Written by Kelly Braffet, The Unwilling follows Judah, a foundling girl taken in by the Lady of the City before she died who has a special connection to the heir. When one hurts, so does the other.
Let’s start with this: this is not a book for the faint of heart. This is a very dark, dark novel. This isn’t a novel with a happy ending, nor it is like most fantasy novels that are on the market now. This isn’t a novel for everyone.
But, this could be a good fantasy novel for those who don’t normally read fantasy. What do I mean by that?
This novel is driven by the characters. The characters are well rounded and real people, they aren’t perfect. These are often people who grew up with violence, and have been shaped by it. The Unwilling isn’t about a world that ends up perfect and right in the end. It is much more in the realm of a novel that looks at humanity and points out those dark flaws that we so often shy away from.
Hands down, this is a well written novel in the style of long novels. This isn’t a normal 400 page fantasy book, this is a book that is over 500 pages and slowly takes it’s time for the characters to tell their story. Which is something that I do enjoy. This is a novel that kept me moving through it, but I think would cause some people to give up on it.
The ending is dark. This is a novel with death and pain, but it is well written and a great novel if you enjoy a dark read.
It is dark, it’s about, as the author put it, unhappy people making bad decisions. If that isn’t something you are prepared for, don’t read this book.
Many thanks to the publisher for giving me an advance copy to review, and thank you for joining me on this stop of the blog tour!
