#living in the mountains and being witted like is my hc XD

[smalltownfae]

Book Review: "The Forgotten Beasts of Eld" by Patricia A. McKillip

Rating: 5/5

Title: The Forgotten Beasts of Eld

Author: Patricia A. McKillip

Pages: 343

Review:

This book was such a surprise! I knew nothing about it so I wasn't expecting the dark moments in it and the beautiful writing style. It became a favorite.

"The Forgotten Beasts of Eld" is about a powerful wizard named Sybel that lives isolated in the mountains with her magical beasts that the world has forgotten about. This includes a wise boar, a black cat, a lyon, a falcon, a swan and a dragon. All of them have tales about their mighty deeds of the past and Sybel, like her father and grandfather before her, was raised to take care of them. The wizard wants nothing to do with the affairs of men until a baby is dropped on her lap and later a king driven by fear and distrust makes her get involved in the conflict between Dedre and the Sirle Lords. The use of her power leads Sybel to a dark path of revenge, making her to ignore the advice of those she cares about.

I really liked the characters, especially the main one, but also the witch Maelga and Coren. The relationships in this book were fantastic and so was the poetic writing , with quotes like "You can weave your life so long—only so long, and then a thing in the world out of your control will tug at one vital thread and leave you patternless and subdued.”

This book had some predictable moments, but also some surprises and those were more than enough to make up for it. This is very much a character driven story revolving around Sybel and her development. There is a romance, but it's a complicated one since Sybel is used to only care for herself and knew nothing of love until being made to raise a child. I love Sybel, but she is not a very likable character and some readers might struggle reading her perspective.

There isn't much I can say about it without spoilers. I definitely want to read more books by this author.

#the forgotten beasts of eld #book review #patricia a. mckillip #I couldn't help but think of fitz's mom from rote #living in the mountains and being witted like is my hc XD #also this book is very dramatic #I cried but I haven't seen anyone say they did #maybe it's just me