Review: The Blood Spell, by C.J. Redwine (with a recipe!)

Wow, I haven't done a full-length review since October! Normally, I save my reviews for books I strongly dislike, but in this case I just had a lot to say, apparently. 

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"A dark and romantic epic fantasy retelling of the Cinderella story, about a girl who must team up with the prince she despises to defeat an evil creature threatening their kingdom.

Blue de la Cour has her life planned: hide the magic in her blood and continue trying to turn metal into gold so she can help her city’s homeless. But when her father is murdered and a cruel but powerful woman claims custody of Blue and her property, one wrong move could expose her—and doom her once and for all. The only one who can help? The boy she’s loathed since childhood: Prince Kellan.

Kellan Renard, crown prince of Balavata, is walking a thin line between political success and devastating violence. Newly returned from boarding school, he must find a bride among the kingdom’s head families and announce his betrothal—but escalating violence among the families makes the search nearly impossible. He’s surprised to discover that the one person who makes him feel like he can breathe is Blue, the girl who once ruined all his best adventures.

When mysterious forces lead to disappearances throughout Balavata, Blue and Kellan must work together to find the truth. What they discover will lead them to the darkest reaches of the kingdom, and to the most painful moments of their pasts.

When romance is forbidden and evil is rising, can Blue save those she loves, even if it costs her everything?"

(From Goodreads)

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Things I loved:

1. Blue is an alchemist! Heck yeah! Loved this. (Although, see Note #1 under "Things that bothered me" below.)

2. Blue's and Kellan's character development was fantastic, as was their relationship trajectory from friendly enemies to lovers. The character/relationship aspect is something it's easy to miss in fairytale retellings, but this book had it in spades! (Although, see Note #3 under "Things that bothered me" below.)

3. Blue's father maintained his dignity (i.e. did not marry a horrible woman and then turn a blind eye to how she mistreated his daughter). I won't say more than that for fear of spoilers.

4. Hansel and Gretel's brief appearance had me chuckling out loud.

5. The overall plot was *chef's kiss*. And this was such a small part of it, but I love how the shoe element–i.e. "the prince will marry the only girl the shoe fits"–was worked in so neatly and believably at the end.

Things that bothered me:

1. "Crushed wintermint into tinctures of yaeringlei oil and sealed them shut with wax ..." // "'There's no time! I know how to make a tincture that will combat poison.' ... Quickly and competently, she sorted through the items she'd gathered, placing a pinch of this, a leaf of that, and a dusting of something that looked like gold on Kellan's shirt. When she was done, she uncorked a jar of OIL and poured that over the pile of leaves and herbs." [My emphasis.] Both of these scenes are describing an oil infusion, NOT a tincture!! Fantasy authors really need to brush up on their herbalism, sheesh. (The book I reviewed in October, coincidentally, confused a poultice with a salve.)

2. "...Blue stood in a dress of golden-yellow silk that left her shoulders bare and hugged her tiny waist." NO! All this time, I was picturing Blue as short and curvy. It's only toward the end when she's getting ready for the ball that we hear about her "tiny waist" and "small body". Ugh, nO! Why can't we have a Black AND curvy Cinderella?

3. Why do Cinderella retellings tend to shove the ball to the back of the book and ruin it with a calamitous event that interrupts the romantic atmosphere?? It's all about the ball for me; that's why I love Disney's live action 2015 Cinderella so, so much. At the same time, as I mentioned above, I do appreciate the character/relationship development that the ball sacrificed to provide.

I'm still trying to figure out how the fried apple cakes in this book are made (they sound like pancakes, and "vanilla batter" is mentioned, but the actual apple is not clearly present, so are they chopped up in the batter? cored and cut in rings and each pancake gets a ring?). But I did try making the hot spiced chicory drink! 

"The drink tasted of bitter chicory root, sweet cream, and nutmeg, and it almost made up for the fact that the sea fog was still clinging to the edges of the city."

To be fair, my husband actually made it. Basically, he steeped one tablespoon of roasted, chopped chicory root (which I bought at our local herb store) in two cups of hot water, frothed one cup of half-and-half, divided them between two mugs, and topped them with nutmeg. We would recommend adding some honey or maple syrup to this, and maybe some additional spices, like cinnamon.

Have you read The Blood Spell? What is your favorite Cinderella retelling? Do you ever get the urge to make food that you read about in books? Let's chat in the comments!