A high stakes, action-packed romantasy from bestselling author Emily Varga where a relic-hunter searches for an ancient fae object to restore the magic to her world, but must learn to trust her own powers—and her heart.
This limited luxe edition features gorgeous foil design on the cover and case, a dazzling edge and interior page design and an exclusive map—available while supplies last!
I’m going across the River. And I’m going to save us all.
Yaseema is a brilliant scholar and loyal servant of the Empire—or so they think. By day, she catalogs the fae relics of her conquered kingdom. But by night, she reclaims the artefacts in secret to restore magic to her dying land.
Until she finds the long lost key to cross the River into the fae world and save her people. But a ruthless realm awaits her there, ruled by monsters wearing beautiful skin—especially the cold-eyed captain who sees through her lies. But even he isn’t what he seems—under the guise of upholding a cruel regime, he works to overthrow it from the inside. To succeed, he needs the same lost relic Yaseema the crown of an ancient Fae Queen.
With magic that is a mystery even to her, Yaseema can help him find the crown and save his family from a fate worse than death. Unless she steals it first to help her own.
To survive, they must work together to outwit ancient curses, battle creatures born of nightmares, and find a power that could resurrect their worlds. But as secrets unravel and loyalties blur, they face the greatest danger of losing their heart to each other.
Perfect for fans of The Cruel Prince and The Mummy, this thrilling start to a new fantasy duology bursts with dangerous romance, heart-stopping twists, and a heroine who dares to steal back her future.
This limited luxe edition features gorgeous foil design on the cover and case, a dazzling edge and interior page design and an exclusive map—available while supplies last!
I’m going across the River. And I’m going to save us all.
Yaseema is a brilliant scholar and loyal servant of the Empire—or so they think. By day, she catalogs the fae relics of her conquered kingdom. But by night, she reclaims the artefacts in secret to restore magic to her dying land.
Until she finds the long lost key to cross the River into the fae world and save her people. But a ruthless realm awaits her there, ruled by monsters wearing beautiful skin—especially the cold-eyed captain who sees through her lies. But even he isn’t what he seems—under the guise of upholding a cruel regime, he works to overthrow it from the inside. To succeed, he needs the same lost relic Yaseema the crown of an ancient Fae Queen.
With magic that is a mystery even to her, Yaseema can help him find the crown and save his family from a fate worse than death. Unless she steals it first to help her own.
To survive, they must work together to outwit ancient curses, battle creatures born of nightmares, and find a power that could resurrect their worlds. But as secrets unravel and loyalties blur, they face the greatest danger of losing their heart to each other.
Perfect for fans of The Cruel Prince and The Mummy, this thrilling start to a new fantasy duology bursts with dangerous romance, heart-stopping twists, and a heroine who dares to steal back her future.
Title: The River She Became
Author: Emily Varga
Publisher:
Review:
Thank you to St. Martin's Press and NetGalley for providing me with a copy of this book to read and give my honest review. The opinions expressed here are my own.
I was really excited about this book. I loved the premise put forth in the blurb. And anything fae draws me in right away. Add in a little romance and I'm usually hooked. This is my first book by this author and I'd heard good things about her writing from her debut novel. So I was looking forward to seeing what she was all about. Unfortunately this book fell far short of what I thought I was jumping into.
I think my biggest issue with this book was the lack of world building and all the telling the author does. There was a lot of info dump but it didn't even explain what things were really about. I really didn't understand the two worlds, why there was magic in both. How that magic happened. Why it was being taken away. Where were the politics? Where was the background to the story? It was just missing for me. I didn't truly understand the need for the fae element. It could have been any other world, to be honest. It could have just been parallel dimension and things would have been the same. If you're going to include such a paranormal element, it needs to make sense. And all the names of objects were never fully explained. I felt as if the author thought we should just know what everything was.
I also struggled to connect with either of the main characters. There was little to no development from when you're introduced to them through to the end of the book. I wanted so much more but got just surface things. Add to that insta-love that had zero chemistry for me and I was just bored with the characters. It was almost like the author included the romance because she thought it was expected for the story. It could have moved along at the same pace without that aspect. I also needed more from the side characters but didn't get that.
The pacing was very slow for this one. I didn't feel pushed forward by the scenes. I didn't feel pushed forward by any of the action that was happening. I did see the connection to Indiana Jones somewhat.
This book had so many elements that could have made it a great fantasy but there was just so much telling and not enough showing for it to work. The author didn't trust the reader to see what was happening throughout the story.
This one ends on a cliffhanger but I'm not invested enough to try and continue on with the series since I struggled so much with getting through this first book. Unfortunately, I struggled way too much to try and connect with the story, even at half way through when I started to do more skimming than reading just so I could get to the end. I'm sure others will enjoy this story as I see it has many high ratings but it just was not for me.
2.5/5 stars.
Author:
Emily Varga is a YA Fantasy author with a fondness for getting lost in bookstores, eating copious amounts of rice, and watching a lot of terrible reality tv. She has lived all over the world, but currently calls the Rocky Mountains of western Canada home, where she lives with her family and their menagerie of pets. When she’s not writing, Emily works as a family lawyer, where she learned more about storytelling than she ever expected.
Emily’s debut novel For She Is Wrath is a Pakistani-inspired Count of Monte Cristo retelling.
Emily’s debut novel For She Is Wrath is a Pakistani-inspired Count of Monte Cristo retelling.
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