A Deal with the Elf King (Married to Magic Novels)

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The romance: didn't care. Plot: didn't care. Characters: didn't care. It's not that they were unlikeable or I hated them, I just wasn't invested at all in Eldas (btw his name sounds like it belongs to a grandpa) and Luella, or their relationship. For all the people I see who loathe love triangles, ohmygosh I'd take one over a bland romance aNY DAY. One of them could've died at the end and I still wouldn't find it in me to care. You know what, that would've caught me off guard a little though because this book was also predictable as hell. I'm a simple girl, even a book being predictable isn't repulsive to me. As long as I enjoy it. But the combination of dull + predictable (very much present in this book) was just too much for me to handle lol. Un trato con el rey de los elfos es el primer libro de la serie Married to Magic. De todas formas tengo entendido que cambian los protagonistas en cada uno de los libros así que pueden tomarlo como un autoconclusivo. Además de que es Retelling de Perséfone y Hades. And I did say it was boring as hell in the quarter half of the book but as you go in the 10s chapter, it does get better. I think it starts when Luella met Hook! Love how the author accentuates Hook as a character even as a Fade wolf. The author made his presence promising, I love the interactions he had with other characters too. So yes, the sit of few chapters was insufferable but it worths it till the end as the climax and falling action looks favourable.

It's lighthearted with nothing too chaotic or dramatic. Doesn't have anything complex. It's a pretty easy read. May tomorrow hold every possibility. And may we be bold and hungry enough to take them for our own.” now that I look at this too, I realize how funny it sounds. oh god, i can't stop laughing now-

The main characters- Eldas (MMC) and Luella (FMC) were okay, they did not have much depth to them, which is why they are quite forgettable. Eldas although has his sweet and sexy moments, he also comes across as rigid, and overpowered Luella. Luella, although is a selfless character but has nothing else to her personality. She is a healer and a queen but somehow she doesn't have anything to offer.

Harrow, the MMC's brother was trouble and a charming one at that too. I liked him more than the main characters. He came across as genuine and one with full of personality, which made me wish at times that he was the love interest 👀🤭 The romance isn't much of an improvement, either. While several moments had me aw-ing and swooning, there is hardly any chemistry between Luella and Eldas. In fact, it is nearly non-existent up until their first kiss. They even go from cold and distant to cutsie and in love, seemingly, in the blink of an eye. Thankfully, their relationship improves significantly after that, and I slowly begin enjoying it more. MC is talking with her new "elf friend" or reading journals. Again some talking about plants, short argument with the elf king, again reading journal (sounds exiting right?) I had high expectations for this one. The synopsis and the premises seemed promising, I am a huge fan of all Hades and Persophone/Beauty and the Beast retelling, and I love magic and elves. Also, that cover is gorgeous. However, it unfortunately did not deliver.Along the same lines, I also feel like the supporting characters added so much to the book in this short period, unexpected from a standalone. And the Elf King did not fascinate me. Did not captivate me. He was basic. Dull. Too human. I didn’t see him as an Elvish creature at all. He...he fries up bacon and eggs. And bored me even more than that. THE ONLY THING I LIKED about Luella was her drive. I loved how she wasn't willing to just accept a shitty situation like so many other fantasy heroines. Instead, she took matters into her own hands and actually tried to fix the problem In the blurb, the book is compared to Uprooted and A Court of Thorns and Roses, both of which I’ve read, and I understand the comparison, but it also diverges from those books in a lot of ways, so if you didn’t like those I would still suggest reading this one. Uprooted doesn’t really feature many characters other than the protagonist and the dragon, which is one of the ways this book is so different from it because the characters interacting with the rest of the world is such a monumental part of the foundation of this book. A court of thorns and roses features antagonists in a fundamentally different way than this book, the problems and the adversities this book features are very unique and require very different attitudes from the characters. The basic similarity would be that a human girl is taken to a magical world, but besides that, it’s safe to say this book is a whole new avenue in its own right.

El argumento, así como el sistema de magia y el desarrollo del mundo me ha parecido bastante interesante, pero al ponerlo en práctica le ha quedado muy simple. La autora podría haberlo desarrollado muchísimo más y le hubiera quedado una novela más completa. Well, if you weren't confused by that super long sentence, with this book—the beginning of that argument had to be one of the most stupidest I've ever heard in my life. It's so stupid that I couldn't help but start laughing over the fight they were having. Why does Eldas get so mad over Luella not telling him about Harrow's addiction to glimmer/what he does??? Luella even tried explaining to him, but he kept. cutting. her. off. She's a healer and one of her jobs is to also respect the patient's secrets or else they wouldn't be more trusting towards them and who knows what would've happened to Harrow if he hadn't trusted Luella with what he was doing??? *sigh* This was such a fun read! Going into this, I didn’t expect much. At first, the writing style didn’t appeal to me and nothing in particular stood out to me, but I’m so glad I continued reading because I was wrong! 😏 I ended up having a grand time with this! The perfect plot. I know of so many ways standalone plots tend to either be too complicated and begging to be spread out across a few books, and I know of plots that barely serve a purpose other than to bring the characters together. This book finds the sweet spot. You can tell that there was so much work put into the intricacies of this book because it is so easy to read yet so rich with details. Ideas flow together immaculately and the story moves forward naturally and gracefully. There was not one moment where I went, well that just shifted in another direction for no reason other than the plot didn’t feel substantial enough. Like omfg sis I promise they will live fine without you (spoiler alert: they did) sorry the town didn't revolve around your existence.Also, if you enjoy H&P retellings for the Underworld elements, you don't really get that here as Midscape is not anything like the Underworld and Eldas truly isn't a death god/king/etc.