Once Stolen (These Treacherous Tides) by D.N. Bryn
- Publisher: Bryn Books, July 27th 2021
- Genre: Fantasy, Romance
- Format: Paperback (eARC)
- Page Count: 258 pages
- My Rating: ★★★★ (4/5)
Click on the cover for my review on Goodreads.
This is the first novel I’ve read by Bryn, and I most definitely will be reading more of their future works.
Bittersweet Earth (he/him, autistic, m-spec, boiuna) only cares about ignits, powerful magical stones that contains energy (think batteries, but cooler). When he saves Thais (she/her, nonbinary, human) from a boat, he only has eyes for Thais’ enormous ignit stash from her mother. But as the pair go through an adventure of reaching the ignits, Bittersweet Earth—or Cacao, as Thais calls him—realizes there is more to the world than precious stone, namely, friendship, trust, home, and maybe even love.
Once Stolen is a fantasy adventure story with a queer romance subplot. The thing I love the most about the book is the complexity of the characters. Bryn managed to make me like the main character who starts out selfish and isn’t very likable. The romance between him and Thais is so sweet and cute and I feel their chemistry as their relationship goes from hate to love. We also get to see Cacao’s personal growth throughout the adventure. The supporting cast is also great, especially the friendly but shy Xera (they/them, Deaf, human) and distrustful Fern (she/her, boiuna).
The main communication method is signing! Boiunas don’t have hearing and hearing beings also mix spoken language with sign language. With Thais being a dancer, music and rhythms were mentioned and present in a few scenes, and we see other characters feeling the thumping and beats to experience music without hearing it. Apart from Deaf reps (Xera and Deaf species), Cacao is autistic and struggles with facial expressions, and I think Xera might be socially anxious. It is always great to see fiction reflecting the world around us even in fantasy settings.
There are a lot of fighting scenes that get slightly confusing sometimes, but the sense of intense action happening is impossible to miss. Cacao and Thais’ adventure is thrilling and exciting, and I enjoy watching the relationships between each character evolve, from distrust to trust, from enemies to allies, etc. Also, the writing is smooth to read. Written in present tense and Cacao’s first-person POV, we experience his emotions and thoughts through the narrative.
In the end, I got rather attached to most of the characters and now I cannot wait for the sequel!
content warnings: blood, death, alcoholism, vomit, poison
I received an e-ARC from the author and am voluntarily leaving a review.
For more of my reviews and whatnots, follow my blog, Twitter, Instagram, and friend me on Goodreads.
