The Bride of Lycaster by Perci Jay

 

Holy cliffhanger, Batman! I am so glad that I picked this up literally right before the sequel came out, or I would have been PISSED lol. THE BRIDE OF LYCASTER was exactly the fantasy romance that I needed to read right now, in part because it made me feel so nostalgic for the fantasy romances I read in college, like Mercedes Lackey's 500 Kingdoms series, Sherwood Smith's Crown and Court Duel, and Maria V. Snyder's incredibly magical and suspenseful Study series.

The heroine, Serafina, lives in a patriarchal society where marriages are brokered based on power alliances. When her brothers die in battle, she is scarcely allowed to grieve before being shunted off to an all girls' academy where the status of her virginity is rigorously monitored and she is basically groomed to be a rich man's bride. But Serafina is not one to sit idle: unbeknownst to her family or the instructors, she has made a secret alliance with the son of a duke, and they plan to choose each other when they graduate, in what he believes is a love match, and what she just sees as a way out.

But... Serafina doesn't end up with the duke's son. Instead, she ends up with a nine-foot tall war hero, who some say is a half-giant, and others say is cursed. Also, she's 5 feet tall.

Like many people who picked up this book, I was hooked by the "he's 9 feet tall" device, thinking that this would be monsterotica. But it's actually a very well-thought-out new adult fantasy romance that deftly explores many complex themes, like the ugliness of war and the PTSD that can follow, the destructive nature of purity culture and internalized misogyny, and the devastating effects of toxic masculinity. Even though Riyan is nine feet tall and yoked AF, being a caricature of masculinity doesn't make him happy. He's actually painfully sensitive and doesn't really feel like he's allowed to be, which often causes him to resort to anger or violence instead. Likewise, Serafina has been so ruthlessly exploited that it has made her a calculating schemer, because hurt people hurt people.

I waffled between four and five stars while reading, which is a good problem to have as a reader. This book was ultimately what I wanted Sarah J. Maas to be for me, but wasn't, and lives up to the declaration that it has a cast of "morally grey everyones." I really, really enjoyed it and can't wait to read the rest.

4.5 out of 5 stars