Asperfell
Books | Fiction / Gothic
4.1
Jamie Thomas
"Wonderfully inventive... Sure to win over fantasy readers." - Publishers Weekly (starred review)Only the darkest and most dangerous of Mages are sentenced to pass through the gate to Asperfell.Not one has ever returned.Never did Briony dream she might set foot in the otherworldly prison of Asperfell. She was, after all, neither Mage nor criminal. She was simply her father's little whirlwind—fingers smudged with ink, dresses caked with mud—forever lost in a book or the spirit-haunted woods surrounding her family's country estate.But Briony always had a knack for showing up where she was least expected.Only by braving the gate of Asperfell could Briony hope to find the true heir to the throne of Tiralaen and save her kingdom from civil war. And so, she plunges into a world of caged madmen and demented spirits, of dark magic and cryptic whispers... and of a bleak and broken prince with no interest in being rescued.Hauntingly beautiful and lavishly told, Asperfell is a must-read for fans of Jane Austen who always wished she'd dabbled in blood magic."The wonderfully inventive first installment in Thomas's debut trilogy winningly combines the comedy of manners found in Regency romances with the high spirits of magical school adventure fantasies. [...] The charming characters, understated romance that simmers between Briony and Elyan, and easily graspable politics are all well-rendered, but the true star here is the strange, mystical setting of Asperfell. This promising adventure has crossover YA appeal and is sure to win over fantasy readers." - Publishers Weekly
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Author
Jamie Thomas
Pages
430
Publisher
Uproar Books, LLC
Published Date
2020-02-18
ISBN
1949671070 9781949671070
Community ReviewsSee all
"3.8 stars *this review has spoilers*<br/><br/>This book has really great writing and a strong start, though I feel it kind of fell off when Briony got to Asperfell. Maybe it’s that my expectations of what I would be going into were so different from what it was really like. But so much of the book was spent there, and if found it gloomy, depressing, slow paced, and overall underwhelming. Briony also didn’t seem to reflect on her old life too much or even mourn her father’s death too terribly. I guess my main problem is that it felt like two separate stories, and there was a disconnect between before Asperfell and during. All of the characters were great though, especially Briony, who, to my delight, was a lovable heroine."
Jan
