Lyssa is seeking revenge. A bounty hunter that dispatches faerie-made monsters, Lyssa has spent the last thirteen years attempting to rid her world of as many monsters as possible, on a revenge path after a faerie-made monster murdered her brother. Lyssa is good at what she does, often in high demand for monster killing. She is smart, strong, and driven by redemption for her brother, guilt for her role in his death, and grief at his passing. This combination has made her unstoppable in the monster killing business, except for the one monster she wishes to kill the most: the beast that murdered her brother. This beast has been impossible to track down for Lyssa (not for lack of trying) as it has not resurfaced in the thirteen long years Lyssa has been searching. Lyssa has even made friends with an ancient witch that helps her prepare for and kill beasts, yet this particular beast has evaded them both. 

Enter the melodramatic male main character, Alderic. Alderic wants the same beast dead that Lyssa does and hires her for the job. He just so happens to have a claw from the beast and knows where its lair is, two very instrumental things for Lyssa to kill the beast. Where Lyssa is gruff and poor and quick to anger, Alderic is her opposite: rich, soft, and a bit of an airhead. Something I liked about this novel is how the author, Serra Swift, flips one of the typical male/female character stereotypes, making Lyssa the more hardened, seldom emotional type, and Alderic the nice, compassionate character. The more we learn about them the more their opposing characteristics help one another. Lyssa begins to express more compassion and feels a pull to open up to Alderic; Alderic likewise feels a pull to open up to Lyssa and reveal more of his underestimated hidden talents. 

Working together, Lyssa and Alderic must collect several materials to bind into a weapon that will kill the beast. Along with Lyssa’s bullmastiff Brandy, Lyssa and Alderic begin to form an unexpected friendship as they travel. But the more Lyssa gets to know Alderic, the more dark secrets and hidden depths she finds out about him. Why, exactly, does Alderic want the beast dead and how does he know so much about it? Things don’t quite line up about Alderic and Lyssa must discover if this new friendship, the first she has had in a long time, can coexist with her long standing goal of killing the beast. 

Even though this was a slow read, the character and plot development were good enough to keep me reading, and I liked the way Swift brought everything together in the end. It has a good bit of humor to it which helps lighten the elements of grief and anger. Lyssa was a very raw character and while she has her flaws I enjoyed seeing her story and her character progress throughout the book. There are elements similar to a Beauty and the Beast story, but different. I appreciated that there are multiple types of loving relationships represented in this novel, including queer, straight, and platonic, especially for a fantasy with a female/male main character duo. The best part of the novel for me was undoubtedly the relationship between Lyssa and Alderic. Their dialogue was cute and witty and their relationship was different from any novel I’ve recently read. I would suggest this book to readers that enjoy fantasy with a combination of cozy and adventure, who don’t shy away from themes of grief and redemption, and who like some complicated relationships thrown in the mix. 

Find in Catalog

Review by Sarah Grace, Adult Programming Coordinator