“One girl determined to heal her sister and another looking for purpose in a nation on the brink of war. And unicorns—with a twist you've never seen before.
It's Rowan Tritonia's sixteenth Naming Anniversary. Her plans for the day never included a headache that causes her to almost faint on a day meant for celebration. When the world comes back into focus, her brown eyes have changed to magenta. But what scares her more is that everything around her is now black and white coupled with a mysterious ability to see the light and shadows in a person's soul. Then a local cleric implies that Rowan could have the power of Sight, a gift which has only been seen in the stories of unicorns in the Book of Verimor, an ancient text. Rowan is perplexed. Why would Verimor give her something she never asked for instead of answering her greatest prayer to help her younger sister, Blythe?
News of the girl with Sight quickly travels beyond Rowan's local village. When the King of Wisteria learns of her gift from a letter, he summons her to the castle. With growing political tensions from neighboring nations, Rowan may be able to provide the aid they desperately need. Linnea, the king's sister and his primary advisor, prays that Rowan has truly been blessed by a unicorn and can save the nation and its people from encroaching darkness.
Meanwhile, back at home, Blythe sets out on her own journey. She feels helpless, tied down by the pain that keeps her homebound most of the time. Although she wears a smile to comfort those around her—especially her family—Blythe wonders if her life will ever amount to anything more than fading into the background. Is she truly too broken for any greater purpose, or can Verimor still use her?”
Series: Book #1 in “The Tritonia Chronicles” duology.
Spiritual Content- 1 Peter 3:15 at the beginning; People tell Rowan that she was prepared “for such a time as this”(referencing Esther 4:14); Prayers, Thanking Verimor, & a Blessing over food; Talks about Verimor & turning to Him when needing guidance; ‘H’s are capital when referring to Verimor (God); Rowan doesn’t understand why Verimor won’t heal her sister; Rowan is blessed by a messenger of Verimor (who is a unicorn in human appearance) with the gift of “Sight” which causes her to lose being able to see any color and is now able to see the condition of a person’s soul (showing grey shadows or white light; When she stares at the person’s chest and soul, she can see memories that shaped the person (good or bad), their emotions, and any moral battles inside of them; Some are “shattered” due to past tragedies and others are fully black; Someone tells Rowan that she can encourage others who have strayed from Verimor to go back to Him with her blessing); *Major Spoilers* Rowan’s necklace has a blessing on it and causes Blythe’s burns to be healed and her hair to change colors (implying she’s been blessed as well) *End of Spoilers*; Thanks to her blessing, *Spoiler* Rowan is able to find the location of people who have been abducted because of knowing what their soul looks like *End of Spoiler*; Mentions of Verimor, His plans, & His purpose for us; Mentions of prayers & praying (including characters kissing a curved finger and raising it to the sky after praying); Mentions of the Book of Verimor (Bible); Mentions of faiths & having faith; Mentions of clerics, clergywomen, & mages (who all work in church-like settings); Mentions of cathedrals, going to worship, & services; Mentions of blessings; A few mentions of devotionals & quite time with Verimor;
*Note: Unicorns are messengers of God (the author has said on social media that they are comparable to angels) and one transforms into a human-like appearance to talk to a character; Prophets/Prophetesses are called “Phoenixes” and a prophecy is shared from one; The head of the religious church is called a “diatomist” and is able to ask the wind to do something for him and asks for the earth to shake (this is because of the person’s faith and a connection that allows “direct spiritual guidance” from Verimor); The head diatomist’s apprentice is called a “mage”; *Spoilers* Oren, the mage and apprentice to the head religious figure, is the only person that Rowan can see in color; He is responsible for teaching her and tries to convince her that they would be an unstoppable team; *Major Spoilers* Oren uses Rowan to help those who have been “shattered” by darkness in their souls by trying to have her separate the shadows and the light, but while Rowan thinks something is wrong, she does it anyway and it causes major consequences; Rowan uses her blessing on someone else which helps the person, but Oren is upset that she used her blessing without him (the difference between what Rowan felt and experienced between the two different times of using her blessing is noticed); Rowan witnesses someone who has been “healed” by the girl’s soul being covered by the shadows and is torn about Oren’s way of using their gifts/powers together because shadows come from him when using it instead of the white light she experienced; Those who have given themselves to the darknesses appear as having shadows in their eyes and veins *End of Spoilers*; Dinah is one person who was blessed with the gift of Sight from Verimor through one of His unicorns (a story is told about her from Blythe that is partially from the Book of Verimor, but Blythe admits to adding creative liberties to the story because not much was said about the girl in the Bible-like book); A villain tries to use a cursed item through “shadows of a dysfunction” to harm others (which is said to be from the dark twisting/corruption of a blessing) and can be used in a poison-like way; Another country believes it to be foolish to believe in a deity like Verimor & one man from there spews “blasphemy” against Verimor; A side character says that regardless of what “semantics” you use, things like wishes, prayers, and dreams are all a fantasy; A tradition in this world is to eat a certain fruit on a person’s sixteenth birthday and how ever many seeds is in that melon, the person gets that many “wishes” (because of this, Rowan plans to wish for her sister to be healed; Bane tells her that her wish is not guaranteed and it’s just for fun, but Rowan still believes that Verimor will grant her wish because it’s the desire of her heart; A legend/story is told about four men holding up the pillars of the world when it was young and the snakes that tried to tempt them (one version has a multi-headed snake); A few mentions of a prophecy from a prophetess; A couple mentions of luck & being lucky.
Negative Content- Minor cussing including: a form of ‘idiot’ and a form of ‘stupid’; The fictional phrase “what/how in the name of Admiral Ocean [a place]” is said four times; Being shot at, Being held at knife-point, Injuries, Pain (including chronic), Blood/Bleeding, & Passing out (up to semi-detailed); Seeing people stabbed, killed, beheaded, & dying (up to semi-detailed); Finding two cats poisoned and nearly dead (but both survive, up to semi-detailed); When Rowan uses her blessing to look into someone’s past hurt, she feels the pain and grief the person has faced (up to semi-detailed); Blythe tells someone about her nightmare of being trapped a fire and then in water; Mentions of wars, assassination attempts & poisons; Mentions of deaths & grief; Mentions of attacks, people being held at knife-point, injuries, & blood/bleeding; Mentions of Blythe’s chronic pain & sometimes being bedridden due to the pain; Mentions of gossip & rumors; A few mentions of an abusive drunk beating and killing his wife (barely-above-not-detailed); A few mentions of a man who cut out his own tongue to avoid being questioned (and later dying due to an infection); A few mentions of beatings; A few mentions of alcohol, drinking, & an abusive drunk; A few mentions of fires & burns; A few mentions of snakes being killed; A few mentions of throwing up; A few mentions of jealousy; A couple mentions of eavesdropping; A mention of a mother dying shortly after childbirth;
*Note: Blythe is hurt by Rowan’s comment that implies she views Blythe as broken (due to her chronic pain; *Spoiler* At the end, Rowan realizes that her obsession of getting Blythe’s pain to stop was making Blythe feel less than and asks for forgiveness *End of Spoiler*); A side character has a strained relationship with her father; A story is told about a girl who is told she is a nobody from her father and his unkindness towards her (a unicorn counters his words and tells her that she is a child of Verimor and has a purpose); A few mentions of a country viewing women as “second-class citizens” (including a man’s comments against women).
Sexual Content- Two hand/palm kisses, two cheek kisses, and a forehead kiss; Some touches, embraces, dancing, hand holding, tingles/butterflies, nearness, smelling (including unwanted ones, barely-above-not-detailed); Blushes; Some noticing (barely-above-not-detailed); Blythe knows that her worth isn’t dependent on a boy’s love, but still wonders if love and marriage are possibilities for her; Mentions of a handsome young man and girls ogling him; Mentions of courting & crushes; A few mentions of jealousy; Very light love, being in love, & the emotions;
*Note: Helping a woman in labor (barely-above-not-detailed).
-Rowan Tritonia, age 16
P.O.V. switches between Rowan, Linnea, Blythe, and Bane
266 pages
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My personal Rating-
This was definitely different than my normal fantasy read! It actually felt like a mix of different elements that I usually only see in either Christian Fiction Fantasy or Clean Fiction Fantasy books. The faith system for this world had parts that reminded me of Christianity, but also had unicorns being the messengers of the God-like character and a other things like prophetess and oracles, which felt more like what I’ve seen in Clean Fiction Fantasy books.
It’s definitely not an allegory, so don’t take it as one because not everything in the faith aspect correlates directly to the Bible. There’s a prophetess called a phoenix and unicorns that are messengers from the God-like character, Verimor. I think I prefer my fantasy books a little more straightforward but those who are interested in this plot may enjoy this book more. It has the Light vs Shadows element as well that a reader has to pay attention to notice at first before it becomes obvious due to different events.
I wasn’t sure at first with the comments about wishes and the God-like character granting them, but it’s quickly discussed that there is a difference between wishes and prayers & how Verimor (the name for God in this setting) doesn’t grant wishes; the wish granting comments and parts are just an old tradition that is done for fun. Rowan’s friend, Bane, was very clear about this and I really appreciate that being said so quickly into the book.
One other thing I would have liked to see quickly in the story was more about the abilities that Rowan has received. There were some things here and there that I didn’t understand. Such as I didn’t always understand what Rowan’s “Sight” was. What she did and what happened when she used it made sense eventually, but I would have preferred more information about it all up front because it was a new element I didn’t quite get. Her power was supposed to be from Verimor (God) after being blessed by a unicorn (one of Verimor’s messengers), so learning more about the history of it and why it’s given would have been helpful. By the end, I understood more, but I think the world building could have been a little more at the beginning. I wished things had been explained more and why things were happening, such as the whole prophetess who was called a phoenix. Perhaps that will be a more important part in the sequel story, but I was confused how she tied in as it felt a little random and not explained.
I liked Rowan, Blythe, and Bane. I enjoyed these main characters, seeing them interact, and the challenges they faced. Rowan and Blythe’s sister dynamic was strong which I always like to see in books. They weren’t perfect sisters to each other and cause each other hurt with their words at times, but they always had each other’s backs.
There was a certain side character that felt like a walking red flag, so I was glad he wasn’t the love interest in this book and narrowed my eyes at him anytime he appeared—and rightfully so after the ending! “The Goodness of Unicorns” ends with a cliff-hanger, as a heads up!
This book was a bit of a mixed bag for me; I liked some elements (the sisters’ bond!) and was confused on other parts (the magic/power system), but I think those that like High or Epic Fantasy books (books with lots of fantasy elements) may enjoy this book me than me.
See y’all on Friday with a new review!
*BFCG may (Read the review to see) recommend this book by this author. It does not mean I recommend all the books by this author.
*I received this book for free from the Author for this honest review.
