Book Review
Title: The Beholder
Author: Anna Bright
Genre: YA/Romance
Rating: *****
Review: I knew absolutely nothing about the Beholder going in it and it didn’t really seem like my cup of tea, but I was willing to give it a go. We are introduced to Selah, who is the only daughter of the Seneschal of Potomac, who has to find her perfect match to secure the future of her people, sounds simple enough but I have a feeling there is much more to the story than that alone. I could tell straight away this seems to be a retelling of Cinderella. Selah’s mother passed away and her father remarried, her step-mother obviously dislikes Selah and Selah doesn’t like her either. We learn a little about the way things are done in Potomac, women don’t rule without a man to “lead” them, so it is important that Selah marries a strong man to rule in her father’s place but her chosen fiancé Peter publicly rejects her even though they have been engaged for a while and have known each other for years. When the Council calls a meeting on the matter, Selah’s stepmother Alessandra decides it might be better for Selah to go across the Atlantic to find a husband but Selah herself has no choice in the matter. Scared and upset, Selah is guided by her Godmother Althea who tells her Alessandra is trying to get rid of Selah now she is pregnant herself and there are other plans at work, but she doesn’t know what they are yet. Selah is going to set sail on the Beholder in the morning to a destination unknown to meet a mysterious suitor that her stepmother has arranged.
As we approach the ¼ mark in the novel, I wasn’t completely sold on the ideas the novel is presenting just yet, I am being sucked into the world. While I am not a huge fan of fairytale retellings I do like the subtle twists of the very dark tale from the Brothers Grimm. As Selah begins her journey she is nervous especially since she knows her stepmother doesn’t expect her to return at all. Immediately she has problems with Perrault, who her stepmother choose to come on the journey, he begins bullying Selah telling her she needs to lose weight before she meets her suitors which she refuses to do. However, she does get along well with most of the Beholder’s crew especially Captain Lang, who I can see becoming a love interest for Selah. Selah learns she is travelling to Europe with the first stop being in England, where she will meet a Prince but some of the stops on this tour, Selah isn’t happy about at all. This novel seems really character-driven, but I can see a lot of action taking place later especially once Selah has found a proper love interest. I say proper because I am not counting Peter as we know very little of him and we haven’t seen that much of him at all.
As we cross the ¼ mark in the novel, I was very excited to see where Selah’s journey was going to take her. Selah has been aboard the Beholder for over a month and she has been trying to get one step ahead of her stepmother’s plan. While she is struggling with this due to her rather simple upbringing compared to her suitors she is trying her best. When Selah arrives in England to meet with Prince Bertilak, she realizes most of her options are no good as they are all first in line to the thrones of their kingdoms meaning Selah would never return home, one suitor is fifth in line, but it means passing through the Imperiya which Selah wants to avoid at all costs. Given that state of affairs right now I believe Selah will end up going to Imperiya and beyond to find someone who suits her needs not the needs of her stepmother but the relationship she seems to be developing with Lang is interesting and personally I am rooting for him.
As we approach the halfway mark in the novel, Bertilak seem s like a nice person but Selah is far too wrapped up in her own problems to even remotely notice him. Bertilak also doesn’t pay much attention to Selah who is used to one on one interactions rather than the uproar of court, overall they both seem very disinterested in each other. While Lang takes a step back from Selah, she begins to develop a great friendship with her guard, the kind and thoughtful Bear. Very soon after spending a lot of time together, Selah is beginning to see Bear more as a suitor than the Prince and even decides to spend time with him alone leading them to almost falling over the edge into a relationship. I really like Bear, he is quite childlike but can protect Selah and he never tries to make her perform, to be someone she isn’t, he accepts her exactly as she is and that is what Selah wants most. I really don’t like Perrault as he seems like Alessandra’s lapdog but from what we have learned about him, I wouldn’t be surprised if he ha a plan of his own, I also wouldn’t be surprised if he ended up with Selah – enemies to lovers things which I adore.
As we cross into the second half of the novel, not much seems to be happening, we have been introduced to a lot of characters and there is some development there but there doesn’t seem to be anything exciting moving the novel along, so it is dragging quite a bit. I wasn’t expecting the twists that came here but my god it was brilliant crafted and woven into the story perfectly. It leaves Selah with an opening to return to England but for now, she has to head to the Norge where her next suitor awaits who isn’t bound by the responsibilities of a firstborn son and the last suitor she has before she will have to travel to the Imperiya. The relationship-building between Lang and Selah seems completely genuine, but you can’t count on that to steer us in the right direction. Selah also seems to be growing up quickly especially when she realises what Alessandra’s plan might be. If I thought Selah was on a deadline before she is definitely on one now and I can wait to see what happens at the Asgard Fortress.
As we approach the ¾ mark in the novel, I was really eager to see what the Norge had in store for Selah and the company aboard the Beholder. Upon her arrival in the Norge Selah is struck by how much it feels like home yet so different. She is immediately shaken by Torden and how handsome she finds him, but his family is really overwhelming for someone who had been raised in a peaceful environment with no siblings. Torden much like Bear and Lang seems like a very viable love interest for Selah so I have no clue who she is going to end up with in the end. Out of all the love interests introduced so far, Torden is by far my favourite as he sees Selah for who she is and treats her like he would anyone else making Selah feels like she can truly be herself around him, but she is conflicted. I would very happy if she ended up with Torden as I feel he would be a good match for her. I love Torden but the way the society works in the Norge is completely foreign to Selah, but she adapts. Her friendship with Skop is also huge as he begins to fall for Torden’s sister Anya but much like Selah she isn’t free to love who she chooses and that is hard for him, but they help each other through it, even though he threw up on Selah’s shoes.
As we cross into the final section of the novel, there are less than 100 pages left in the novel and I was waiting for things to go horribly wrong especially since this book is the start of a series. Torden and Selah’s relationship is steadily developing, and I can seriously see this becoming something more as Torden almost overshadows Bear in every single way. However, we soon learn that Torden has his own responsibilities and shackles much like Selah despite being the fifth son. We can really see the differences in the upbringing of a lot of the characters, for example, Torden completely misses the fact that Selah has to return to Potomac permanently because she has to take over for her father purely because women don’t inherit positions of powers in Norge, while Selah doesn’t understand why Torden is bound by his responsibility to his family while he is fifth in line for his father’s throne because in her homeland only the firstborn child seems to matter. While Torden and Selah’s romance is developing it doesn’t seem like it can go much further because Torden won’t leave his family and Selah has to return to save her father if she can and succeed him in the future. This means that she will either have to accept Bear’s proposal which I don’t think she will do or carry on her tour to the Imperiya and her next suitor which she has refused to do several times, so I am eager to see how Anna Bright wraps this first installment up. When the true motivations of the characters are revealed Selah has no choice but to head into the Imperiya even though time may be running out for her father and despite leaving Torden behind, she wears his ring and vows to come back for him if she can.
Overall, despite being very slow to start The Beholder was an extremely interesting novel, that focuses on the relationship people can build in very short spaces of time. While this is unrealistic in a way, the development of the characters and everything they go through and then that reveal at the end was beautifully written and presented. If you haven’t read The Beholder then I highly recommend you pick it up as soon as possible. A solid 5* read for me and I can’t wait for the next installment to see where this series goes.
Buy it here:
Kindle Edition: amazon.co.uk
Paperback/Hardcover: amazon.co.uk amazon.com
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