This book originally pulled me in because of title and cover! Digging in a little deeper I learned that the premise sounded incredible, I love anything involving completely impossible tasks and especially love the folklore sprinkled in to this novel. While I did enjoy this book, some parts fell a little flat to me. Because the world-building confused me, I found other parts confusing me as well and would have desperately loved to have a map to look to. I am giving this 3.5 stars and rounding to 3. Thank you netgalley!

I have a lot of mixed thoughts on this book.

On the one hand, I flew through this book. I was obsessed with Erlik and Zerryn and I needed to know what was going to happen. The story is dark and twisty with so many great gothic vibes.

On the other hand, so much of this book reads like your sub-standard YA novel. The male love interest says something vaguely witty and the female love interest says how much she hates him while inwardly thinking how beautiful he is. The actual writing compared to the dialogue are like reading two different books. I found the writing to be beautiful and descriptive and the dialogue was honestly just awful.

Overall, I think the plot suffers a bit because of the focus on the romance. But I still ate it up.

All Zerryn wanted was to be accepted by her village. But after being touched with a sign from Death, her only companions lie with stories of the Underworld and tales of Lord Death himself. She finally finds comfort with her grandmother’s village, growing closer with her friend Celik and eventually forming a budding relationship. However, Celik begins to withdraw from her and the village, making increasingly more and more disturbed demands. Zerryn is determined to exorcise the demon the village believes is possessing the boy she loves, but once she is faced with him, discovers he is possessed by Lord Death, Erlik Khan himself- and what he desires is none other than Zerryn. In order to save the boy she loves and the village she has only ever wanted to be accepted by, she must travel to the Underworld and compete in three trials to become the Bride of Death. But the longer she spends in the Underworld, the more her desires are blurred and her path unclear… until even Zerryn herself questions the path she is on.

Overall, I really enjoyed this novel. The blurb hails it as a book for fans of Uprooted and The Bear and the Nightingale, and I definitely got vibes of both in this book. The scenes were definitely atmospheric, and I felt like I could have lifted my eyes from the novel and be right next to the characters. It has the feel of a Hades and Persephone retelling, but with its own twists. We have enemies to lovers, a morally grey male character, and a female main character who comes into her own. If you’re looking for a good romantasy tale with some low descriptive spice, this one is for you.

I do wish I had a map. It would have been fun to be able to follow along with Zerryn as she makes her way through the trials. I also felt the beginning of the book was a little disjointed and rushed. I would have loved more details before she entered the Underworld and I was left with several questions about plot points I didn’t understand why they were included.

Definitely giving this book a solid 5 stars!

There are so many good things to say about this book, but let me highlight a few:

1) THE PLOT! This book's plot is incredibly rich. The romance! The thrill! I got totally immersed in the narration. 🥹

2) The writing style is straightforward and easy to understand. Anyone can enjoy each moment effortlessly and get right into the feels.

3) The world-building is outstanding. The detailed descriptions are impressive.

4) Every character is unique, with interesting aspects that make us wonder what they'll do in each arc!

Minus points?

I forgot long ago what the minus of this book, really

I really wanted to like this book. It intrigued me from the very beginning and the premise drew me in. However, I found myself putting off reading this book more and more. I unfortunately had to dnf this book. The story felt slow, too slow. I’m a fan of dark fairytale retellings and morally grey villains, but this fell flat for me.

I’ve read that the author has another book in this world and I’m wondering if maybe I read this book in the future with that book if that wouldn’t make me like the book more.

I’m not opposed to trying this book again in the future because the writing is very pretty, the story telling is there but the pace of the book is what killed me.

I was definitely intrigued by the cover and synopsis of this story that combines fantasy and romance. In the end, it didn't hit perfectly for me, but is still a solid read. I enjoyed the trials, the side characters, the main characters, but overall world building seemed to lack a little. Read this one if you like: enemies to lovers, folklore and mythology, slow burn dark romance, magic and demons. Thank you to Netgalley and Northern Light Press for this eARC in exchange for my honest opinion.

Zerryn finds herself on a hero's journey to the Underworld to save her village and her childhood sweetheart from the Lord of Death's destruction. To save herself and her village she must win his hand in marriage and survive the Underworld with its many creatures and undead servants.

After the clunky first act, this book really shines in act two. The trials are fun, the character development of not only the FMC and MMC but also the assistant characters is great. Bride of Death hits that beautiful mark of gothic fantasy romance without relying on over used tropes. This book is based on Mongolian and Siberian mythology and was a great introduction to a different myth system that we rarely see in romantasy.

A fantastical world, where all the odds are against you, the only way to win is sacrifice. Aden creates a realm that whisks you into dangerous times, where you feel helpless against the protagonists fight. Though, as the ploy unfolds, you become her champion almost fighting with her to the very end. Complete page turner. Read and re-read.

F.M. Aden wrote a intrically and delicious book about the power of good and evil; right and wrong; light and dark. The world she brings readers to is magical and something set apart from other fantasy books being published now.
The rich hisyory of Hungarian gods and mosnters is extremely interesting and something I fully enjoyed reading about in the story, but also researching outside of this title. Aden's writing make the reader fall deeping into the mythical land of the dead and sympathize with a four-eyed and armed god who is seemingly a villain. Zerryn is a strong lead, but also waivers in her beliefs, which makes her very relateable.
The idea of having three tasks to complete made the story more exciting and readers never know what to except.
I fully recommend The Bride of Death, as well as Aden's novel The Court of the Undead, which takes place in the same world.

It wasn't until I was immersed in the world, that I realised just how much I was going to adore this book. It is all the things I love, The dark gothic fairytale setting for one, from the very beginning I loved spending time getting lost in the bone forest among the dark creatures and spirits. It's also filled with mentions of folklore, such as the irshi, jinn, ubir and uylak. The main characters are very reminiscent of Hades & Persephone, with their warring magical energies of life and death, light and dark.

"The forest released a deep sigh the moment Zerryn entered. It was a subtle shift in the air, the mere sway of the branches stretching to scrape the sky before gently tracing the dirt, almost as if they were welcoming her home. The trees shifted to make way for her like earthen escorts sent to bring her to the demon who ruled their land."

There are so many beautiful quotes throughout the book, including words of wisdom often spoken from one woman to another. I appreciated that our main character was able to forge bonds with women at unlikely times.

I enjoyed seeing the arc of the monster becoming a man in Zerryn's eyes and her in turn losing her innocence and naivete. He wasn't the traditional morally grey leading man we have come to expect from fantasy romance books, mostly due to his hair, additional eyes and limbs but the strangeness of his appearance faded once I became familiar with his character as a reader.

I wasn't totally satisfied with the resolution of the plot surrounding the main character's magic, however, I do feel like this book had an overall satisfying ending. Although the plot or tropes themselves weren't groundbreaking, each stop along the way of the journey brought fresh life to the story through magic, folk and legends, which lent uniqueness to the story and kept me engaged until the very end.

Thank you Northern Light Press and F.M. Aden for providing this book for review consideration via NetGalley. All opinions are my own.

This book took me by surprise.

Initially, the story unfolds slowly, introducing us to Zerryn in her childhood and slowly unraveling her intriguing connection with Death. My initial impression was to be slightly hesitant as I had to reread the first couple of chapters twice and initially thought that this might not be the book for me.

Ohhhh death am I glad that I persevered.

Honestly, the narrative's pacing occasionally felt off, especially during the first part of the story where we see Zerryn's growth from a child into adolescence into adulthood which was very fast-paced.

I wish we saw deeper dive into Derya's backstory—her origins and her essence remained somewhat enigmatic, leaving me finishing the story and wishing this was a part with further exploration and understanding. I can only assume that Erlik had sent her? But thought it would have been an interesting addition in the storyline for Zerryn to meet her again in the Underworld.

The supporting characters, Beyza and Minay, captured my heart. Beyza, in particular, resonated with me deeply, as a character who I wish I could be friends with. (I know, interesting choice)

And then there's Erlik—oh, where do I start? His moral ambiguity, undeniable charisma, and formidable power, not to mention his four arms and the... possibilities they suggest, had me utterly obsessed.

The building tension between Erlik and Zerryn was utterly delicious, and I devoured every moment of it. While the conclusion wasn't what I had initially hoped for, it provided a satisfying sense of closure, wrapping up this standalone story with a sense of completeness.

Has this book left me on a quest for a spicy dark romance featuring the devil, or rather, Death himself? Absolutely.

2.5 stars.

I was initially intrigued by this as it was described as a gothic, mythological book and compared to the Bear and the Nightingale by Katherine Arden, which is one of my favorite series. I also thought it was an adult fantasy romance, but it turns out it was not.

I really enjoyed the first third of this book, and it starts out super good, but it changes greatly in the second act. It reminded me so much of Katherine Arden's work, both in tone, setting and characters, so I can definitely see why it was compared to her work. The only criticism I had with the first third is that many year passed by quickly. The story would jump several years ahead, and then begin speaking of events in the past that we didn't read about. It was very much a show versus tell situation.

In the middle of the book we were introduced to a competition that I thought would be more entertaining than it was. I usually love competitions in books, but this one did not make much sense to me. It started to go downhill after this, and I gradually lost interest. The ending was a slog and I almost dnfed it, but because I liked the beginning well enough, I wanted to read to the end to see what happened. Unfortunately, the ending was lackluster and left much to be desired.

At the end of the day, this was an alright book, but I have read books that were similar to this story and much better many times before.

*******From here on out there will be minor spoilers, proceed at your own risk*********

I liked in the beginning how Zerryn was trying to go on a mission to save the innocent boy she loves. However, as she starts to slowly started falling for Erlik I was pretty confused. Erlik and Zerryn have basically no chemistry, and the things he did to make her fall for him made no sense. I did not see how he was appealing to her at all, especially given that he tortured and killed villagers she knew for funsies. Meanwhile, he was still holding her lover boy hostage and she seemed to forget the whole reason why she went to the Underworld in the first place was to save innocent people, NOT fall in love with Erlik, the evil God of Death. I just was not convinced by the pacing or the logic of this book, or any of the relationships. Celik was always a sweet boy, but the end of the book he turned into a completely different person, and also made decisions out of character just to further the plot.

I am really bummed that I just did not enjoy this one. I thought the setting was dark and atmospheric and the writing was fine. I was just bored out of my mind. I also just didn’t like the characters, I thought they were a little one dimensional.

For a retelling based on Turkish folklore, this is a weird smörgåsbord of vaguely Turkish, Greek, and Christian lore that I'm not sure mixes quite well.

Full review in link!

5 ⭐

A heartfelt thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for selecting me as an ARC reader, and while I received this copy for review, my thoughts and opinions are entirely my own.

I LOVED it (this is the first time I've loved an ARC like this)!

"The Bride of Death" by F.M. Aden reads like a romantically dark fairytale, a beautiful middle ground between Winter and Spring. I couldn't put it down – the pacing and storytelling were spot-on, I finished it in a day. I enjoyed how the story embraced folklore, and its most stunning take on a very popular trope, that I've ever read (I don't want to spoil anything). I also enjoyed that I was so engaged in the characters' inner struggles in the second half of the novel (I was legit STRESSING), which truly speaks to F.M. Aden's ability as a writer to immerse readers so deeply in the narrative

I can't praise it enough, I found this to be such a beautiful work.

Based on Turkish mythology a story of Zerryn a girl touched by the devil when she was young she's able to sense when people are about to die.
The story turns into a quest to save the boy she loves and her village from the lord of death Erlik who set three tasks to complete.
A well written story of light and dark, good vs evil with a slow burn romance

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an e-ARC in exchange for my honest review

At the start of this book, I wasn't sure what to make of it. I felt like I was in a folktale - the prose certainly felt very fairytale-esque and had some gothic vibes. Think Grimm more than Disney!

It took me a little while to get fully invested in the story - probably until Part Two where the plot really kicks in. FMC Zerryn is a bit of a firecracker, true to her own mind and very sure of herself for a mortal thrust into the Underworld.

Once I got past the fact that Erlik (the Lord of Death) had some... let's say additional parts, I was very on board with him as the morally grey love interest.

I absolutely loved the mythology and folktales woven throughout the book, especially as I wasn't familiar with a lot of it.

I'd say dive into this if you enjoyed For The Wolf, The Wolf and the Woodsman, or like your romantasy a little dark, and steeped in folklore. For sure will be looking out for more from this author in future!

Death is not that bad of a guy...

The comparison to the Bear and the Nightingale is not so far off. When I started this book I felt like this was going to be a Turkic folklore version of that book- I was scared it was going to be TOO similar. But it took such a turn! The main character gets thrown into the underworld and has to win a competition for the hand of Death. She has to win three challenges and throughout that adventure we meet some of my favorite characters. Beyza, one of her competitors, becomes my absolute favorite. I loved the world-building. It's not too complicated or overloaded for a book of this length, but just enough for me to be transported to another world that felt magical, historical and very natural. I loved some of the characters so much that I was disappointed they didn't get as much 'screen time' as I'd hoped. This also felt like their side-plots weren't explored enough or finished. I want to know more about Minay, Lale, Yuxa and all of the Erlik's children! I wasn't prepared for the plot to be so romance-driven, but hoped for it to be more 'folklore-y'. However, if romance and fantasy is your jam I'm sure this book is right up your alley. The writing was immersive and done well, however I found myself confused by the pacing at times. Sometimes the book jumped in places where I expected/wanted more from that scene and at other times the author took more time to guide us through a scene. These shifts sometimes confused me.

Thank you to netgalley for this ARC!

The Bride of Death tells the story of a young woman forced to compete for the hand of Death in marriage in order to save her village from destruction and the man she loves. I’d describe it as Kingdom of the Wicked meets the end of ACOTAR.

I found myself with conflicted feelings on this book. It opened with a very Gothic, atmospheric style, then over the course of the book became more monster romance/fantasy feeling. While I enjoyed the premise a lot, the story moved very slowly through her three trials. Many of the scenes were just her and Death interacting with mild, forced tension, but didn’t drive the plot actually forward. It seemed like the it wanted to be too many things at once, and I wished it had either been fast-paced focused on these high stakes trials, or slow-paced Gothic-feeling romance. Instead, the trials didn’t move with enough speed to make me feel any stakes and the romance was too forced to feel the pining.
I realized about 60% in that I didn’t feel any attachment to the characters or their goals.

However, the prose itself was well-done and the story was quite unique. The world was enchanting the Russian-based lore was very interesting.

I think readers who enjoy romantasy and don’t mind a slow, low stakes pace, will love this book.

Surprising no one, I thoroughly enjoyed this! Coming off a spate of reads where “romance” seemed to factor into a space where my choice of S&S/epic/high fantasy usually doesn't lean towards, I found this gorgeously written story utterly captivating! This is my second title by this author and I think I’m very much a fan of Aden’s narrative style.

In a nostalgic way, this way of storytelling reminded me of the grim folkloric stories my father and my uncles and aunts would regale us with at family gatherings back on the island, handed down legends passed onto us from their own childhood memories. It was enrapturing back then, listening to stories about douen, soucouyant, la diablesse et al, and I felt that same curiosity here, as Aden spun her tale about Erlik Khan, the Lord of Death, and the trials to conquer in order to be his bride!

Once I got going reading this, it captured all of my attention! I thought all the characterizations were well done, and while Zerryn did suffer from the same self sacrificing stupidity that I thought Freya from Fate Inked in Blood had, hers was on a much milder level and I was able to look past her ridiculousness at around the 50% mark. It was dumb and I thought Aden could have been more adroit about Zerryn and Erlik’s soul binding, but nothing is perfect and I was happy with everything else!

Erlik Khan?!? hello hi It's a MEGA YES from me!

It was intimated by one of my lovely friends that there were possible other arcs floating around, so mine had absolutely ZERO smut, and if whatever piercings and magical tattoos were something people were taking issue with, as a fantasy reader I can attest to the fact that the genre as a whole employs this aesthetic on the regular! From my current reads alone, 3 out of the 5 feature magically tattooed and pierced main and side characters.

DAFUQ is this noise!? I can’t roll my eyes harder at this shade IF this is really a thing IDGAF.😒

Overall I had a great time with this! I though the language was lush and hypnotic, the world was amazing to traverse, Zerryn didn’t screech shriek or rage like the last few FMCs I’ve read just recently, bless, and straight up this read like what it was: a fantasy romance featuring POC.

As in, it’s not white.

If you can, ignore whatever book splashes marketing uses to homogenize cultural lorescape, because you’ll only be doing yourself a favour.

I thought this was delicious and toothy, and as I’ve read both Arden and Novik and can appreciate them both for their own storytelling prowess, I LOVE that Aden stands unique amongst them! And because I really enjoyed this inspired offering of Turkic mythology, I can only look forward to more of this celebration of POC folkloric narrative, because it makes ME FEEL SEEN in ways that this subgenre has yet to allow!

This was wonderful and I'm very happy that most everything here worked for ME! ofc YMMV as we all experience life through our own lens, but this was a win for me and straight up that's pretty much all that matters to me!✌🏽