So This Is Ever After by FT Lukens | Book Review

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Carry On meets Arthurian legend in this funny, subversive young adult fantasy about what happens after the chosen one wins the kingdom and has to get married to keep it…and to stay alive.

Arek hadn’t thought much about what would happen after he completed the prophecy that said he was destined to save the Kingdom of Ere from its evil ruler. So now that he’s finally managed to (somewhat clumsily) behead the evil king (turns out magical swords yanked from bogs don’t come pre-sharpened), he and his rag-tag group of quest companions are at a bit of a loss for what to do next.

As a temporary safeguard, Arek’s best friend and mage, Matt, convinces him to assume the throne until the true heir can be rescued from her tower. Except that she’s dead. Now Arek is stuck as king, a role that comes with a magical catch: choose a spouse by your eighteenth birthday, or wither away into nothing.

With his eighteenth birthday only three months away, and only Matt in on the secret, Arek embarks on a desperate bid to find a spouse to save his life—starting with his quest companions. But his attempts at wooing his friends go painfully and hilariously wrong…until he discovers that love might have been in front of him all along.

So This Is Ever After by FT Lukens has one of the most gorgeous covers. The colors, the art, I love. So when this book came across my email, I couldn’t resist temptation. And I am so down for a good fantasy and am frequently sold on dungeons and dragons comparisons. As it turns out this was either wrong book at the wrong time or just not the book for me. Whatever it was, I didn’t gel with this book as much as I had hoped.

When the prophecy is fulfilled in a lot of fantasy stories, that’s it, the end, happily ever after. In So This Is Ever After we find out what happens to the heroes after the fight the odds, defeat evil and fulfill the prophecy. After vanquishing the Vile One, Arek puts on the crown and declares himself king as a joke. Only, that’s not the way it works. He actually is now king. He also needs to get married by his eighteenth birthday or disappear into nothing. His best friend Matt who is a wizard knows about the situation, but no one else does in their group. So, Arek decides to try and woo his fellow group members with disastrous results while pining away for Matt.

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Well, the good! This book contains representation of different types of sexualities. I think you could view Arek as being pansexual given he pursues men, women, and a non binary person. Also, this book does subvert tropes which I think lots of people will enjoy. It was not the book for me, however. I felt like this book really dragged. The humor came across as really juvenile – which I suppose given this is aimed at young adults makes sense. I never felt all that invested while reading. There absolutely is an audience out there for this — but I was not it and that is fine.

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April (Books&Wine)

April is in her 30s and created Good Books And Good Wine. She works for a non-profit. April always has a book on hand. In her free time she can be found binge watching The Office with her husband and toddler, spending way too much time on Pinterest or exploring her neighborhood.

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