[REVIEW] IN THE SHADOW OF A WISH - MACI AURORA (ENGLISH REVIEW)

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source: goodreads

Title: In the Shadow of a Wish (Fareview Fairy Tale #1)

Author: Maci Aurora

Publication date: 26 April 2022

Pages: 516 pages

ISBN: 9798985032505

Language: English

BLURB

In the Kingdom of Kaloma, women are forced to marry by the age of 26 or face terrible consequences. It is the law.

Four sisters living in the remote village of Sevens, the northernmost point of the kingdom, are without the means to make a love match. Trapped by their circumstances, they attend to their proper obligation to the law, but time is running out.

When one sister discovers an enchanted, golden key deep in the Whitling Woods, it may have the power to change everything, but will the price be too high?

Auri Fareview is practical. When she finds a golden key that could be the answer she needs to save her sisters from the unjust Kaloma Marriage Laws, she discovers the treasure might be more than she bargained for. Enchanted, it doesn’t just come with a price attached; it’s also home to an imprisoned god, who wreaks havoc on her body, her heart, and her soul. Those aren’t practical matters.

Nixus Uraiahs has lost track of how long he’s been imprisoned by the spell on the key. Every other key keeper has failed to break the spell to free him. Nix knows he’s the reason why they haven’t. So, he will hold this new key-keeper accountable to the bargain of the spell: three wishes and a price for each. There’s no hope in her freeing him. Except Auri approaches her wishes differently than any of the others, and Nix begins to see her as more than just a key-keeper. She intrigues him, and Nix realizes his heart is at risk of being captured by the seventh key-keeper. That's a risk he can’t afford knowing his villainy is just a single wish away.

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REVIEW

Thank you NetGalley and Mixed Plate Press for providing this ARC!

Auri and her siblings are trapped by a rule that requires them to get married at the age of 28. If not fulfilled, then there will be punishment given to them and their families. Auri and her sisters grew up with parents who love each other so they don't want to get married, let alone the result of the Marriage Market. Until one day Auri, finding the golden key that gives her the ability to change her future with the reward she must survive with Nix, the God of Night and Darkness, fulfilling all the consequences.

At first, I thought that the focus of the conflict will be about the Marriage Law that binding the women in that time. But it’s not the main problem here. The story will be focus on Auri and Nixus relationship. Some reviewer said that this book is retelling of The Golden Key story. But to be honest I don't even know about this story, I never heard of this story before, so I don't really understand which part is the retelling. No need to worry because at the beginning of the book, the author explains with detail about the world, the Marriage Law, the story of Golden Key so before we read the book, we will have a good foundation of the world and story.

The plot is fast at first, we met Auri and her family. See how hard it is for them with this Marriage Law. And until Auri met this Golden Key, everything happened fast. However, when Auri was already in a different "world" and together with Nixus, the plot suddenly turned slow. The process leading to Auri's first wish also so slow. What happen between them in that time? We will see how Auri and Nixus complicated relationship happen. We know for sure from their POV that they’re attracted to each other. Not typically love at first sight but more like “desire” for each other. We will constantly read about how they lust each other on their mind, quite disturbing because this process takes a long time until they finally "give up". Moreover, in this process, we have witnessed a lot of tug-of-war. Regardless, after going through this tug of war their relationship became quite strong, they thought of each other, and Auri used her wish wisely so that it could be to their advantage. Seeing their struggle to get out of this curse also makes me see them as a perfect match, even though it is quite disturbing at first.

I think the world building in this book is beautiful. Maybe they are trap in that Golden Key dimension but with Nix power we can witness much more outside world. I love how detail the world is so I can imagine it better.

I like how the conflict arise in this book. Maybe I can expect what will happen next or how the ending will be but the process or how the story develop is far from what I was thinking. So, when I read this I still curious about how the author will deal with this chaos.

Auri and Nix is great as a couple, but as person I like Auri more. Auri is so clever, she uses her wish wisely so she can help all her beloved one. She is brave and strong. Nix is annoying at first, maybe it also depends on his past, but after I read the book, he become better and of course the one I really like from him is his love for Auri, how he protects and care for Auri.

Afterall, I give this book rating 3.5/5⭐. Nice world building and great romance. I will recommend this to everyone who like fantasy romance!

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