Elaine White's Life in Books

** This review is word-for-word as that contained within the Blessed Epoch, Vol. 1 review **

Book 1: Ashes and Echoes
Length: 0-23%
POV: Yarrow, Duncan, Sasha
Star rating: ★★★☆☆

Confusingly, I enjoyed this but it wasn't one of those books I read and thought “OMG, I'm in love” like I have with other books by this author. I feel a little bit torn about it, as in some ways it was fantastic, while in others it felt really long (even for a book of 330 pages) and it dragged in places where it really shouldn't have.

Sadly, I didn't end book 1 with an urgent, desperate need to read book 2, but I am curious how it will go. The plot for this one was quite twisted and intertwining so I guess that the others will probably follow the same format. However, it really didn't work for me. It felt more like a bunch of short plot arcs that were all woven together to make one big one and, at times, I wasn't following the connections or I didn't believe in them enough to trust it. And it's a little annoying that we leave book 1 without knowing who, exactly, ordered the assassins to do their job against Sasha. That bugs me, leaving an unanswered question.

The story dealt with some serious themes in a compassionate, understanding way that didn't make fun of them but didn't blow them up into something that became the focus of the story, either. They were used as a side plot in a really long story, but treated with care and woven seamlessly into the story, from beginning to end, so that it wasn't constantly on our mind but was never far from our thoughts, at the same time.

It started off really intriguing, because Yarrow was a great character to offer his POV and he showed us a lot about himself that we couldn't have found out in any other way. But he was also a relateable character, one with scars both mental and physical and a mysterious past, a mysterious voice in his head and a whole lot of questions for us to ask about that were revealed throughout the telling of the story, in pieces that were just enough at the time they were given. I do think maybe we were told the story of how Yarrow met the mysterious voice in his head too soon. I would have loved to have waited until he explained it all to Duncan and Sasha before finding out, because then it would be much more curious and intriguing.

One thing that really bothered me was the copious amounts of sex. Now, normally I like the amount of sex scenes to match the theme of the book and the length. So, a longer novel can handle more scenes and one that is based on an MMM relationship can handle a little more than your average MM, often because of the dynamics needed to bring three people together. In this one, I understood the need for Yarrow and Sasha to get it on, when Duncan kept refusing Yarrow and they'd made their 'no strings' agreement. I also get the point of the angry sex later, when Duncan again refuses Yarrow, as well as the first menage scene. However, they had to be about ten sex scenes in this entire book, all of a hugely unnecessary half dozen to dozen pages each. Now, in a contemporary romance novel I can accept more of that, but in a fantasy with a plot this intricate, there really shouldn't have been the time, energy or inclination for that amount of sex to be going on. It just felt a little too much, too contrived and too in-your-face for my liking, which is weird because August Li has become one of those insta-love authors for me that always seems to get it right. So, I'm kind of hoping that this first book is the anomaly of the series, in this regard.

The three person POV was fine, for me. I totally understood that Sasha and Duncan had to tell their sides of the story, especially since they often went off alone, but I felt closer to Yarrow, as a character, mostly because he got the primary POV that felt more realistic and complex than the other two. Sometimes it felt like the POV's for Sasha and Duncan had been filler chapters, added in later to fill in the blanks or just to divide the POV's more equally when it wasn't really necessary, such as Sasha's mental predicament and drunkenness on the boat. Most of what was revealed was already known to us or at least obvious from the way he'd been acting.

However, I did feel the chemistry between all three of them and I appreciated that, unlike some other stories in the MMM genre, the relationship was shared equally between all three characters and was equal parts emotional and physical. It grew over time, even if it felt a little too 'picture perfect' at times to really be all that dramatic.

I guessed the only huge plot point very early on. It was a little obvious to me, but I still felt vindicated and happy when it was revealed that I was right. I also have a running theory about the voice in Yarrow's head that I won't remark on until the big reveal later (if and when it comes) until I know whether I'm right or not.

More than any of the characters, I felt for Yarrow, who had no choice but to live a half-life with another creature inside his head, taking over his body and often doing things that would revolt or terrify him if he knew. I found it a little frustrating the neither Sasha nor Duncan did anything during the pub scene when the creature had taken over Yarrow, leaving him to feel used and mistreated in a way that they could have prevented if they'd only opened their eyes.

Overall, the story is all about an intricate, intriguing conspiracy that went just a little too far into the convoluted and unexplainable, for my liking. All the way through reading I flip-flopped between a 3 and 4 star review, due to the parts that flagged in both excitement and failing to draw my attention as much as other parts. Rini's story made me cry, as Yarrow had the ability to do quite a bit, but the over abundance of sex and the lack of flow between one plot twist and the next left me feeling muddled, with too much thrown at me to make much sense of it. With the two other main characters of Duncan and Sasha feeling far too aloof, it meant that two thirds of the POV's were lacking that relateable, loveable quality that Yarrow's character had. There was nothing mysterious about either of them that kept me interested in their internal thoughts. And the ending which lacked Sasha's reveal of the ring disappointed me, because it was a pivotal moment that could have sent Yarrow off with some relief. Ending with a finale that was both frustrating and, like other parts of the story, highly predictable, I had no choice but to choose the 3 star rating.

~

Favourite Quote

“Duncan stood and Sasha stepped forward to clasp his hand. “You know, Tam Knight, I think that was the first civilized conversation we've shared. You didn't insult me once. I rather enjoyed it.””

“Some days Yarrow felt like all the beauty had drained out of the world. It felt alien compared to his recollections from before he'd left home to wander, a distant reflection in a dull mirror. Then he looked at Duncan and Sasha and decided flowers still grew out of the ash.”

~