Sweet Yet Anti-climatic: A Deal with the Elf King by Elise Kova

The Gist: A standalone epic fantasy loosely based on the mythology of Hades and Persephone, and while an enemies-to-lovers romance that has its sweet parts, the lack of world-building, endearing characterizations and number of plot holes made the novel quite anti-climatic.

Series: Married to Magic, #1*

Release Date: November 6, 2020

Format: Kindle Unlimited

Rating: 3-stars

*Each novel in the series is Standalone

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A Deal with the Elf King was a spur-of-the-moment purchase. I bought the book because it promised a Hades and Persephone retelling and a sexy arranged marriage romance. I also started the novel immediately after I purchased it. Therefore, I didn’t have time to build up my expectations. I admit, my rating of A Deal with the Elf King would’ve been lower had I expected an epic fantasy. The novel is more for readers who want a sweet, light and fluffy romance than a story similar to A Court of Thorn and Roses.

More Romance Than Fantasy

The romance is a classic enemies-to-lovers set-up but driven by the most frustrating cliché: miscommunication. Neither the Heroine, Luella, nor the Hero, Eldas, pause to think about what the other is going through or why they act in a way the other doesn’t appreciate. Luella’s childhood friend kept her magic a secret from everyone, including Luella herself, so she didn’t get the proper training for the Human Queen. Comparatively, Eldas was isolated in his castle by himself since he was a child. Therefore, he had a strained relationship with his family and no deep connections besides his best friend. As a result, he severely lacks empathy.

Once Luella and Eldas got over themselves, there were quite a few cute scenes between them. However, because the story focused on building a romance, the world-building and magical system suffered significantly. It felt like the author only skimmed the world’s surface; there was a lack of depth to the characters’ ventures into the local town and their interactions with the townspeople. The world also has no personal impact since there’s a lack of attention to detail when describing the scenery. I would’ve appreciated it if, instead of Luella being told about foreign dignitaries, for example, she met people and had meaningful conversations with them that allowed her to be introduced to this beautiful and terrifying new world. These critiques are why I think A Deal with the Elf King would’ve benefited from being dually narrated by Luella and Eldas. Eldas’s familiarity with his world and the surrounding king/queendoms would’ve made the world-building more real.

The best part of the romance – despite how it manifested how stubborn Luella is – was how love meant having a choice. This meant that Luella had to regain her autonomy and decide without being influenced by the need for a Human Queen; she could go back to her human life without dooming the world to death. I thought this was a unique theme, but it was employed in a way that fed into Luella’s superiority and stubbornness.

Frustrating Heroine

I love it when Heroines are healers – a trope I always find fun and inspiring. However, Luella’s characterization as healer felt off because she felt so indebted to her town for paying for her education that she refused to have her own life… or even imagine that they could survive without her (which, you know, they did before she went to school… or was even born). It honestly felt that her saviour attitude towards her village – that only she could help them – was narcissistic. If they paid for her to go to healer school years ago, why couldn’t they send someone else now?

Finally, the bitterness the human town felt for the elves didn’t make sense, considering their agreement – the Human Queen marrying the Elf King – allowed the humans in that town to live longer and healthier lives. Luella’s mother discusses how they don’t have any diseases back on the mainland. Yet, Luella’s village acts like the elves are taking advantage of them? Also, the village doesn’t need longevity of life… so they’re marrying off and sacrificing their women for their benefit, to their knowledge; they don’t know that a Human Queen is required to keep the death realm away from their world.

I hate double standards the most, and it was so annoying that Luella kept up the narrative that her people were being taken advantage of even after discovering the truth. However, the worst double standard is that Luella gets so upset when Eldas won’t tell her how he feels… when she refuses to answer the question. It seemed like every time there was a conflict between Eldas, Luella would go on her high horse and not recognize the hypocrisy in her statements (except for the scenes I mention below).

However, I admit that I really appreciated that Luella didn’t give Eldas any slack. He was cruel, cold, controlling, and borderline abusive to start with. He compels her to agree to their marriage and uses her True Name to ensure she does exactly what he says. His feeling entitled to her True Name demonstrates how messed up his empathy is.

Too Many Plot Holes

There were so many plot holes; typically, if I like the story, I’ll forgive a plot hole or two, but not only were there a lot, but they were quite glaring. The largest and most disruptive was how Luella went from completely ‘In Love’ with her childhood best friend to forgetting he was ever her friend. It would’ve been much more interesting if Luella had navigated the heartbreak of her supposed soulmate betraying her and come to terms with realizing she fell for a fantasy and not actually who her friend was.

Also, every time Luella made strides toward her goal (to find out the origins of the Human Queen and make it so that the Human Queen was no longer necessary), she would suddenly put off investigating this new discovery for some mundane reason. Therefore, the big mystery seemed too simple. It didn’t offer enough details to keep me interested, nor did the unexplained magic system explain why the original Human Queen did what she did. If Luella hadn’t solved the mystery, the Human Queen would’ve doomed all worlds to an apocalypse-like reality just because.

Finally, I didn’t understand why Eldas had to have a romantic history with his best friend. They only went so far as to make out, but this discovery had no point! There was no drama or jealousy, nor did Luella talk about it with Eldas. Also, because Eldas and his best friend only went so far, it seems like Eldas was still a virgin (?). So, it couldn’t have been to make sure the adult Hero wasn’t a virgin when he met Luella. Their relationship served literally no purpose. I would’ve preferred Luella to find a strong female friendship that is not based on a guy, let alone a shared romantic partner.

In Conclusion

It’s a remark on the main characters’ characterizations when my favourite character was Eldas’s misunderstood youngest brother, Harrow. Harrow had all the makings for a pretty scary villain in his first scene with Luella. Still, his characterization as the overlooked, dismissed, and taken advantage of by the third prince was compelling, especially considering his poor coping mechanisms. Whenever Eldas’s family was brought into a scene, I would feel let down when Harrow wasn’t included or even mentioned.

Overall, A Deal with the Elf King does have a few sweet scenes if you’re looking for a romance. However, the flat world-building and considerable plot holes negatively impacted my reading experience.

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