Publisher: Northern Lights Press,  March 1, 2024

Format: ebook

Pages: 378

Rating: 3/5 stars

Summary (Goodreads):

In the vein of Naomi Novik’s Uprooted and Katherine Arden’s The Bear and the Nightingale— this unforgettable adult debut follows the journey of a young woman who seeks to defeat Death himself and save her village from his torment.

As a young child, Zerryn grew up on tales of the Lord of Death, Erlik Khan, and his penchant for stealing wild girls. In her small village, she keeps to herself and tends to the temple gardens, spending her days with her best friend Çelik. But when Çelik begins to act strangely and removes himself to live on a crumbling estate atop Mount Ida, the rumors of him becoming possessed by a demon begin to swiftly arise. Each month that passes the demon within him grows stronger, his demands of the villagers growing oddly disjointed and nonsensical.

Her chances of saving him become all but impossible once Zerryn learns that it is no lesser demon that has a hold of him but Erlik Khan—a demon of untold power who lords over the dead. It isn’t long before word spreads that he is in search of a bride, and creatures of untold power come before him to rule by his side. Zerryn knows that she cannot take down Erlik without power and she cannot gain power without becoming his bride.

But becoming Erlik’s wife is nothing as simple as an offer for his hand. To become the queen of the Underworld, she must complete three impossible tasks or risk losing everything she holds dear.

My Review:

Thank you Northern Lights Press for the copy of this book.
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Read if you like: dark fantasy, mythology retellings, enemies to lovers.
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Zerryn grows up in Anatollia on stories about the Lord of Death. When her best friend is possessed by him, she does everything she can to save him, including participating in a deadly trial to become the wife of the Lord of Death.
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I loved the Turkish mythology and Zerryn’s strength and cunning, but I didn’t love the romance. The development of the romance just wasn’t believable to me and I found Erlick didn’t have many redeemable qualities. I found the story interesting but wanted to love it more.