One of my Christmas books, Dreamer's Pool had been on my TBR list for quite a while.  Recommended by my buddy, author Allison Temple, as one of her favourite reads , it sounded like something I would enjoy and I waited for it to go on sale in ebook.  It never did.  *LOL*  So Michael bought me the mass market paperback for Christmas.  Bit of a brick, it is!

But it was really really good!  It was not what I was expecting.  I had thought it'd be something like Grace Draven's Master of Crows, a romance with fantasy woven in.  What I got was more along the lines of Blair MacGregor's - one of my favourite fantasy authors -  Desert Rising books. Fantasy for grown-ups with mature themes and thoughtful, learning, growing characters.  At least the main story about Blackthorn and Grim.  Two amazing characters that are so broken and beaten you wonder how they've managed to survive past the first chapter! And while there might not have been romance as I had expected, there is certainly love in this book.

At least in the main story about Blackthorn and Grim.  Two amazing characters that are so broken and beaten you wonder how they've managed to survive past the first chapter!  But both Blackthorn and Grim have a thread of steel in them.  A core of good.  And maybe even a bit of altruism on top of that. We discover more and more of this as the book goes on, which is a delightful journey.  But dear Lord, when we first meet them they are quite at the nadir of their lives.  Don't mistake me though, Blackthorn is as prickly as her name and I love her for it - and Grim, well, I do want to know about his past and what has brought him to be the Grim he is now.

The book rotates 1st person POV between three characters: Blackthorn, the wise woman, Grim, her erstwhile friend and protector, and Oran, the prince of Dalraida.  Oran is a sweet fellow.  Scholarly almost.  And he's waiting impatiently for the arrival of his bride, Flidais, who, when she arrives, is not quite as expected and thereby hangs the tale.  I will admit, for the first half of the book I was not thrilled with Oran.  I found him quite bland and even whiny.  But then he sort of woke up and he got better.  Never as enthralling as Blackthorn or Grim, but bearable at the very least.  :)

I like the way Juliet Marillier writes. I realised that every time I had a spare 5 minutes I was sneaking in a few more pages, a sure indication that I was quite entranced.  Be sure I'll be reading the next two books!

Blackthorn & Grim is a young adult high fantasy series written by Juliet Marillier.  She is one of my favorite high fantasy authors even though I've yet to read all of her work.  Mainly, her writing is beautiful and magical.

Den of Wolves, the last book in this trilogy, was published and made available this week, and so I thought, what better way to celebrate than squee about how pretty the covers for all three books are.  Fantasy novels tend to have a lot of really good cover illustrations, and the Blackthorn & Grim trilogy is no different.  And while I've always liked most of the covers for Juliet Marillier books, I can't say that any have ever actually stood out as much to me.

But the three of these covers, from the illustration to the type setting, it's all just so pretty that I can't stop looking at them.  Specifically Den of Wolves--it was the one that drew my attention the fastest, more than likely because of the bold red background.

The last time I started a Juliet Marillier fantasy trilogy, I breezed through one book after another and had the entire series finished in no time.  So this time, I decided that I would patiently wait out the publication of the last book before even trying to get a hold of the first.

I feel I've become quite impatient in my old age to wait around to finish an ongoing story, and this whole trilogy thing that's been going on is a bit frustrating sometimes.

http://witandsin.blogspot.com/2016/10/review-den-of-wolves-by-juliet-marillier.html

Den of Wolves is utterly enchanting. It features mystery, magic light and dark, hard choices, friendship, love, risk, reward, and a satisfying resolution to several series-long storylines.

Blackthorn and Grim are no strangers to the machinations of the fey, and this time they’re faced with a case of a strange young woman, a ruined house with the potential for magic, and a mysterious wild man who may be the key to solving the mystery of what’s wrong in Wolf Glen. To talk much about the story’s main case would be to spoil it. I will say that I loved the magical elements, how Juliet Marillier weaves different plot threads together into a compelling tapestry, and how everything comes together is incredibly satisfying. Blackthorn and Grim are forced to spend a lot of the book apart, which makes it all the more difficult for them, but it also gives them time to come to terms with their changing relationship. As much as I liked the Wolf Glen plotline, what really made Den of Wolves special to me was the continuing evolution of the two central characters.

Blackthorn is one of my favorite fantasy heroines. She has a strong will, is rough around the edges, and is as likely to snap at somebody as hold her tongue. But she’s also giving, caring, and possesses an inner warmth that hasn’t been snuffed out, even in the face of all that she’s suffered and survived. Blackthorn has been tortured physically and emotionally in unimaginable ways, but she still stands strong and fights for what’s right. Her thirst for justice has threatened to be her undoing more than once over the course of the series, and she has some hard choices to make in Den of Wolves. I have loved watching her develop as a character over the course of the series and this is the story that will make or break her.

If Blackthorn is the soul of the story, then Grim is its heart. The big-hearted man who is more than he sees himself to be grabbed my heart from the first Blackthorn & Grim novel, Dreamer’s Pool. Grim is a kind, honest man who would protect a stranger from harm, even at great cost to himself. He’s been through hell as well and has faced his demons, coming out all the stronger, though it’s a heartbreaking struggle for him still, especially when he doesn’t have Blackthorn by his side. He’s Blackthorn’s rock, and finally we get to see him take a brave step and risk changing their relationship. It’s clear Grim is in love with Blackthorn and has been for some time, but she’s got her walls up so high that for a long time she hasn’t been able to see what’s right in front of her when it comes to Grim. Whether or not the two friends become something more is a question that’s been hanging over readers’ heads for the entire series, and the answer is beautifully delivered in this tale.

Den of Wolves is the third book in the Blackthorn & Grim series, and I’d recommend reading Dreamer’s Pool and Tower of Thornes before diving into this story. The threat of Mathuin of Laois and Blackthorn’s deal with Conmael are more important than ever. Ms. Marillier has a lot to juggle in this story, but she does so with such ease and fluidity that I could not help but be enthralled. Den of Wolves may or may not be the final book in the Blackthorn & Grim series, and though I definitely want more, this is a wonderfully satisfying conclusion. Ms. Marillier has a deft hand with myth and magic, but it’s her characters who really make this series shine. I absolutely love Blackthorn and Grim and I cannot wait to revisit them again soon!


FTC Disclosure: I received this book for free from the publisher in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

" 'We're friends. We work together. We understand each other. We put up with each other. We know when to stay around and when to leave each other alone. We're a team, Grim...The fact is, I can't do without you. We're friends.'

It came to me, through a blur of tears, that we'd been friends since the wretched, lice-ridden days in Mathuin's lock-up. Only, back then, I'd been to eaten up with bitterness to see it. In that place, we'd kept each other alive."

I've had this book for quite awhile. I actually got it after I read and enjoyed the Bridei Chronicles by this author. But kept putting it off.

The story starts off very fraught with the two main characters, Blackthorn and Grim, incarcerated in a prison. The conditions are vile.... they are dirty, vermin ridden, and abused. Their relationship is prickly and uneven. Grim, a hulking quiet man, is as protective as he can be in an opposite cell toward the woman he only refers to as 'Lady.' Blackthorn is bitter and hardened by her year in prison and alternately is friendly to or dismissive of Grim. She is laser focused on one thing. After one year she will get her day and in court and will seek her revenge on the person responsible for her incarceration.

But things don't go as planned. In order to save her life she enters into a strange bargain that requires her to delay her plans for revenge.

The bargain entails her to travel to a far land and take up the role as a Wise Woman. Grim, still in his self appointed task as her guardian, accompanies her. First via stealth and then, when she discovers he has been tailing her, with her begrudging acceptance.

The two of them settle in the principality of Delriada where they become embroiled in mysteries both Fey and mundane and help two very different women in need.

Despite what seems like a middling rating, I really did like this book. So much so that I am immediately starting up the second book.

So why the middling rating? The first half of the book kept fracturing my attention.

The story is told from three POVs -- Blackthorn's, Grimms and Oran's. Oran is the Prince of Dalriada. The three POVs are switched off chapter by chapter. My problem with the early half of the book is that I had absolutely no interest in Oran's chapters. None. I was riveted by Blackthorn and Grim's plight and their prickly relationship and their complicated personal history. By contrast Oran's early chapters felt like a detour in courtly banality.

Oh sure, I know enough about narrative structure to understand that Oran's story was going to be critical to Blackthorn and Grimm, but I didn't care at that point. I wanted to read about them!

The second half of the story picks up nicely when all three finally cross paths. And Oran's narrative surrounding his impending nuptials with a woman he'd only met through letters finally gets really interesting. It becomes suspenseful and, yes, a bit of a magical mystery. I guessed the mystery. Or so I thought. I was half right.

Outside of the Oran story was another mystery regarding the villagers of the princedom. A young girl is missing only no one but her best friend thinks she is really missing. Everyone else thinks she ran away. Blackthorn and Grimm manage figure out what is going on because they are outsiders and see things with an outsider's perspective. As a B-plot this was nice and gave the opportunity for some good character building and bonding for B & G.

Throughout the two main mystery plots, B & G must navigate their relationship. She still pushes him away, he still quietly and steadfastly wants to protect her. They both have pasts that we are not privy to. We only know a little bit of why they were both in prison. Blackthorn finally tells Grimm a little about herself. But his past is still a big mystery. There are hints it was something bad. But knowing the character as we do it is difficult to see him as being a really bad person. This will be interesting to see how this plays out.

In the end they have a breakthrough. Thank God. i was becoming more than a little peeved with Blackthorn and her insistence that Grimm was just a temporary companion.

It isn't a romantic relationship, although it may turn out to be one later, but for now they are companions and friends and realize that they do much better together than apart

(Description nicked from B&N.com.)

“In exchange for help escaping her long and wrongful imprisonment, embittered magical healer Blackthorn has vowed to set aside her bid for vengeance against the man who destroyed all that she once held dear. Followed by a former prison mate, a silent hulk of a man named Grim, she travels north to Dalriada. There she’ll live on the fringe of a mysterious forest, duty bound for seven years to assist anyone who asks for her help.

Oran, crown prince of Dalriada, has waited anxiously for the arrival of his future bride, Lady Flidais. He knows her only from a portrait and sweetly poetic correspondence that have convinced him Flidais is his destined true love. But Oran discovers letters can lie. For although his intended exactly resembles her portrait, her brutality upon arrival proves she is nothing like the sensitive woman of the letters.

With the strategic marriage imminent, Oran sees no way out of his dilemma. Word has spread that Blackthorn possesses a remarkable gift for solving knotty problems, so the prince asks her for help. To save Oran from his treacherous nuptials, Blackthorn and Grim will need all their resources: courage, ingenuity, leaps of deduction, and more than a little magic.”

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