Let's start this off with the cover. It's what drew me into this book. It's so stunning.

Now onto the actual book.

Morvelving is something I would normally not have picked up, but the description sounded good so I thought why not. The world building is amazing and the two main characters are a treat to get to know. The found family trope is one of my all-time favorites, and I think it is executed perfectly in this book. It feels as if this book is the foundation for a series, so at times the story gets bogged down with exposition, however I'm very excited to see where this series goes next.

Morvelving by C.J. Switzer is such a good story. Loved every single second of it and I couldn't be more grateful to have read this book. I totally recommend everyone to read this book as fast as they can.

The cover was so pretty, I couldn’t resist picking up this book.

It tells a beautiful and touching story about an adoptive father and a child bound by fate. He’s forced to become better, as she grows up under his protection and guidance.

The book leans heavily into world-building, and it feels like it’s laying the foundation for what’s to come in future books. For some reason, it gave me Witcher vibes, maybe because he’s roaming around slaying monsters to earn a living.

I would say that isn’t for everyone since not much is happening throughout the book. A lot of talking, walking and fighting.

“Morvelving” is set in carefully crafted fantasy world and explores a loving relationship between an adoptive father and his child.

In the author’s note, Switzer mentions that he spent ten years writing the book, clearly evident by the intricate history and lore of this world. And while some of the magic is explained in the book, there are still more than enough questions left to be answered. As the first book in a series, it did a great job of whetting my appetite for any future novels.

Additionally, I loved the exploration of Morvelving’s relationship to Nippi. I feel that there is a gap in the fantasy genre for books about familial love/adoptive family, as most books focus on platonic or romantic love. This book filled that gap nicely and was heartwarming to read.

My critiques of the book deal more with how the story is told. The first half of the book had a lot of exposition in the form of Morvelving explaining the world and its mythology to Nippi. While this got a bit repetitive at times, the biggest issue was this was not the most efficient way to convey large amounts of world building to the reader. I found myself having to go back to remind myself on certain topics such as Ergald vs. Eifgald.

The only other critique I would offer was that both the piphlid and Windtail’s death seem a bit more like plot devices than actual facets of Morvelving’s character. For piphlid, perhaps if mentions of it were sprinkled more through the book. While for Windtail, we only ever focused on his fall. I would have loved for there to even be a section/chapter about Morvelving’s memories with his family. This could have helped create a stronger characterization of Morvelving.

Nevertheless, this was a fast paced and engaging story set in a rich world with lovable characters. What makes the story even more impressive is that this is both self-published and a debut novel! I would encourage others to read this and to keep their eyes out for the next novel in this series.

Rounding up from a 2.5.

The pacing was my biggest issue with the book sadly. In the beginning there was a lot of exposition/world building dump that kind of felt like being thrown into the deep end, which sometimes has to happen, but also none of it gets elaborated on later. The beginning was also fast paced lots going on and then it just drags.

I did like Nippi, and how diverse the cast of characters was though!