People have strong feelings about tropes, but one thing I love is flipping tropes on their head. That’s what we’re getting in Amanda Foody and C.L. Herman’s latest novel together, A Fate So Cold.
A Fate So Cold [Buy Bookshop Amazon LibroFM] is a dual POV story following Dominic and Ellery. They are both training to weild magic and bond with a living wand. Dominic doesn’t expect much, but somehow ends up bonding with the strongest summer wand, meanwhile Ellery accidentally creates a winter wand. It comes when their land, which is ruled by summer, facing a threat from winter, and instead of a Chose One, they believe the prophecy marked them as the Chosen Two.
Or…. are they? This is a fun twist on the Chosen One trope, as well as flipping enemies to lovers into a friends to lovers to enemies situation.
I really enjoyed Amanda and C.L.’s writing style. They used some lovely turns of phrase and decriptions. They also have some fun dialogue, which apparently comes from role playing scenes together to craft those conversations. Their co-writing process is unique and sounds pretty fun.
I read this book half by eyeball and half by audio, and I was much more locked in with eyeball reading than listening. I don’t know if that was due to narration or the story itself, but I’m leaning toward the former, as the ending is just the midpoint of this story. Book two is expected in the fall of 2026 and I’m eager to see who wins this battle and how Dominic and Ellery work their way out of this situation.
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