I received this e-arc from the author for the Turn the Page Book Tour. All reviews are my own.
It's interesting to learn that the basis of Songs of Autumn derived from real-life experiences from the author Lauren Sevier. I would have never guessed that this story's inspiration came from her newborn son's parenting journey. Sevier stated that her son was born from a frozen 5-day old embryo, which doctors had to thaw out. As a running joke, her son hates the cold, thus creating the wintery theme of her very first book, Songs of Autumn.
Impending doom is looming over the Kingdom of Aegis. Tides will cease to turn, and the sun will no longer be able to rise and set. A forever winter is threatening to blanket the Kingdom unless the blood of the Red Princess is sacrificed to save the populace. Knowing her future death stamp is coming, Princess Elisabetta flees the castle and tries to spin the strings of fate in her favor. With the help of Matioch Steele and his band of misfits, they both learn self-discovery while trying to figure out what's worth dying for.
What can I say about this story? With a fantasy book highlighting magick, the allurement was pretty lax. It was very subtle to the point I didn't even notice it was being summoned. Spoiler alert: it was wind. The wind is magick. The wind magick in this story isn't comparable to Pocahontas's "Colors of the Wind," but it will have to do. Initially, I thought this magick was the bringer of change in the Princess's life's prophecy, but that possibility fell flat for me. Because there was barely anything tying magick to the death prophecy, I think Sevier was planning to use this build-up for Book 2. Unfortunately, it left me confused about why "magick" was mentioned in the first place.
One of my biggest annoyances is how much of a crier the Princess is. But that's just me. I wasn't raised on dainty and am more of a debutante that would rip off her dress to go to a concert in a heartbeat. Actually, the author capture what I think a whiney, emotional hermit that has no experience outside the palace would be like. Princess Liz is a royal that had to live long enough to die. I wouldn't expect her to understand the world outside of what she sees. But it still annoyed me how emotional she'd get witnessing a simple gesture.
The biggest mystery to me was the disconnect throughout the entire story. I didn't know if there was a disassociation between the characters' mood and emotion or if it was just the way the story is written. I couldn't quite put my finger on it. Either way, I was fascinated with trying to solve the puzzle.
My results: the book wasn't for me. It's clear Sevier is gearing up towards a series, but I'd typically see this pacing in a sequel and not the first. Where I have no problem with the story, it's just wasn't as fulfilling as I'd like it to be.
Songs of Autumn is available on November 21, 2020.
Did I mention that there's a giveaway for Songs of Autumn? Yeah! You can win your digital copy of the book by clicking here. It's open to U.S. and International. The giveaway starts Sunday, November 15, 2020 - Sunday, November 22, 2020 at 12:00 a.m. CDT