Bookish friends, I have found a new gem! I had seen the work of Sarah M. Cradit around on Bookstagram and had always been attracted to the stunning covers, but I hadn’t had the chance to read any of it yet. Until I saw a call for ARC readers for The Melody and the Master and I jumped on the opportunity. And I have to say, I am so glad I did! I greatly enjoyed this introduction to this author’s works.

Attention! This book will be available as of October 4th, 2022!

The Melody and the Master

The Melody and the Master tells the story of Si and Fen, orphaned twins who have known nothing but abuse due to their magical talents. Fen can make things flourish, which is a gift greedy people gladly make use of. He has agreed to work exclusively for the benefit of a steward, in return for his protection of his sister. Si’s gift is namely far more dangerous and if she’s caught, she would without a doubt be executed. But when all hell breaks loose, there doesn’t seem to be anything that Fen can do to save either of them. Luckily, they are rescued by Pesha, a mysterious man acting on behalf of his brother, the Master of Forests, Desemir, who has a peculiar proposal to put before the siblings.

A romantic and magical tale

New Adult Fantasy romance is most likely my favourite genre, and this was a great specimen thereof. I loved the magic, the characters, the marriage of convenience trope, the found family…this story ticked many boxes for me.

As an ex-literature student, I also loved the intertextuality, with clear links to Beauty and the Beast, Jane Eyre, and Hades & Persephone. I wouldn’t call it a retelling of any of those stories precisely, but there are flavours added of each of them.

My favourite character was Pesha and I hope to see more of him in next stories. I quite liked Si and Des too, but I felt less of a connection with them. In general, all characters reminded me a bit of the typical characters of Romantic Era literature. They all have a certain, shall we say flair for the dramatic and were generally ruled by their emotions. Romantic Era prose is something I really like, so that worked well for me, but I can imagine that these characters could be a bit “much” for some readers.

This is definitely a spicy story, although it did in no way overshadow the plot itself. There were several – definitely not fade-to-black – scenes which were very well written and worked within the bigger picture. It might have been a marriage of convenience, the passion flared quite soon in the story. It’s an age gap romance (slight gap though, she’s 18 and he’s 26) and there are clear undertones of submission/dominance.

There’s also a pregnancy storyline, which is something of which I am not at all a fan. Nevertheless, while important to the story, it’s not overwhelmingly present so it didn’t bother me.

I was very much interested by the magic system explained in this story, especially with regards to the familiars, each tied to a certain element. I hope to get to learn more about this when reading other works set in the same world.

The story kept me engaged from start to finish and in general, the book was very plot and character driven, which I loved. Sometimes, I was a bit confused by the timeline, but this in no means prevented me from loving the story and the confusion was each time cleared up soon after.

Oh and have I mentioned the art yet? The cover, as well as the illustrations throughout the book are simply STUNNING.

Four out of five gemstones!

Age Category: New Adult, but also suitable for an older audience

Representation:  LGBTQ+ main characters, PTSD

Trigger Warnings (click here, may contain spoilers)

Warnings for abduction & confinement, abuse, torture, parental neglect and abuse, and rape.

Do you want to discover more?

If my review inspired you to pick up the book, don’t hesitate to check it out at Goodreads or at the below online stores.

Amazon.nl: Paperback edition

Amazon.nl: eBook edition

On the author’s site, you’ll find more interesting resources about this book and the series, including a world map.

Similar to this

In this section, I am going to explore the place of The Melody and the Master in the wider works of Sarah M. Cradit.

This novel is part four of The Book of All Things, which is a series of interconnected, standalone fantasy romance books that is set in the Kingdom of the White Sea World. This fantasy realm was first introduced in the Kingdom of the White Sea Trilogy, which starts off with The Kingless Crown.

The books of The Book of All Things are grouped together into cycles, which each have their own heat level: The Blackwood Cycle (low heat); The Southerlands Cycle (medium low heat); The Guardians Cycle (medium heat); The Darkwood Cycle (medium high heat); and the Sceptre Cycle (high heat).

The Melody and the Master is the first book of The Darkwood Cycle. The second book, The Hand and the Heart, has already been announced and at the back of the first book, it is mentioned that we’ll meet Pesha, Fen, Farren and Wulf again later on in this cycle.

The next book set to be published is The Claw and the Crowned, the first book of The Sceptre Cycle. I, for one, can hardly wait <3 Edit: my review can now be found here.

When you’ve read The Melody and the Master, I am quite sure you’re going to dive further into Sarah M. Cradit’s work. If you are looking for similar vibes though, I would also recommend The Plated Prisoner Series by Raven Kennedy. I am currently reading and reviewing this series, keep an eye out for my upcoming review!

Recap: The Melody and the Master

In the following section, you’ll find a recap that you can use to prepare for the next book when it is published. Of course, this is by definition full of spoilers, so it is hidden behind a spoiler tag. Enter at your own risk!

Want a recap before starting the next part? (click here, contains spoilers)

World: : Set in the Kingdom of the White Sea, which consists of four reaches. Desemir’s Hall is in the Northerlands, while the twins are being held captive in the Westerlands at the beginning of the story. Medvedev are a humanoid druidic race who live in the Hinterland forests. They have magic and are linked to a familiar.

Main characters:

Desemir/Des Trevanion : 26. Master of Forests. Baron.
Pesha Trevanion : 17. Des’ half-brother. Medvedev. His familiar is Eshe, a seal. Powers: healing and reading dark secrets from people’s minds.
Siofra/Si Thornheart : 18. Orphaned. Medvedev. Her familiar is Aio, a falcon. Powers: “red wall”, a song that kills anyone who hears it.
Stiofen/Fen Thornheart : 18. Si’s twin brother. Medvedev. His familiar is Atio, a falcon. Powers: flourishment
Farren Wintersin : 28. Pesha’s half-sister. Medvedev. Her familiar was Nera, an ocelot.

Plot: Fen and Si are being imprisoned by a steward and his family, who had promised the twins protection in exchange for the use of Fen’s talents. One day, the son of the family, Gawain, tries to use Si’s powers to kill someone, but she ends up accidentally killing him as well, which results in the twins being arrested. Desemir, Master of Forests, hears of their arrest and sends his half-brother Pesha to retrieve them. He makes them a proposal: he marries with Si and the twins will get his protection (they would also get it if she refuses to marry him, however). Si, who is immediately attracted to the handsome and older Des, eagerly agrees to marry him and to bear him his children. Fen is not happy about this, though.

Although Si and Des’ marriage starts off quite passionately, she’s soon disappointed to learn he will continue to have mistresses. Des has not been able to sleep for years due to some trauma that is only hinted at (at this point in the story), so he has cultivated the habit to exhaust himself with sex. In the meanwhile, Pesha and Fen grow closer and closer together. Si is told that she can go anywhere she pleases, but she must never enter the West Wing. On day, she starts to hear screams coming from that wing, but Pesha convinces her that she must have imagined it.

Des decides to throw a ball in Si’s honour, where she meets the other barons. There’s a lot of animosity between Des and them, because Des’s father took their respective shares of the forest, which is a very lucrative source of income. One of them, Rolfe, threatens to tell the world about Si’s identity, the murder and her forbidden magic. Si, who is pregnant with a daughter at this point, panics and runs off into the forest where she is abducted by Rolfe’s men and subsequently tortured. Des and his men manage to free her, but she accidently nearly kills Des. Due to an unfortunate misunderstanding, Si believes that Des didn’t come to her rescue and decides to pursue a relationship with her guard, Wulf, who is also Des’s best friend. In the end, nothing happens between the two and Des and Si make up once the truth of the matter comes to light.

In the meanwhile, the sounds from the West Wing are getting more frequent and louder, and Si decides to break the rule and go to explore that side of the Hall. She discovers a Medvedev woman who seems to have lost her mind. She initially believes that Des has done something terrible to her, but that turns out to not be the case. Des explains that the woman is Farren, Pesha’s half-sister. His father had a -not so secret – relationship with his governess, which resulted in the birth of Pesha and the murder of Des’ mother. The governess had a daughter from a previous relationship, Farren. When Farren was older, Des’ father repeatedly raped her. Des wanted to help her, but didn’t dare oppose his father. He told Farren to pretend that she was with child. Des’ father, however, flew in a rage and killed Farren’s familiar. This caused Farren to lose her mind. Her mother subsequently killed Des’ father and committed suicide. Unable to help Farren, Des and Pesha asked an enchanter to put a sleeping spell on her, but the spell has now worn off. Pesha and Fen decide to take Farren to their people, in the hopes that they would be able to cure her.