#e.b. asher

@eli-zab3th's February reading wrap-up

⭐️ 3.75/5

The sequel to This Will be Fun is just as cute. This time, we are following Galwell, recently back from the dead, Queen Thessia, tired of being the damsel in distress, and River, an assassin with a moral code. The mystery starts when River is assigned to kill Galwell. The Guild she works for only supports targeting villains, but what evil deed could Galwell have committed? He is, after all, the…

The sequel to This Will be Fun, but following new heroes.

We all know the stories of the heroes who finally win over their adversaries after years of fighting with each other. What happens after they succeed? Go back to regular life? For Elowen, Beatrice and Clare they each handled it differently. Elowen retreated to her treehouse and became a recluse. Clare reveled in his new celebrity, and Beatrice got married and lived a life as a rich wife. It’s…

I’m fascinated by stories of what happens to heroes after they have defeated the villains. This book was described as The Princess Bride meets People We Meet on Vacation. I haven’t read the latter, but the former is not only one of my favorite movies but also a great book, so I’m stoked about this one.

Sometimes, you read a book so good that as soon as you finish, you start it again. This is one of those books — I am however currently lending it to the LOML so they can read it too. As soon as they’re done I will be picking it up again.

Princess Bride, Ella Enchanted, A Knight’s Tale. If you love those vibes, you will love this book as much as I did. Set ten years after they save the world, The Four are called back together to attend the wedding of the nation’s Queen.

Here’s the author’s summary:

Ten years ago, they saved the realm. It ruined their lives.

Everyone in Mythria knows the story of how best friends Beatrice and Elowen, handsome ex-bandit Clare, and valiant leader Galwell the Great defended the land from darkness. It’s a tale beloved by all—except the former heroes. They haven’t spoken in a decade, devastated by what their quest cost them.

But when they receive an invitation to the queen of Mythria’s wedding, it’s a summons they can’t refuse . . . and a reunion for the ages, with Clare secretly not over his long-ago fling with Beatrice, Beatrice fighting the guilt she feels over how everything ended, Elowen unprepared for the return of her former flame (the cunning Vandra), and all of them lost without Galwell’s presence. And if reuniting with old friends and lovers wasn’t perilous enough, dark forces from their past have returned, plotting a domination that only Mythria’s one-time defenders can stop. Maybe.

Dusting off old weapons and old instincts, they face undead nemeses, crystal caves, enchanted swords, coffee shops, games of magical Truth or Dare, and, hardest of all, their past—rife with wounds never healed and romances never forgotten.

If you plan on reading the book, please DO NOT keep reading this post. I am a firm believer in not spoiling anything for anyone, and what I’m about to write has to do with the last couple of chapters. Seriously, you have been warned!

What was honestly the point of Beatrice bringing Galwell to the future? Especially with there having been ten years since his death?

They all mourned him, Queendom mourned him. He’s remembered as a hero, there was nothing shifty or suspicious about his death.

(As I was reading I did think it was going to be revealed that he’d lived, kind of like Wesley in Princess Bride since that’s what all the reviews keep comparing it to.)

But now Galwell is in a time period that isn’t his, so to speak. How did the Queen react to his return? Everything is just supposed to be fine? Beatrice didn’t want anyone knowing about her newly discovered abilities, but how do they explain his return?

I’m confused, not angry, so if someone messages me in a fit of rage over my questions/opinions, consider yourself blocked.