Hollen the Soulless (Dokiri Brides Book 1) by Denali Day

5 Stars

The writing and editing of this fantasy romance was excellent in the ARC version of the manuscript, with no typos and a lyrical sentence structure and writing style that reminded me of symphonic music or an epic poem. The world building was excellent, with the attitudes and beliefs of the protagonists entirely consistent with a vaguely medieval, patriarchal culture, and vividly described fantasy beasts and monsters. The characterization was excellent, with both protagonists being complex individuals with strengths and weaknesses. I liked the length of this fantasy romance! It was long enough to really develop these characters and this world, unlike a lot of self published romance novels. My typical preference is for sci-fi and fantasy romance on the sizzling side, but I still thoroughly enjoyed this novel, even though there were no on page sexy times. The development of the romantic relationship was natural and organic, though I would have liked a little bit more explosive chemistry between the hero and heroine. That is more of a challenge to write in a clean romance, however, so it is understandable. The plot and pacing was very exciting, making me turn pages rapidly. There was a fair amount of angst on the part of the heroine, which was fully justified by her history and trauma. There were also really high stakes which maintained the tension throughout. I need to include a content warning here for maiming, which was somewhat difficult for me to read. The novel used the Our Tribe Needs Women trope used commonly in sci-fi, fantasy, and paranormal romances. It also used the Kidnapped Bride trope. The world building, plot, and pacing were all five stars. The characterization was also five stars. The development of the romantic relationship was four stars. Therefore I rounded up and gave this romance a combined rating of five stars. This novel ends on a Happy Ever After ending instead of a cliffhanger, so that is a big plus. I recommend this fantasy romance to both romance readers and fantasy readers, because I feel like it has strong cross-genre appeal. I eagerly anticipate reading the next novel in this series when it releases, though I will wait on buying a keeper copy until I find out if the next novel in the series is as good as the first.

I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.

Purchase Link