Page & Wick #4: September
Day 4 of the overdue book boxes and I’m back with a Page & Wick one.
Due to the delays of the July box, I hadn’t paid much attention to the renewal that was charged on September 1st, even though I had decided to start being a bit more selective with all my subscriptions and would start skipping more months if the theme and/or the predicted book didn’t appeal to me right away. Too late for September, but honestly, if I had followed the spoilers better, I probably would have decided in advance to let this one pass me by.
September’s theme was Trial by Fire with an independently published romantasy for adult readers, a first in a duology.
Well, this description didn’t immediately make me look forward to this book more. It just increased my regret of not skipping. I think the words romantasy and independently published made me suspicious. Not that good books can’t be published independently (This is definitely an example of that), but especially in combination with the romantasy it made my confidence in the choice of book drop, especially if it would be another one of those tiktok sensations, since we all know by now that the taste there is not always objectively good 😉 .
Anyway, I just had to wait and see! Since I was too late to skip this one anyway, I decided to let myself be surprised and not actively look for predictions about the book.
The book I eventually received was Flame and Sparrow by S.M. Gaither:
Two weeks later, her sister disappeared, leaving nothing but a trail of blood in her wake.
Convinced the gods were responsible for the disappearance, Karys has spent the past five years plotting her revenge with the help of a cutthroat band of likeminded elven rebels. So when Dravyn—one of her world’s most powerful deities—descends upon her kingdom in search of humans worthy of serving him, Karys knows what she must do. Earning a place at the god’s side will allow her to find out what truly happened to her sister…and then destroy the gods from the inside out for what they did.
Thrown into the dazzling but deadly world of the divine courts, she must navigate complicated politics, strange magic, and dangerous trials to prove herself worthy of standing among the gods.
Among the most dangerous of these trials is Dravyn himself.
Karys knows better than to trust the enigmatic God of Fire. The flames of passion that stir between them are only divine trickery. And yet, the more she learns about him, the hotter the forbidden sparks burn. The more she begins to question all she thought she knew about the world of gods and mortals and everything in-between.
And the more she risks betraying her own secrets, which may be the most dangerous thing of all.
This is a romantic epic fantasy with some adult language and spicy content. Though it’s set in the same universe as the Shadows and Crowns series—in the distant past—it can be read and completely enjoyed without reading any previous books in this world. Book two will end with a HEA, but beware the cliffhanger at the end of this first book!
Hmm, yeah, ok, doesn’t sound half bad. Not entirely original, but well, eventually all books start to vaguely resemble each other. The average score on goodreads is quite high (4.03) though, but also the number of reviews is relatively low (3581).
Okay, I’m not really mad about getting this book based on the synopsis. But did P&W make something of it?
I think the dust jacket designed by @no0nedesign is a big success.
Completely different from the standard edition – with the flaming phoenix that reveals a bit more of the story and increases my enthousiasm about the story’s potential even more – but a lot more elegant. The P&W cover feels more like an old-fashioned book, with a nice spine and stylistic illustrations, and I’m always a big fan of that. So a great success, in my opinion!
And also under the cover P&W (again with the help of @no0nedesign) delivered something beautiful. With a deep orange linen-like cover, combined with very beautiful illustrations in gold foil, both on the front and back of the book. Again, big thumbs up!
What I never really have anything to complain about with P&W is their illustrations sprayed on the books edges. These are always of a superior quality and extremely detailed, and for this book it is no different. Everything about this edition actually only increases my enthusiasm for the book!
On the endpapers, the book has the same illustration by @alicemariapower on both the front and back. Although there is something about the illustration that makes me find it a bit static, I still think it is very beautiful. And again, it makes me curious about the book, because I want to know what those horses with antlers are, lol.
Furthermore, the book comes with a bound-in letter from the author and is also signed by hand.
See, when my expectations are low and I’ve almost convinced myself to cancel some of my subscriptions, I get something like this. I wasn’t at all excited about the title, but this beautiful edition by Page & Wick has completely changed my mind!
Cheers,
Charlotte
