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A review by carlyoc
The Rules of Enchantment by Wendy Tardieu
4.0
3.5 stars.
There's a lot of potential in this book, and the author packed quite a lot of plot and world-building into less than 150 pages.
I was very impressed by the first third of the book. I have to admit that I held some assumptions about the quality of writing in any book that had the word "erotic" on the cover and Tardieu dashed those assumptions immediately. The beginning is well-paced with vivid descriptions and character descriptions that leave strong impressions.
The middle and end of the book, however, I found a little rushed. I was also not a fan of the dynamics of the romance. It seemed to come out of nowhere, and as much as I usually fall for the trope of dark brooding antihero and sweet innocent ingenue, these characters play that to a T with no self-awareness or deviation and rather icky adherence to outdated gender norms. This line from the initial consummation of their attraction to each other really turned me off: "she lay delicate and subdued as a flower beneath him." There are some scenes of dubious consent and absolutely no mention of contraception (or willingness to have a baby), which I guess might be the norm for romance novels, but in most of the fantasy romance I read, there is at least mention of a magical charm or potion that the woman makes a point to take to avoid pregnancy. Why even in fantasy novels does the onus for contraception always fall on the woman?
The magic system is interesting in that lust dims a sorcerer's ability to perform spells. At first this seemed a mere tool to advance the sexual tension, but it did come into play in an interesting plot twist in the end.
There's a lot of potential in this book, and the author packed quite a lot of plot and world-building into less than 150 pages.
I was very impressed by the first third of the book. I have to admit that I held some assumptions about the quality of writing in any book that had the word "erotic" on the cover and Tardieu dashed those assumptions immediately. The beginning is well-paced with vivid descriptions and character descriptions that leave strong impressions.
The middle and end of the book, however, I found a little rushed. I was also not a fan of the dynamics of the romance. It seemed to come out of nowhere, and as much as I usually fall for the trope of dark brooding antihero and sweet innocent ingenue, these characters play that to a T with no self-awareness or deviation and rather icky adherence to outdated gender norms. This line from the initial consummation of their attraction to each other really turned me off: "she lay delicate and subdued as a flower beneath him." There are some scenes of dubious consent and absolutely no mention of contraception (or willingness to have a baby), which I guess might be the norm for romance novels, but in most of the fantasy romance I read, there is at least mention of a magical charm or potion that the woman makes a point to take to avoid pregnancy. Why even in fantasy novels does the onus for contraception always fall on the woman?
The magic system is interesting in that lust dims a sorcerer's ability to perform spells. At first this seemed a mere tool to advance the sexual tension, but it did come into play in an interesting plot twist in the end.