Rating: A gorgeously bejeweled dagger and a milkshake with three straws
Highlight of note: This is the story of a boy and the girl he loves. And the boy they both love. Believe it or not, this is only the second novel I have ever come across that portrays a polyamorous triad in a positive light. (Feel free to recommend others!)
Will you read more by this author? Absolutely. Although I don't think the others are poly books.
We start off with a town where everything is idyllic. The weather is perfect for crops, wounds heal overnight, no one ever gets sick, and all pregnancies go well. There's a price for this, of course. Every seven years a young man is sent into the forest and only occasionally does he survive meeting with the demon therein.
It's a trope I've seen before, an ancient story archetype, although I'm stumped on remembering the name for it.
The curse gets triggered earlier than expected. A horse is sick, there's a blight in the wheat field, and a child is born premature. Sure enough, the blood tree turns read to signal it's time for a new sacrifice. Three teens now come together to work out why the sacrifice is being called for early and to try to save the boy who "wins" the right to enter the forest under the full moon.
I'm gonna get a tad spoilery now, so you might want to skip the rest and just go read this book. The writing is almost lyrical, the plot is captivating, the characters are detailed, and although it's a little on the dark side, the gore and violence are actually pretty lowkey.
Okay.... Spoilery talk in...
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Our leads are the daughter of the local witch, the boy so wonderful everyone has been certain he will be the next sacrifice for years, and an angry hunter who was raised as a girl for the first years of his life because his mother didn't want him in the running for death-by-demon. The cover copy didn't present this as a romance, but it very much is. It's a love triangle, but an actual triangle and not the v's people call love triangles. My first hint that this was more than it seemed was when Rhun thinks of Mairwyn and describes her as "the person he loves who he is allowed to love." My eyes went wide and I may have shrieked happily over the implication that he loved more than one person and that's there's something others consider unsuitable about the other one. It's obvious from soon thereafter that Mairwyn knows her boyfriend is into their mutual friend and is absolutely cool with it, perhaps because she also loves the other object of his affections.
I was scared for a little that this was going to be a "gay boy tries to force himself to love a girl because he's scared of being out in a middle ages society and winds up hurting people" story, but was very happy to be wrong about that. He absolutely does love and is attracted to Mairwyn. He just also loves and is attracted to Arthur.
I'm not going to tell you if the story goes so far as to allow all of them to survive and live together happily ever after, but I did want to confirm that this is a positive polyamory novel and I will say I found their end state quite satisfactory.
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Below you'll find the notes I took as I read. Clearly, they contain major spoilers.
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Notes
5% Mairwen is the person Rhun loves who he is allowed to love. So he loves someone else he's not allowed to love? That's interesting. I wonder if it's the other boy in their group.
6% Arthur doesnt know if he's in love with Mairwen or if he wants to set her on fire. Lol.
6% Yeah, Rhun and Arthur definitely have a romantic history
10% The Lord answers his own door? Curious. Also, he seems strangely attached to Mairwen.
15% Mairwen refuses to love Arthur because of Rhun... If this doesn't turn out to be a triad romance, it's missed an excellent chance at polyamorous representation.
27% Mairwen throws herself at Rhun and he doesnt want to have sex because Arthur isn't there. And says he wouldn't want Arthur without her.
37% With all the emphasis on life, death, and the breath between, it makes a lot of sense for all three of our triad to go into the wood to rework the magic.
41% The final hour already? They're not spending nearly as many words in the forest as I'd figured they would. I wonder what aftermath the second half of the book.
42% The demon ties a boy to the tree.... But then both the boys who went in come out. Followed by Mair, who isn't alone. Who did she bring out? A previous Saint? The demon? The original Grace witch?
59% I love the image of the three of them holding hands in a circle.
60% Is the lord really getting younger or was that Rhun's perception? It seems someone else had commented recently in him seeming young even before the group went into the forest.
62% Mair is returning to the forest without any of the boys? That doesn't seem wise.
63% The old god left and then the boys started being sacrificed... I'm wondering where the Lord of the valley fits into all of this. Could he be descended from (or actually) the original forest god?
65% All this with Mair kissing the saint/devil makes me wonder if this is a triad story or a wider polyamorous tale.
66% It's interesting that the first ordeal seems to have made Arthur more mellow like Rhun and Rhun more tense and angry like Arthur. The boys have both described Mair as having grown into her true self but I wonder if they have as well.
68% I don't know why this just hit me, but shouldn't Mair have grandparents? Why no mention of them? Especially her maternal grandmother, who would have been a Grace Witch... How old is her mother?
73% The triad sleeping together scene is really sweet.
77% Mair's mom is bi. Interesting. I still want to know why her parents aren't around. Is she older than indicated? She almost has to be since people don't die young here.
77% Mairwen's father is in the door? HE'S NOT DEAD?! Hetty screamed... Is he the true devil or the Saint we thought was her father?
80% I'm worried about all these evil forest creatures merrily traipsing after Arthur as he goes to kill the tree...
82% And the Lord is missing one scene after the devil says he's back in the forest...
83% Yep, the Lord is the devil. And Mair's father, judging by the portrait of her as a girl in his house and how fond of her he's always seemed.
99% A lovely ending! Mairwen is a goddess. Or a demon, depending on how you look at it. And our triad is happy and together. Yay!
5% Mairwen is the person Rhun loves who he is allowed to love. So he loves someone else he's not allowed to love? That's interesting. I wonder if it's the other boy in their group.
6% Arthur doesnt know if he's in love with Mairwen or if he wants to set her on fire. Lol.
6% Yeah, Rhun and Arthur definitely have a romantic history
10% The Lord answers his own door? Curious. Also, he seems strangely attached to Mairwen.
15% Mairwen refuses to love Arthur because of Rhun... If this doesn't turn out to be a triad romance, it's missed an excellent chance at polyamorous representation.
27% Mairwen throws herself at Rhun and he doesnt want to have sex because Arthur isn't there. And says he wouldn't want Arthur without her.
37% With all the emphasis on life, death, and the breath between, it makes a lot of sense for all three of our triad to go into the wood to rework the magic.
41% The final hour already? They're not spending nearly as many words in the forest as I'd figured they would. I wonder what aftermath the second half of the book.
42% The demon ties a boy to the tree.... But then both the boys who went in come out. Followed by Mair, who isn't alone. Who did she bring out? A previous Saint? The demon? The original Grace witch?
59% I love the image of the three of them holding hands in a circle.
60% Is the lord really getting younger or was that Rhun's perception? It seems someone else had commented recently in him seeming young even before the group went into the forest.
62% Mair is returning to the forest without any of the boys? That doesn't seem wise.
63% The old god left and then the boys started being sacrificed... I'm wondering where the Lord of the valley fits into all of this. Could he be descended from (or actually) the original forest god?
65% All this with Mair kissing the saint/devil makes me wonder if this is a triad story or a wider polyamorous tale.
66% It's interesting that the first ordeal seems to have made Arthur more mellow like Rhun and Rhun more tense and angry like Arthur. The boys have both described Mair as having grown into her true self but I wonder if they have as well.
68% I don't know why this just hit me, but shouldn't Mair have grandparents? Why no mention of them? Especially her maternal grandmother, who would have been a Grace Witch... How old is her mother?
73% The triad sleeping together scene is really sweet.
77% Mair's mom is bi. Interesting. I still want to know why her parents aren't around. Is she older than indicated? She almost has to be since people don't die young here.
77% Mairwen's father is in the door? HE'S NOT DEAD?! Hetty screamed... Is he the true devil or the Saint we thought was her father?
80% I'm worried about all these evil forest creatures merrily traipsing after Arthur as he goes to kill the tree...
82% And the Lord is missing one scene after the devil says he's back in the forest...
83% Yep, the Lord is the devil. And Mair's father, judging by the portrait of her as a girl in his house and how fond of her he's always seemed.
99% A lovely ending! Mairwen is a goddess. Or a demon, depending on how you look at it. And our triad is happy and together. Yay!
