WRITER.

Rating: 10 out of 10 stars

136 pages

Cozy Fantasy, Romance

Spoiler-Free section

As an asexual, I appreciate rare romances like this that have no spice, not even the closed-door kind. It was written that way on purpose, focusing on romantic instead of sexual love and even explaining that sexual love was off the table for their relationship. That really spoke to me and the way I feel in romantic relationships.

The kind of love I appreciated even more than that, however, is the relationship between the powerful fae called Aeris and his adoptive children.

Aeris takes in unwanted, abused, or neglected children. He operates in a morally grey area – is it ever really justified to kidnap children from their parents, even to give them a better life? But the lives of the children before him were much worse. Mira, for instance, was half drowned by her family. June has hands that are bent and broken. One of the other children was left crying night after night, so much so that Aeris left the parents a rock since that seemed like what they really wanted instead of a child.

“Birds found their southern nest, sea turtles found the sea, and Aeris found the scared and small.”

The children all gain aspects of the fae, such as gills or mossy hands, and they stay with Aeris until they are ready for a new family. In the meantime, Aeris plays with them and acts as the perfect father figure. Their interactions are so wholesome and innocent.

“Aeris felt a fierce, fierce love for all of them twisting so tightly in his chest that he almost could not breathe. His dear ones, his beloved little monsters.”

The story starts with a new child joining the family, and he is given a fruit from the magical tree that grows in their home, like all the children who came before him.

The Tall Ones are the main villain of the book and threaten Aeris’s found family. They always smell sharply of spearmint. They are thin with lilac skin and dragonfly wings, egg shell white eyes. They are waiting, for Aeris is losing magic and slowly dying.

The ending was beautiful, as you can read below if you don’t mind spoilers.

Spoiler time!

The lives of the children and Aeris all change when William shows up, wearing shapeless clothes and sporting a bruised face. He thinks he is dreaming, but often comes back after. Aeris thinks of him as being as lost as his children. At first, William does not know how to act around the children, swearing often and talking about a guy he got into a fight with, but gradually he becomes accustomed to the children and enjoys spending time with them.

William is eventually revealed to be trans. When he gives his name, Aeris knows it is new. He thinks of it, not as a lie, but as “a new address.” None of the characters in the fae’s forest make a big deal of it; it is just accepted as fact. I appreciate this because even if right now it seems like wishful thinking, I hope it is our future. This is not true in the human world where William has come from. His parents were worried he would corrupt his niece. This is harmful thinking and blatantly untrue. There is nothing inherently wrong with trans people, and it doesn’t corrupt children to simply know they exist or spend time with them.

Aeris clearly wants William to be his successor, telling him he only needs to care about “loose teeth and old scars.” And he gives him a fruit from the tree, one so small that he is embarrassed to do so. They become closer, and I love how their romance is sweet and grows. They just enjoy being in each other’s company so much.

One of the children, Sen, is the first to be sent to her new home. She wants “two moms and a dog,” and she gets her wish, disappearing in a flurry of petals. She won’t remember anything about Aeris.

I don’t know how I would feel about that. I have thought before of what it would be like to be reincarnated, and all I can think is that I would hold onto my old memories desperately. There are so many friends and family members I love that I would not want to forget. But for Sen, this seems like a happy ending. A new start. And Aeris has done this with hundreds of children. I can’t imagine the heartbreak and selflessness that would take.

William comes back for good because he wants to look after the kids, but emphasizes it is also for Aeris, who he has fallen in love with.

I love that Aeris is saved by eating the fruit of the magic tree. After so long thinking of only of others, and in general being the empath, he is burnt out and needs self care. I think it’s so importance to remember that you cannot help others until you help yourself. Putting your own oxygen mask first and all that. William even said, “you have so much of yourself away that you didn’t have any left for you.”

When Aeris passes out, this is shown in a very interesting way, with smaller text and different spacing, more blank space and gaps in understanding.

After William defeats the Tall Ones with his new magic, they have their happy ending. Aeris and William kiss, and love wins in this novel. I wanted more time with the characters, since this was such a short book, but it was lovely.