A Forgery of Fate

I always love Elizabeth Lim books and I was especially excited for A Forgery of Fate because it’s a really unique Beauty and a Beast retelling. And what can I say it was absolutely amazing.   This story is about Truyan who does everything to keep her family afloat after her father goes missing at sea. She is an artist and very good at forgery and that was amazing to see, and her paintings are also slightly magical which was really cool. She takes on quite a few powerful and dangerous clients and that leads her to Elang. I loved how fierce and brave Truyan was and she fights for her loved ones. Her journey is just magnificent, and I loved following along.   Elang is a dragon lord who is very elusive and feared by all. I loved learning about his story and the dragons, and it was done in such a unique way. The more I saw of him, the more I loved him. Also, this book has a fated mates’ aspect and it was bittersweet but also really romantic. In addition, the marriage of convenience and fake dating aspect was just incredible, and I loved their banter and chemistry.   The whole story was very character driven and I loved it. At the same time, I was so invested in the plot and was so curious where this story was going and omg, I totally didn’t expect a lot of things that happened. And that in combination with the author’s beautiful writing style took it to the next level. The title of the book is also very fitting and the whole underwater world was just fascinating and stunning.   A Forgery of Fate is unlike any retelling I’ve ever read and it’s such a beautiful story and I’m just obsessed with it. 5 stars.   (Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for providing me with an arc.)

Elizabeth Lim - A Forgery of Fate Elizabeth Lim überzeugt erneut mit dieser wundervollen Geschichte. Das Cover ist wunderschön gestaltet. Die Sprache ist gewohnt detailreich und bildgewaltig. Man hat stets das Gefühl vor Ort zu sein. Die Charaktere sind vielschichtig und gekonnt ausgearbeitet. Sie wachsen einem sofort ans Herz. Ich habe wirklich mitgefiebert. Es ist eine wirklich schöne Mischung aus Schöne und das Biest und asiatischem Flair. Und Drachen gehen immer. Ich mochte auch die Idee, dass es sich um Meeresdrachen handelt. Das kommt doch seltener vor. Klare Leseempfehlung.

I‘ve wanted to read one of Elizabeth Lim‘s books for a long time now, but I never quite got around to it for some reason, at least until now. And this was definitely a good book to start with. While the story didn’t quite blow me away, it was an immersive and very enjoyable read, that kept me engaged throughout. The blurb says it’s inspired by ’Beauty and the Beast’, but this only really applies to the romance plot, all of the world-building and plot besides it is very distinct from the original fairytale. So, while the main conceit is that the love interest has a curse that disfigures him, which can only be broken by true love, it is not the only thread pulling the plot along. Even so, the romance is still quite central to the plot, so luckily it is very enchanting and beautifully written. The romance is rather one-sided for a long time, but it manages to avoid crossing the line into frustrating territory by not having the romance be the only plot-line during these parts of the story. Really the only part of the story that I didn’t really like was, unfortunately, the ending. It felt rushed and somewhat disjointed. The ‘twist‘ with Shani was incredibly predictable, and in a way that did affect my enjoyment of the story. It also completely ruined the emotional impact that the moment was supposed to have on the reader, cause I never bought that plot point. It was also not that clear to me how Elang survived/resurrected after the final fight? Lastly, the fact that Elang is cured of his disfigurement (disability) at the end was entirely expected, what with this being loosely based on ‘Beauty and the Beast’, but it was kind of disappointing nonetheless. Of course Truyan fell in love while he was still disfigured, but I’d still love it if one day there was a Beauty and the Beast story that didn’t end with the Beast’s disability being magically cured. Overall, a very enjoyable book that made me excited to read more of Elizabeth Lim's works in the future.