Review: Elske by Cynthia Voigt

Hey, everyone! It’s been a little while since I’ve done a review. I’ve had Elske on my shelf for a while and I finally decided to pick it up and read it. Here’s my review of it.

Book: Elske

Author: Cynthia Voigt

Genre: Fantasy, Young Adult

Series? Tales of the Kingdom #4 (though you can read it as a standalone)

Synopsis: “Two Women
Elske — a girl with no future, until her grandmother’s sacrifice saves her from certain death
Beriel — an imperious princess, determined to claim the kingdom that is her birthright
Fate brings them together, both exiles, one servant to the other. To Beriel, the mistress, Elske offers steadfast loyalty and courage — hard to come by in her dangerous quest to regain the throne she has been denied by treachery. To Elske, the handmaiden, Beriel’s proud example provides a perhaps even more precious gift — the strength to find her true self.”

My Thoughts:

This book was an enjoyable read. There are some aspects that I don’t really like about, which I’ll be talking about in a little bit.

👩 Strong female characters. I liked the fact that the two main protagonists were both independent, female characters. Elske was more likeable than Beriel, with her quiet but defiant personality. Beriel, I still liked her, though she was a person you couldn’t really easily connect with.

🌎 The world. The world that Voigt created is pretty awesome. I like the name that the people Elske were from was named. The Wolfers/Volkaric name is very cool sounding, though they are in no way good people.

📈 The pacing. Overall, the pacing of this book was alright, though it takes quite a long time for Elske to actually become servant to Beriel. I understand that they need to set up the world and have a way to bring in the characters, but I feel like it maybe could’ve been done slightly faster.

The fact that rape was a really prominent part. It’s not so much that it’s there so much, it’s that it’s such an important aspect of the women’s lives. I understand that it’s kind of how the society is in that world, still.

💞 The romance. I wouldn’t say the romance was bad, but it kind of felt a little rushed. Lord Dugald and Elske knew each other for what? A couple weeks? And already, it’s starting to develop into something more serious. I didn’t think it was done badly, I think it was just too fast.

This book was still a good read, even with the things that I didn’t particularly like.

TW: rape, mention of rape, killing babies

My Rating: 3.5/5 dragons