Grace Draven

3.5 stars, rounded up. I loved the fact that Ildiko and Brishen talk to each other right from their first meeting and that their love grows slowly as they get to know each other. Their pet names are the unflattering descriptions they good-naturedly admitted to each other early in their marriage ("dead eel" and "boiled mollusk"), and they mine a lot of gentle humor out of the differences between them. They were absolutely an adorable couple.

I had two issues with the book, however. One is show more that the relationship between Ildiko and Brishen is so even-tempered that the passion between them that appears late in the story is slightly anticlimactic and not fully believable. The other is the passive role that Ildiko is forced to take on too many times in the story. I get that Brishen is the warrior, not Ildiko, but I wanted her to make some kind of heroic, courageous gesture other than facing down Brishen's parents and eating his stomach-churning food.

Still a charming, different fantasy romance. Not sure if I'll be on board for future books in the series but I don't at all regret reading this one. show less

I have to say that while I liked this book, I feel conflicted about it as well, mostly due to the nature of the relationship between Silhara and Matrise. His behavior towards her is awful--he terrifies her to the point she regards him with fear. Not that he doesn't have good reason to be angry for the real reason for her presence, his behavior is just so absolutely horrible--I don't think calling it abusive is an understatement.

Yet, as in many scenarios such as this, she ends up falling in show more love with him. Silhara has kept his real feelings hidden for so long it could be argued in his defense that he doesn't know what he's doing. But, all evidence points to the fact he does and is deliberately trying to drive her away. The unspoken tension between them regarding the lies and omissions they tell each other is interesting and sometimes painful to watch.

Matrise is an interesting character as she is, in some ways, smarter than Silhara. They are both incredibly stubborn. I simply believe I would have liked it better if Silhara hadn't been so harsh. She wasn't a wilting flower, though she did get stronger--she still almost never truly defied him. Despite his selfishness, he was willing to sacrifice himself for her, but should we really trust that his motivations are the truth? I think they are...

Other than that, which is something that's a personal issue but still something I don't think sets a very good example--the writing is smooth and flows well. I liked the interchanges between characters, and I also liked Gurn. It was an entertaining read that kept my attention, with an intriguing plot that was a little different than the ordinary fantasy romance. It was just some of the elements of the relationship between Silhara and Matrise that were a little disturbing to me at times. show less

(Reread January 2023: I still enjoyed this. Brishen and Ildiko were a likable couple, and it was nice spending time with them. That said, the issues with the fantasy aspects irked me a bit more this time around. Also, it was more noticeable to me how thin the "main couple finds each other physically repulsive" aspect was. When it came down to it, most of the differences were surface-level and easy for both sides to get over. Draven could have had Ildiko's fear of Brishen's teeth be more show more instinctual and difficult to get past (after all, the Kai used to eat humans, once upon a time), but even those weren't much of an issue in the end. My original rating for this was 4.5 stars. I've downgraded it to 4 stars.)

I bought this for several reasons. One, I read a review of it on Dear Author and was intrigued by the idea of a fantasy romance in which the protagonists were repulsed by each other's appearances. Two, I really liked the excerpt. And three, the cover. The colors are lovely, and the pose screams “romance.”

On to the story. Brishen is the third son of the Kai king, and Ildiko is a niece of the Gauri king. They know that their impending marriage will forge an important alliance between their kingdoms, but they're both sick with horror and nervousness. The Gauri are terrified of Kai fangs, claws, and glowing eyes (I pictured them as being a bit like anthropomorphized anglerfish), and to the Kai, Gauri eyes look sickeningly like parasites.

Brishen and Ildiko accidentally meet before their marriage. Horrifying appearances aside, they get along remarkably well, and they begin to hope that maybe their marriage won't be so bad after all. They privately arrange to postpone sex indefinitely (they aren't expected to produce an heir and, besides, it sounds like Kai and Gauri can't interbreed) and help each other through difficult moments as best as possible. Unfortunately, the countries of Gaur and Belawat have been at odds for some time, and the alliance between the Gauri and the formerly neutral Kai has put a target on both Brishen and Ildiko's backs.

I'll start off by saying that this book worked really, really well for me. Something about it hit all the right buttons. I flew through it, and now I want to read everything Draven has ever published. Which is not to say Radiance didn't have flaws. It's just that I noticed the flaws and they had little-to-no effect on my love for the book.

Radiance is definitely a fantasy romance, rather than a fantasy with strong romantic aspects, and I think it would work best for readers who gravitate more towards the romance aspects. I highly recommend trying the excerpt. If you find yourself charmed by Brishen and Ildiko's first meeting, go for it. If you're put off by how quickly and easily the two of them get along, this book may not be for you.

When Ildiko and Brishen first met each other, neither one had any idea who the other was. This anonymity was supposed to explain why they were so candid with each other right from the start. However, they could both still see that they were Kai and Gauri and, considering how tense things were between their peoples, not knowing each other's identities should have made them more careful about what they said, not less. Even so, I loved how direct and honest they were with each other. This honesty continued through the entire book and was a vital part of what made their relationship work, since they had trouble reading each other's expressions.

Radiance featured a lot of fantasy politics, but the part of me that loves vicious, underhanded, ruthless fantasy politics was disappointed at how direct everyone was. Belawat made no effort to hide that they were trying to kill or kidnap Brishen and Ildiko. Serovek, a Beladine nobleman and friend of Brishen's, recognized that openly aiding Brishen could cause problems for himself, and yet he didn't do much to hide his support. Secmis, Brishen's mother, was supposed to be a deadly viper of a woman, but she was about as subtle as a sledgehammer. I'd have at least expected her to slip a spy into Brishen's household, but neither she nor anyone else did anything of the sort. I'm still shaking my head over that last one.

I was baffled that Kai cuisine mostly appealed to Ildiko, while Gauri cuisine was uniformly disgusting to the Kai. At first, I thought maybe it was just potatoes that the Kai hated, but, looking back at Brishen's first Gauri dinner, it's clear that he and his fellow Kai hated every bit of it. It was weird and seemed inconsistent to me.

Despite all these issues, I still adored this book. I think it's because Ildiko and Brishen's relationship was so prominent that, for me at least, it overshadowed everything else. Everything they did further cemented their affection for each other, and I loved how that affection slowly transformed into attraction. I'm very much looking forward to the next book in the series (and crossing my fingers that Draven doesn't make them magically fertile with each other). I hope that, at some point, we get to find out more about Ildiko's life prior to marrying Brishen.

Rating Note:

My personal rating for this is a B+, which converts to 4.5 stars. Which feels strange considering the issues I had with the book, but there you go. I'm not sure why I'm more comfortable with C+/B- = 3.5 stars than I am with B+/A- = 4.5 stars, but I'm working on getting over that.

(Original review, with read-alikes and watch-alikes, posted on A Library Girl's Familiar Diversions.) show less

This is an epic fantasy set in a cruel empire. There are two main characters - Gilene and Azarion.

We meet Gilene when she is sent from her village as the annual sacrifice demanded by the Emperor. She along with many other women form other villages are destined to be burned as a sacrifice as a part of the Rite of Spring. Gilene has been sent for five years and only managed to survive because she has two magical gifts - the power of illusion and the power of fire. She manages to escape the show more burning each year and use her power of illusion to escape the city.

Azarion is a pit gladiator who has fought in the pits for ten years. He was betrayed by his cousin and sold into slavery. He has endured untold horrors both in the pits and at the hands of the Empress who is a cruel and vicious sadist. His ability to see through Gilene's illusions has given him the opportunity to escape his captivity and return to his home.

Azarion blackmails Gilene into helping him escape and then kidnaps her to take to his home where he needs her ability with fire to reclaim his rightful position in the Savatar. Gilene fights him every step of the way because she needs to return to her village to protect her family from harm.

Gilene and Azarion do come to love and respect each other as they go through all kinds of troubles on their way to Azarion's home and even more trouble once they arrive there. If Azarion can win back his position as the leader of his clan, he has a plan to bring down the evil empire that enslaved him.

I enjoyed this fantasy. I liked the mythology of the Savatar's fire goddess whose power Gilene manifests even though she doesn't believe in any of the gods. I liked the way that their romance grew slowly. I liked the way Gilene began to feel at home in Azarion's clan. The only thing I couldn't quite understand was Gilene's loyalty to her family and her village when neither returned her loyalty and, in fact, treated her badly.

Fans of epic fantasy and romance will enjoy this wonderful story. show less