Among the Beasts and Briars

Title: Among the Beasts and Briars

Author: Ashley Poston
Genre: High Fantasy
Source: Balzer + Bray via Edelweiss
Goodreads

Cerys is safe in the kingdom of Aloriya.

Here there are no droughts, disease, or famine, and peace is everlasting. It has been this way for hundreds of years, since the first king made a bargain with the Lady who ruled the forest that borders the kingdom. But as Aloriya prospered, the woods grew dark, cursed, and forbidden. Cerys knows this all too well: when she was young, she barely escaped as the woods killed her friends and her mother. Now Cerys carries a small bit of the curse—the magic—in her blood, a reminder of the day she lost everything. The most danger she faces now, as a gardener’s daughter, is the annoying fox who stalks the royal gardens and won’t leave her alone.

As a new queen is crowned, however, things long hidden in the woods descend on the kingdom itself. Cerys is forced on the run, her only companions the small fox from the garden, a strange and powerful bear, and the magic in her veins. It’s up to her to find the legendary Lady of the Wilds and beg for a way to save her home. But the road is darker and more dangerous than she knows, and as secrets from the past are uncovered amid the teeth and roots of the forest, it’s going to take everything she has just to survive.

Review by Nara

This was seriously such a fantastic book.

I feel like Ashley Poston keeps surprising me with just how versatile her writing is. A lot of authors will pick a genre and stick to it, but Poston has now written contemporary, science fiction and now high fantasy, all to a very high standard. 

I think this is my favourite of her books so far, probably in part due to the fact that high fantasy is my favourite genre. Poston brought a fairy tale flavour to her story that solidified the world building and magical feel to the novel. The plot itself is quite straight forward and predictable, but I felt that this surprisingly didn't actually bring down the quality of the book at all. It felt more like I was looking forward to the events unfolding.

Overall, I would certainly recommend this book to someone looking for a story with a similar vibe to Cruel Beauty or Uprooted.

Incredible

Ratings
Overall: 9/10
Plot: 4/5
Romance: 3/5
Writing: 4/5
World Building: 4/5
Characters: 4/5
Cover: 4/5