““We haven’t had much luck in unearthing them. We don’t know how many men— er, or women— are involved.”
”They’re men.”
”Why do you say that?”
”Because if even a single woman was involved, they wouldn’t have decided that a man who’d been working there one day was a more likely source of information than a woman who’d been there for years.”
It was a good point. Miss Morrissey looked almost offended that she hadn’t been accosted and cursed” (A Marvellous Light by Freya Marske, p. 297).
Interested in a spoiler free summary? Check out my Annotation of this book.
REVIEW
Author: Freya Marske
Title: A Marvellous Light
Category/Type: Adult Fiction
Genre: Fantasy
Subgenre: Historical fantasy, Romantic fantasy, Queer fantasy
Publication Date: November 2, 2021
Number of Pages: 372 pages of story text; 2 pages of acknowledgements & an author’s note
Series (if applicable): This book is part 1 in The Last Binding series. Part 2, A Restless Truth, will be released in the US on November 1, 2022.
Content warnings: Violence both magical and physical, references to past child abuse, murder, homophobia, sexism due to the time period, sex on the page… A LOT of sex on the page.
Summary: Due to a paperwork error, Robin Blyth is thrust into a war in a world of magic he didn’t know existed. Robin has to do something to stop the evil forces and so he teams up with bookish, gloomy, and maybe attractive (?) Edwin, which is not at all what Robin, or his heart, expected.
Set in Edwardian England, Robin Blyth takes a random government position because he needs the money only to learn that he reports about magic to the Prime Minister...wait, magic is real? Edwin is in the unfortunate position of being Robin's magically talented colleague burdened by removing a curse placed on Robin after his first day at work. Bookish Edwin doesn't like anyone and jovial, athletic Robin couldn't be less like Edwin buuut maybe they have a few more things in common than their jobs. When they team up to remove Robin’s curse, they uncover a dark magical secret that could destroy the world.
This is a steamy, magical, opposites attract, fantasy story that will have to you staying up late to find out how Robin and Edwin save the day…and how they let down their guards behind closed bedroom doors.
PERSONAL THOUGHTS
WARNING: May contain spoilers
I adored this book! After The Heartbreak Bakery I was looking for a good fantasy with magic and romance and this book dealt it up in spades! Shortly after starting the book I found an author bio in which Freya Marske stated she wrote “fantasy with as much kissing as she can get away with” and I thought "YES! That is what I want!"
The world of a hidden magical Edwardian England is well-built and believeable. Edwin is the kind of character you want to shake to save him from himself but he's also lovable and Robin is heartbreakingly kind in a way we've be taught didn't exist among men in this time period. While heartwarming the story is also devious and dark with a well-developed side cast of morally questionable family for Edwin, a ruthless and fearless old lady, and an incredibly capable and of course horribly underrated secretary. Oh, and I did mention the land, nature, is sentient? Yup, it is. The magical mystery moves the story along and I can't wait for more, luckily this book is just the first in a series. From what I've seen the second book focuses on Robin's sister and might involved a lesbian romance, which is fine, but I hope there's more Edwin and Robin because I absolutely fell in love with them. Also, Edwin is an absolute book and library nerd and I hard core identified with him. At the end Robin tells Edwin "You're not kind, but you care, deeply." and that is a very accurate description of me as well.
Marske's prose is nice. The third person narrator switches back and forth between Robin and Edwin seamlessly which I'm not sure I've seen before but it works well and expands the perspective of the book so that you relate to both protagonists rather than just one. Marske also slides in these lovely and slightly unusual descriptions of actions that can catch you off-guard but are also spot on, like a kiss being like good grammar sliding into place; for the reader, they're like peices of literary magic. Also, if you ever questioned whether or not consent could be sexy, this book answers with a definitive HELL YES. Each steamy scene is filled with consent and staying within agreed upon boundaries and it’s sexy as all get out.
Pick up the book for the cover, stay for the magic and love.
Final resting place: Between The Nanny Diaries and Fluke.
WHAT I’M READING NOW
My annotations and reviews are always running a bit (or more) behind what I’m actually reading so here’s a little bit of a teaser, if you will, for reviews to come.
By the Book by Jasmine Guillory