Once I could read, especially, it seemed the world grew in leaps and bounds with every passing day.
I’ve always loved books about other worlds, and Stolen Songbird by Danielle L. Jensen was no exception. See, for me, reading has always been a special kind of escapism. That’s not to say that I hate my real life, as though it’s something to constantly run away from, but even at it’s best, my life could often use a little hint of magic to make things perfect. Books have always provided that for me, so it makes sense that I’m especially drawn to stories that feature detailed worlds different from my own.
What I liked most about this book was that it features trolls, an unusual mythical creature to place in the center of any kind of romantic sub-plot, and an even more unusual choice to make beautiful. After all, trolls are not, in any mythology, praised for their dashing good looks. They’re rarely even portrayed as intelligent, much less cunning and conniving, capable of running a country and plotting to overthrow their own leaders and break a curse.
But Jensen does a great job with them – this book contains trolls as you’ve never seen them before. They’re beautiful and broken; savage and refined; full of beautiful contradictions that I found immensely satisfying to immerse myself in.
More like beautiful things that have had the misfortune of being broken.
This is a fun world to get lost in – there’s budding Beauty and the Beast-esque romance (Come on, who doesn’t love a well-written stockholm syndrome fairytale?), assassination plots, escape attempts, and witches’ curses to break.
The biggest downside is that this is only book one, and we’ve at least another five months to go before the next installment. Still, reading Stolen Songbird will give you something to look forward to, so you should pick it up anyway.
Rating: 4/5 stars