Thief : A Scarred Mage of Roseward book 1 review
Book One: Thief by Sylvia Mercedes
Author: Sylvia Mercedes
Published by: FireWyrm Books on 14th September 2020
Rating : ★★★★★
Genre: Young Adult Fantasy/ Young Adult Romance
This review is spoiler-free. I would like to thank the author as they provided me with an early access copy of this book. This has in no way affected my review of this book.
Synopsis from Goodreads:
Peronelle Beck longs for nothing more than to leave behind her thieving ways and pursue a life of honest work. But when her father lands himself neck-deep in debt, Nelle must take on a dangerous job if she hopes to save his life . . . a job that brings her to the shores of Roseward Isle. For fifteen years, Soran Silveri has fought to suppress the nightmarish monster stalking Roseward. His weapons are few and running low, and the curse placed upon him cripples his once unmatched power. Isolation has driven him to the brink of madness, and he knows he won’t be able to hold on much longer.
This book is a fantasy retelling of the Beauty and the Beast. This is Book 1 and this will be a trilogy to come out later this year.
Let's get the review started!
Some of the great stuff :
Mysterious haunted lighthouses? Fae? Those are some of my favourite things in a fantasy book. It's almost like the author read my deepest desires for a fantasy and mixed them all together in a cauldron of brilliance. I love stories with haunted locations - there is just something mysterious and satisfying about them. When you enter that place, your heart beats at the speed of light, hand in hand with your hero and discovers its secrets - there is no greater feeling of awe and delight. Fae creatures? I mean Throne of Glass and A Court of Thorns and Roses series I would blame for my love of that, so any book with fae already melts my heart.
How the story was changed but worked with Beauty and the Beast. Without giving the plot away, it was slightly changed so that Nelle was not a prisoner of the mage and was slowly falling in love with him. The way the story was presented meant that it cut out the whole Stockholm syndrome that is most commonly brought up with the fairytale.
The wyverns and their cute little scenes. It felt like a Disney movie - fluffy and lovely and I laughed all the way through the appearance of little wyverns.
No explicit scenes - I mean some people like more smut, but I do love stories that touch on the romance gently. I can see Soran and Nelle’s relationship growing and it's not an insta-love either, which is nice.
Things worth mentioning :
This is a very character-driven story, it is a little bit slow, but that's good because we really spend this book focusing on the characters.
There is very little plot - you could tell the author plans to expand this world in books 2 and 3 ( possibly even 4!) but it means that this book might be too slow for some of the more action-adventure loving readers.
Have you had a chance to pick up Thief: Scarred Mage of Roseward yet?
What are your thoughts?
Let me know in the comments!
