Embergold by Rachelle Nelson
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I’ve been eagerly anticipating Embergold since I first read the synopsis, which I found utterly captivating:

Fire dreamed of water, but the first sip would be its last.
Gilde has spent her life isolated in the wild marshlands, a place too wet for the dragon to go. She’s safe there, according to her father. So why is he asking her to leave with him now that she has come of age? There is more to Gilde’s family than she knows, and debts need to be paid.

Betrayed and shattered, she wakes in a crumbling mountain castle with the beast of her nightmares. Except this dragon speaks like a man and reads books. His kindness confuses her and opens a forgotten longing in her heart, all while Gilde plans her escape from a mountain full of secrets.

This place can unveil her past and why she was sacrificed to the beast—truths that may put both their lives in danger if they can’t learn to trust each other. But how can Gilde ever trust again? Especially after she discovers what dragons truly are.

See what I mean? Captivating. Embergold sounded like a fairytale with depth, like a story I am always on the hunt for but very rarely find. Now, if it could just deliver on that promising premise.

It did. And then some.

Embergold was everything I was hoping it would be and more. This is a dream of a novel. It tells a wonderful, fully fleshed out story. There are high stakes and quiet moments, tension and romance, brutality and beauty. It’s the kind of story I was hoping to find in Uprooted, especially when it comes to the relationship dynamics. I would recommend this for those who loved Uprooted as well as those who were disappointed by it, as well as fans of A Court of Thorns and Roses, Howl’s Moving Castle, and of course, Beauty and the Beast. The Beauty and the Beast vibes are incredibly strong. There’s even a library scene that brought the classic Disney film to mind.

I was completely taken by the characters. Gilde and Wil are both wonderfully fleshed out. Both start with some wonderful qualities while also being given room to grow over the course of the narrative. Wil in particular was wonderful, and is exactly the type of male character I always hope to find in this type of fantasy story, but rarely do. Gilde is such a strong main character without either sacrificing her femininity or leaning too strongly into it. I found them both incredibly well balanced.

The other elements of the book were just as strong as the character development. Nelson’s writing is lovely, compelling without dipping into purple prose. Important themes, like breaking cycles of abuse and recognizing when you’re acting on fear, were included without becoming tedious or impeding the story being told. The pacing was perfect for this type of story, propulsive without being so fast as to sacrifice the atmosphere. The world building and setting were rendered beautifully, giving readers just enough without getting bogged down in too much heavy detail. And there’s a wonderfully presented thread of faith that begins light but strengthens as the story progresses to its climax.

I loved everything about Embergold. No notes. It was just a wonderfully compelling novel from start to finish. I was impressed with the depth of the story, as well as the beautiful moments that shone through its darker segments. I love that this is a standalone, as well, making it a book I am much more likely to revisit. As a side note, I tandem read the physical book with the audio, and the narrator did a phenomenal job. So, no matter what format you prefer, I definitely recommend picking this one up!

You can purchase this book directly from the publisher here, or from Amazon, Audible, Blackwell’s, Bookshop.org, or Libro.fm.

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