Title: The Executioner of Yrecep Forest
Author: Laura DiNovis Berry
Genre: YA Dark Fantasy
Sexual Content: None
Objectional Content: Violence
Synopsis: Pesdari grew up in the Coven, a place of murder, ancient magic, and sacrifice. When an opportunity arises to escape she must make a choice — betray her only friend for a chance at freedom or face the threat of becoming a sacrifice to the gods?
My thanks to the author for providing me with a free copy in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.
My Review
How should I begin this?
I stated in a previous review that I’m not a fan of the third person omnipotent point of view, which The Executioner of Yrecep Forest was written in. Unfortunately, this was quite a bother for me as the pov would swift suddenly and I would get confused as to why I was getting the thoughts of a donkey.
What did I like about this book? Well, I liked Pesdari as a character. She has a goal and she’s willing to do some pretty harsh stuff to achieve it. In spite of herself, she cares for others who need her help, even if she doesn’t really want to. I love the fact that there was absolutely no sexual content and there wasn’t even a romantic interest. After some of the books I’ve read lately, that was a breath of fresh air.
The magic system was interesting. I like that it was elemental magic and that each element had a corresponding god, and that those gods actually spoke to their worshippers. I did find it odd that killing someone and offering them as a sacrifice was a way of getting a major “power up” though. This needed to be fleshed out more as I could see some major consequences to such a thing. Consequences begin to show but I got the feeling that the Coven had been around for a long time and that a crazed power hungry person should have gone on a murderous rampage long ago to get all the power they could.
There was a lot I felt could have been fleshed out. This book is quite short and I felt like there was no real world building at all. Other than the forest and the villages near it, we know nothing at all about this world, not even what it’s called. There wasn’t a lot of character development and more time could have been spent on certain events that might have given them more impact.
I had to remind myself that this is a YA book and if I look at it through that lens then I think it’s the kind of book my teenage self would have loved. Don’t get me wrong, I did like this book, I just wanted more from it.
My rating for The Executioner of Yrecep Forest is 3 out of 5 stars. I would recommend it to those who enjoy YA dark fantasy and a quick, fun read.
Thanks for reading.