One of my favorite reads of 2025!
S.W Kent does a PHENOMENAL job with the world building and character building in his debut book all while making it fun and exciting, and it is an absolutely AMAZING YA epic fantasy!!
If you like found family, young love, diversity, fantasy, witches, magic, then THIS is your book!! There is something for EVERYONE in this book, and I PROMISE that you will identify with at least one of the characters in this book, if not multiple.
This book follows a young man by the name of Birk, who is a storyteller for the village he lives in called Balincia. Birk's two aunties are witches who created Balincia, and due to some circumstances, the people who live here are not taught to read. There are no bookstores or libraries, and this is why Birk is a storyteller. One night, someone Birk doesn't recognize hands him a mysterious blank book. I don't want to give the whole book away, but THIS is where the adventures start!

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for this ARC.

This book first captured my attention when I saw an ad for it on TikTok. The narrative encompasses elements of romance, adventure, and tragedy. Although at times the pace felt somewhat slow and the instant romance may be disconcerting to some, I believe the author successfully maintained my interest throughout.

The book demonstrated considerable potential; the setting and characters were highly engaging, with sufficient insights into a significant overarching story.

The world building in this book is absolutely beautiful and immersive. It was so easy to just be sucked in and forget that I was sitting on my couch at home. There's something so special when a book can transport you like that. I enjoyed the characters and thought that they were well written and it was so refreshing to see so much diversity in one cast. I hit a snag once the adventure began and for me it was the pacing. I found myself just wanting it to go a little faster to keep the momentum up. Over all this is a such a promising start to a new series and I am excited to see what come about in the next book!

This book is a dream come true, every page is fantasy gold. Like a modern day Narnia. Captivating from the first page and so elegantly written. Every character stands out and are individual and whole characters, they are written with time to explore each of them without missing the beat of the story. Yeah there are main characters but all the characters are just amazing I don’t know who I love the most. Perhaps Pan. She has such a huge heart.

I can’t believe this was a debut novel, I cannot wait for more stories from Drifstone.

Thanks to the author and NetGalley for the ARC for my honest review.

*ARC Review*

Thank you NetGalley for the e-arc copy in exchange for an honest review.

This was an incredible fantasy read that I could not put down. S.W. Kent has amazing world building as well as creating wonderful and unforgettable characters. I love seeing more fantasy novels include more diverse representation, especially queer representation. Lovers of fantasy and romance will love this magical story. Do not sleep on this story!

#NetGalley #thestorytellerfrombalincia

What a great story. Bork the storyteller was such a great character. Balencia is such a great place. The chaos and order are needed to be in balance for Balencia to thrive and continue on as it has for many many years. What a great dozen or more lessons written in this book that is so well penned that you don’t even notice you are learning so many great things! I thoroughly enjoyed this book!

I want to thank NetGalley and Belquis and Martel Publising for this advanced reader copy. This is my honest opinion of this work.

I ended up DNFing this book about 15% of the way in. The book starts out quite slow and a lot of the dialogue felt really stilted. While a lot of reviews say it gets better as it goes on, I just didn't feel very motivated to continue. Also, the cover and all of the art the author has posted of the characters looks like it's AI generated (if anyone knows the artists I would be happy to be proven wrong) and that made me even less interested in pushing through my reservations about the story/writing.

3.5-4 stars
I enjoyed the complex world building and the overall plot of the book. However, I thought the instalove between Birk and Grey seemed fake and too sappy. And Thalon didn't seem like a real person. Real people can be complex and multifaceted, but the author didn't make Thalon plausible to me.

Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for a free e-ARC of this book.

The best review I can give a book is that I can't wait for the sequel. This is one of those books. Beautifully crafted with endearing and engaging characters in a highly imaginative settings and a theme that can go on for a long time. I enjoyed the love story aspects as much as the hate story theme. Delicately written with something for every reader. The next book can't arrive too soon! Thank you for the privilege of this advance copy. It was a gift to read during the current real life stories coming out everyday.

The Story Teller from Balincia by S.W. Kent hooked me at the description. The world building, the magic, the secrets, and the representation are all intentional and interesting. Least of all, the characters. I find so many of the characters to be vulnerable and endearing. However, I personally struggled to connect with the romantic elements of this story. Other readers will definitely enjoy this work of love in the diversity of characters, LGBT romance, and inclusive themes. It truly is “crafted for all those who, as children, never found reflections of themselves in the pages of a Fairy Tale.”-from the description.

Birk lives in Balincia, raised by his witch aunts he has no idea who his parents are. Balincia is run very tightly with many rules and when people are born they are given calling. For Birk this means he becomes the Storyteller, one of the few people in Balincia whose allowed to learn to read.

But everything is not as ideal as it seems, Birk begins to uncover cracks in his aunts stories and soon discovers their lies after receiving a magical book form a stranger. Spurred on by strange dreams Birk discovers not only his own magic but a whole other world his aunts kept hidden.

He then goes on a quest to discover the truth about himself and Balincia. Here he meets many interesting characters. Grey, a magical descendent of the original 13 witches, an intimidating but kind man who Brik begins to feel some kind of way about. Along with Grey's family they strike out to help Birk on his quest. All while new terrifying monsters hunt anyone with magic.

This story is quite the epic journey. We get to meet a lot of interesting characters, all with depth and secrets of their own. The author does a wonderful job of not only world building, but character building as even the grayest of characters you can relate to. There is an interesting magical system here and it was fun getting see Birk's abilities grow. There is also a lot of character growth that keeps you interested and rooting for these characters.

This book was a lot of fun to read and is set up for a sequel, which I can't wait to dive into.

Thank you NetGalley and S.W. Kent for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

This book is hard to shake once you finish. It leaves you wanting to flip back to page one just to immerse yourself all over again. This author is hands down amazing from the world building and creating a community rich in equality for the diverse. This has truly been a magical read!!!

Absolutely loved this book! S. W. Kent is an exceptional writer and I can’t wait to read more from him in the future. The world building and character development in this book was outstanding and I especially loved that the characters came from diverse backgrounds.

The author creates a charming and detailed world that is both new and has elements of the familiar from folklore and fairytale. It is a world populated primarily by individuals who motives are caring despite being occasionally misled by their good intentions. There is a lovely male/male romance though in this volume there is no female/ female romance for those who did not find themselves in the fairytales of their childhood. Perhaps in the next volumes, as the quest is clearly intended to continue. I hope the author will also be even handed with the villains, rather than falling exclusively into the evil queen/wicked stepmother paradigm. I am hopeful and look forward to the next installment. I recommend this for both YA and adult readers.

This had an amazing amount of promise, the setting and characters were all really engaging with enough insights into a big overarching secret that we are sucked into the narrative immediately.

Unfortunately once the main character leaves his initial hometown for the broader world we are assaulted with a multitude of characters and places that expand the world very quickly and this is really jarring to the reader. We are introduced to some characters by a folk tale and then those names are replaced but it’s tricky to keep all the characters straight and the story begins to meander off course quite quickly. I think this was an excellent premise but suffered from a big jump in reader expectations with no set up and the last third of the book was a challenge to get through.

Hm… this had all the ingredients I enjoy, strong female lead, political intrigue, adventure, fantasy, however I couldn’t connect with this story. It sure why, will appeal to many. Thank you to the author. Thank you to #netgalley and the publisher for an ARC.

Thank you to NetGalley for the E-ARC!

What a rich world that I had the pleasure of stepping into. The world building of the setting and magic was immensely enjoyable. The pacing and structure of this novel felt akin to a cinematic story; I felt I could visualize the events and characters.

There were some technical things like POV switching and some punctuation in the beginning that threw me off and had me pausing, thus breaking my immersion but I slowly got into the groove of it.

I look forward to seeing this story and these characters grow and expand.

Firstly, thank you to S.W. Kent and the Publisher for the eARC for this book in exchange for an honest review.

This is a beautiful book full of diverse characters, immersive world building, and LGBTQIA+ representation. If you love cozy fantasy, I would highly recommend this book. The story drew me in and kept me guessing. I loved the character development, particularly that of some of the background characters. It did feel a bit repetitive and drawn out in some parts, however this book has left me wanting more and I will definitely read the next one to see more of Birk’s journey.

On a side note, I am obsessed with the in-depth appendix. Such a fantastic resource to assist the reader given the complex world and large number of characters. The art from @Missyozart is fantastic.

4⭐️

Sometimes, a book and my brain just don’t sync up at the right time, and I think that’s what happened here! The world-building was intricate, the magic system had a lot of potential, and the adventure was packed with high stakes and mystery. There were so many fascinating elements—the balance of Chaos and Order, the legacy of past generations, and a crew of characters with plenty of secrets—but I just wasn’t in the right headspace to fully connect with it. I found myself appreciating the creativity without fully getting swept up in the story.

That said, this is one of those books I know I’ll need to revisit when I’m in the mood for a deep, immersive fantasy. The themes of storytelling, destiny, and uncovering hidden truths are ones that always pull me in, so I have no doubt I’ll get more out of it the second time around. If you love layered world-building, magical prophecies, and a quest filled with danger and discovery, this is definitely worth picking up!

4.5/5
Thank you to Netgalley and the author for the eARC!

In an isolated and protected country where two witches reign, Birk's powers start to awaken. He comes to realize that all is not how it seems, and that danger threatens his idyllic home. An adventure filled with action, diverse characters, prophecy and found family ensues to piece together the solution to preserving the world's safety. 

I really enjoyed the whimsical and fairytale-esque setting, particularly in the first part of the book. The people of Balincia, through magical means, do not have access to their curiosty and to learning in general, which leads to interesting philosophical and political questions that are discussed in an accessible way. There are also a lot of great little nuggets of wisdom interspersed throughout. 

The world-building is vivid, and appendices at the end give additionnal details to the magic system, the world and the characters and creatures which inhabit them. It is obvious that a lot of love and dedication was put into this world!

The story starts off as an individual quest of self discovery, but quickly becomes much grander with higher stakes. The cast is quite diverse in every way, without it feeling forced. I thought the romance started a bit too quickly for my taste, I would have liked for the characters to get to know each other better beforehand, but I quickly came to enjoy the couple's dynamic. 

I sometimes found the dialogue to be a bit stiff; it didn't always flow as naturally as I would have liked. The world-building tended to be brought in a straightforward way, which is not my preference, altough it probably makes the story more accessible to the YA audience. 

Overall, a very wholesome and heartwarming story! I'm looking forward to the sequel.