The Aspect of Essence: The Aelfyn Archives, Book 1

Sabrina

One of my new absolute favorite series!!

"This book quickly became one of my all time favorites. I was so immersed in the world, the characters, and the magic system that I could not put it down! **some Spoilers ahead!!** The dynamics between the characters are so well done, and each relationship is fleshed out, unique and so interesting. At first, I was immediately drawn to Jassyn. After learning more about his struggles with the infertility crisis of the elves, and his background story that included trauma and abuse at the hands of those in power, I connected deeply to his story and seeing the progression of his relationship with Vesryn and Serenna was so powerful especially into book 2! Serenna came off at first like a sort of sheltered princess but her character progression was also very interesting. Seeing her finally discover herself was so fantastic and also seeing what each of the other main players in the story helped her discover about herself was such a great arc. I Also liked her relationship as it progressed with Vesryn, and his cross from angry sort of villian arc to showing more feelings and becoming something in between an angry isolating and vicious leader to someone who does truly care about those around him. The magic system is very interesting! The idea that you can share pieces of your magic to replenish another, and the different types of essence you can wield were so unique and not like anything I had read in a book before! I also really loved how the author chose to play out different power dynamics and the struggles between each individual character and the society as a whole. The romance scenes were also very well done. I didn't find that they were too much or too little and they fit well within the scope of the rest of the plot and story. They were not distracting or unwelcome, and I felt that the relationships built up to those situations very well. I also really enjoyed the cliffhanger ending and the twists and turns throughout the plot. Each of the characters is so complex and the representation of their backgrounds, struggles, and the inclusion of so many well written and fleshed out characters was extremely well done! I highly highly recommend this book and series to anyone interested in a thought out, well written fantasy romance series!!! ["

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March 10, 2025 Verified Purchase

Marquita

Magically Abundant and the Slowest of Burns

"One of my biggest complaints about the fantasy genre is how conservative authors can be with the magic in the books. Of course, in an effort to make it realistic, there should be rules governing the use of magic, but sometimes it feels like a slow trickle. And then at times it’s such a structured system that the whimsy of the magic is gone, and it feels like fantastical than it could feel. I can honestly say I ran into none of that frustration in this book. The magic was ✨whimsical✨ and colorful and beautifully described. It was what I imagine when I think of magic 🪄! Swirling and sparkly and powerful and magnificent. And it was abundant. The author was not light handed in its use which was so satisfying, but it was also grounded enough to let you appreciate the fact that it’s not infinite. The story itself was great. There are soooo many mysteries to uncover, and in that way, the story was rich here as well. The characters are well drawn out, they are not stock characters at all. They’re complex but not overly so. Character development was of top priority to this author as evidenced by what I just had the pleasure to read. However, I did struggle to give that final star because there was a MAJOR plot point that was handled far too easily. In a way that kind of doesn’t make sense. If this huge issue was this easily resolved now, mere hours after someone suggested that it be fixed, then why wasn’t it done so decades ago? There is a character element here that impacts the answer to this question, but it’s still quite unclear why the character who held the cards to solve this problem was so utterly unable to do so before. I’m left feeling frustrated about that in a major way, but that’s only because the author did an incredible job of getting me to care about the character who was negatively impacted in the first place. So again; we circle back to the fact that this author poured their heart into developing these people into something truly real and rich. So while I don’t like feeling frustrated about the way this situation was handled, I also appreciate the fact that if the author hadn’t made me invested, I wouldn’t care either way. This is an easy 4 stars. I HIGHLYYYYYY recommend this book. And I look forward to the rest of the series from here. ["

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June 2, 2025 Verified Purchase

Lauraaaa

Thrilling and unique!!

"I LOVED THIS BOOK! 🫶 I waited a few days after finishing before writing my review. I had to come to terms with the fact that I have to wait until SEPTEMBER to read the next one. I devoured this story. Aspect of Essence is an epic fantasy that should be on every romantasy reader's TBR. It's such an engaging story with interesting characters and great plot development. ***This is dark fantasy and should be approached as such. I recommend looking at the TWs because there are some darker elements to this that readers need to be aware of.*** 🖤 The world building is phenomenal, making this book a really easy and engaging read that had me turning the pages to find out more. 🖤 The characters are interesting and endearing. Initially, I disliked the FMC but she grew on me. She started off as a spoiled brat and I found her incredibly childish and annoying. BUT...she changes, becomes more empathetic and finds her purpose and strength. By the end of the book, I really liked her. She is relatable in that she expresses her emotions fully and doesn't hold back. I did find her sudden maturity/change a little abrupt. She spent her life being sheltered from the secrets of her legacy and heritage (only to have a glorious melt down moment when she found out) to then being fully onboard and a wholly new person within a few chapters. 🖤 The MMC’s are complex, there's a lot to like, and a lot to dislike. There is a lot of room for development in the next book and I can't wait to see how the relationships unfold. The tensionnnnnn... 🤌 it was so much fun and had me kicking my legs (sigh). There isn’t any smut/spice (maybe one mild scene), but the story didn't need it right now. It was engaging enough and I loved the tension and the small sexy moments. 🖤 One character really goes through it. It's hard to read his chapters and I hope that he finds happiness in the next book because he absolutely breaks my heart. His trauma is awful to read and is often overlooked because he is so kind 💔 Again, read the TWs. ["

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June 20, 2024 Verified Purchase

*erin*

eh, booktok made this sounds amazing

"Fantasy Sprinkle of romance Magic Elves/elven-blooded Academy Teacher/student Sprinkle of politics Naive FMC seeing the truth Revelations Secrets Multiple POV First in a series Cliffhanger sort of? TW: SA (off screen of male character), violence, gore Spice: 0.5/5 FMC: Serenna MMC: Jassyn? Vesryn? I don’t know honestly. Did I enjoy the book? Wasn’t bad, but took forever to get through Would I read this book again? No Will I continue the series? Possibly, but not now Will I read from this author again? Not likely Synopsis: Serenna is half elf princess in the human realm and wants to live among the elves and fall in love with a prince. Very naive. Jassyn is a half elf who lives with the elves and is forced to couple with female elves to produce babies for the elf race. Jassyn is sent to teach Serenna about the elf realm. Serenna only hears what she wants to hear until her elf father comes to conscript her to the elf armed forces to fight in their war against the wraith. Serenna has a rude awakening once in the elf war academy. When finding out her powers from the crystal heart the heart speaks to her and gives her a prophecy only she hears. Her eyes are now wide open and she sees how Jassyn is treated and wants to help him, ultimately does. While at the academy, she finds out her and the crown prince have a bond and the prince, who is her commander, starts giving her lessons in magic. Their bond continues to deepen into something more intimate. The wraith supposedly threaten the elves, but from their POV they are just trying to survive and the elf king is evil and the cause for all their torment. The wraith attack the war academy in a big battle. We find out the leader of the wraith, Lykor, is the alter ego of Aesar, Vesryn’s twin brother who he thinks is dead. There are too many plots going on and it’s leaving me feeling overwhelmed as a reader. We have Serenna trying to become powerful and finding her footing in the elf world. We have Serenna and Vesryn and their possible forbidden love/bond. We have Serenna becoming Vesryn’s champion in the elf game thing. We have the wraith and the mystery revolving around them. We have the evil king and what he did to Aesar and the other elves/wraith. We have Lykor, who is an alter ego to Aesar, who hates all elves and his coercion to kill Vesryn, but is also the leader of the wraith. We have Jassyn and his breeding servitude and that whole issue. We have Jassyn addicted to Stardust. We have Jassyn finding out that the council has been breeding him for a reason that has to do with shamans, and it also has to do with Serenna, but don’t know more yet. Don’t forget we have the crystal heart that spoke to Serenna who gave her a prophecy to fulfill. I know ToG had multiple story lines, but we all knew the main character and the main plot, which was the same problem all the characters and their storylines were ultimately working towards. Aelin and the other characters stories just flowed with hers. This just doesn’t feel like that. It feels like the author had so many ideas and couldn’t choose and just decided to fit them all in there and now as a reader I am overwhelmed with all these plots in one story. This one is going on the back burner. It’s wasn’t bad, but it also wasn’t grabbing me to continue. Also, I think the author kind of gave away what’s going on with the wraith. The elf king has been experimenting on elves that have “disappeared” and stealing their magic, turning them into wraith, to become more powerful. At least that’s one plot out of the many this book has. ["

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March 6, 2025 Verified Purchase