"He granted her this wish because—because she was the one he loved."

Solemn, grave, and darkly romantic, Keturah and Lord Death might be one of the best books that I have read this year--scratch that, it's one of the best books that I've read ever. Everything about it is perfect: the characters, the plot, the theme . . . everything, I tell you. Leavitt has proven himself to be a more than capable writer in this book and I'll try my best to remember to look into his other works later.

Starting off with quite an intriguing prologue, the story's pace is picked up from the very start and doesn't let the reader go. I'm not talking about action-packed scenes here, though; I'm talking about how everything worked together to create an atmosphere that never fails to enthrall the reader. It's a quiet little story, sure, and the closest thing we get to a conflict is some slight worrying tension about the plague

Spoiler

(though it never does escalate beyond that)

and the constant fretting about who Keturah would marry

Spoiler

(which is, you know, quite obviously stated by the blurb, the cover, and the title itself)

. Still, despite the inaction--or perhaps because of it--the story is quite charming and wonderful.

Not to mention the prose. I could write pages upon pages of praise just for the prose alone. It's so simple yet so . . . so beautiful in its simplicity. It almost has a poetic elegance, really, and, even if one isn't a fantasy fan, I'd still recommend this just for the prose alone. Its descriptions are so mellifluous, the words all flowing together to create this smooth flow; it's just . . . well, there are no words. You just have to read it to believe it.

AND THE ROMANCE! I almost died from squee-ing. It's just so . . . so . . . so sweet and . . . ugh, I'm still in a state of Post-Book-Awe (PBA, for short) to describe it fluently enough. Just suffice to say that, though I'm not really a fan of supernatural romances, the relationship

Spoiler

between Keturah and Lord Death (. . . let's be honest here: does this even need to be marked as a spoiler? I mean, it's right there in the freaking title, but it's better safe than sorry, I suppose)

ranks as one of the best that I have ever read--probably the best, since I can't think up of a better couple than them right now . . . but, then again, that might just be PBA acting up again.

All in all, this is a gem that I'm very happy that I discovered. A well-deserved five stars . . . and a round of applause to the author, too, for giving me one of the best reading experiences ever . . . and one of the most beautiful endings I've ever read:

"As for the hart—he lives to this day, as does the story of Keturah and Lord Death, as it is told around the common fires of the great city of Tide-by-Rood."