I thoroughly enjoyed A Bond of Thread by Allegra Pescatore and JP Burnison — a romantic fantasy about a Faerie Queen, Skye, who is running from her destiny, and a winged Fae warrior, Ilyas, hiding from his past.
They’re reluctantly forced together through circumstance and help a village to repel a horde of “ferals” (essentially fae monsters) after the villagers are driven into some caves.
My favourite thing about this book was the wonderful “fair folk” — comprising skitterlings (tiny winged fairies), druzies (made of rock crystals) and the tree-like mosskin — who live alongside the High Fae. They’re treated like second class citizens/slaves, but Skye shows everyone how wonderful and important the fair folk are — especially the tiny and incurably frank skitterling, Mycellica. She’s fabulous, flying about trying to help Ilyas and Skye along in their relationship.
Other things I liked:
❊ The grumpy/sunshine banter between the MCs keeps things light-hearted for the most part, although there are some darker moments where Ilyas is forced to confront his past.
❊ Ilyas has wings! And Skye’s hair changes colour with emotion. That cover image grabbed me from the start.
❊ There’s a good sense of lore associated with the High Fae and their fables.
❊ The “mystery” of Skye’s identity (even though it was obvious). I also like the soulbonded trope and the prospect of further books gathering Skye’s Ring.
Set almost entirely within a cave system, A Bond of Thread is a smaller-scope story that stands alone, but the end clearly indicates there is a much larger story to come!
I bounced between the KU ebook and audiobook (the narration is great).
NOTE: This review was written in July 2024 for the Indie Fantasy Addicts Summer Reading Challenge. I’m catching up on reviews posted to this blog.
Triggers: references to past abuse
Ellen Gregory 