Scan barcode
A review by shelfgremlin
The Lady and the Orc by Finley Fenn
dark
emotional
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0
2 ★’s — this book gave me a lot of big feelings, and not always in a good way.
the premise of this book is that jule, our lovely human mc, is left home unguarded and gets kidnapped by orcs when they attack her home. grimarr, our especially lovely orc mc, decides to take her as his mate in an act of political revenge and whisks her away to orc mountain.
i know this was supposed to be an enemies-to-lovers story but it’s more of an enemies-to-abused-and-abuser story. i’m not at all averse to dark romance, kink, kidnapping, whatever. i’ve read and quite enjoyed books where one mc tortured the other and then they got to know each other and fell in love afterwards. i say this to mean that there’s very little that i think an mc can’t come back from, but abusing someone that you are in a relationship with or have already professed to love is one of those things.
grimarr had a bad habit of saying one thing and doing another. he would whisper sweet promises into her ear about being the best mate for her and how he’s so much better than her husband but then he would turn around and act heinously. he thought that because he didn’t physically hit her like her husband did that he was better, but then he’d say shit like this -
the premise of this book is that jule, our lovely human mc, is left home unguarded and gets kidnapped by orcs when they attack her home. grimarr, our especially lovely orc mc, decides to take her as his mate in an act of political revenge and whisks her away to orc mountain.
i know this was supposed to be an enemies-to-lovers story but it’s more of an enemies-to-abused-and-abuser story. i’m not at all averse to dark romance, kink, kidnapping, whatever. i’ve read and quite enjoyed books where one mc tortured the other and then they got to know each other and fell in love afterwards. i say this to mean that there’s very little that i think an mc can’t come back from, but abusing someone that you are in a relationship with or have already professed to love is one of those things.
grimarr had a bad habit of saying one thing and doing another. he would whisper sweet promises into her ear about being the best mate for her and how he’s so much better than her husband but then he would turn around and act heinously. he thought that because he didn’t physically hit her like her husband did that he was better, but then he’d say shit like this -
“I will bind you and gag you,” his menacing voice said. “I will starve you. I will keep you from the sun for the rest of your days. I swear this, woman.”
they were constantly going around and around in circles. he’d say something horribly messed up, apologize or make an excuse, jule would forgive him (of course,) and then he’d do something again. his mistakes always stemmed from mistreating jule because she didn’t do what he wanted or lying/withholding important information from her. it happened again and again and again. and my issue with that is that he did these things AFTER he claimed to love her and care about her and that's where this crossed the line from dark romance to stockholm syndrome/toxic relationship for me.
and that isn’t even the worst of it. grimarr was far more concerned with maintaining his position of power over the orcs than he was about her happiness and wellbeing. he showed this to be true repeatedly, punishing her for speaking out against him in front of others, making a group punishment when she “dishonors” the orcs,
some of this is explained away with “he had a plan” and apparently jule just didn’t know it, but putting her in a situation where she would feel that distress and didn’t know it wasn’t real is equally bad when he’s continuing to repeat the same mistakes over and over. even through to the end of the book he doesn’t learn.
and that’s not to say that jule is perfect, not by any means. i can sympathize with her actions a lot more because i’m sure she was traumatized to all hell at this point, but she grated on my nerves. there were some elements i loved about her, but she was so inconsistent as a character. she was not particularly brave (which is fine) but she would have these moments that felt out-of-character, like
their relationship was nothing but toxic from beginning to end and i don’t think it was intentional. i think i was meant to be hoping for a happily-ever-after at the end, but i was just hoping she’d escape to themyscira and never have to deal with men or orcs again. where’s wonder woman when you need her?
the writing was pretty good. i picked up a few words i was unfamiliar with and that’s always a welcome bonus. there was a good arc, though the ending was a bit too fast compared to the rest of the novel. some of the language, though, was very repetitive. i’ll be very happy to never hear anyone described as “hale” or “lusty” ever again.
if this book had been sold as a stockholm syndrome trope i probably would have liked it, but i went in expecting a true romance and didn’t get it. i’m not sure if i’m going to continue the series. i’m interested in some of the other orcs but i’m not sure i wanna read a repeat if it’s similar to this one.
Graphic: Confinement, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Toxic relationship, Kidnapping, Grief, Murder, and War
this book takes place in the midst of a war between humans and orcs. there are descriptions of war and murder from both sides. the mc, jule, experiences abuse both at home with her husband and by the orc who kidnaps her. she processes grief over her confinement, her situation, and what she has lost on-page.