A Word So Fitly Spoken

The Severed Realms, Book 1

By: T.A. Lawrence

Narrated by: Fajer Al-Kaisi, Nikki Massoud

One stunning bride. One wedding. One night with the king. One execution come morning. Rinse and repeat.

When the fae king of Naenden returns home to his palace only to find that his human queen has committed treason by conspiring to assassinate him, he has the queen executed and decrees that once every mooncycle, he’ll marry a human woman from the kingdom, only to execute her the following morning.

Unless one woman offers herself as a sacrificial bride for the rest.

Asha isn’t worried about being chosen, of course. The decree was quite clear about beauty being among the top criteria for being selected as one of the king’s unfortunate brides. Asha is no beauty thanks to the illegal magic that inhabits her body, leaving her scarred and missing an eye. The same magic that occasionally possesses her voice so it can amuse itself by telling a never-ending story with a string of horrible cliffhangers.

The problem is Asha might not be a beauty, but her sister Dinah is. When Asha realizes Dinah is in danger of being selected as the king’s sacrificial bride, Asha decides she can’t live with that risk. So she offers herself instead.

Except on the night of their wedding the king grants Asha a final request. Naturally, she asks to tell her sister one last bedtime story. Naturally, the king eavesdrops.

The question is, will the story save her life or ruin it?

A tale of love and betrayal, vengeance and sacrifice, magic and romance, this imaginative retelling of 1,001 Nights will keep you guessing with each word.

©2023 T.A. Lawrence (P)2023 Podium Audio

surprise

I wasnt sure about continueing another Fae genre. But the twists and turns in the book really surprised me. The plot was great. The narrators we good. I noticed a few misteps but not enough to ruin anything.

No Smut, All Story!

I appreciated the carefully crafted world in which the characters loved their lives. It was familiar enough to understand, but just different enough that if felt like a fantasy world. It was easy to follow the rules of this fantasy world. I appreciated the nod to several Arabian tales woven within the story as well. Showing the effects of an evil parent on a child and the effects as an adult as well was handled with understanding. The main character was interesting.

My only gripe with the entire story is that the young sister for whom all the sacrifices are made, is so sweet and soft and gentle that if borders on mental incompetence. The author manges to correct this toward the end of the story, but the meat of the book makes Dina seem wholly incapable. I don't think it is necessary for one sibling to be inept simply to highlight the capability or the willingness to sacrifice by the FMC.

that was my only issue and it is a small one. I will definitely look for other titles from this writer.

meh...

this was a book I thought I'd try from tiktok. not my cup of tea. soooo slow. I fell asleep to it 2. gave up on it to be honest but someone else might really like it?

This book is so good and unexpected!

I loved how unexpected this book was! The story within the story was so interesting. I can’t wait to read the next one.

Great story

This was a captivating book. I had times where I was getting teary eyed listening to this book. I do wish there was a little more spice though.