Deaths bride

Book: Deathโ€™s bride by Lo Gold

Reviewed by Your_bookish_fantasy

Rating: 5/5

๐“๐“ž ๐“ข๐“Ÿ๐“ž๐“˜๐“›๐“”๐“ก๐“ข
โšœ๏ธ๐”ป๐•–๐•ฅ๐•’๐•š๐•๐•–๐•• ๐•ฃ๐•–๐•ง๐•š๐•–๐•จ ๐• ๐•—- Deathโ€™s Bride by L.O. Gold

๐ˆ ๐š๐ฆ ๐š ๐ฌ๐ญ๐ซ๐ข๐œ๐ญ ๐ซ๐ž๐ฏ๐ข๐ž๐ฐ๐ž๐ซ ๐š๐ง๐ ๐ฒ๐ž๐ญ ๐ญ๐ก๐ž ๐€๐ฎ๐ญ๐ก๐จ๐ซ ๐ค๐ข๐ง๐๐ฅ๐ฒ ๐ญ๐ซ๐ฎ๐ฌ๐ญ๐ž๐ ๐ฆ๐ž ๐ฐ๐ข๐ญ๐ก ๐š๐ง ๐€๐‘๐‚ ๐œ๐จ๐ฉ๐ฒ ๐ญ๐จ ๐ซ๐ž๐ฏ๐ข๐ž๐ฐ, ๐ข๐ ๐ฅ๐ข๐ค๐ž ๐ญ๐จ ๐ฌ๐š๐ฒ ๐ญ๐ก๐š๐ง๐ค ๐ฒ๐จ๐ฎ ๐š๐ฌ ๐ข ๐ฉ๐ฎ๐›๐ฅ๐ข๐ฌ๐ก ๐ฆ๐ฒ ๐ฏ๐ž๐ซ๐ฒ ๐ก๐จ๐ง๐ž๐ฌ๐ญ ๐ญ๐ก๐จ๐ฎ๐ ๐ก๐ญ๐ฌ ๐จ๐ง ๐ญ๐ก๐ข๐ฌ ๐›๐จ๐จ๐ค.

โšœ๏ธโ„๐•’๐•ฅ๐•š๐•Ÿ๐•˜๐•ค-
๐Ÿ“š ๐—ฆ๐˜๐—ผ๐—ฟ๐˜† โญ๏ธโญ๏ธโญ๏ธโญ๏ธโญ๏ธ / 5

๐ŸŒก๏ธ ๐—ฆ๐—ฝ๐—ถ๐—ฐ๐—ฒ MF ๐ŸŒถ๏ธ๐ŸŒถ๏ธยฝ / 5 - ๐‘โ„Ž๐‘’๐‘๐‘˜ ๐‘œ๐‘ข๐‘ก ๐‘š๐‘ฆ ๐บ๐‘œ๐‘œ๐‘‘๐‘Ÿ๐‘’๐‘Ž๐‘‘๐‘  ๐‘ โ„Ž๐‘’๐‘™๐‘ฃ๐‘’๐‘  ๐‘œ๐‘› ๐‘š๐‘ฆ ๐‘Ÿ๐‘’๐‘ฃ๐‘–๐‘’๐‘ค ๐‘“๐‘œ๐‘Ÿ ๐‘‘๐‘’๐‘ก๐‘Ž๐‘–๐‘™๐‘’๐‘‘ ๐‘ ๐‘๐‘–๐‘๐‘’ ๐‘š๐‘–๐‘๐‘Ÿ๐‘œ๐‘ก๐‘Ÿ๐‘œ๐‘๐‘’๐‘ 

Which books have I also given this same rating? (๐‘ ๐‘œ ๐‘ฆ๐‘œ๐‘ข ๐‘๐‘Ž๐‘› ๐‘๐‘œ๐‘š๐‘๐‘Ž๐‘Ÿ๐‘’ ๐‘š๐‘ฆ ๐‘ ๐‘ก๐‘ฆ๐‘™๐‘’ ๐‘œ๐‘“ ๐‘Ÿ๐‘Ž๐‘ก๐‘–๐‘›๐‘” ๐‘ก๐‘œ ๐‘ฆ๐‘œ๐‘ข๐‘Ÿ ๐‘œ๐‘ค๐‘›)

5โญ๏ธ Fourth Wing / Bound by Inked Flame / Anathema / The Lies of Lena / Of Silver and Curses / Deathโ€™s Bride
4.5โญ๏ธ Bitten / The Female / Quicksilver / Bride / Lights Out / A Bargain so Bloody / Between the Pines
4โญ๏ธ ACOTAR / Spellcaster / One Dark Window / From Blood and Ash / Phantasma / Butcher & Blackbird
3โญ๏ธ We Who Will Die / The Wolf King / Daughter of No Worlds / The Ex Hex

โšœ๏ธ๐•‚๐•–๐•ช ๐•€๐•Ÿ๐•—๐• :
Genre- Gothic Dark Romance / Romantic Horror

๐Ÿ“– ๐—ฃ๐—ฎ๐—ด๐—ฒ๐˜€- 310

๐Ÿ“– Multi POV 1st person

๐—ฅ๐—ฒ๐—น๐—ฒ๐—ฎ๐˜€๐—ฒ ๐—ฑ๐—ฎ๐˜๐—ฒ- 6 October 2026

๐—ฃ๐—น๐—ผ๐˜ or ๐—–๐—ต๐—ฎ๐—ฟ๐—ฎ๐—ฐ๐˜๐—ฒ๐—ฟ driven? ๐’œ โ„ณ๐’พ๐“

๐—ฆ๐—ฒ๐—ฟ๐—ถ๐—ฒ๐˜€ ๐—ก๐—ฎ๐—บ๐—ฒ & ๐—•๐—ผ๐—ผ๐—ธ ๐—ป๐—ผ- Standalone

๐—ฃ๐—ฎ๐—ฐ๐—ฒ- โ„ณโ„ฏ๐’น๐’พ๐“Š๐“‚ / ๐“Œโ„ฏ๐“๐“ ๐“…๐’ถ๐’ธโ„ฏ๐’น ๐’ปโ„ด๐“‡ ๐“‰๐’ฝโ„ฏ ๐“ˆ๐“‰โ„ด๐“‡๐“Ž

๐— ๐—ฒ๐—บ๐—ผ๐—ฟ๐—ฎ๐—ฏ๐—น๐—ฒ? โœ…๐’ดโ„ฏ๐“ˆ! โ„ ๐“Œ๐’พ๐“๐“ ๐“‡โ„ฏ๐“‚โ„ฏ๐“‚๐’ทโ„ฏ๐“‡ ๐“‰โ„Žโ„ฏ ๐“‹๐’พ๐’ทโ„ฏ๐“ˆ ๐’ถ๐“ƒ๐’น ๐’ปโ„ฏโ„ฏ๐“๐’พ๐“ƒ๐‘”๐“ˆ ๐“‰โ„Ž๐’พ๐“ˆ ๐“‡โ„ฏ๐’ถ๐’น ๐“โ„ฏ๐’ป๐“‰ ๐“‚โ„ฏ ๐“Œ๐’พ๐“‰๐’ฝ!

๐€๐ง๐ฒ ๐‘๐ž๐ฉ๐ซ๐ž๐ฌ๐ž๐ง๐ญ๐š๐ญ๐ข๐จ๐ง? Themes surrounding isolation, self-worth, female autonomy and societal expectations. Although itโ€™s not announced Iโ€™m sure the mmc is neurodivergent too!

โ„ณโ„ดโ„ด๐’น๐“ˆ; ๐‘ฏ๐’‚๐’–๐’๐’•๐’Š๐’๐’ˆ, ๐‘ฎ๐’๐’•๐’‰๐’Š๐’„, ๐‘น๐’๐’Ž๐’‚๐’๐’•๐’Š๐’„, ๐‘ฌ๐’Ž๐’๐’•๐’Š๐’๐’๐’‚๐’, ๐‘ด๐’‚๐’ˆ๐’Š๐’„๐’‚๐’, ๐‘ด๐’š๐’”๐’•๐’†๐’“๐’Š๐’๐’–๐’”, ๐‘ซ๐’‚๐’“๐’Œ, ๐‘ป๐’†๐’๐’”๐’†, ๐‘ป๐’˜๐’Š๐’”๐’•๐’š, ๐‘จ๐’๐’ˆ๐’”๐’•๐’š, ๐‘บ๐’•๐’†๐’‚๐’Ž๐’š, ๐‘พ๐’Š๐’•๐’•๐’š, ๐‘ฏ๐’๐’‘๐’†๐’‡๐’–๐’, ๐‘ด๐’‚๐’„๐’‚๐’ƒ๐’“๐’†, ๐‘ญ๐’๐’“๐’†๐’ƒ๐’๐’…๐’Š๐’๐’ˆ

๐’Ÿ๐’พ๐’น ๐’พ โ„ฏ๐“ƒ๐’ฟโ„ด๐“Ž ๐“‰๐’ฝ๐’พ๐“ˆ? โœ… Absolutely. I LOVED it.

๐’ฒ๐’พ๐“๐“ ๐’พ ๐“‡โ„ฏ๐’ถ๐’น ๐“‰๐’ฝโ„ฏ ๐“ƒโ„ฏ๐“๐“‰ ๐’ทโ„ดโ„ด๐“€ ๐’พ๐“ƒ ๐“‰โ„Ž๐’พ๐“ˆ ๐“ˆโ„ฏ๐“‡๐’พโ„ฏ๐“ˆ? Standalone.

๐’ฒโ„ด๐“Š๐“๐’น ๐’พ ๐“‡โ„ฏ๐’ถ๐’น ๐’ถ๐“ƒ๐“Ž๐“‰๐’ฝ๐’พ๐“ƒ๐‘” โ„ฏ๐“๐“ˆโ„ฏ ๐’ท๐“Ž ๐“‰โ„Ž๐’พ๐“ˆ ๐’ถ๐“Š๐“‰๐’ฝโ„ด๐“‡? โœ…

๐–‚๐–๐–” ๐–œ๐–”๐–š๐–‘๐–‰ ๐–Ž ๐–—๐–Š๐–ˆ๐–”๐–’๐–’๐–Š๐–“๐–‰ ๐–™๐–๐–Ž๐–˜ ๐–™๐–”? Anyone craving a gothic romance with an emotional love triangle, jealousy, yearning, men fighting for the woman they love, arranged marriage, dark academia, ancient folklore, death lurking in the shadows, macabre mystery and an actual HEA.

๐Ÿšจ๐Ÿ…ฒ๏ธŽ๐Ÿ…ท๏ธŽ๐Ÿ…ด๏ธŽ๐Ÿ…ฒ๏ธŽ๐Ÿ…บ๏ธŽ ๐Ÿ†ƒ๏ธŽ๐Ÿ…ท๏ธŽ๐Ÿ…ด๏ธŽ ๐Ÿ†ƒ๏ธŽ๐Ÿ††๏ธŽ!๐Ÿšจ
This is a dark gothic story containing death, murder, violence, disturbing imagery and references to past sexual events that some readers may find triggering. Check the authorโ€™s complete content warnings before reading.

โšœ๏ธ๐•Šโ„™๐”ผโ„‚๐•€๐”ผ๐•Š ๐•€โ„• ๐•Š๐•‹๐•†โ„๐•:
๐Ÿ’‹๐ป๐‘ข๐‘š๐‘Ž๐‘›๐‘ 
๐ŸงŸโ€โ™‚๏ธ แ—ฐOแ‘ŽีTแ—ดแ–‡แ”•
๐Ÿ’€ Supernatural / Eldritch Beings
โšฐ๏ธ Death Personified

โšœ๏ธ๐•Š๐•ก๐•š๐•”๐•– ๐”ฝ๐•’๐•”๐•ฅ๐•ค:
๐Ÿ”ฅ๐’๐ฅ๐จ๐ฐ ๐๐ฎ๐ซ๐ง
๐Ÿ’Œแด€ส€ส€แด€ษดษขแด‡แด… แดแด€ส€ส€ษชแด€ษขแด‡
๐Ÿ’€๐”‰๐”ฌ๐”ฏ๐”Ÿ๐”ฆ๐”ก๐”ก๐”ข๐”ซ ๐”ฏ๐”ฌ๐”ช๐”ž๐”ซ๐” ๐”ข
๐ŸŒก๐•๐•–๐•’๐•ฃ๐•Ÿ๐•š๐•Ÿ๐•˜, ๐”ธ๐•Ÿ๐•˜๐•ค๐•ฅ, ๐•‹๐•–๐•Ÿ๐•ค๐•š๐• ๐•Ÿ
๐Ÿ”บ ๐ฟ๐‘œ๐‘ฃ๐‘’ ๐‘ก๐‘Ÿ๐‘–๐‘Ž๐‘›๐‘”๐‘™๐‘’
๐Ÿ’‹ Premarital Impropriety
๐Ÿ–ค Obsessive / Devoted MMC
๐Ÿฅ€ Emotional & Passionate Spice
๐Ÿ”ฅ No live penetrative sex scenes, but the foreplay absolutely delivers.

โšœ๏ธ๐•‹โ„๐•†โ„™๐”ผ๐•Š
๐Ÿ˜ˆ๐•Š๐•–๐•”๐•ฃ๐•–๐•ฅ๐•ค & ๐”น๐•–๐•ฅ๐•ฃ๐•’๐•ช๐•’๐•๐•ค
๐Ÿ›๏ธ๐‘€๐‘ฆ๐‘กโ„Ž๐‘  / ๐ฟ๐‘’๐‘”๐‘’๐‘›๐‘‘๐‘  / ๐น๐‘œ๐‘™๐‘˜๐‘™๐‘œ๐‘Ÿ๐‘’
๐Ÿชฆ๐•ณ๐–”๐–—๐–—๐–”๐–— ๐•ฐ๐–‘๐–Š๐–’๐–Š๐–“๐–™๐–˜
๐Ÿซ๐ถ๐‘œ๐‘™๐‘™๐‘’๐‘”๐‘’ / ๐ด๐‘๐‘Ž๐‘‘๐‘’๐‘š๐‘ฆ ๐‘ ๐‘’๐‘ก๐‘ก๐‘–๐‘›๐‘”
๐ŸฐGothic
๐Ÿงฉ๐‘ญ๐’๐’“๐’„๐’†๐’… ๐’‘๐’“๐’๐’™๐’Š๐’Ž๐’Š๐’•๐’š
๐Ÿ’€ Death Personified
๐Ÿฅ€ Corpse Bride Inspired
๐Ÿ‘น Ancient Creature / Folklore Monster
๐Ÿ”บ Love Triangle
๐Ÿ’Œ Arranged Marriage
๐Ÿ–ค Obsessive Love
๐ŸŒ™ Cursed Lovers
๐Ÿ•ฏ๏ธ Murders & Missing Students
๐ŸŒน Self-Discovery

โ€œ๐‘พ๐’†โ€™๐’“๐’† ๐’ƒ๐’“๐’†๐’… ๐’‚๐’๐’… ๐’“๐’‚๐’Š๐’”๐’†๐’… ๐’•๐’ ๐’ƒ๐’† ๐’…๐’‚๐’–๐’ˆ๐’‰๐’•๐’†๐’“๐’” ๐’•๐’–๐’“๐’๐’†๐’… ๐’˜๐’Š๐’—๐’†๐’” ๐’•๐’–๐’“๐’๐’†๐’… ๐’Ž๐’๐’•๐’‰๐’†๐’“๐’”, ๐’ƒ๐’–๐’• ๐’‰๐’๐’˜ ๐’„๐’‚๐’ ๐’๐’๐’† ๐’ƒ๐’† ๐’‚๐’๐’ ๐’•๐’‰๐’๐’”๐’† ๐’•๐’‰๐’Š๐’๐’ˆ๐’” ๐’•๐’ ๐’๐’•๐’‰๐’†๐’“๐’” ๐’˜๐’‰๐’†๐’ ๐’๐’๐’† ๐’…๐’๐’†๐’” ๐’๐’๐’• ๐’Œ๐’๐’๐’˜ ๐’•๐’“๐’–๐’๐’š ๐’˜๐’‰๐’ ๐’”๐’‰๐’† ๐’Š๐’”? ๐’€๐’๐’– ๐’Ž๐’–๐’”๐’• ๐’‡๐’Š๐’“๐’”๐’• ๐’‡๐’Š๐’๐’ ๐’š๐’๐’–๐’“ ๐’๐’˜๐’ ๐’„๐’–๐’‘, ๐’•๐’‰๐’†๐’ ๐’š๐’๐’– ๐’„๐’‚๐’ ๐’‡๐’Š๐’๐’ ๐’”๐’๐’Ž๐’†๐’๐’๐’† ๐’†๐’๐’”๐’†โ€™๐’”.โ€

โœจ Tแ•ผแ—ดแ—ฐแ—ดี โœจ
Love and sacrifice, death and what it means to truly live, female autonomy, self-worth, injustice, societal expectations, choosing your own future, science versus the unknowable, mortality, devotion, obsession, jealousy, sacrifice, grief, courage and fighting for the life and love you actually want.

๐Ÿ“Cliff Notes Review-
Beautiful. Thatโ€™s the word.
I expected a fairly straightforward gothic romance and instead got this haunting, funny, emotional, intricately woven story that completely blindsided me. The lore, foreshadowing, atmosphere, mysteries and subplots were fantastic, but that LOVE TRIANGLE?! Jealousy, yearning, emotional turmoil and two completely different men to fall for. YES PLEASE. The prose was gorgeous, the foreplay was delicious, Penelopeโ€™s journey towards love and self-worth hit me straight in the chest, and somehow the ending left me feeling completely whole. One of those incredibly rare books where the emotional journey mattered more to me than any tiny imperfection. Easy 5 โญ .

โšœ๏ธ๐”ธ๐•ฆ๐••๐•š๐•  ๐”น๐• ๐• ๐•œ โ„๐•–๐•ง๐•š๐•–๐•จ:
The forthcoming unabridged audiobook is listed at approximately nine hours and will be narrated by John Hartley and Will Thorne. but it isnโ€™t scheduled for release until 1 December 2026, so I obviously canโ€™t compare the performance yet.

โ€œ๐ˆ๐ญ ๐ข๐ฌ ๐š ๐ฌ๐ญ๐ซ๐จ๐ง๐  ๐ฐ๐จ๐ฆ๐š๐ง ๐ข๐ง๐๐ž๐ž๐ ๐ฐ๐ก๐จ ๐ฅ๐ž๐š๐ซ๐ง๐ฌ ๐ญ๐ก๐š๐ญ ๐ฅ๐ข๐ฏ๐ข๐ง๐  ๐Ÿ๐จ๐ซ ๐ก๐ž๐ซ๐ฌ๐ž๐ฅ๐Ÿ ๐ข๐ฌ ๐ญ๐ก๐ž ๐ฆ๐จ๐ฌ๐ญ ๐Ÿ๐ฎ๐ฅ๐Ÿ๐ข๐ฅ๐ฅ๐ข๐ง๐  ๐ญ๐ก๐ข๐ง๐  ๐ฌ๐ก๐ž ๐œ๐š๐ง ๐๐จ ๐ญ๐จ ๐›๐ž ๐ฐ๐ก๐จ๐ฅ๐ž,โ€

๐ŸŒ ๐•Ž๐• ๐•ฃ๐•๐•• ๐•“๐•ฆ๐•š๐•๐••๐•š๐•Ÿ๐•˜, ๐•จ๐•ฃ๐•š๐•ฅ๐•š๐•Ÿ๐•˜ ๐•’๐•Ÿ๐•• ๐•ก๐•’๐•”๐•š๐•Ÿ๐•˜:
I thought I knew exactly what sort of book I was walking into.
Arranged marriage. Gothic university. Death wants the girl. Love triangle. Ancient thing in the woods. Okay, I thought, this should be fun but probably fairly straightforward.

I was SO wrong.

The atmosphere alone elevated this enormously. L.O. Gold doesnโ€™t simply tell us weโ€™re somewhere gothic and spooky and expect a few ravens and old buildings to do all the work. The history, folklore, imagery, strange occurrences, murders, darkness in the woods and constant sense that something ancient is lurking just beyond what the characters understand all combine to make the setting feel genuinely haunted.

And the foreshadowing !
There were enough breadcrumbs to make me suspicious and theorising without allowing me to confidently map out exactly where everything was going. Thatโ€™s my favourite kind of mystery. Give me enough information to make me feel clever and then prove I absolutely am not. ๐Ÿ˜‚

I particularly loved how the main plot and smaller threads were woven together. Things didnโ€™t feel like random extras thrown in to make the story busier. The academia, relationships, murders, history, folklore, creature, family expectations and Penelopeโ€™s personal journey all gradually began touching one another.

Then thereโ€™s the prose.
Beautiful. Simply beautiful.

This is my second book by L.O. Gold and apparently I need to take the hint because Iโ€™ve now given her two five-star ratings . Thereโ€™s something about her writing that works for me emotionally. It can be macabre and threatening one moment, romantic the next and then unexpectedly funny without completely shattering the atmosphere.

And I really wasnโ€™t prepared for the humour! Amongst all that death, darkness and yearning were moments that genuinely made me laugh.

The comparisons to a Tim Burton film make complete sense to me aesthetically, even though Iโ€™m personally not a fan of his work. The macabre whimsy, gothic imagery, romantic darkness and beauty amongst death absolutely fit that description. I could easily imagine this translating beautifully to film.

๐Ÿงโ€โ™‚๏ธ โ„‚๐•™๐•’๐•ฃ๐•’๐•”๐•ฅ๐•–๐•ฃ๐•ค:
Penelope absolutely made this book for me.

What impressed me wasnโ€™t simply that she was labelled a โ€œstrong FMC.โ€ Her strength was something the story allowed her to earn .

Sheโ€™s a young woman surrounded by people and systems with ideas about what her future should look like. Then the book repeatedly gives her hurdles, impossible choices, disappointment, injustice, fear and emotional turmoil and asks her what she actually wants. Watching her answer that question was beautiful.

She doesnโ€™t emerge stronger because someone declares that she is. We watch her grow into herself. By the end, the thing I loved most wasnโ€™t which man she loved or who loved her.
It was her self-worth .

And then we have Victor and Death.
This is how you make me enjoy a love triangle!

I didnโ€™t want one obvious correct choice and one bloke hanging around purely to manufacture drama. I wanted two relationships that offered something completely different. I wanted chemistry with both. I wanted yearning. I wanted jealousy. I wanted conflicting feelings. I wanted MEN FIGHTING FOR THEIR LOVE.

Victor and Death are such wonderful opposites too. Victorโ€™s scientific curiosity, awkwardness and earnestness sit beautifully against Deathโ€™s ancient, unknowable, artistic and almost elemental presence. One represents a mortal life that can be studied and understood. The other represents the thing nobody can ultimately understand or escape.

And Penelope stands between them, trying to decide what kind of life belongs to her .

Even the side characters felt like people rather than furniture. Thatโ€™s incredibly important in a relatively short standalone because the supporting cast gave the university and wider story texture without stealing focus from the central trio.

โ€œIt is always wise to remember that in nature, even the smallest of creatures can have the greatest of impacts.โ€

โณ ๐•Ž๐• ๐•ฆ๐•๐•• ๐•š ๐•ฃ๐•–-๐•ฃ๐•–๐•’๐•• ๐• ๐•ฃ ๐•ฃ๐•–๐•”๐• ๐•ž๐•ž๐•–๐•Ÿ๐••?
YES AND YES.
This is absolutely going onto my recommendation list for anyone who asks me for an emotional gothic romance.

Especially if you tell me:

โ€œI want jealousy.โ€
Here.

โ€œI want an actual love triangle where Iโ€™m emotionally invested.โ€
HERE.

โ€œI want men fighting for the woman they love.โ€
HELLO, THIS ONE.

โ€œI want darkness but I still need my HEA.โ€
GET THE BOOK.

โ€œI want gothic atmosphere, academia, ancient folklore and something horrible wandering around in the woods.โ€

At this point Iโ€™m physically placing Deathโ€™s Bride into your hands. ๐Ÿ˜‚

I would particularly recommend it to readers who enjoy the atmosphere of books such as Belladonna , Gothikana or Nocticadia , while being clear that Deathโ€™s Bride very much has its own identity.

๐Ÿชง๐”ฝ๐•š๐•Ÿ๐•’๐• ๐•ฅ๐•™๐• ๐•ฆ๐•˜๐•™๐•ฅ๐•ค:
Beautiful.
I keep returning to that word because nothing else describes my experience quite as well.

Deathโ€™s Bride is beautiful in its darkness. Beautiful in its romance. Beautiful in its descriptions of death and living. Beautiful in its portrayal of sacrifice and devotion. And most of all, beautiful in the journey of a young woman discovering that her life belongs to her .

I went into this expecting to enjoy myself.
The tropes were right. The premise sounded fun. I thought it might be slightly predictable and perhaps a little simple, but still a nice gothic read.

Instead, it completely blindsided me.

I got ancient history and lore. A wonderfully macabre atmosphere. Fantastic foreshadowing. Mystery. Murder. Darkness. Humour I absolutely wasnโ€™t expecting. Brilliant side characters. A creature stalking the woods that feels older than time. An intricately woven plot. And one hell of an emotional love triangle.

Even the spice surprised me. This isnโ€™t a book relying on taboo acts or increasingly outrageous scenes to create heat. In fact, there are no live penetrative sex scenes. Instead, the sexual tension comes from chemistry, danger, emotion, anticipation and absolutely delicious foreplay. It felt passionate because I cared about the relationships surrounding it.

But romance wasnโ€™t ultimately what earned those five stars.
Penelopeโ€™s journey did. There were moments of injustice, pain, impossible decisions and emotional turmoil. Again and again life seems determined to tell this young woman who she is supposed to be, what she should accept and what she is allowed to want.

Watching her gradually fight for herself was enormously satisfying. By the end she hasnโ€™t simply found love.

Sheโ€™s found pride in herself.

Sheโ€™s found self-worth.

And somehow, somewhere amongst Death, monsters, jealousy, laughter, academia and gothic darkness, this book gave me an emotional journey that left me feeling strangely healed.
-That doesnโ€™t happen often.

I can acknowledge that another reader might find a pacing issue here or want a little more development there. I can understand why somebody might shave half a star off for technical reasons.

But ratings are also about the reading experience.
And when I closed this book, I felt whole .
Thatโ€™s rarer than perfection.

One of my easiest five stars because Deathโ€™s Bride didnโ€™t just give me a story I loved. It gave me exactly the emotional journey I didnโ€™t know I needed. ๐Ÿฅ€๐Ÿ’€๐Ÿ–ค

๐น๐‘œ๐‘™๐‘™๐‘œ๐‘ค ๐‘š๐‘’ ๐‘“๐‘œ๐‘Ÿ ๐‘š๐‘œ๐‘Ÿ๐‘’ ๐‘Ÿ๐‘’๐‘ฃ๐‘–๐‘’๐‘ค๐‘  ๐‘Ž๐‘›๐‘‘ ๐‘ ๐‘ข๐‘”๐‘”๐‘’๐‘ ๐‘ก๐‘–๐‘œ๐‘›๐‘ ;

๐•‹๐•š๐•œ๐•‹๐• ๐•œ
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*

๐•„๐•ช โ„๐•’๐•ฅ๐•š๐•Ÿ๐•˜ ๐•Š๐•ช๐•ค๐•ฅ๐•–๐•ž๐•ค:
โญ๏ธ DNF

โญ๏ธโญ๏ธ
I managed to finish it but it was rubbish. I won't keep a physical copy and won't recommend it, but it's a shame as the plot could have made a good book in another author's hands

โญ๏ธโญ๏ธ.5
It was OK. I wish I didn't start this one as it didn't do it for me as I struggled to read it. It had an interesting premise that fell flat but I had to see what happened in the end.

โญ๏ธโญ๏ธโญ๏ธ
I don't regret reading it, and I will read the next one, but this one did have a few flaws. [These could be repetitive writing, gaps or plot holes, better character growth or world building, areas needing more detail]
Generally, the book lacked depth and became confusing. The plot resonated with me even though it annoyed me on the whole.

โญ๏ธโญ๏ธโญ๏ธ.5
I'm glad I read it. I enjoyed it and would recommend it to the right people, but I wanted more! Sadly, it's easily forgettable with a few issues I just couldn't overlook/get past.

โญ๏ธโญ๏ธโญ๏ธโญ๏ธ
Good book! I loved it, but... I needed more! I really did enjoy it, but it had a few parts that needed more detail or added history/background or lore. But that's because the story or characters were memorable, and the plot was strong with brilliant twists. I would re-read if I needed to catch up for the next book and would recommend.

โญ๏ธโญ๏ธโญ๏ธโญ๏ธ.5
Great book! I truly wish the story had been thought about more, or the author had been given more time as this book is so close to brilliance! I will likely read again and will definitely be recommending it to all!

โญ๏ธโญ๏ธโญ๏ธโญ๏ธโญ๏ธ
WOW! Absolutely amazing book! Well written with great characters and a plot so memorable that it will stay with me. I will definitely read this again, I will be recommending it and sharing it with the whole world! Also- I NEED A PHYSICAL COPY!

๐Ÿ”ฅโญ๏ธโญ๏ธโญ๏ธโญ๏ธโญ๏ธโญ๏ธ๐Ÿ”ฅ
This is my God level tier. The book must be perfectly memorable. Even after reading 50+ more books, I will remember character names and emotions along with the plot. If there is a special edition, then I need to own it! If there is a conversation on books- I'm talking about this!

SPICE SCALE:
๐ŸŒถ๏ธโ€“ segsual language and a little on-page action / fade to black

๐ŸŒถ๏ธ๐ŸŒถ๏ธโ€“ a lot of segsual language and some on-page open door action, may be occurring a couple of times

๐ŸŒถ๏ธ๐ŸŒถ๏ธ๐ŸŒถ๏ธโ€“ a lot of explicit action and dirty talk, occurring frequently with 2/3 lurvers

๐ŸŒถ๏ธ๐ŸŒถ๏ธ๐ŸŒถ๏ธ๐ŸŒถ๏ธ โ€“ super graphic and explicit, occurring 4 or more times, can be more grey and taboo themed.

๐ŸŒถ๏ธ๐ŸŒถ๏ธ๐ŸŒถ๏ธ๐ŸŒถ๏ธ๐ŸŒถ๏ธ โ€“ Kinks and Fet!shism, explicit and super graphic. It is likely to be tushy play, toys, playrooms, and more dark / taboo fantasies and realities.

Read full review on ARC Library