The Whispers of the Wind
ABIGAIL G THOMPSON
(First book in the Halcyon Epics series)
Synopsis:
Emma Ambrose had lived a life of privilege and safety inside her father's arms ever since her mother mysteriously disappeared when she was a girl, leaving Emma bereft and lonely. Her father only filled the void—the only one to have ever loved her.
That was before her father was dragged away on accounts for murder and treason. Out of loyalty, Emma tries to follow her father's final instructions: never leave home and never ask questions. That is until she receives a letter from the powerful and intimidating - she might add - Clan Leader Summer Eyes, who forcibly demands Emma must come at once to pay back her father's debts. Torn but left without a choice, Emma agrees to the terms even if it means breaking her father's rules. Frightened but determined, Emma makes her way to the Capital, where she is confronted with threats much more extensive than she could have imagined, from political games to starvation tactics. Emma scrambles to understand the world around her with only help from a stuck-up guard.
Even amongst the turmoil, she feels the bliss of freedom for the first time in her life, and she begins to question who the real enemy is, the influential dignitaries playing their dangerous games, her or her father.
Content:
Language: Some infrequent uses of mild language, one or two uses of stronger ("s").
Violence: Mentions of murder, war, and some description of blood from cuts after an attack. Siege and starvation are discussed as tactics to drive out invaders. Threat of assassination and possibly some brief mentions of torture. An attempt at thievery also results in a near death.
Sex: Some discussion of prostitution and abuse/molestation of children, allusions to sex, romantic pining and some sexual thoughts, and a few kisses. There may also be one scene where the MMC gets an erection while sitting behind the FMC on a horse, but it's kind of unclear.
LGBTQ: One of the side characters is gay. However, according to the author's note, this book was not meant to display the LGBTQ+ rep in a positive light.
My Review:
As a disclaimer, I am Christian but I do not normally read Christian fiction. I've been trying out new genres and looking to read more from indie authors lately. After seeing some of the author's more controversial opinions on her Instagram profile, I decided to give the book a try in order to form an opinion on her work. I also think I read the first edition of the book, which is apparently a much less edited version of the same story.
PROS:
- I believe the author wrote and self-published this at seventeen. Writing a book is really hard, so applaud her for that.
CONS:
- Unfortunately, it was a mess. For starters, the blurb tells you nothing about the story. The mentioned "starvation tactics" are brought up on one page and they are not discussed in relation to either MCs. There is also no real "murder" or "treason" plot.
- The basic grammatical, punctuation, and spelling errors in every other paragraph made it impossible to be full absorbed in the story. It was insanely annoying and difficult to read.
- The writing style was choppy, long-winded, and juvenile.
- The plot itself was non-existent. The pacing was drawn out and seemingly important scenes were skimmed over or not shown at all.
- Both of the MCs are over-emotional, cringey, and completely unrelatable. Both struggled with anxiety, but the way it was written made it seem very gimmicky and served as the sole personality trait between the two of them. As someone who actually deals with occasionally crippling anxiety, I was extremely disappointed in the representation.
- The world-building was also baffling. There wasn't much—we're given a basic medieval-like fantasy world where there are things like Clan Leaders and Blood Bonds (I still don't know what either of them really are). Magi exist, but we have no idea what they do or why they have magic.
- I wasn't sure what to expect from a Christian fantasy, but finding actual quotes and verses from the real-world Bible was not on the list. They talk about Jonah and the Prodigal Son, pray to God and mention Jesus, but there is no explanation for how this religion makes sense within a fantasy world.
- Maybe this is true with all Christian fiction, but it felt like the only purpose of this book was to discuss the author's religious beliefs. The story was incorporated into the theme, rather than the theme being built into the story. And that's fine. But nowhere is religion mentioned in the blurb, or—from what I've seen—the author's marketing.
- In the end, the major conflict in the romance was the FMC's lack of belief in God and religion. Beyond that, the characters had no chemistry anyway, but it was still strange. They were even kind of toxic, honestly. All they did was fight, cry, and then run back to the other. The FMC also hit the MMC several times for refusing to kiss her back.