, and NetGalley for allowing me to read and review The Storyteller’s Throne.

All opinions stated in this review of The Storyteller’s Throne are mine.

**I chose to leave this review after reading an advance reader copy**

This book was unlike anything I'd read before, it had so many good messages throughout, as well as some that I don't particularly agree with but this did not take too much away from my enjoyment.

1.5 stars TW:Rape and self-harm (A lot of it and graphic)

It wasn't that I didn't like this book, it was that I didn't understand it and that's so sad. I still don't really know how to express what The Storyteller's Throne made me feel but I'm going to try anyway.

Let's begin with the things I did like. I really liked the messages this book portraits, it talks about how we should never suppress our emotions because it can get too overwhelming and it's better to embrace them and let them free. There was also a great point made that teenagers need the help of grown-ups and there are some of them that can be really helpful, it's so common in teenage's stories to forget that adults aren't always useless so it was nice to see it.

On the same note though, another thing I noticed with this book was that it really showed how the author is against medication for mental illnesses. Throughout the book we are always told how medicine numbs all our emotions therefore they are bad for everyone and although I'm not really informed about it, I do think there are some medicines that really help with mental illnesses and shouldn't have a bad connotation attached to them.

Overall, the messages made the story more appealing to me because everything else was really complicated. The way the story is told was what put me off on the first few chapters, it's one of those books where a lot of metaphors are used so you never know what actually is happening, or at least that's how I felt because I'm not very good with them.

Another thing I realised while reading it was that I would get really confused by what was happening then I would kind of understand, never totally but enough to go with the flow, until there would be another event where I would get confused again and the circle would repet itself over and over again which was tiring at some point.

Then there are the two main characters, Grace and Kai. Grace was constantly changing from being too childish to being mature which I guess was due to her process in this shadow world. Kai, on the other hand, was more relatable to me and there were a lot of things he felt or thought that I agreed to in a personal level so it was very touching at some point.

However, what didn't click with me was their relationship. I didn't see their chemestry at all. It was definitely love at first sight and I was fine with it because I thought we would get an explanation, like they are mates or something, but it never happened. Moreover, they "know" each other for a day or two maximum and they are already maddly in love and having sex which I thought was so unnecessary since I was feeling so emotional because of all the things Grace went through and sex for me is the complete opposite of a truly romantic scene.

Now the ending was extremely confusing, I didn't get it and I'm so mad about it because I was looking foward to reading it. It was the circled I mentioned, I thought I was finally getting it but then all of a sudden I understood zero.

I know I haven't said amazing things about this book but I do think it deserves an opportunity even if it's just to know the wonderful messages it talks about. And also, maybe someone else would understand the actual world, the story and would kindly explain it to me :P

Grace was born a natural storyteller. She could tell a story in a way that would change and influence people’s lives. One day, when she was six years old, she had to tell a story of dire importance. But when no one would listen to this all-important story, she began to deal with her trauma in destructive ways. Just as Grace was at the end of her rope and about to do something terrible and irrevocable, she was flung into a magical shadow world. There, she worked on dealing with trauma and improving her storytelling gift. There in that shadow land, she met others who were there to deal with their own traumas and to master their own gifts. They are to lead the world in a new and healthier direction.

This tale is beautifully-written, and the characters are interesting. However, this just isn’t my kind of book.

I was given a free copy of this book in exchange for an unbiased review.

TW CHILD SEXUAL ABUSE

The Storyteller’s Throne is a quick read, and not just because of the fast pace.

The descriptions are a whirlwind, heavy and intrusive. I felt overwhelmed by the imagery.

Grace as a main character was frustrating. To me, she wasn’t fleshed out beyond ‘Mary Sue’, even though the whole point of her storyline was to discover herself. She ‘rediscovered her trauma’ (read: was forced to watch her six-year-old self suffer sexual assault) in a scene that was intensely uncomfortable to read, not only because of the content, but because of the way in which it was written.

Her ‘shadow self’, Anika, was an indulgence who served no purpose as far as I could see.

Kai seemed forced, especially due to the oh-so-shocking ‘twist’ at the end where the pair would not be allowed to stay together in the real world, despite their soulmate status.

The whole plot seemed to be a vehicle for the author’s agenda, which ruined what could have been an interesting concept.

On top of this, the writing could do with a good copyedit; there were some very distracting errors.

I thought I would like this book as the premise sounded good, however I wasn't aware that a child was raped in this book. I couldn't read this book because of that.

I can’t make myself read a story about the rape of a child no matter how hard the author tries to mask the horrors with a fantasy derived from her mind trying to cope with the trauma.

Would give zero stars if the option was available.