The Bride of Death

This was an interesting book. Not what i was expecting and honestly, I don't know how I feel. It was worth the read but it wasn't as good as I was hoping it would be. It was just ok. OK chracters, ok plot... I can see the genius in the writing but for some reason, it just didn't grab me.

Bride of death follows the story of Zerrin, a girl said to be touched by the devil, and seen as ill luck for all that have contact with her. Despite her difficulties being accepted in the community, Zerrin falls in love, and ends up in a quest to save her love, her family and her home.

I was a bit divided with this book because it was a brilliant idea that I feel it could have been better executed. However, I decided to improve the rating for 4 starts because I did like this story very much, and ultimately I felt I was being the mean professor giving a lower rate because the student has the potential to do more.

What I loved in the story:
- I really appreciated the F. M. Aden writing style. I think it was beautiful and added to the story atmosphere and worldbuilding. It captured my attention from the beginning, and I definitely want to read more by her.
- I like fairytales and myths-based stories, and I've never read one based on Turkic Mythology. I think it's great to bring this to the mass market.
- The story was exciting and filled with interesting characters. Moreover, I was surprised by most of the events, which doesn't happen that often.
- Bride of Death really does have wonderful characters, but Elrik wins the prize for the best one. I think he was quite well written, and Aden was able to influence my emotions towards him in a drastic way.
- I loved Zerryn caring nature and how she used it to befriend everyone, using what would traditionally be seen as a weakness as one of her main strengths. Also, it's really nice to see female friendships blossom, the world needs more of this!
- I would have liked to see one thing done differently in the end, but it was a fitting finale for the story, and I respect the author's choice.
- The author/ editor / publisher incorporated some of the criticisms made by early reviewers. My ARC doesn't have smut, piercings, or anything particularly modern. The story flows naturally, the writing is consistent along the book, and all sexual scenes are quite tasteful and well written, with nothing too explicit. Honestly, it was quite good and proof that less is often more.

I see two major issues with this book:
- The marketing made comparing it with The Bear and the Nightingale was probably a disservice. I've never read it (I really want to though), but I heard nothing but praise for it. It's never fair to compare books to something that is regarded as somewhat a masterpiece in the genre. It will inevitably raise expectations to levels difficult to fulfill.
- The plot lacked a bit of development. We needed to see more details of Zerryn while growing up to understand her magic and her relationship with the community. We also needed to see more of her and Çelik together, and see their love grow.
As it was, although F. M. Aden does a brilliant job making us like Zerryn, we never truly see her life unfold and how she adjusted to a community that would always look at her sideways. We also never see how Çelik and Zerryn relationship worked. It is easy to understand her love for him as she was mostly an outcast and would easily become dependent on anyone who would give her time and attention. Because we are told, rather than see her life and relationships, we end up losing some of the tension it should have been created. The stakes never seemed high enough to me, because I was under the impression she was an unreliable narrator, and convinced from the beginning everyone would be unworthy. This was a great opportunity for Zerryn character development on the second and third part of the book, instead of a rushed thing in the end.

I did enjoy the book and I believe this story will remain in my memory