A Deal with the Elf King: Review

 

Photo Credit: Elise Kova

A Deal with the Elf King by Elise Kova is a fantasy romance perfect for fans of A Court of Thorns and Roses. A young woman named Luella lives in Capton, a village right at the edge of the veil that separates the human world from the elf world, Midscape. For centuries, the elf king has come to the human world to find a bride: The Human Queen, the only human to be born with magic.

It comes as no surprise that Luella is the Human Queen this time around, thus beginning our Beauty and the Beast-esque romance as she’s married to the elf king, Eldas, and whisked away to another world.

Luella is characterized quickly. She’s a healer by trade, having spent years studying so she could help her village by treating the ill and injured. When she’s taken away from Capton, one of her first concerns is who will care for them, marking her as a selfless, hard-working person. Unfortunately, this sort of made her the most boring character for me. Now, Kova is amazing at writing characters. Every other book I’ve read of hers had truly amazing characters, so she set a high bar for Luella. Luella is in no way a bad character, she’s not as good as the rest of the stunning cast that Kova designed.

In contrast, Eldas is amazing. He has so much depth to him, and flaws strengthened by the difficult backstory that made him turn out the way he did. As far as fantasy romance interests go, he’s perfect: brooding, intelligent, and a bit of a jackass to set up a perfect slow-burn enemies-to-lovers romance between him and Luella. Yet nothing he does is so egregious as to keep me from liking him, and when his kind side comes out it’s beyond swoon-worthy.

This is a much slower plot than my last book from Kova, which was the Air Awakens: Vortex Chronicles Box Set, but that doesn’t keep it from being interesting. Rather than fighting and kicking ass, Luella reads about previous Human Queens, deals with the complex political relations between elves and the other denizens of their world, and uses her wits rather than her fists in a quiet, yet significant story.

The world-building is integrated organically, as we learn about almost everything at the same time as Luella, with the few exceptions of what she already knew (the human world, the Human Queen, and a few myths). Kova paints a picture of a world that’s beautiful and enchanting, but at the same time with dangerous edges and dark depths that put Luella in danger as she navigates the unfamiliar elven culture.

The prose, as always, is beautiful. Kova always shines in her descriptions, especially of magical landscapes and the forming of deep, emotional connections. They draw you in, invoking vivid imagery as you read about this strange and deadly world.

Overall, this book is a quiet but engaging read that I can't recommend enough.


A Deal with the Elf King is only one book set in this world. The title for the next one has already been announced: A Dance with the Fae Rogue.


You can pre-order A Deal with the Elf King on Kova's site, where you can also find info on her other books!

To find out more about the amazing cover artist, Marcelia Medeiros, here!

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