Synopsis:
Scale the giant beanstalk, retrieve the treasure, return home. Simple, right?
Life for Twila, while not easy, had been fairly straightforward. Take care of her mother, tend the farm, placate her lazy and demanding “brother”, Jack. When an opportunity to change their fortunes comes knocking, she leaps at the chance. Or climbs it.
But nothing follows her expectations when Twila finds herself in a magical realm above the clouds populated by fae. Still, finding unguarded wealth in this kingdom overflowing with jewels and precious metal shouldn’t be too hard. Guarding her heart against the handsome self-appointed guide who may be the key to unlocking her past is the real test.
Twila thought her heart desired riches that could help her mother, but when answers about who she is and where she came from start coming to light, she’s torn. Time is ticking down and she must choose. Stay and risk her heart? Or return to the safety of her old life?
Review:
It has been a little while since I delved into the Starry Kingdom of the Fae series of standalones. I was reading them in publication order, but this one caught my eye – I love retellings and Jack and the Beanstalk is not one I’ve come across yet.
The opening of Bound by Twilight was very confusing. You’re thrown straight into the story with pretty much no explanation of what is going on. If you picked up this book and didn’t know it was based on Jack and the Beanstalk or even knew what that story was, you’d be very lost. I was a little lost and I knew both.
After a while, you could see the story start to take shape and where the inspiration came in. This isn’t an outright retelling, it uses elements from the original story to create a fae world in the sky. Which is where the beanstalk came into play.
I really liked both of our main characters and the court system was intriguing. It was refreshing to see that even though the day court were the fae with darker skin, there wasn’t any type of inferiority surrounding them. Which you do find happens quite a lot in these types of books. Racism can be rife in fantasy and it was good to see that wasn’t the case here.
One of my biggest issues with Bound by Twilight was expecting it to be a quick read due to its short length. I really struggled to get into the story to begin with and it felt like I wasn’t getting anywhere. As soon the worldbuilding and character introductions were out of the way, the action took centre stage and the various tasks Twila was made to complete were fun.
I had no idea where that storyline was going to take me and I was pleasantly surprised that I hadn’t thought of the outcome. It’s a fun take on a specific trope, that I won’t name for spoiler reasons, that you often find in books about the fae.
Overall Bound by Twilight was a fun and unique take on the classic Jack and the Beanstalk story and it was a short read that carried a lot of substance. I’d recommend you check it out if you want to bump up your reading numbers with a fairly quick book.
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[…] Like this post? Why not read this one too: Book Review: Bound by Twilight by Megan Charlie […]