In “The Bride of Death” by F.M. Aden, reminiscent of Naomi Novik’s “Uprooted” and Katherine Arden’s “The Bear and the Nightingale,” we follow Zerryn’s perilous journey to save her village from the torment of Erlik Khan, the Lord of Death. Growing up with tales of Erlik’s penchant for stealing wild girls, Zerryn leads a quiet life until her best friend Çelik succumbs to demonic possession and withdraws to a crumbling estate atop Mount Ida. As Erlik Khan’s grip tightens and the threat of him seeking a bride looms, Zerryn realizes she must become his bride to gain the power needed to defeat him. To save her friend and village, she must complete three impossible tasks, risking everything she holds dear. This spellbinding tale of courage and sacrifice will keep readers captivated from beginning to end.

There were many fascinating characters in this thrilling drama. Furthermore, the majority of the incidents caught me off guard because they don’t happen very often. Reading about Zerryn’s struggles was interesting to me. I particularly appreciated how she made friends with Beyza the Ubir and other opponents. The primary romance was pretty dull, in my opinion. I’m over the purportedly wicked person who, while the main character complained about his being a meanie, was blindly fascinated with her.

All in all, I thoroughly enjoyed this! I found the environment to be fantastic to explore, and the language to be rich and captivating. Each destination along the voyage added new life to the tale through magic, folklore, and traditions, which gave distinctiveness to the story and kept me interested until the very end, even though the storyline or themes themselves weren’t very innovative. While I thought this book might have needed a few more rounds of editing, it was still exciting.

This book intertwined myths and folklore within the narrative of a courageous girl determined to vanquish darkness itself. The story fluidly navigates through a spectrum of emotions, capturing each fleeting thought and passing feeling, presenting them to the reader in fragments. There were issues with the pacing and overall setup of the plot. The gothic elements in this were done well and representation was finely diverse. The characters were unique and the development was good however 'I' didn't feel any stark emotions while reading this and at times was quite bored. Overall, not my cup of tea but a good book for others.

thank you Netgalley for the arc!

The Bride of Death is suppose to be about Turkish folklore but there were other religions/history sprinkled in that made it a bit confusing. I didn't hate this story but I didn't love this story either. Zerryn has been touched by Death and when her best friend (that would be more) becomes possessed by...Death, Devil, Erlik, whatever you want to call him, she is off to save him. So much of this is convoluted from her feelings for her friend that she's going to marry, to feeling for Erlik, and then throw in 3 competitions that didn't really feel like competitions as they ended pretty anticlimactically this just wasn't what I was expecting. 2.5 stars rounded to 3.

This book had a really promising premise for me and I was genuinely interested in the characters from the very get go. The story is incredibly interesting and well thought out but at the end of the day, this just wasn't for me. I had to push myself to finish it and I got confused often and bogged down with the details and couldn't remember which character was which and what was going on. It could've been my reading mood or the book itself but it was just a little too much for me to keep my interest.

The 'death and the maiden' motif is bound to intrigue me so the concept was impressive to me. The prose is a strong suit and the characters do leave a mark; the romance is exactly what a in-love-with-the-devil arc would deliver: it appears wonky with respect to healthy dynamics but is enjoyable for a quick read. I expected a fairy tale-esque plot but it wasn't as tightened as it could've been. This book reminded me of Kingdom of the Wicked, in a good way.

Did I devour this book? Yes. Did I enjoy it? Eh. There were a lot of plot holes and just overall confusion for me, and I found it hard to follow at times. But I did tear through it, so you know, take that as you will.

If you liked Uprooted or Bear and the Nightingale then you have to check this out. It starts a bit slow but quickly builds up and leaves the reader wondering what will happen. It was beautifully written and I thoroughly enjoyed reading it during a rainy Sunday.

While this book had the most intriguing premise I was severely disappointed by the final few chapters of the book. Reading the first 90% of the book I was on the edge of my seat as the tension between Zerryn and Erlik was just absolute gothic, villain love interest perfection. The yearning, the jealously, the way Zerryn was falling for him despite trying to resist him with every fiber of her being. I won't give spoilers but something happens in the last 10% of the book that I could not rectify, had that one point been handled differently this easily would have been a five star read.

Single POV, Love Triangle, Villain Love Interest, Competition, Female Friendships

DNF'd 67%

This book was good and I think other readers will find a lot to enjoy but in the end just wasn't for me.

Pitched for fans of Uprooted and The Bear and the Nightingale, F.M. Aden's venture into adult fantasy is full of fairytale magic and underworldly charm. Zerryn is a girl touched by Death and when her betrothed is possessed by a demon, she offers to go into its mansion to try and free him through exorcism. What she doesn't expect is to become part of a trial against three mythical monstresses for the hand of Erlik Kahn, the king of Death himself.
I genuinely cannot tell you what it is about The Bride of Death but it has quickly become my new hyper fixation because I cannot stop thinking about these characters and rereading my favorite passages. F.M. Aden introduces a world inspired by Turkish mythology that follows Zerryn's descent to the Underworld. We get this traditional character arc of the slightly strange girl who is shunned by the village but who has a heart of gold. As Zerryn battles through the trials of the Underworld, her moral compass is constantly challenged and she struggles to decide which path to take - save her people or save herself.

The slow burn between Zerryn and Erlik had me in an absolute chokehold. They balanced the dynamic of "I hate you but..." so well and their characters mirror each other's journey so well as Zerryn get a bit more monster in her and Erlik gains a bit of humanity himself. While certain tropes and cliches are still present in the plot itself, I was absolutely won over by the characters. This truly checked all the boxes for me and encapsulates all the gruesome and vicious vibes of a macabre fairytale that I adore.

Thank you NetGalley and Northern Light Press for the e-arc!
THE VIBES of this story are flawless. This book brings feelings of old power and eerie journeys full of hard truths and death. I have been loving books based on traditional folklore and this book was no exception with its mystical atmosphere and amazing mc, Zerryn. This is the type of book that grabs you slowly and subtly, and as you read, the wonder and narrative just builds and builds.

Ever since she was a child, Zerryn has been close with Death. She watched her loved ones die, leaving her in the care of her father alone. When her grandmother stepped in to take the girl away, she then met the boy who she soon would grow up to love--or so she believed. But when a tragic accident occured and the boy, Celik, slipped away from her grasp, she was keen to save him and her village from destruction. Even if it meant that she had to go to the Underworld and signed up to be the Lord of Death's queen.

The book began like how a fairy tale would; a girl on a mission for the sake of "world peace" and it enticed me so. I was hopeful that it would be good enough to keep me entertained, how unfortunate that the magic lost its touch shortly after. There were some parts that weren't so clearly explained I feared I skipped important information but I didn't, and it read more as a "telling" not "showing" which I've never been so fond of. What's worse is I have zero affection for our main character. She's, to put it plainly, stupid. To compare it to Vasilisa is just embarrassing. The writing is not bad, but perhaps this one just wasn't mean for me.

While I enjoyed this story, I felt like something was lacking and to this day, I'm not sure what. In a world where we are constantly being bombarded with romance and fantasies, it's easy to draw similarities with characters from other stories and I found myself comparing with other books a bit.
However, I loved the atmosphere and the writing. Again, I did enjoy the story, I just felt that it was missing something. I would recommend this story to customers.

I must admit, the love triangle didn't work in this book. In general, I'm not a fan of love triangles, mostly because I don't like it when the mfc can't make up her mind and bounces back and forth between the two love interests, and that's what happened in The Bride of Death. This ruins the story for me as it makes it harder to root for the characters.

That being said, I did love the setting and the beautiful descriptions throughout the book. I did not find the book to be bad at all, just disappointing in parts.

When I saw the synopsis for this book I was really intrigued as I haven't read anything like this before. I also loved the beautiful gothic design of the cover.

Zerryn grew up on tales of the Lord of Death, Erlik Khan. In her small village, she and the rest of the residents keeps to themselves in fear of being taken by him. She spends her days with her best friend Çelik. When he suddenly starts to act strange and becomes possessed by a demon (the devil himself) in order to save him, she must visit the underworld and compete in three impossible trials to win the hand of the devil himself and become the bride of death.

I am a little bit divided with this book. I really like that it is based on Turkish folklore which I know nothing about and I love the mythology surrounding Erlik Khans character. This is an angle of the devil potrayed as I have never read before, and I found it really interesting. But I found the world building a little hard to follow and thought the book itself could have been better executed. I don't know if this is due to cultural reference but I felt like bits were missed and I didn't always know what was happening. I found it a bit disjointed.

I was expecting gothic fantasy but this book has more romance than I thought it would have which I really enjoyed. Who doesn't love a devil who just wants to be loved.

This is the first time I have read a book by F.M. Aden but I am sure it won't be the last.

Thanks to NetGalley and Northern Light Press for an advance copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

What drew me to this book, besides the beautiful cover, is that the premise revolves around the story of Erik Khan, a god of the underworld in Turkic mythology.

This is a story of a village girl who travels to the underworld in order to save her best friend and encounters the god of death whom she strikes a bargain with in-order to save him.

This has all the markings of a fantasy romance with the underworld giving the story a gothic, fairy tale vibe.

There’s the traditional three trials for the MFC to complete, Hades and Persephone vibes, and a morally grey MMC that wants the girl.

It’s dark, moody, and the words are sensual and flowery at times. It reads more like a YA yet its content falls more into the adult category. There are moral dilemmas present and choices that sometimes fall into grey areas.

I would have liked a more detailed explanation why the heroine was “the one” for the beast. The nature of the relationship had a lot of tug and pull, sassy banter and innuendos. 🥵

I loved the concept and the gorgeous writing, and I’m a sucker for a heroine who tries to change the villain, so this was an overall entertaining read for me.

What you can expect:
~Hades and Persephone
~Beauty and the Beast
~Turkic mythology
~Fairy tale vibes
~Quest/trials
~Morally grey characters
~Villain falls first

🫶🏼 Thank you to Netgalley and F.M. Aden for giving me the opportunity to read this book and give an honest review!

I’ve had a difficult time getting into this one. I’ve tried starting it a few times and don’t think it’s for me, I hope in the future I pick it up and will try again, for now I will be DNFing.

This book felt like a fairytale retelling. It had serene writing. It is a standalone which is always nice in the fantasy world. It has trials and demons! A fantastic mythological story.

Bride of death follows the story of Zerrin, a girl said to be touched by the devil, and seen as ill luck for all that have contact with her. Despite her difficulties being accepted in the community, Zerrin falls in love, and ends up in a quest to save her love, her family and her home.

I was a bit divided with this book because it was a brilliant idea that I feel it could have been better executed. However, I decided to improve the rating for 4 starts because I did like this story very much, and ultimately I felt I was being the mean professor giving a lower rate because the student has the potential to do more.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for this arc in exchange for an honest review.

I was initially drawn to this book due to the title and went in with not having much information on the plot or background. I loved the way this book was written, it gave me a similar vibe to the 'the bear and the nightingale' of how the mythology and folklore had been woven into the story. I really enjoyed the whole book and as a stand alone it is a nice change to get a completed story.