Not going to lie, when I saw that this was inspired by Turkic folklore and mythology, I scrambled to request it. While this was a rather entertaining romantasy read, I did find some things odd here and there. 😕

For one, the pacing felt off. The first 15% of the book felt like it was heavily copying elements from Arden’s The Bear and the Nightingale, but at a more sped up pace. Her childhood spent with Derya, her nursemaid, grandmother, and childhood friend and lover, Çelik felt rushed and unexplored to the point when Zerryn refers back to this time, the reader is left scratching their head and thinking, “well, I wish I could’ve read about that.” Also, what happened to Minay in the end?? 🙁

Elrik Khan’s portrayal also felt rather odd to me. He felt like a Hades figure looking for his Persephone with a weird dash of Christianity mysticism. The fact that this man has multiple eyes, mouths, and arms is reminiscent of the old portrayals of angels in Biblical depictions, and the fact that he’s made out to be a fallen angel and later on a demon in the first place? . . . Rather odd, and also makes me again think of how Morozko was constantly seen as a demon in Christian Russia. And that reveal of a specific piercing in a VERY specific area? . . . I could’ve done without that bit. 😳

Even though I wanted to slap Zerryn for being too naive when it comes to trickery and people flipping on her like a switch, I thought she was a likable MC, though I do wish we could have gone more into detail on her magic and how she got it in the first place. ✨

Other than that, I did find the sprinklings of Turkic folklore here and there though I do wish there was more of it in the first place. The world itself felt more fantasy than historical and I do wish there was more focus on that too. 🐺

In the end, an oddly enjoyable read that left me with more questions than answers. Wouldn’t recommend this for those who loved Arden’s work due to the similarities, but would recommend for the Turkic folklore elements. 🔥

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for accepting my request for an advanced reader copy in exchange for an honest review. And to the author for creating an interesting tale of Turkic folklore and mythology. 🗡️

Publication date: March 1!

Overall: 3.25/5 ⭐️

You can totally see the Naomi Novik similarities in this dark, gothic tale that will captivate and mesmerise you throughout.

Don’t get me wrong, I love the concept and the idea behind the plot. Personally, I’ve never read anything like this especially with the concept of trials/tasks/anything like that set by the Devil (or anyone really) to win their hand in marriage. The ideas for the trials were great and I love that it wasn’t every woman for themselves and that she develops a good relationship with the others. However, I found it very difficult to get into the story at first, the plot felt slow and I found myself forcing myself to read it just for the sake of finishing it which is a shame because I really loved the concept.

The Bride Of Death (ARC)
F.M. Aden
4.25⭐️

Pub Date: 3/1/2024
I went into this one blind and I'm very pleasantly surprised by how much I liked it! There were so many foreign words that Google had been my friend with this book. The glossary is at the end of the book (would've been really nice if it was at the beginning). This story revolves around Erlik Khan, god of the underworld in Turkic/Siberian/Mongolian mythology, and his search for a bride. The premise was interesting right away since the FMC is mortal. There were so many questions left hanging that made this devourable. For some reason, the writing style and the whole vibe of the book felt like YA to me even though it's creepy, descriptive and dark enough to be considered adult. It's romance with adventure/fantasy with constant taunting statements like "do it then, fall on your knees.." (and so much more!). The all-powerful god comes undone with a simple call from the mortal. Plenty of build up, but closed door romance.

This is not your typical hero/heroine kind of story. It's dark, and the demon wins, but not without trials and hardships from both MMC and FMC side. It's more so a "come to the dark side" plot. There's so much power imbalance, with the scales tipping back and forth between them. But the man will literally burn the world down for the woman, because he can. So good! For readers who want something subtle, dark and still spine-tingling worth book with so much swoon-worthy words, this will be a good read you!

The Bride of Death has some pretty big shoes to fill as it was likened to Uprooted and The Bear and the Nightingale. For me the story never came close to the comparisons.

I found the writing to have some really lovely lyrical moments but the actual plot and world building didn't feel as evocative or engaging as I would of hoped. The pacing felt choppy, with large exposition based info dumps followed but long stretches of mindless banter.

Sadly this one didn't work for me in the end.

Thank you Netgalley for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

The cover art is perfect for this book. Whenever I want to buy a new book I always look at the cover first. You know what you can expect just by looking at the cover and I am so happy that the cover realy fits this book. I loved the enemies to lovers so much. It is one of my favorite tropes and this book did an amazing job at including it!

I loved everything about this book! The romance, the tension, the pace and the character development.

Thank you Netgalley and Northern Light Press for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

The Bride of Death follows Zerryn, who, to protect her village and her loved ones, journeys to the Underworld, ruled by Erlik Khan, a demon who'd "blessed" her as a child. But she soon discovers that the only way to take him down is to be his bride, and to be his bride, she'd have to complete three impossible tasks.

Firstly, the cover art is beautiful and suits the book very well. I liked the dark fairytale-esque vibes and the foresty setting and folklore are reminiscent of The Bear and the Nightingale. The writing is good for most of the book, with good use of metaphors and quips. But for me, the plot falls flat towards the end of the story. The female protagonist's actions feel very out-of-character and the ending makes the central plotline inconsequential.

Overall, it was still an enjoyable experience and I appreciate that it's a rare fantasy standalone.

This book is really good! It’s like Hades & Persephone meets Beauty and the Beast - weird combo but you’ll understand when you read it. I could not put this book down. I binged it. The writing, the characters, the enemies to lovers, the compete the marry, the devil man with wings - all so good!! My only issue, and it’s a minor spoiler so feel free to stop reading here… is the fact that homeboy has four arms and four eyes. Like why did he have to be a freak. Why couldn’t he just be a hot dude?! Come on… lol - despite that, still worth reading!!

Oh and as far as spice goes, they don’t describe anything in detail but skirt around stuff. So you know stuff happens but it’s not like classic spicy scenes that many of us are used to in this genre.

I have found my new mythology romantasy obsession and I am INSISTING you read this immediately.

The Bride of Death is a story that has everything: a compelling young heroine, a dynamic romance, a brooding protagonist, and beautiful dialogue. Zerryn, a young farmer’s daughter, finds herself entangled with the Lord of Death to save her friend Çelik and family from certain peril. She vies for his hand in a series of tasks to try and convince him to spare those she holds dear, but finds herself in an internal war. Torn between what is right and what she wants, Zerryn fights for her own power and to find the real meaning of love.

I started this in the morning and I promptly finished it by the evening: I could not put it down. It has everything I love in a romantasy: amazing characters, wonderful dialogue that tugs the heartstrings, diabolically intense chemistry, and moral greyness that I appreciate in an adult fantasy. As a mythos girlie, I also loved how this was inspired by Anatolian mythology (modern day Turkey) and that was a huge part of what lured me in. I always love learning about a new mythos and I think this is a really great option for those of us who might want something different than the Greco-Roman mythos that is super popular currently.

Zerryn has my absolute heart: she’s idealistic but determined to see her goals through. She understands her limitations but doesn’t let that deter her from trying. She’s so endearing I just want to give her the biggest hug. Erlik, the Lord of Death, is so incredible charming, and his voice is written so well that I was thoroughly convinced that someone with four arms and eyes was devilishly attractive. Their chemistry is lovely and gives wonderful enemies-to-lovers vibes.

I just loved everything about this book: I was blown away in every aspect. The plot is wonderfully paced, the characters are beautifully developed, and the themes and romance are just to die for. This is one of my favorite reads of this year, and you are sleeping on this if you have not read this yet.

Inspired by the Turkic myth of Erlik Khan and reminiscent of Hades and Persephone meets The Trials of the Sun King. This novel weaved a beautiful story of a girl(Zerryn) torn between two worlds, two loves. As she competes in 3 trials to become the bride of Death she learns a lot about herself & her hearts true desires. The prose is both bleak and beautiful. Well written characters, a winged shadow daddy, undying love, betrayal, steeped in magic. It’s a great standalone novel. Closed door spice.

The similarities between The Bear and the Nightingale in the beginning is quite startling. Though I love the book, it seemed nearly copy and pasted. And as a lover of Hades and Persephone retelling, I feel this was a very glossed over cherry picked version of it. The smut wasn’t built up properly and the ending was rushed.

** 3.5 STARS **

Inspired by Turkish folklore, this debut novel follows Zerryn as she dances with Erlick Khan, the Lord of Death himself, and competes in three deadly trials to become his wife and save her village.

Aden's writing is lyrical and captivating, and truly carries a magic of its own as it describes the places and people that Zerryn encounters on her journey. I know this book has been compared to The Bear and The Nightingale, but I actually found it to be more reminiscent of ACOTAR, and honestly, a lot better in my opinion. The trials were well thought out for the most part, and really contributed to Zerryn's growth throughout.

I'll admit, the romance between Zerryn and Erlick is obsessive and a little bit toxic, but what else would you expect when Death himself is the love interest?! I still really enjoyed their dynamic though, and there were some great, memorable moments between them (swipe through to see some of my fave quotes). Also, this book really delivered on the yearning and longing that a lot of romantasy books are missing these days 😂

I think you'll love this one if you like:
• Enemies to lovers
• Love triangles
• Death and the Maiden trope
• Folklore and mythology
• Light vs. Dark / Good vs. Evil
• A dark, misunderstood male love interest who would do anything for the FMC

While an intriguing premise, I found the introduction to the world and its systems to be a bit incoherent. A good yarn, if you can make it through the gauntlet of confusion that is its opening.

In all honesty, this book has a bit of a bumpy start for me- I felt like the world building was a bit rushed and I was missing some information/events that would have made it a smoother introduction- BUT: the love story grabbed me hook, line and sinker!!

You can’t have a more morally grey MMC than Death himself- Lord of the Underworld. Erlick’s obsession with Zerryn was addicting. The grumpy/sunshine trope at its finest is when one character has the added ‘restriction’ of being doomed to an Underworld!!!

I like the folklore/fairytale feel to the story- I was expecting the nanny to play a larger role at some point and was disappointed that wasn’t the case. But the hints the grandma drops through her stories to Zerryn were really interesting.

I would definitely recommend this book to our followers!

While The Bride of Death is by far not the worst YA romantasy I've ever read, it isn't the best either. Pretty standard enemies-to-lovers trope featuring the embodiment of Death (Erlik Kahn) falling in love with a plain village girl (Zerryn) who has the magic of life. This is technically set during the transition from paganism to Christianity in Anatolia, but the world-building is not incredibly strong and I find Zerryn to be a little too anachronistic to be realistic.

This book is being compared to Katherine Arden's Bear and Nightingale trilogy, but I found those books faaaaaaar and away more engaging. It may just be because I'm coming at this book from an adult perspective though, so I feel like this would be a fine book to recommend to someone who is looking to just get swept up in a romance with a gothic element.

When I picked this up I was expecting the folklore, the fairytale vibes, a girl completes three impossible tasks like in Slavic tales. I nearly put this book down, it seemed almost too saccharine in some ways… but I’m glad I didn’t put it down. While the majority of the book felt low stakes, things coming too easily to the protagonist- it does have its dark moments that question the morality of humans and the devil.

This is a slow burn and I enjoyed the way it developed. Though I do prefer my love interest to have the normal amount of eyes…. Just saying. But I think I’m okay with the extra arms Anyway, there are a lot of extra parts that made me wish it wasn’t closed door.

Overall, a sweet low stakes Turkish folklore/Hades & Persephone tale, with a little twist.

I’m not sure why the author chose to jump time so strangely in the beginning. It felt very clunky, and it certainly failed to establish any solid backstory for the main character and her love for this man who gets possessed by a demon. Like it all felt quite superficial. We also don’t establish any sort of skill that she eventually shows in completing the challenges either. Where did she learn to steal or fight? I had a very difficult time imagining this world as well. The story jumped from scene to scene rather than building up the characters or world.

Classic take with different lore woven in. A girl has to make a complete 3 tasks with the devil himself to save everyone.

It was a good book. Needs more world building. A great stand alone! I enjoyed it.

Friends to lovers, enemies to lovers, and morally gray character.

Thank you Netgallery for letting me read the ARC:)

This book was amazing. It would’ve been even better if it was marketed as a monster romance. In fact, I think it will do better marketed in monster romance as long as the sex scenes are elaborated on a tad bit. The whole book is super tension-filled and full of sexual and romantic build-up between the characters, but when they finally do the do, it’s not everything it could’ve been.
The book itself, besides the sex, was insanely good. I’m not very educated on Turkish folklore or folklore in general, but I loooved this book. I found Erlik to be super sexy and sweet, even though he was dark and a bit disturbed. I also really loved Zerryn and her friendship with Beyza. I love a girl’s girl. Zerryn was always ready to help people even if they had betrayed her, and it was endearing.
The end was a bit fast for me, but every book needs a conclusion without becoming too long. Beyza and Yuxa both need their own book. And Vasily.

I enjoyed this so much! Thank you to NetGalley and Northern Light Press for the ARC!

I really really wanted to like this more than I did. While I did love the world and especially the prose in this book, the characters just did not draw me in and emotionally bind me like I wanted to. I need characters to root for and I unfortunately did not want to root for any of these characters.
Love triangles are not my favorite trope at all, but I have read some that I love, my problem is always that the girl always seems to flit back and forth between two guys and there never seems to be any emotional involved.

I saw the Naomi Novak and shadow and bone inspiration but it unfortunately fell flat for me.