Thank you to the publishers, author and NetGalley for the free copy of this book.

This was a simple read with a good mix of romance and action. Would have liked a little more depth to the characters but the magic was beautiful.

***Special thanks to NetGalley and Elexis Bell for providing me with a copy in exchange for an honest review***

Allmother Rising is a fantasy romance about a priestess rising, a hunted prince, and a desperate rebel. The book begins with Veliana, the priestess rising, talking with her parents that have just returned from confirming the rumours about the neighbouring kingdom Jun. The king and queen, and supposedly the prince as well, have been murdered by the king's uncle who has now taken the throne. He demands that Veliana marries his's son or they will go to war.
The book takes place in the land of Kin and the forest, the Sailon forest which stretches throughout the whole of Kin. In Kin, they live close to the nature and the Allmother, their god, their homes are integrated into the trees and the nature without disturbing it. The culture and way of life Elexis Bell created in Kin is quite original and unlike a lot of other fantasy out there. They respect nature, don't use more resources than is sustainable. It was very interesting with a world based on sustainable living and preserving the forest and nature. The neighbouring kingdom of Jun had turned from the Allmother and cut down all forest, using the resources of the land without reserve.
The romance between Veliana and Tyrvahn, the escaped prince of Jun, grows slowly and naturally throughout the story with minimal drama. The romance part of the book was quite heavy, it being a fantasy romance and all that, with the romance between Veliana and Tyrvahn being soft, cute and super fluffy. It would have been nice though, to see their relationship developed a bit more beyond the basic attraction. It is not the type of romance where the characters go right at the relationship but rather that they are attracted and slowly moves towards a relationship. However, many of their scenes together are about them being drawn to each other and we are shown this through the characters descriptions of how beautiful they find the other or just that they can't stop looking at each other.
Yes, maybe this wasn't quite the book for me, I'm not much for romance for the sake of romance, however I did prefer this to some other romances (books where the romance is supposed to be the focus) in the way it flowed quite naturally. But I would still like the characters to be developed more and their relationship to be a bit deeper.
The strongest part of this book was the lush world, simple yet interesting (albeit not your complex fantasy world with intricate politics and a super complex magic system), it is not that often we see fantasy deviate from the standard medieval cottages and villages and style of life which makes me really happy when we do see it. The plot was simple and quite straightforward, not trying to be more than what it is. The pacing sped up towards the end and maybe felt a little bit rushed, though I am happy we weren't stuck with any dragged out battles. It was a warm, cute and fuzzy read, sneakily cramming in sustainable thinking.

As a lover of fantasy this could have been a book to love, alas there were too many things that didn't completely work for me to go full on enthousiastic about it. A shame really cause I did feel the potential was there and it wasn't a bad book by all means, but it could have been a knock out.
Jin and Kun are neighbouring lands and they are at odds with eachother. The people in Jin are being influenced by dark god Aia while in Kun they managed to stay true to the Allmother. Aia corrupts the mind of people and turns them into greedy, powerhungry people destroying the lands they need to live from. As a result they turn their eye to Kun where the growth is still plentiful thanks to the Allmother.
Tyrvahn is the heir to Jun and after his parents get killed by his uncle and nephew in a bid for power he flees Jin, ends up in Kun where the Allmother has big plans for him and Veliana, the priestess Rising who is next in line to lead Kun. This pair along with rebel leader Garle and Veliana's best friend Kivala are set to fullfill their destiny in a epic fight between Allmother and Aia to make the world a better place again.

The story drops you in the middle of the action and while it does grab your attention immediately, there is not much background on either kingdom, how Aia become so powerful and the people living in it. Apparently they are semihuman cause they have antlers, there are multiple factions named where each have their own animal but I don't know more than that. The bad guys get almost no page time at all, so I have no idea what drives them (apart from Aia). In a fantasy book I want more background to really get a connection to the different people and groups. The insta-love trope between Tyrvahn and Veliana is something I dislike on a personal level, but I know others have less problems with it. I did like the relationship between Garle and Kivala and how it was not highlighted that it were two women, but was handled like any other relationship. As it should be.
Actually there connection, growth and ending felt more complete and realistic then the love between Tyrvahn and Veliana.
I really liked how the magic was described, it made perfect sense and you could almost feel how it was supposed to be while reading.

All in all still a solid 3 star read, but I would have personally have liked a longer book with more background and world building.

***An ARC was provided by Netgalley in exchange for a honest review. ***