By Anela Deen
ASIN/ISBN: B08YTGPGZS
Publication: April 15, 2021
Series: Kindred Realms #1

GOODREADS | AMAZON

Welcome to my leg of the tour for In the Jaded Grove by Anela Deen through Caffeine Book Tours (April 26 – April 30). I was elated to be selected to help promote such a beautifully written novel. Links to different sections are below, but also feel free to scroll on through.

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DESCRIPTiON

Cover Artist: Jenny Zemanek
Publisher: Fine Fables Press
Age group: New Adult
Genres: Fantasy

Simith of Drifthorn is tired of war. After years of conflict between the Thistle court and the troll kingdom, even a pixie knight known for his bloodlust longs for peace. Hoping to secure a ceasefire, Simith arranges a meeting with the troll king—and is ambushed instead. Escape lies in the Jaded Grove, but the trees of the ancient Fae woodland aren’t what they seem, and in place of sanctuary, Simith tumbles through a doorway to another world.

Cutting through her neighbor’s sunflower farm in Skylark, Michigan, Jessa runs into a battle between creatures straight out of a fantasy novel. Only the blood is very real. When a lone fighter falls to his attackers, Jessa intervenes. She’s known too much death to stand idly by, but an act of kindness leads to consequences even a poet like her couldn’t imagine.

With their fates bound by magic, Simith and Jessa must keep the strife of his world from spilling into hers—except the war isn’t what it appears and neither are their enemies. Countless lives depend on whether they can face the truths of their pasts and untangle the web of lies around them. But grief casts long shadows, and even their deepening bond may not be enough to save them from its reach.

On-page Representation:
Filipino (main character); secondary sapphic characters

Trigger and Content Warnings:
violence; trauma; grief; death of a loved one (in the past – not on page)

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ABOUT THe AUTHOR

A child of two cultures, this hapa haole Hawaiian girl is currently landlocked in the Midwest. After exploring the world for a chunk of years, she hunkered down in Minnesota and now fills her days with family, fiction, and the occasional snowstorm. With a house full of lovable toddlers, a three-legged cat, and one handsome Dutchman, she prowls the keyboard late at night while the minions sleep. Coffee? Nah, she prefers tea with a generous spoonful of sarcasm. 

Website | Goodreads | Instagram | Twitter

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REViEW

**I received a copy of the book from the publisher and Caffeine Book Tours as part of my participation in the tour. I voluntarily read and reviewed it. All opinions are my own.**

In the Jaded Grove is a beautifully written fantasy. It’s fast-paced, sometimes a bit too quick for me, especially when I wanted to ruminate over certain scenes to decipher their meanings. One of the characters spoke my thoughts out loud about the brewing feelings between the leads, but I’m mostly convinced that the mechanism used to create the connection between the leads is a believable one. It’s either that or I’m just a sap, allowing myself to fall for anything that reasonably explains an instant connection.

Simith is our pixie hero from the fairy realm and Jessa is the human protagonist. Simith is jaded with a war that had no end in sight while Jessa’s grief has overtaken her. As the pieces of their lives are revealed through memories and their interactions with each other, a connection quickly begins forming. For someone quite ruthless in war, he’s gentle with her. Despite being so incredibly hard on herself, she’s understanding of his actions. The connection is so quick that there is hardly an emotional build-up, which made me hesitate about how authentic or real the connection was.

I liked the world created. Information is given about the fairy realm in pieces and at opportune times. While the fairy realm feels a bit under developed, there’s enough world-building to understand the current situation as well as to at least visualize the landscape. The magic system is not explained in-depth, but it doesn’t appear to be overly complicated. The apparent hierarchy among the creatures of the fairy realm is an interesting one, and I hope it gets further explored in additional books. I’m also interested in gaining a better understanding of the governing system that fully explains the fairy triad that is mentioned. (Why is there a triad? Did I maybe miss an explanation?) The book only just scratches the surface of a fascinating world and its connection to the human realm, possibly even other realms, so I am excited this is only the first book of a series.

I loved that I couldn’t guess what would happen at every turn, and there were unexpected moments that made me laugh. To top it off, Deen kept me turning the pages with her vivid descriptions.  For instance, referring to the night sky as the “cloak of souls” resonated with me and is now one of my favorites references for a sky awash with stars. Despite the quick pace and second-guessing whether I liked the relationship formed, it was these unexpected moments and the writing that helped to solidify why I ultimately enjoyed the book. While In the Jaded Grove doesn’t have nearly as much laughs, I think there are some parallels with G.A. Aiken’s Dragon Kin series and her newer series The Scarred Earth Saga. Individuals who have read and enjoyed either series may also enjoy In the Jaded Grove.