‘A Forgery of Fate’ by Elizabeth Lim – Swimming in Books

I absolutely loved ‘Six Crimson Cranes’ and the ‘Spin the Dawn’ duology so I was looking forward to another one of Elizabeth Lim’s Far Eastern-inspired fairytale retellings.

‘A Forgery of Fate’ is based on Beauty and the Beast but it has a lot of other elements inspired by various stories and mythologies (eg. The Magic Paintbrush). After Truyan’s father dies in a shipwreck, her family is thrown into poverty, which is exacerbated by her mother’s gambling problem. Truyan is a gifted artist and makes money by forging paintings to sell but she also has a secret that she’s never told anyone – she has visions and can paint the future.

When a desperate financial situation forces Truyan to seek the help of the mysterious masked ‘Demon Prince’, he offers her a deal. He will pay off her debts and protect her family in exchange for her posing as his true love, joining him in the dragon realm and helping him to overthrown the cruel and tyrannical Dragon King. The Demon Prince is in fact a Dragon Prince called Elang – a half dragon, cursed by the Dragon King. But once she joins him in the dragon realm, she discovers there’s more to Elang, and more to the story than she’s been told.

This is a charming, lyrical and romantic story, filled with strange creatures, vibrant landscapes and captivating characters. Unlike, her recent duologies, this is a standalone story so everything is wrapped up nicely by the end of the book (although there are some tears along the way). Highly recommended!

Thanks to Hodderscape and Netgalley for the digital ARC.