I found the book a compelling blend of fantasy and romance that uses ancient mythology to explore the very real human experience of trauma and healing.

The story follows Alfur, a man weighed down by his past, whose life is transformed when he discovers a pair of boots woven with enchanted silk. This discovery pulls him away from his ordinary life and toward the Isle of Skye, where he meets Ria, a fairy queen trapped in a centuries-long "half-life."

The book’s greatest strength lies in its atmosphere. Ryan uses his expertise in natural science to ground the magical elements in the physical world, making the transition from the English countryside to the misty landscapes of Scotland feel seamless and immersive. The "entangled" boots serve as a wonderful narrative device, acting as a bridge between reality and folklore while symbolising Alfur’s own internal journey toward redemption.

While the story is deeply moving, the pacing occasionally feels a bit deliberate. RJR focus on the philosophical and physical basis of existence adds intellectual depth, but it can sometimes pause the emotional momentum of the central romance. However, if you appreciate a thoughtful, lyrical approach, this is not a huge issue.

Overall, is a beautiful and original tale that proves love and forgiveness can be as transformative as any ancient spell. A perfect pick for anyone who enjoys mythic/folklore storytelling with a strong emotional core. Thank you very much for the ARC!

I was very lucky have the opportunity to read an ARC of this book.
The book is well written and easy to follow.
Some of the themes addressed on the book can be very confrontational for some readers, but the self-forgiveness and acceptance being used as a way forward was a nice touch.
To be very honest, the book wasn’t what I expected when I read the overview and the whole lovemaking with your ancestor was very weird, in my opinion, and some of the comments made in regards to his mother’s appearance and comparing her to the fairy queen made me ick with incest vibes.
But overall, the whole concept of the entanglement of the boots and the explanation of it is absolutely fascinating, which made me continue even though I really didn’t appreciate the romance part of it.

3.25/5
Fragments of Silk is an intriguing read that blends mythology with an urban/modern setting using fantasy elements. It had really good writing, fluent prose that was easy to read. The dialogues were well written and most of the time felt very natural.

As the story takes its main power from the balance between good and evil, there are some challenging elements throughout that might be triggering for some readers. In some ways, I appreciated that because it showed healing and trauma in a very realistic, candid way. How Ryan utilised self-forgiveness and the way he weaved it into the story is very commendable I think. In some other ways though, I thought it was too much. I do understand the story calls for a balance of good and evil but with all the evil that has happened in this book, ultimately I didn’t think the “good” was on a scale that matched. I know such topics are from the reality of life and can be mentioned in Fiction where it carries the story forward (see Weyward), but in the end, I think 3 separate occasions of rape is just too much for a Fantasy novel. This can of course be due to why I personally choose to read fantasy, and personal preference. The fact that there were so many incestuous elements all throughout the story, weaved in with the main theme was also disturbing to read.

Pacing-wise, I found this to be a medium-pace story. The only downside was that the build up took a bit long in my opinion and the ending that came didn’t quite live up to that build up. I understand that this is planned to be a trilogy so I get that the first book can be more about setting the scene, but as a reader, I didn’t quite like the way things ended, and how we left the main characters. It almost felt like it made some parts of the story very redundant. On another point, I thought Ryan used the magical nature of the UK countryside to his advantage in a very smart way and this served the story very well. This could even be taken further.

To summarise, I found this to be an interesting read. As an ARC reader, reading the summary online I think my expectations were a little bit different than what the book offered, and some elements were truly disturbing for me to read, but I liked seeing familiar settings and places in a fantasy/mythology retelling and I always like a book with specific songs and music in it so that was a good surprise.

This was a very fun and interesting story. I loved it and enjoyed the world and characters. Can't wait to see it on shelves.

The physical settings on this book are really well done, I can very clearly picture each location the author describes, it's clear he actually spent some time there and loves the land and the culture. The descriptions of food are also very evocative.

The writing style and dialogue feel whimsical and dreamy during the fantasy scenes, but sometimes detached, stilted and unnatural in the modern timeline ones. There's also some issues with repetition and lots of telling instead of showing.

This book has very “women written by man” vibes - Alf meets the Fairy Queen, what does his therapist friend Terry ask? “Was she wearing a bra?”. She visits Alf at the hospital, and she’s naked. She’s healing him, and he’s turned on. The constant references to all of Alf’s problems coming from his mother (which is basically all of him, we don’t know anything about Alfie beyond him liking to walk and being abused by his mother), plus the comparisons between the Fairy Queen and his mother were very Freudian.

The romance in general is pretty rushed. He meets her one time and is in love? Despite being scared of women and having no experience? When she heals him at the hospital, he’s so “physically weak and low in spirit” that he only doesn't rape her because his “love for her overcame the lust”?? And she's PROUD of him for that?? As if not raping someone isn't the bare minimum??? At this point I checked existing reviews, and seeing that the book apparently has 3 separate graphic rape scenes, I decided to DNF at 36%. Reading the “sexual violence” on the advisory (which was still appreciated - publishers please keep giving us Trigger Warning lists), I assumed it would be something I could handle, but evidently not.

Ultimately, I was expecting something else based on the summary and on the prologue of the book - which I loved.