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A review by yazthebookish
To Snap a Silver Stem by Sarah A. Parker
5.0
First read: 5 - ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Second read: 5 - ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
I want him to hurt. To bleed. I want him to snap, just like he snapped me.
Now is the time to pour all of my emotions into this review because it has taken me a day to process my feelings (and I haven't recovered still).
I know I'm gonna be in tears by the time I finish writing this review because I'm so overwhelmed by so many feelings.
This book gutted me.
In the best and worst way.
Rest assured that you will finish this book feeling so proud of Orlaith and who she becomes. This is her story and this is her journey and Sarah did it fucking justice.
Sarah stays true to the dark fantasy romance genre in the sense that nothing is coming easy for any of these characters, and the story is descending towards a darker path. She does not shy away from hurting the characters and the readers, and as a reader myself I'm savoring the pain because I know it's worth it for what's to come.
I'm elated that we got additional POVs that do not overwhelm the story but expands the world and the character arcs.
There's a new ship on the horizon that I'm 100% rooting for and I think many readers will.
There are so many different facets to each of these characters and you will see a new side to them, especially Cainon and Rhordyn... in an unexpected way.
Some truths were revealed that speared right through my heart and it's going to get darker than that.
Now that Orlaith's world expanded beyond Stony Stem, nothing now will come easy for her and nothing did.
The way Sarah handled her character arc in this book was realistic given Orlaith's inexperience and emotional maturity. Just thinking about her growth in this book makes me tear up because she's finally pulling those roots out and coming into her own person.
Orlaith after TBACB was hurt and angry and this shapes so many of her decisions and actions in this book. It makes you either want to throttle her or root for her, and I was rooting for her 90% of the time.
It does not mean that the Orlaith we knew in TBACB had gone through a 180 change and her character entirely changed. Not at all, our darling Orlaith maintains her tender and nurturing heart, her essence does not change but she starts to realize that the world she lives in is not a kind one and there are dark truths that must be faced.
The romance comes secondary to Orlaith's journey but YES! you will get a clearer answer of who is Orlaith's endgame. There's 100x times more angst in this book.
Orlaith in this book is in her rebel era and I loved every damn second of it.
The world-building expands through multiple POVs but what I love the most, same as the first book, is how the world is unfurling for the reader the same way it does for Orlaith. I love that we're learning and experiencing things alongside her. I love being in her head and following her throughout this journey.
I have to applaud Sarah because not enough words will convey my appreciation for her for staying true to the vision of the story she wants to tell because even though this story draws inspiration from a fairytale, Sarah crafted such an authentic fantasy story and I always appreciate authors for giving me a story I have not experienced before.
This book is an emotional whirlwind.
Get ready to be hurt.
I would like to put in a disclaimer and mention that this is a dark, dark fantasy romance. You will be frustrated and devastated by the turn of events and you won't always agree and be happy with the choices the characters make—and that's the point of it sometimes and flawed characters are more compelling to me. Characters in this book make mistakes and the relationships can be toxic but it makes their growth and change more meaningful. There is a lot of suffering, guilt, and grief that all the characters deal with. From book 1 the plot was building itself gradually and woven with an intricate lore that sheds itself more with every book and that's why not all questions are answered right away and when they do, it creates more questions and that what personally keeps me invested in the series—knowing that there is more that I want to unravel and how it ties into the stories of all these characters.
Unlike other dark fantasy romance books this is just not surface-level dark, it dives right into the depths. And as my friend Underseabookish said and I quote:
"this series dares to be bold and wants to set itself apart within that genre by bringing back the DARK, the FANTASY, and the ROMANCE all into one series."
I've been craving a dark fantasy series such as this for a long time but I absolutely understand how it might not be everyone's cup of tea. I just wanted to express why I appreciate the series for what it is.
Second read: 5 - ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
I want him to hurt. To bleed. I want him to snap, just like he snapped me.
Now is the time to pour all of my emotions into this review because it has taken me a day to process my feelings (and I haven't recovered still).
I know I'm gonna be in tears by the time I finish writing this review because I'm so overwhelmed by so many feelings.
This book gutted me.
In the best and worst way.
Rest assured that you will finish this book feeling so proud of Orlaith and who she becomes. This is her story and this is her journey and Sarah did it fucking justice.
Sarah stays true to the dark fantasy romance genre in the sense that nothing is coming easy for any of these characters, and the story is descending towards a darker path. She does not shy away from hurting the characters and the readers, and as a reader myself I'm savoring the pain because I know it's worth it for what's to come.
I'm elated that we got additional POVs that do not overwhelm the story but expands the world and the character arcs.
There's a new ship on the horizon that I'm 100% rooting for and I think many readers will.
There are so many different facets to each of these characters and you will see a new side to them, especially Cainon and Rhordyn... in an unexpected way.
Some truths were revealed that speared right through my heart and it's going to get darker than that.
Now that Orlaith's world expanded beyond Stony Stem, nothing now will come easy for her and nothing did.
The way Sarah handled her character arc in this book was realistic given Orlaith's inexperience and emotional maturity. Just thinking about her growth in this book makes me tear up because she's finally pulling those roots out and coming into her own person.
Orlaith after TBACB was hurt and angry and this shapes so many of her decisions and actions in this book. It makes you either want to throttle her or root for her, and I was rooting for her 90% of the time.
It does not mean that the Orlaith we knew in TBACB had gone through a 180 change and her character entirely changed. Not at all, our darling Orlaith maintains her tender and nurturing heart, her essence does not change but she starts to realize that the world she lives in is not a kind one and there are dark truths that must be faced.
The romance comes secondary to Orlaith's journey but YES! you will get a clearer answer of who is Orlaith's endgame. There's 100x times more angst in this book.
Orlaith in this book is in her rebel era and I loved every damn second of it.
The world-building expands through multiple POVs but what I love the most, same as the first book, is how the world is unfurling for the reader the same way it does for Orlaith. I love that we're learning and experiencing things alongside her. I love being in her head and following her throughout this journey.
I have to applaud Sarah because not enough words will convey my appreciation for her for staying true to the vision of the story she wants to tell because even though this story draws inspiration from a fairytale, Sarah crafted such an authentic fantasy story and I always appreciate authors for giving me a story I have not experienced before.
This book is an emotional whirlwind.
Get ready to be hurt.
I would like to put in a disclaimer and mention that this is a dark, dark fantasy romance. You will be frustrated and devastated by the turn of events and you won't always agree and be happy with the choices the characters make—and that's the point of it sometimes and flawed characters are more compelling to me. Characters in this book make mistakes and the relationships can be toxic but it makes their growth and change more meaningful. There is a lot of suffering, guilt, and grief that all the characters deal with. From book 1 the plot was building itself gradually and woven with an intricate lore that sheds itself more with every book and that's why not all questions are answered right away and when they do, it creates more questions and that what personally keeps me invested in the series—knowing that there is more that I want to unravel and how it ties into the stories of all these characters.
Unlike other dark fantasy romance books this is just not surface-level dark, it dives right into the depths. And as my friend Underseabookish said and I quote:
"this series dares to be bold and wants to set itself apart within that genre by bringing back the DARK, the FANTASY, and the ROMANCE all into one series."
I've been craving a dark fantasy series such as this for a long time but I absolutely understand how it might not be everyone's cup of tea. I just wanted to express why I appreciate the series for what it is.