Quick Synopsis – Exiled into a no-man’s land of endless winter, Rune faces danger at every corner. Bloodthirsty monsters, crafty bandits, and soldiers from her former kingdom are all on the hunt for her. When she discovers a commune hidden away in the forest, she also uncovers a long-kept secret that could alter the fate of the realm.

Torn between a chance at peace and keeping what little freedom she has, Rune is forced to reveal secrets of her own and risks losing the very people she fights to save.

Song This Reminds Me Of – Broken Horses by Brandi Carlile

Publication Date – Nov. 9, 2024

Content Notes – There is fairly detailed gore for animals, humans, and monsters. This is an adult novel and there is violence, death, off page death of a child(ren), and depictions of anxiety/depression.

Spicy Rating – 🌶️🌶️

Overall Rating – ⭐⭐⭐.5 out of 5

Review – It’s no secret that I love a good fantasy novel, and I really enjoyed this debut by Kade Patrick. It’s a multi-POV fantasy set in a world with magic and monsters. Rune is our foul-mouthed female main character, a rebel exiled in the frozen north. The forest she’s exiled to is filled with monsters and other bandits. While on the run she stumbles across a commune and her old friend Sanders. They band together and escape after Sanders steals some supplies. From there they find another commune with our male main character Kaineres (which I kept saying as canaries).

Once in the commune I found there were some pacing issues. This book easily could have been split into a three-part series. The slow burn between the characters was great, but I felt like there were several chapters with no development. I felt like that could have been broken up by having a series instead of a single long novel. The story itself is good, and I loved the magic system. There are wizards and mages that can channel magic and then there are the wickeds or within who are inherently magic. Of course, the system takes advantage of withins and will drain their power by using their blood. The power imbalance added to the conflict and the motivations of the character Rune.

There is also a third act reveal that felt really obvious to me. I felt like the information revealed would have been better or more impactful if it had been discussed earlier or at least revealed to the reader. Even with my slight qualms, I really enjoyed this book.

It’s a fun monster fantasy and I would definitely read more from this author.

Thank you to The Nerd Fam for the gifted ARC. All opinions are my own.