A review by littlefawn
Elfhame by Anthea Sharp
3.0
This book sounds so good! How can you go wrong with Dark Elves, magical keys, and adventure??
Oh boy.
Mara... a pretty mature but childish, commoner who finds a magical key to the realm of the Dark Elves. She is strong and brave, but I don't think she deserved Bran's love. He grew up with this prophecy telling him he had to marry a mortal, he knew this and knew what to expect. Granted Mara did not, but her attitude toward him was awful. She didn't really try to understand his and his peoples predicament, she just agreed to do whatever he needed in order to escape. Then as soon as she did leave, she practically killed Bran. In all, she was in Elfhame for maybe 6 days, asleep for 3 of them. All of a sudden, even though she is rude to Bran, she loves him but still finds him ugly. She is a bit exasperating, in my opinion.
Bran... the "prince" in a land with no king or queen... named after cereal. I can get past his name because he is so great. Definitely my favorite character out of the few I've met. He is loyal to his people and his wife until the end. He tried his hardest for Mara, and if her going home made her happy and it cost him his life, he would do it! He is thus great, powerful warrior not only with magic, but with his sword as well. I felt so terrible that he was stuck with Mara.
I thought all the battle scenes were lacking. Too glossed over for my liking, and definitely too simple for a war that would wipe out all of the Elfhame lands.
The romance was also lacking, on Mara's part at least... but at the same time, everything went too fast. She was barely there and it was quick into marriage to save the land. I'm hoping in book two we see more romance and courting between the two because right now they just don't "click."
2.5 stars, the story could be more if taken the time to flesh it out and add more detail and depth.
*Someone pointed out to me that this is supposed to be akin to a Beauty and the Beast retelling... I didn't catch that and don't feel like it's all there to be so.
Oh boy.
Mara... a pretty mature but childish, commoner who finds a magical key to the realm of the Dark Elves. She is strong and brave, but I don't think she deserved Bran's love. He grew up with this prophecy telling him he had to marry a mortal, he knew this and knew what to expect. Granted Mara did not, but her attitude toward him was awful. She didn't really try to understand his and his peoples predicament, she just agreed to do whatever he needed in order to escape. Then as soon as she did leave, she practically killed Bran. In all, she was in Elfhame for maybe 6 days, asleep for 3 of them. All of a sudden, even though she is rude to Bran, she loves him but still finds him ugly. She is a bit exasperating, in my opinion.
Bran... the "prince" in a land with no king or queen... named after cereal. I can get past his name because he is so great. Definitely my favorite character out of the few I've met. He is loyal to his people and his wife until the end. He tried his hardest for Mara, and if her going home made her happy and it cost him his life, he would do it! He is thus great, powerful warrior not only with magic, but with his sword as well. I felt so terrible that he was stuck with Mara.
I thought all the battle scenes were lacking. Too glossed over for my liking, and definitely too simple for a war that would wipe out all of the Elfhame lands.
The romance was also lacking, on Mara's part at least... but at the same time, everything went too fast. She was barely there and it was quick into marriage to save the land. I'm hoping in book two we see more romance and courting between the two because right now they just don't "click."
2.5 stars, the story could be more if taken the time to flesh it out and add more detail and depth.
*Someone pointed out to me that this is supposed to be akin to a Beauty and the Beast retelling... I didn't catch that and don't feel like it's all there to be so.