“I was no one's sacrifice. Not then. Not now. Not ever.”
BLURB: Two years ago, Louise le Blanc fled her coven and took shelter in the city of Cesarine, forsaking all magic and living off whatever she could steal. There, witches like Lou are hunted. They are feared. And they are burned.
As a huntsman of the Church, Reid Diggory has lived his life by one principle: Thou shalt not suffer a witch to live. But when Lou pulls a wicked stunt, the two are forced into an impossible situation—marriage.
Lou, unable to ignore her growing feelings, yet powerless to change what she is, must make a choice. And love makes fools of us all.
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BOOK REVIEW
You will like this if you like:
~ Slow burn romance (enemies to lovers)
~ Unique Magic Systems
~ Witches
~ Fantasy
To Note: Book 1 of duology.
Plot: 4.75/5
Characters: 4.75/5
Writing Style: 4.5/5
Personal Enjoyment: 4.75/5
Overall Rating: 18.75/20
Well I devoured this book in two days, would have been even less if I had been able to read through the night. It was such an easy read, no clunky prose or superfluous descriptions. The story centres around Lou who is on the run but its not immediately clear why. Though as the story unfolds you realise she has quite a few enemies, not least of which is the church. The Chasseurs are the huntsmen for the church, they are tasked with hunting down witches, and Lou is a witch. The main story really starts when Lou (by accident) becomes entangled with Reid(literally!) a chasseur. The only way to extricate themselves from the scandal is to marry. I found this to be quite a unique take; the couple are already “together” before the story really gets going. Their beginning is usually the ending of a story. I also found it refreshing that (considering their relatively young age) they both approach the marriage in a mature pragmatic way. There is no endless bemoaning of their fates. There is no instant love either, but rather the common sense reasoning to make the best of the situation(marriage) they both acknowledge they need to be in. I appreciated they both approached it logically and gave each other space and respected boundaries. And when the romance did happen, it was organic and beautifully done.
The magic system was really unique here too and I loved how each act of magic requires a payment in kind. It was also interesting to see the different types of witches that exist. The french setting and language added a touch of glamour to the world too, gave it a old world feel to it.
I loved all the characters, Lou was fantastic in her feistiness I think her character was exceptionally developed. Reid was wonderful I loved how he, from the get go was determined to protect her and give her the respect she was due and demand it of others too. This was especially endearing as he spent so much of the time confused or baffled by her. In fact all the Chasseurs in their monastic ways found Lou baffling and she had them blushing, which made for some comedic moments!
The secondary characters were all well developed, there were plenty of background characters that come to the fore as the story progresses. Coco was particularly intriguing and I have a feeling she will play an even bigger role in book 2. I found it amusing how unimpressed she was by pampered Beau!
Overall the pacing of the story was good, I didn't feel bored at any point but the ending felt a bit rushed and there were certain events that took place that I would have thought would have a bigger emotional impact on our characters, but some were glossed over while others were not mentioned at all. I hope these are addressed in book two. But these are very small niggles and I am really excited to see how this all concludes. Highly recommend.
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Favourite Quotes
“I loved her. Despite everything. Despite the lies, the betrayal, the hurt. Despite the Archbishop and Morgane le Blanc. Despite my own brothers. I don't know if she returned that love, and I didn't care. If she was destined to burn in Hell, I would burn with her.”
“There are some things that can't be changed with words. Some things have to be seen. They have to be felt.”
“I never said it was your god. Your god hates women. We were an afterthought.”