Balance by Inghild Okland (Fantasy, Romance, 9/10E)

Totally gorgeous cover!

 5th February 2022, Dragonsong Publishing, 316 pages, Paperback & Ebook, Review copy 

Summary

A runaway princess. Time-twisting magic. What she doesn’t want? A knight to the rescue.

As Vildi, the less important princess of Rimdalir, my duty is to marry, and marry well. To the glacial chasms of hell with that!

I want adventure. A nice, suitor-free yet fairy-tale adventure. I can even endure rants about a tragic prince, if it brings me honey cake. Throw in a few mysteries, a sprinkle of old magic, and I’m happy.

That's what I thought.

Yet upon arriving in Lakari, Land of the Sun, I wander through familiar streets. I recognize the people, the taverns, even the black cat strolling as royalty through the market square. In this new land, no one was supposed to know my name, and yet I'm hunted.

Already they have killed me many, many times. And so I start over.

When a stranger finds me in the desert night, will he be my savior, or my undoing?

Nayu's thoughts  

Full disclosure, I recieved a copy in exchange for a fair review as always, but additionally I am friends with Inghild so there is a bit more bias than normal. That said Balance is an awesome tale! From the beautiful cover to the beautiful story, Vildi's adventure is super fun to read. So why doesn't it get full marks?

This is probably unique to me but I detest groundhog day style films/books where the same thing happens over and over only slightly differently. Possibly because I once had a groundhog day dream, and yes I have seen the film too. I really hate it. It was a bit hard having to read the mechanic in what is a fun read, however it does work as a plot mechanic and is cleverly done. I was extremely glad when Vildi's do-overs became less frequent due to circumstances. 

Personally Vildi does not know how good her life is. She is trying to rebel against it. I can see why she may not want to get married but running away from her duty...let's just say I wanted her life ever so much, so mid to late book I was very happy with how events turned out. I understand she is a free spirit and wants to do what she wants which is why she ran away, but I did question her sense of duty to her people. Few people get to be in positions of power. I get that she didn't choose who she is, but she still has a duty to her family and her people. At times it was hard to truly get into Vildi's shoes. I didn't like all her choices but I respected her for needing to make them. Dying all the time was a horrendous occasion, more so as she told no one. She kept it to herself, and due to what was happening as time passed she chose to be true to herself in how she acted by trying to stay alive, which is a lot harder than it sounds when people were so keen on killing her. 

Both world building and characters are memorable and felt like a foreign land I wanted to be in. Well maybe not starving to death in a desert which nearly ended up being Vildi's fate. I loved learning about her family, and being able to meet some of them later in the book was a real treat. The sandstorm experience felt so very real that I wonder if Inghild has experienced one first hand. I loved learning the different customs that Vildi both has and encounters, there is a spiritual sense too which resonates with me even though it is fictional. 

As you can see from the cover Balance is the first book in the series - there are going to be more which is awesome! I want to know more about Vildi and her family and friends. Yes she does make a new friend eventually! Lakari is not all doom and gloom for her, even if she feels like it is. She tries to resist her fate but some things can't be changed and they turn out to be not all bad.

Be sure to follow Inghild on Twitter to keep up with the latest news on her books!

Suggested read

If you like the sound of fantasy and danger combined then try out some of Maria V Snyder's books, like Night Study by Maria V Snyder (Fantasy, 10/10E, Short 'n' sweet review)