ARC Review: "Mercy and Starlight" by Bridgette Valentine ★★★★
ARC Review: Mercy and Starlight by Bridgette Valentine
“Howl’s Moving Castle” meets “ACOTAR” meets “The Witcher” in this heartening, witty, yet strange and twisted tale “Mercy and Starlight”. The story is told in present tense first-person from the perspective of 28-year-old Mercy Brittlemore, an apothecary in the human Kingdom of Thalea. She works as an apprentice to royal half-fae mage Sybil to find a cure for fae and humans alike. A cure to stop them from The Becoming – a horrid plague where all are consumed by botanical entities, leaves, thorns and all. On top of all this, Mercy is cursed to slowly become The Becoming too. Major catastrophes occur in both the fae and human kingdoms in quick succession: a gender reveal party nobody is going to forget that quickly, and a summer solstice flower celebration where you can imagine what sprouted up instead of foxgloves. (Mandrakes. You know, the sort of monster you’d hire Geralt of Rivia to slay, had he been in this universe. Indeed, it reminds me of the Leshen in Sapkowski’s works).After attempting to protect the kingdom and its princess, circumstances occur that cause Mercy to go through a portal fail-safe for centuries until now – and into the hands of tall, dark and handsome Evander, fae High Lord of the Celestial Court (the equivalent to the Night Court, for “ACOTAR” fans). Evander, intrigued by Mercy, decides to take her under his wings, quite literally, and brings her to his castle. He looks after and helps Mercy gain her confidence (much like Howl does with Sophie from “Howl’s Moving Castle”). But Evander has his own demons to face: one Cassius of the Divine Court, an old nemesis.
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| Mercy character collage by Bridgette Valentine |
This was a great read, nicely paced with plenty of poetic and comparative imagery. To quote from Chapter 5 “I think everyone has a little magic in their bones”, Bridgette possesses such magic in her manner of writing – it is so splendid I cannot put it into words! She really transports you to another place and time, brings a smile to your face and at other times a shiver of delight or wince of revolt – and all in the best ways. There were some excellent twists I was not expecting and made sense when it was unveiled. And, in our own ways, we can relate to the aspects in this story: the feeling of isolation, some of which from the Covid pandemic we experienced not too long ago (as opposed to The Becoming epidemic in this story); love, or the fear of the incapability of being loved; finding family that is not related by blood but bound by loyalty; betrayals.
Not only was this book of the romance and fantasy genre but there were also aspects of horror I was not expecting to find. Many scenes (particularly the first half) were filled with gore and horror and quite quick-paced and it creates tension as you are just as confused and lacking information as Mercy. Reminds us that not all fairytales are as they seem and have darker twisted elements to them. Ophelia was certainly giving me the creeps, goodness!
In the next part of the story, when Mercy meets Evander, the pacing is calmer and more details about his castle, its furnishings, his observatory. Throughout the novel, there are plenty of humorous banter, but Mercy and Evander’s tit-for-tat is incredibly amusing and charming! He is the order to her chaos, his calm before her storm.
I cannot tell you how much I adore them both! What’s not to like about Mercy? She is a very strong, very well-fleshed-out main character. She is as real as people get: low self-esteem and insecure about her worth but a firm will; unafraid to get what she wants and wishes to be admired, yet has so much kindness and selflessness in her. Seeing her find that worth and grow stronger as a person thanks to the friends she makes along the way is something we can all relate to.
Not only was this book of the romance and fantasy genre but there were also aspects of horror I was not expecting to find. Many scenes (particularly the first half) were filled with gore and horror and quite quick-paced and it creates tension as you are just as confused and lacking information as Mercy. Reminds us that not all fairytales are as they seem and have darker twisted elements to them. Ophelia was certainly giving me the creeps, goodness!
In the next part of the story, when Mercy meets Evander, the pacing is calmer and more details about his castle, its furnishings, his observatory. Throughout the novel, there are plenty of humorous banter, but Mercy and Evander’s tit-for-tat is incredibly amusing and charming! He is the order to her chaos, his calm before her storm.
I cannot tell you how much I adore them both! What’s not to like about Mercy? She is a very strong, very well-fleshed-out main character. She is as real as people get: low self-esteem and insecure about her worth but a firm will; unafraid to get what she wants and wishes to be admired, yet has so much kindness and selflessness in her. Seeing her find that worth and grow stronger as a person thanks to the friends she makes along the way is something we can all relate to.
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| Evander character collage by Bridgette Valentine |
Evander is the sweetest MMC I’ve read in a while. He is the sort you would want to have in real life: such a dear, a flirt, a sympathetic listener, very protective, respectful, handsome, sexy, wise, has a passion and excitement for astronomy – never mind a green flag, he is a whole green forest (botanical entity pun intended)! And hello, the man gives her a locket because Mercy wishes she could keep memories stored in one!
Honourable mentions are: Chapter 18 Mercy’s attitude of “Feigning an air of oh-yes-I-fall-into-enchanted-lakes-daily-this-is-nothing” really made me laugh out loud! Chapter 19 I loved this so much: the dance, then Evander apologising for making her feel uneasy, then making her laugh, the flirting, and then this:
Honourable mentions are: Chapter 18 Mercy’s attitude of “Feigning an air of oh-yes-I-fall-into-enchanted-lakes-daily-this-is-nothing” really made me laugh out loud! Chapter 19 I loved this so much: the dance, then Evander apologising for making her feel uneasy, then making her laugh, the flirting, and then this:
“I’m used to being looked at—demanding it even. Demanding short-lived affection and kissing beautiful fae. Yet none of them have looked at me like this. Like we’re sharing something. A secret, a promise.”
This? This is beautiful!
When she asks him to show her the moon and stars too like this chapter has it all, the perfect buildup for the slow burn romance. Then Chapter 20 the observatory, where they open up to each other. Reminds me of the Starfall chapter in “ACOMAF”, I suppose because there literally is a Starfall Gala in this story too. It is nice to see the reference. Chapter 23 *that* scene got me flushed yet giggling and kicking my feet (and screaming “Finally!”) – also, having Evander leaning against the doorframe with his arms crossed: that is the best pose a man can do in literature and was an excellent touch! Chapter 29 – need I say any more?
There is not much fault to find with this book. My only negatives are the following: the story felt rushed towards the end and I feel like in some scenes, the descriptions could have been longer. This story mentions all sorts of creatures (fae, selkies, pixies, dwarves, nymphs, merfolk) which is delightful, but I should very much have liked to have had more characters or scenarios showing these different races. The same goes for The Ether: around a handful of High Lords and Ladies of the Courts are mentioned and I should very much have liked to have seen them more involved in this story.
There is certainly an opportunity to revisit these people in the future: perhaps as a trilogy or chronicle from other character perspectives like Gale, Everly and/or Meike?
For being Bridgette Valentine’s first debut fiction novel, I highly commend her efforts! It is not an easy thing to do and she should truly be very proud of what she has accomplished. I was so enticed by the plot I could not set it down. The world-building was rather well done, not too complicated, and gradually revealed as you go along.
Also, Bridgette is a real one for putting a quote from “Howl’s Moving Castle” in the epigraph! I can see a lot of similarities between Howl and Evander.
I am honoured to have been selected as an ARC reader for this book, and I’d like to thank Bridgette for the opportunity.
When she asks him to show her the moon and stars too like this chapter has it all, the perfect buildup for the slow burn romance. Then Chapter 20 the observatory, where they open up to each other. Reminds me of the Starfall chapter in “ACOMAF”, I suppose because there literally is a Starfall Gala in this story too. It is nice to see the reference. Chapter 23 *that* scene got me flushed yet giggling and kicking my feet (and screaming “Finally!”) – also, having Evander leaning against the doorframe with his arms crossed: that is the best pose a man can do in literature and was an excellent touch! Chapter 29 – need I say any more?
There is not much fault to find with this book. My only negatives are the following: the story felt rushed towards the end and I feel like in some scenes, the descriptions could have been longer. This story mentions all sorts of creatures (fae, selkies, pixies, dwarves, nymphs, merfolk) which is delightful, but I should very much have liked to have had more characters or scenarios showing these different races. The same goes for The Ether: around a handful of High Lords and Ladies of the Courts are mentioned and I should very much have liked to have seen them more involved in this story.
There is certainly an opportunity to revisit these people in the future: perhaps as a trilogy or chronicle from other character perspectives like Gale, Everly and/or Meike?
For being Bridgette Valentine’s first debut fiction novel, I highly commend her efforts! It is not an easy thing to do and she should truly be very proud of what she has accomplished. I was so enticed by the plot I could not set it down. The world-building was rather well done, not too complicated, and gradually revealed as you go along.
Also, Bridgette is a real one for putting a quote from “Howl’s Moving Castle” in the epigraph! I can see a lot of similarities between Howl and Evander.
I am honoured to have been selected as an ARC reader for this book, and I’d like to thank Bridgette for the opportunity.
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