Song of the Huntress

• Author: Lucy Holland
• Series: Standalone
• Genre: Historical Fantasy
• No. of pages: 416
• Dates read: 24.02.24 – 29.02.24
• Publication Date: Out Now!
• Star Rating: 5 stars

Plot: Britain, 60AD. Hoping to save her lover, land and her people from the Romans, Herla makes a desperate pact with the king of the Otherworld. But years pass unheeded in his realm, and she escapes to find everyone she loved long dead. Cursed to wield his blade, she becomes Lord of the Hunt. And for centuries, she rides, reaping wanderers’ souls. Until the night she meets a woman on a bloody battlefield – a Saxon queen with ice-blue eyes. Queen Æthelburg of Wessex is a proven fighter. But when she leads her forces to disaster in battle, her husband’s court turns against her. Yet King Ine needs Æthel more than ever: the dead kings of Wessex are waking, and his own brother seeks to usurp him. Ine’s only hope is to master the magic that’s lain dormant in his bloodline since ancient days. When their paths cross, Herla knows it’s no coincidence. Something dark and dangerous is at work in the Wessex court. The Otherworld seeks to rise, to bring the people of Britain under its dominion. As she and Æthel grow closer, Herla must find her humanity – and a way to break the curse – before it’s too late.

This book felt like a classic in the making.

Set in a period of history I don’t know much about I lost myself in the folklore and the realities of that time period simultaneously. I enjoyed this balance of fantasy and politics and I enjoyed seeing them blend. Conversations over traditional beliefs and Christian beliefs have always intrigued me in any form of media and watching this unfold was tense but I couldn’t stop reading.

Holland’s writing really truly makes you feel as if you are stepping into a fairytale. Her writing was so beautiful, poetic, and raw. Holland’s characterisation was so well done. I loved and enjoyed every single POV given and you can’t help but root for the characters even as relationships between each other and the world get more complicated you just want them to succeed and find a way to live a harmonious life. But if I had to choose, my favourite would be King Ine.

I instantly need to read everything else she has written.

---

The Disappearance of Rachel Price

• Author: Holly Jackson
• Series: Standalone
• Genre: Thriller
• No. of pages: 448
• Dates read: 14.03.24 – 17.03.24
• Publication Date: 02.04.24
• Star Rating: 4.5 stars

Plot: 18-year-old Bel has lived her whole life in the shadow of her mom’s mysterious disappearance. Sixteen years ago, Rachel Price vanished and young Bel was the only witness, but she has no memory of it. Rachel is gone, long presumed dead, and Bel wishes everyone would just move on. But the case is dragged up from the past when the Price family agree to a true crime documentary. Bel can’t wait for filming to end, for life to go back to normal. And then the impossible happens. Rachel Price reappears, and life will never be normal again. Rachel has an unbelievable story about what happened to her. Unbelievable, because Bel isn’t sure it’s real. If Rachel is lying, then where has she been all this time? And – could she be dangerous? With the cameras still rolling, Bel must uncover the truth about her mother, and find out why Rachel Price really came back from the dead . . .

I mean, where to even begin? This is the first time, in a long time, that I have been so unsettled by a book. Where the reading experience has been so tense I can feel it through my own body. Putting the book down seemed like a Herculean task as I needed to uncover all the answers alongside Bel and have everything make sense.

Having read AGGTM first and then following up with this afterward you can see the immense development and progression in Jackson’s prose. I flew through this story reading 150 pages per sitting because not only was this easy to follow but the pacing was so quick and exciting that I just couldn’t stop myself from turning the page. The words flowed so seamlessly and I would blink another 20 mins had passed as I had been absorbed in this novel.

While this is a YA book I do believe this has universal appeal for thriller fans out there and I will be recommending this to anyone who loves true crime docs, complicated family dynamics, and a realistic angsty main character. If I see anyone coming for Bel and the way she reacts in this entire book I will be sitting down and having words with them. Bel, to me was written incredibly realistically for the situation that she is in.