The Beholder
Selah has waited her whole life for a happily ever after. As the only daughter of the leader of Potomac, she knows her duty is to find the perfect match, a partner who will help secure the future of her people. Now that day has finally come.
But after an excruciatingly public rejection from her closest childhood friend, Selah’s stepmother suggests an unthinkable solution: Selah must set sail across the Atlantic, where a series of potential suitors awaits—and if she doesn’t come home engaged, she shouldn’t come home at all.
From English castle gardens to the fjords of Norge, and under the eye of the dreaded Imperiya Yotne, Selah’s quest will be the journey of a lifetime. But her stepmother’s schemes aren’t the only secrets hiding belowdecks…and the stakes of her voyage may be higher than any happy ending.
Title: The Beholder
Series: The Beholder #1
Author: Anna Bright
Genre: YA / Fantasy
Format: Hardcover
Pages: 435
Publishing Date: June 4th, 2019
Publishing House: Harper Teen
ISBN: 006284542X (ISBN13: 9780062845429)
My Review
Gorgeous book!!!
This was such a lovely retelling mash-up of different fairy tales and myths into one! My first to read one like this and I did not know it could be done. But it was and it worked so well!
YA readers and fairy tale lovers don't let this one slip by, it is too enchanting of a read to be missed! And how about that cover? Simply stunning.
Selah wants to give a budding love interest a beautiful public proposal but is turned down and humiliated. Being of marriable age, she is sent to find her prince charming in a quest laid out for her by her stepmother.
By ship and with a few possessions only, one of them a special book from her godmother, she is crossing the Atlantic to meet her prospective candidates from different countries and of various social statuses.
From the showoff to the brave, everything is in the mix and the meet-ups vary in their intensity and all over setting and characters.
Where can you read about so many new romances and fall in love with new characters in one book? Right here!
But it isn't all as it seems to be at first. It never is. Selah has to see truth over swagger and use instinct over her heart. From reaching the North to traveling the Mediterranean Sea, her quest may seem like a game to some but a dark plan hides deep within.
As Selah receives word that her father lays very ill, tensions rise and someone close by betrays her. New friends she has made are in danger stemming of a deeply rooted Germanic conflict that needs resolve. Spinning a curveball into her plans, she not only contemplates love but also a higher purpose for life, honor, family, and friendships.
Will she be able to find love and return to her father in time before his demise? With the stakes high her future hinges on swift decisions and sacrifices to be made...even if it costs her newfound love.
***
This novel is super cute. I don't read romance novels but some YA. What drew me to this book was ultimately the cover. Yes, I judged it by its cover FIRST, admittedly. What I did not expect was the intrigue and beautiful imagined alternate realism of the countries visited and the voyage. Yes, there are tropes, the stepmother and the sick father, but the rest was an amazingly cute mesh-up.
Certainly entertaining, love the worlds and vile characters and I want to read the next book as I WAS LEFT HANGING with: "...to be continued!"
So, tapping my fingers, waiting...
Anyhow, give it a try. It's lovely :)
