Marvellous Light (The Last Binding, 1)

I really enjoyed everything about this book. I love how the magic systems and setup are so different from every other book I've read and although it was sometimes a little hard to follow that never took away from my experience reading it. It was so interesting to read about magic through hands, blood, and land. I also loved that I felt really immersed in the setting and time period without the novel feeling like a stuffy classic English novel. What I enjoyed the most though were the character dynamics and how well fleshed out they were. I was in love with the idea of Robin and Edwin falling in love and I found myself looking forward to every interaction they had. Not only that, I enjoyed seeing how the other characters were built into the story and how they acted as well. This book gives you everything you want and need from its world and characters without having an over convoluted universe set up to follow and it still keeps you interested. Five stars from me because I was hooked from when I first read the premise till the very end and every chapter kept getting more and more interesting. I also, again, really loved Robin and Edwin!

I originally picked this Historical Fantasy (Romance?) because of it's gorgeous cover (Kindle does not do it justice!) and for being marked as "Red, White & Royal Blue meets Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell". While I don't know much about Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell, I'll say that I didn't see much similarity between this and R,W,&RB but I enjoyed the read! This is Freya Marske's debut novel and I found her writing mesmerizing. Edwin and Robin's relationship was developed just as well as their characters and it fit perfectly into the plot. I loved the magical world that was created, even if I had a hard time keeping up with who was who at the Courcey estate. I found the ending to be a little disappointing, but I can see how it perfectly sets up the second book in the trilogy - which I cannot wait to get my hands on. Fun Fact - one of the (very small) characters names is Len Geiger and I personally know a Len Geiger. I don't think I've ever come across a book character with the exact name of someone I know, especially one a lot less common! Have you?

a mystery set in the past (check). diverse cast of characters (check). great set up for the next installment in the series (check).