Title: Fallen Beauty
Author: Astrid Scholte
Genre: Fantasy, YA
Rating: 3.25 out of 5
Eighteen-year-old Thorelea Winyard has been a prisoner her entire life, forced to paint dead animals pushed into her cell. She dreams of the world outside her tower and everything she’s been denied. When one of her subjects comes back to life, Thorelea is thrust into a royal court where she can have anything she desires—aside from her freedom.
Here, she learns that the king and queen have ruled for centuries; their immortality is gifted through the power of their court painter, who dutifully updates their magical portraits. It is also here that she meets the sole other mortal of the court: Prince Kelter. Desperate to become immortal so he can join the ranks of the battalion waging war against a neighboring kingdom, he offers her a deal. Thorelea will paint the portrait Prince Kelter has been denied by his parents, and he will help her escape from the ruthless royal court.
They meet each night in secret. As they grow closer, they must face the monstrous realities of Thorelea’s powers. Will she be forced to choose between her heart and her freedom?
Honestly, I’d give this one a pass, if I had it to do over again. Very clunky, erratic, and half of it didn’t even make sense. The premise was great. The execution was…not. I’m not even sure why I finished it. I didn’t care for the characters. The world was flat. Even the history and resolution felt surface-level.
Astrid Scholte lives in Australia. Fallen Beauty is her newest novel.
(Galley courtesy of St. Martin’s Press | Wednesday Books in exchange for an honest review.)
