story craft

My rating: 5 out of 5 stars

Reasons to love: 

-swoony but no spice romance 
-shapeshifter cinnamon roll fae MMC
-beautiful worldbuilding
-powerful but tenderhearted FMC
-monsters of darkness
-guardians of underworld door
–Frozen vibes (aka great winter read!)
–Mansfield Park vibes

Themes:

Cautions: a couple of passionate kisses, but not too intense or super descriptive; graphic battle scenes; violence throughout.

Format: eARC

Genre: YA Fantasy

Favorite quote: “I think there’s magic in sharing the contents of your heart.”  

Review:

With Castle of Dusk and Shadows Rachel Schade invited me into the dark and stunning world of Brytwilde, a land ruled by four kingdoms of Fae, each tied to the shifting seasons. Castle focused on the Ashwoods in the Autumn kingdom while Rachel’s newest book, Fortress of Blood and Power, dives into the power plays and court dynamics of the Winter kingdom—Silverfrost. 

Just like with Castle, I was enchanted with the characters, the worldbuilding, the rules of the fae lands and magic, and the connections to well-known Jane Austen novels. Y’all—there are so many creative aspects and beloved tropes in this book that it’s almost impossible for me to outline here all the things I love about Fortress without giving everything away. 

These characters will reach off the pages and steal your heart. Seriously, what’s not to love about Ren and Garrick? Ren is our sweet but broken and lonely human FMC who has no idea who she is or what she’s worth. I mean, come on, haven’t we all felt that way from time to time? And Garrick—oh, Garrick. You have my heart. He’s our loyal (as much as he can be), protective, and cinnamon-roll-y fae shifter hero. For sure, cinnamon roll and fae shifter are not words I thought I’d ever use together to describe a fictional hero I adore. And yet, it’s such a vibe. Garrick is the hero we never knew we needed, but we’re so here for it. 

This book left me sleep-deprived and made me want to conjure my own furious winter storm in places. The plot keeps you guessing; the writing is clean, clear, and fun; and I can’t wait to read the third book in this series. 

Thank you, Rachel, for inviting me to read this book early and share with the bookish world just how much I love it. 

I received an eARC from the author, but I wrote the review because I wanted to, not because it was required. All opinions stated here are my own.