Snowflakes and Embers - S.A. Payne 4.5 stars

For anyone that really knows me, they know how much I love certain aspects inside the m/m genre. Fantasy, arranged marriage, cruelty and abuse, quasi Stockholm Syndrome, emotionally messed up and broken characters, kidnapping or hostage situations, all those elements always end up making an exceptionally great book, in my eyes. With Snowflakes and Embers I felt like I was in heaven while reading it because it has all those elements (sans kidnapping. Sort of).

To fully describe what happens in this book would turn out to be a synopsis because the book is extremely long but when it comes to fantasy, those are always the best kind. We get details, a lot of details, in this book. We get background information because it is all very important but most importantly we get to actually see almost all of the situations and problems play out. We learn about Deseem's life as a young teen and what he goes through because of his family, the choices that are taken away from him and how he ends up being this shell of a man when he finally meets Liam. Liam, however, is a mystery in his own way. We know about him but the things he's gone through in his life are both horrendous and awe-inspiring because of how he's been able to survive with it.

What I took from this book, though, was acceptance and strength. Being able to see Liam and Deseem grow and change from damaged characters who couldn't get out of their custom roles to individuals who ended up loving each other even with the hardships they've faced was amazing. I felt what they felt. Their emotions were my emotions and whenever one of them was hurt or sad, I was hurt or sad. Honestly, both of them broke my heart because of how unique and strange they are compared their own people. Their relationship developed slowly and I really enjoyed that because it gave me the opportunity to enjoy the characters for who they were on the inside. Simply put, I loved these characters.

I really did love this book because both the setting and the characters, were extremely interesting. However, this book had a lot of editing mistakes and at times it drew me out of the story but after a while I got used to it enough to bypass them. Also, at times Liam really pissed me off. While I love slow, intense build ups, his constant denial and bringing Deseem closer just to push him away annoyed and frustrated me but I knew why he did it so I accepted it even if I wanted to pull his head out of his ass then beat him with a stick.

Overall, I really adored this book. It caught my attention from the beginning and kept it there. Deseem and Liam buried themselves inside my heart and wouldn't let up for even a minute. The world captivated me with the different cultures and the creatures involved. I'm not ready to let these two go yet so I sincerely hope there will be a sequel about them in the near future. Definitely recommended.