I was not a fan of the main character, Violeta, because she is stubbornly self-sacrificing and refuses to listen to anybody else, though I know a lot of readers enjoy this trope. She is fun and witty, and though the humor sometimes felt at odds with the sinister atmosphere, it made for some fun scenes. She’s an alchemist living with Rowan and working with him to stop the Corruption. Of the characters, my favorite was Clover, who unfortunately doesn’t have many scenes. While there are notes of using sigils to harness magic, with Leta’s magic, she just seems to be able to magically do things and I wanted more. I would have loved more lore, perhaps in the form of fables or stories, that lead up to the creation of the religion, as well as more into the magic system. What little we know is so interesting, but I was left with so many questions.
This is a fascinating world with magic and religion tied closely together, however there is minimal worldbuilding and I desperately wanted more than the tantalizing little hints we got. The nightmare scenes are haunting and eerie, and the writing style is so engaging. The prose is lovely and descriptive, and paints such vivid mental images of secret gardens and magic rituals.
This book’s strongest aspect is its atmosphere. When the lord Rowan Sylvanan comes to their town to collect tithes, he takes them with him back to the haunted Lakesedge estate, where he’s rumored to have murdered his entire family in cold blood. Violeta Graceling makes a bargain in the dark of the woods to save her and her brother, but shadows and nightmares plague Arien after. Please highlight the paragraph below to view.Įmotional and physical abuse by a parent, body horror, gore and blood(including description of wounds), emesis, discussions of death and grief (no on-page deaths), death of parents and sibling, descriptions of drowning and deep water, drowning-related imagery, self-injury (in the context of a curse that requires regular physical sacrifices), suicidal ideation A creature to whom Leta is inexplicably drawn… Now, to save Rowan–and herself–Leta must confront the darkness in her past, including unraveling the mystery of her connection to the Lord Under.Ĭontent Warnings: May be incomplete, may contain spoilers. But neither the estate nor the monster are what they seem.As Leta falls for Rowan, she discovers he is bound to the Lord Under, the sinister death god lurking in the black waters of the lake. Leta knows the terrifying rumors about Rowan Sylvanan, who drowned his entire family when he was a boy. When Violeta Graceling and her younger brother Arien arrive at the haunted Lakesedge estate, they expect to find a monster.
Tour banner for the TBR and Beyond Lakesedge tour which runs from September 27 to October 3Ī lush, gothic fantasy from debut author Lyndall Clipstone about monsters and magic, set on the banks of a cursed lake, perfect for fans of Naomi Novik and Brigid Kemmerer.
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