Thank you NetGalley and C.J. Switzer for this ARC in exchange for my review. I started Morvelving with curiosity, the premise was intriguing and the unique fantasy aspects caught my attention. Switzer clearly has a unique voice and a flair for atmosphere. That said, after reading several chapters, I found myself struggling to stay engaged. It may be that this book simply wasn’t the right fit for me at this moment.

To be fair, I didn’t finish it, so I can’t speak to how everything ties together in the end. But from what I did read, Morvelving seems best suited for readers who enjoy richly layered worlds and are willing to be patient with a slower build. I do not intend to leave a public review on my social media pages due to not finishing the book, but thank you again for the opportunity to read and perhaps I will circle back at some point in the future.

Beautiful, breathtaking enticing and wonderful in glad to have read this and miss the way reading this for the first time made me feel, thankyou for this chance and this world

The general vibe of this book is very much inspired by the Witcher books, if Geralt were a wolf man and instead of a small brotherhood of monster hunters, there is instead religion and a church involved. Morvelving, the brooding monster hunter, has instead of a princess, a deaf and mute peasant girl rescued from … bandits? Slavers? Some form of bad guy, anyway.

My biggest issue with this book is that it’s so … flat. It’s all telling, so much telling, and I personally found it hard to stay invested. I’d read a few pages, put it down, pick up another book and eventually remember I still had this one and so pick it up, only to find my attention waning after a handful of pages, and repeat. However, there are two or three good things in this book that I want to mention.

Morvelving’s behavior — sneezes, yawns, snarls, eye contact, movements — are all done with an eye as to how a canine would use them. He never comes across as human. Nippi, the deaf mute child, remains deaf and mute. There’s no magic cure, no monster blood, just the reality of her disability. In her POV chapters she never hears anything, no sounds are mentioned, and she has to ask people what happened in conversations because she wasn’t able to read their lips or they weren’t able to sign.

This is a solid book, it’s just not one I personally enjoyed. With the book so external, the focus always on a character’s actions — and having any emotions or feelings explained to me rather than having the characters feel them or express them — it just didn’t hold my attention. Again, it’s not bad or wrong, it’s just not for me.

Thank you so much to Net Galley and the publisher for the ARC.

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!