Bloodleaf by Crystal Smith is a promising fantasy about a princess who has run away from her homeland after an attempt to assassinate her goes wrong. Aurelia is a princess who sees ghosts and has a magic to her forbidden within her kingdom, one who hates her simply for who she is. Managing to escape death, she hides herself in a new kingdom, making new friendships, and developing the magic that she couldn’t cultivate before, along with a bit of a romance blooming between her and a mysterious stranger. However, the ghosts that haunt Aurelia are showing her that there is a treacherous plot afoot, and only she can stop it.
This was a story that I started twice. I originally started this story around a month and a half ago and stopped because it hadn’t captivated me. I gave it another chance and pushed through that feeling and found myself in an interesting, if underdeveloped world full of magic and mayhem. This would have been an enchanting story if descriptions would have been a little more developed and fleshed out. The characters definitely needed more development, and there are relationships that I would have loved to explore further. I want to be able to feel and care about a character, and this story just didn’t get me there.
Parts of the plot really pulled me into the story, and those were the parts that I loved. It’s funny, because I’ve noticed quite a few reviewers didn’t like Aurelia as a character, but as she is a teenage girl having to make quick decisions, she’s an excellent representation of her age. It’s not that she’s purposefully being stupid or naive, her quick thinking and not understanding of her power leads to some unfortunate consequences. I think that is very realistic for this story. Parts of the story were very gorish, and I enjoyed that aspect of it, because it made sense to the story. There’s a lot of not nice things happening, so naturally, they should be included in the story.
A character that I would have loved to see more in this story was of Simon. He’s a very sage-y character that is mentioned quite a bit and I think that readers would also love to see more of. There’s a quality to him that I would have loved to see play more within the story. Especially with all of the magic involved. Kellan is another character that I feel readers did not have the opportunity to become connected to, on purpose or accident I’m not for certain but I really wanted to know more about him.
I wasn’t sure how to feel about the romance. There are parts in the book where I loved it and other moments where I think we could have done without it. Again, a little more development on this front is needed and I think we’d have an excellent relationship. Though I will admit I found it a little trope-ish and predictable, I’m still a sucker for a romance and that’s not going away any time soon. Development though, development is the key word for this book. If it had a little more time, I can only imagine how amazing it can become.
Despite that, this has the making of an excellent novel. The idea behind is very interesting, and the tidbits that allowed readers to make the connection to The Goose Girl fairytale by the Brothers Grimm was fun and very cleverly written into the story. It’s one of my favourites, and I feel like it doesn’t get re-told too often. I think the last time I read The Goose Girl was the series written by Shannon Hale, which I absolutely adored.
The rating that I give to Bloodleaf would be 7/10 because it was a little hard to get pulled into the story, and there are just quite a few things that need to be hashed out a tad bit more to get them where they need to be. Easy for me to say when I’m not the one who spent all the time writing it, but here’s the thing, I really want to love it. I’m looking forward to seeing more from Crystal Smith, because I can see how she can captivate me and I would love to see that. If not in Bloodleaf, in one of her future stories.
Bloodleaf is available from March 12th 2019 at Amazon, Book Depository, and other good book retailers.
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Synopsis | Goodreads
Princess Aurelia is a prisoner to her crown and the heir that nobody wants. Surrounded by spirits and banned from using her blood-magic, Aurelia flees her country after a devastating assassination attempt. To escape her fate, Aurelia disguises herself as a commoner in a new land and discovers a happiness her crown has never allowed. As she forges new bonds and perfects her magic, she begins to fall for a man who is forbidden to rule beside her.
But the ghosts that haunt Aurelia refuse to abandon her, and she finds herself succumbing to their call as they expose a nefarious plot that only she can defeat. Will she be forced to choose between the weight of the crown and the freedom of her new life?
