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A sad but beautiful fairy tale full of heart and hope.

Welcome to another Amazon First Reads review!

Today I’ll be sharing my thoughts on an all new fairy tale fantasy by the author responsible for such titles as, ‘The Paper Magician,’ ‘Spellbreaker,’ ‘Star Mother,’ and more.

Now, despite having several of Holmberg’s books on my TBR, this is the first I’ve picked up..
but I will be getting my hands on more.

The cover is as beautiful as the story inside, the writing draws you right in, and the characters keep you there so if you’re looking for a wonderful new Summer read, are a fan of fairy tales with little romance but lots of heart, and bittersweet happy endings—I encourage you to check this one out.

Enjoy!

(Disclaimer: This post contains affiliate links. Any purchases made through my links may earn me a small commission at no additional cost to you.)

The Hanging City by Charlie N. Holmberg

Publication date: August 1, 2023
Pages: 344
Genre: Dark Fantasy, Romance, Horror, Fairy Tales,
Standalone

First line: “Let me tell you about Paca’s journey to Eterellis,” the old bard says, sitting on a dried stump and drumming his knobby fingers on his knees.

The book opens with an old bard’s tale of long ago: A young man journeys to a city of impossible beauty, determined to return home with enough wealth to win the hand of his lady love. But their love story is not what’s important here.. it’s what happens when this young man finds himself accosted by trolls along the way that really matters.

In the present, the world is plagued by a drought that’s devastated the human population, the handful of cities that are left struggle to survive.
From one of these settlements comes a girl with a terrible gift, a young woman on the run from her abusive and power hungry father, a girl searching for somewhere she can call home.

Lark has passed from city to city, always on the move, hunted by her father’s men and unable to find those who would accept her.
After escaping yet another attempt to capture her, she’s left with one last hope.. the city of trolls. Once at war, the humans and trolls have no love for one another, but Lark will do anything to finally belong somewhere and this may be just the home she’s been searching for.

My Review:

Thanks to the reading slump I’ve been in these last few months, I really haven’t been able to get invested in most of the books I’ve picked up.
Fortunately, this one knew what it was doing.

Lark’s story is so full of longing and loneliness that it breaks your heart. You can’t help but feel something for this lost young woman, burdened with a power she’s hated for and never wanted. I was charmed by her kindness and bravery after all she had endured and found myself rooting for her happy ending. She’s the kind of character that is strong.. in a quiet way. It threw me off at times because I usually favor a more sarcastic, kick-butt kind of female protagonist and yet.. Lark grew on me.

The story, this world, and the characters were all so unique and fascinating that it was easy to get lost in. Even the romance was sweet and enjoyable.. and coming from me? That says something.

The book explores controversial topics like prejudice, discrimination, status, inequality, kratocracy—and so much more—is all woven into a captivating fairy tale that teaches us that despite our differences, appearances, origins, and beliefs.. acceptance is possible. And it’s somehow done in a way that doesn’t take over the story, which I find really impressive.

Would I recommend this book? Yes.
The Hanging City is one of those compulsive, ‘just one more page’ kind of reads that you can’t put down but, alas, I don’t want to spoil it so I’ll simply say this.. it’s worth readingand I fully expect that many of my fellow fantasy readers will agree.

That’s all folks!
Thank you so much for stopping by, I hope you enjoyed my review and are now seriously considering picking this book up..
I would love to know what you think of it.
Stay safe and Happy reading!

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