Red-Haired Ash Reads

Untrained and barely armed, Riela reluctantly enters the forest to kill the deadly beast that has attacked her fellow villagers as she is the only mage available. But when the beast turns into two, she expects to be killed. But instead she is rescued by a scarred but handsome man who brings her to his magical castle. 

This was a very interesting and captivating story. I went into this with no real expectations, but I think it worked out for me, for the most part. This was a unique world that Mihalik has created with different worlds connected by portals, with mages and the Etheri (basically a fae like race). I was captivated by the magic system, the creatures, and the idea of six magical kings that are fighting to access this world of humans. This is just a really rich world that I want to learn more about, so I am excited that there will be more books in the series. 

Riela is a woman whose whole life changed when she unexpectedly came into her powers. Now her whole life has changed again when she finds herself rescued by a mage with a magical castle. Riela was a very enjoyable heroine for the most part. I liked how snarky she was and that she stood up to Garrick, even when she was afraid of him. Some of her actions were a bit questionable, but I still enjoyed her for the most part. 

As this story progresses, we really learn a lot about her, her magic, and why she is important for breaching the divide between Lohka and Edea. All the reveals that happened for her were really interesting and kept the reader on their toes as to what would happen next, even when some of the reveals were a bit predictable. I am very interested in reading the next book now to see what will happen next for Reila, especially when it comes to her heritage. 

Garrick was a grumpy and reluctant host at first but quickly became attached. I really enjoyed how quickly he started falling for Riela and how he started trying to help her with her magic. Garrick and Riela’s relationship is a bit slow to start but the tension between them is there from the beginning. I liked that Riela set boundaries for their relationship and stuck to them. She refused to be forced into things for convenience sake and I really liked that about her. Also I really appreciated that Garrick accepted her views and never forced her to do something she didn’t really want. 

This story was a very interesting one, but I did struggle a bit at times with the pacing because there were a few slow sections where not a lot was happening or a lot of information was being dumped,  but I still enjoyed it overall. My biggest complaint, which isn’t really a complaint, it just was unexpected, was that this ends in a cliffhanger. I really want to know what is going to happen next! But that just means I will be eager to read the next book when it comes out. So overall, this was a really enjoyable Beauty and the Beast-like retelling and I look forward to reading more of this series. 

TW: mentions of death of parent from childbirth; mention of rape; poisoning; 

*ARC provided by Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.*

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