TW: Violence, age gap

Orestin's Own follows the story of an aging knight (Solarys), an inexperienced priestess (Caelesta) and a necromancer (Malèbrand), who were forced to go on a journey together to seek for an ancient artifact that can bring an end to the darkness that threatens to destroy Everra. There was nothing bright or warm about this story, only bleakness and a rather depressing journey. If I were to describe the story with a colour, it would be grey.

Despite having three main characters, Orestin's Own was told only from the perspective of Solarys and Caelesta, which left Malèbrand to be a wild card throughout the entire story. While Solarys has an immense hatred against Malèbrand for causing the death of many of his fellow knights years ago, it was difficult to figure out how exactly the necromancer felt towards the knight. Caelesta, having no prior histories with any of the two men ends up being stuck in the middle, trying her best to not let the two murder each other, whether with words or even physically.

I believe what I love the most about this book is how soft yet strong Caelesta's character was portrayed. Although she's a priestess being sent to go on a journey following a prophecy, she possesses no strong powers. When the three were attacked by undead creatures along the way, Caelesta struggles to try healing the men and even herself. Her powers never grows stronger despite how much she prays, but she continues on with her own courage, no matter how small it is. In a bleak story where there seemed to be no hope, Caelesta lights it up in her own way. I may have said Malèbrand to be a wild card, but Caelesta herself can be confusing at times as her motivation is never clear. As much as I was able to read from her perspective, there is always something underneath, something that she keeps beneath her duty as a priestess.

To my surprise, the story did touch a bit on a potential romance. Nothing too hot or passionate, just a yearning and rather painful kind of romance. There is an age gap involved—Caelesta is around twenty, while Solarys is described to be around forty. And Malèbrand's age is never explicitly revealed, but I'm guessing he would be somewhere around Solarys' age as well, considering they have gone on the same war before. Some might find it uncomfortable, but to me, Caelesta is already an adult so she's allowed to be in love with anyone much older than her. There is a certain point where it feels that she yearns for both men, but this is no love story, so these feelings all come at great consequences.

Just as bleak as the story goes, the ending is not a happy one either. What makes the story really interesting is that I can hardly guess what might happen next, whether another group of undead creatures are going to attack them brutally again, or if they will hate each other and simply abandon everything—and the ending is a lot, LOT worse than that. My heart shattered for the fate of Solarys, and Caelesta finally realises her true feelings, while Malèbrand turns out to be better than I thought he would be.

I may have used "bleak" many times to describe Orestin's Own, but this book is a very well written fantasy with characters that are different than the ones I used to find in fantasy books. There is no indication that there may be a continuation to the story, but if there is, I'm definitely looking forward to reading more about Caelesta, Solarys and Malèbrand. Many thanks to the author for reaching out to me to provide me this book in exchange for my honest review.

If you're into character-driven dark fantasy with a great world-building and only a hint of romance, well this book will be perfect for you. This book is available to be purchased through Amazon. 

TW: Mentions of suicide and depression

The main point of The Forevers is that an asteroid will be crashing into Earth in a month. There is only 30 days to live, before the world ends in horrifying explosion. If this were to happen in real life, what will you do in your remaining 30 days?

Mae Cassidy and her peers continue to go to school as usual despite the approaching apocalypse, perhaps holding on to their hope that the government will figure out a way to divert the asteroid's path somewhere else. Apart from the asteroid, there had been multiple suicides committed among the students, and even though depression was announced as the reason for each death, something bigger is happening.

The story starts when Mae finds the body of her childhood best friend floating face down in the sea water. Although the adults insist that it was just another case of suicide, the breadcrumbs that Abi Wanton left behind for Mae proves that something else is going on. Mae is convinced that Abi did not commit suicide but she was murdered, and she will do anything to find the person who caused Abi's death. And Abi also left behind something that she and Mae started: the Forevers.

In terms of writing style, The Forevers is an easy read, but the storyline itself was quite confusing at times for me. I simply cannot see the direction where the plot was heading. But what I love about The Forevers is the murder-mystery, and the likeable characters. Mae is an okay character, but I love her best friend, Felix, and younger sister, Stella. Felix tries his best to avoid sleeping at all because he wants to live his life to the fullest, and I don't blame him. I most definitely would have joined if I were friends with him. Stella is the sweetest little bean, and while Sail sounds suspicious at the start, he ends up being quite nice too.

Apart from that however, there is not really anything special about the plot. The concept of being a 'Forever' baffled me and I still don't really get it, but what I deduced was that it bore the resemblance of of a cult, but perhaps one can say its a belief or hope, where they get themselves tattooed with the word 'Forever' on their wrists by Mae. Since they cannot use the term forever any longer because of the approaching asteroid, being part of the 'Forevers' is probably just a way to cope with the fear. It is a sad yet hopeful thing.

Overall, I did enjoy reading The Forevers, mainly thanks to its characters. If you love books with murder-mystery, friendship and hope, this book may be a great read for you. Many thanks to Pansing for sending me an ARC of the book in exchange for my honest review. The Forevers will be published into this world on 8th of July 2021!

Have you ever read a book and immediately have the thought, "This is the book that I should have grown up with"? Well, Rumaysa is that kind of book for me. I have read many fairytale retellings, but I have never came across a retelling where the main character is a Muslim, or even a POC. Perhaps I just haven't read that much, but I'll admit that Rumaysa is still one of a kind.

Rumaysa: A Fairytale is a combination of three fairytale retellings: Rapunzel, Cinderella and Sleeping Beauty. The difference is that Rapunzel is known as Rumaysa, Cinderella as Cinderayla, and Sleeping Beauty as Sleeping Sara. The main character is of course, Rumaysa, and after escaping the witch's tower, she goes on an adventure to look for her parents and came across Cinderayla and Sara.

What I love the most about this book is that even though it stayed true to most parts of the original fairytale, the changes made to it made the stories lovelier and more fun. I also love that each girl has their own strength and qualities, and none of them were depicted as meek or in need of some saving from a boy.

Rumaysa is both brilliant and quick-witted, having figured out how to escape on her own without waiting for a random prince coming to save her. She also has sass and a no-nonsense attitude, which was really refreshing to read. But the most important part is that she has great kindness and compassion in her, despite enduring a lot of harshness from when she was younger. While Cinderayla's character was written quite realistically, I find Sleeping Sara to be relatable. I most definitely will have a difficult time waking up if I have slept for too long.

Apart from the independent female characters that I love, the elements of Islam and South Asian cultures sprinkled generously throughout the book were also part of the charm. From what I understood, there were some Bengali foods and culture mentioned. The holy month of Ramadan was mentioned and the ball in the original Cinderella tale was changed into an Eid Ball, and I absolutely relish them.

Rumaysa: A Fairytale easily became one of my favourite releases in 2021, and the best retelling that I have ever read. The Muslim and Asian elements made me feel proud—this is the very kind of book that my people should read while growing up as it shows that we should be proud of our culture and belief. Your skin colour is beautiful no matter how light or dark-skinned you are. And the girls also show that you should just be yourself and you do not need to depend on boys to save you.

I believe anyone who enjoys reading fantasy and retellings will enjoy reading Rumaysa: A Fairytale, no matter how old you are. Many thanks to Pansing for sending me the review copy in exchange for my honest opinion. This book is now available in all good bookstores!

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