- Hardcover: 576 pages
- Publisher: Mira Books; Original ed. edition (11 Feb. 2020)
- Language: English
- ISBN-10: 0778309401
- ISBN-13: 978-0778309406
Synopsis
The Unwilling is the story of Judah, a foundling born with a special gift and raised inside Highfall castle along with Gavin, the son and heir to Lord Elban’s vast empire. Judah and Gavin share an unnatural bond that is both the key to her survival…and possibly her undoing.
As Gavin is groomed for his future role, Judah comes to realize that she has no real position within the kingdom, in fact, no hope at all of ever traveling beyond its castle walls. Elban–a lord as mighty as he is cruel–has his own plans for her, for all of them. She is a mere pawn to him, and he will stop at nothing to get what he wants.
But outside the walls, in the starving, desperate city, a magus, a healer with his own secret power unlike anything Highfall has seen in years, is newly arrived from the provinces. He, too, has plans for the empire, and at the heart of those plans lies Judah… The girl who started life with no name and no history will soon uncover more to her story than she ever imagined.
An epic tale of greed and ambition, cruelty and love, this deeply immersive novel is about bowing to traditions and burning them down.
Review
I have only been reading fantasy fiction for about eighteen months and am loving learning all about the sub genres and different types so thought I would read The Unwilling by Kelly Braffet. The book centres around four main characters; Gavin is heir to his father Lord Elban, Theron, Gavin’s younger brother, Ellie, Gavin’s future wife and Judah. Judah, known as the foundling or the witch by courtiers and staff, has a bond with Gavin. This bond is only known by the four of them, Lord Elban, the Seneschal and the visiting Magus, it as a bond of life and death, a bond that ties them together forever. As the four of them grow up, protected in Highfall Castle with it’s high walls, the dynamics of their relationships change and they find themselves pawns in a dangerous game of power and politics, setting them against each other with Judah at the centre.
What first came into mind reading The Unwilling was that it read like a historical novel with it’s palace, heir and a spare to the throne, and arranged marriage and combat training and battles, just with a touch of magic. The title refers primarily to Judah but could also refer to Ellie, Gavin and Theron. Judah was brought in by the midwife when Gavin was born, and adopted by his mother. Ellie came to Highfall as an eight year old, sold by her family to Lord Elban to be married to Gavin. Both Judah and Ellie had no choice in coming to Highfall, just as Gavin has no choice at being heir or Theron in being groomed to lead an army he had no ability to do. Their strength lies in being one unit, standing together against Lord Elban. It is their friendship that I loved about this book, their loyalty each other and the willingness to sacrifice their own happiness for the safety of the others.
This book certainly wasn’t what I expected, but I liked that, it kept me interested and eager to read on. Kelly Braffet writes beautifully, with well imagined characters, and a gripping plot, that doesn’t pull any punches. This book may not be for the faint hearted, there is a dark side of cruelty and torture, both physical and mental, used as punishment and a power tool. This dark side is difficult to read at times, but it is an important part of the plot line and the balance of the characters relationships. This book really got under my skin, I felt invested in the characters and their stories so that by the end of the book I felt drained, as if I had gone through everything with them; it takes a special author to write like that.
The Unwilling is an epic and magical read of corruption, power, greed, and friendship under oppression. I loved the historical feel to the book and at times I had to remind myself that this was fantasy fiction, and the characters weren’t real. Complex, compelling and beautifully written this is a brilliant book, and one I’m glad I chose to read, I’m loving this new genre.
