Oh, this is an astoundingly lovely book.
I had heard vague things about A Marvellous Light, but going into it, I wasn’t expecting a whole lot. I figured I would probably enjoy it, as it had been sold to me as historical romance, plus a magical mystery/conspiracy. Now I love a good historical romance, and anything with magic is right up my alley, so this book was practically screaming my name.
A Marvellous Light takes place at the tail end of the 1800’s, in an England where magic exists, but is unknown to most. One of our heroes is Robin Blythe, a non-magical baronet who has been thrust into a job that deals with magic. Only problem is — he has no idea magic exists. On Robin’s first day at his new job, Edwin Courcey — a man who DOES have magic — shows up to get a report, expecting Robin’s predecessor. Said predecessor has been missing for several weeks, and no one has any idea where he’s gone. Here is where the mystery begins!
These two are such wonderful foils of one another, that it was an immense pleasure watching their relationship unfold. Edwin grew up with minimal amounts of magic, in a household where being nothing less than the best was unacceptable. He was brutally treated by his cruel older brother, and as such, turned into quite an icy, stoic individual who would much rather surround himself with books rather than people. Robin, on the other hand, grew up in a house where public appearances were so much more important than being your true self. His parents die shortly before the novel begins, leaving him and his sister in dire straits, as they have left all their fortune to charities and ‘projects’ rather than their children. Robin is a bright, confident man, who is rather quick to jump on the metaphorical grenade rather than have someone else get hurt. Robin was my favorite.
I’m not going to spoil anything more, other than to say this was such a fun book to read. The mystery is dealt out in lovely, delicious chunks leaving you wanting just enough to keep reading. The writing itself is absolutely gorgeous and just a tiny bit haunting in the best way.
I cannot recommend A Marvellous Light enough. Please go read it.
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Reviews with images
Thrilling M/M Contemporary Fantasy
*I was gifted an e-copy of this book by the publisher in exchange for an honest review*This book was such a fun read, but at the same time it had the proper depth that made the characters and the relationship that much more meaningful. There was fun, romance, contemporary fantasy elements, all with a murder mystery working in the background of this compelling Edwardian fantasy book. I loved both Edwin and Robin. Robin had the dazzling personality and the smart mouth that makes him an easy character to love. He was lovable, but his character still possessed depth enough to make him feel well-rounded. He felt well-rounded as a character because we were able to see the difficulties he was going through and his internal struggle to really connect with the people around them. Then opposite him there was Edwin; though his demeanor was pretty cold and prickly at the beginning, he was also very easy to love. He had these deep seated insecurities and his flaws were on display. Born to a rich, deeply magical family of which he was an outsider, the butt of their jokes. Robin just complemented him so nicely. Their romance was just very sweet, though there was also some spice that elevated it even further. Sure, their romance felt a little quick, but I still thought it was believable.Another thing that I loved about this book was the creative magic system. The concept of using these complicated hand gestures that ultimately boiled down to cradling (like cat's cradle) was really unique. Also the concept that people are born with varying amounts of magic and the precision with which they are able to cradle affecting their ability to perform different spells. It just seemed like a very unique way of looking at magic that I don't feel like I've ever encountered before. And even if it was, it was presented in a way that made it not only digestible, but also very understandable. Sometimes fantasy writers can get way too complex with their magic systems and how they operate. It felt like Marske made the usage of the magic perfectly understandable. In fact, the writing throughout the whole book was very understandable. Don't get me wrong, Marske's writing was still lovely and served to make the story that much more captivating. The actions and emotions of the characters were well-described. The use of such made the characters understandable and relatable. The story itself was compelling with just enough action to keep interest the whole way through. Don't get me wrong, it took the story a moment to get warmed up, but once it did it just didn't stop.All in all, I really enjoyed this book. It was definitely my favorite book that I read in November of 2021. In fact, it was probably in my top ten books for 2021 (maybe even top 5). This was the first book in the Last Binding series, and I'm already really excited to read the sequel whenever it comes out! If you like a good fantasy novel set in Edwardian England that has mystery, murder, lovable characters, m/m romance, and great character dynamics, then this is the book for you!
Top reviews from other countries
Micaela Valerio
Beautiful!
Reviewed in Italy on March 9, 2024
Micaela Valerio
Reviewed in Italy on March 9, 2024
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Christian Heyden
Wirklich MARVELOUS...
Reviewed in Germany on October 7, 2022
Christian Heyden
Reviewed in Germany on October 7, 2022
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Océane
Beautiful book
Reviewed in France on March 3, 2022
Océane
Reviewed in France on March 3, 2022
The story is nice, I think that you need to be in the mood for this very specific sort of book, because it is very slow in my opinion so you need to really be *in it* to love it
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