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Series: The Orc Prince Trilogy by Lionel Hart

Greetings and welcome to Reviews That Burn: Series Reviews, part of Books That Burn. Series Reviews discuss at least three books in a series and cover the overarching themes and development of the story across several books. I'd like to thank longtime Patron Case Aiken, who receives a monthly shoutout. Full Audio Here   An elven prince. The son of an orc warlord. In two warring nations, their arranged marriage brings peace. They never expected to fall in love. Prince Taegan Glynzeiros has prepared since childhood to fight and lead armies against invading orc forces, the enemies of elves for hundreds of years. But after a successful peace treaty, the elven prince will not be fighting orcs, but marrying one. The first words he speaks to Zorvut are their wedding vows. Despite being considered the runt amongst the orc warlord’s children, Taegan finds him to be intelligent and thoughtful—everything the stereotypes about orcs say he shouldn’t be. He doesn’t want to fall in love, but Zorv...
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Comfort Me with Apples by Catherynne M. Valente

Sophia was made for him. Her perfect husband. She can feel it in her bones. He is perfect. Their home together in Arcadia Gardens is perfect. Everything is perfect.

It's just that he's away so much. So often. He works so hard. She misses him. And he misses her. He says he does, so it must be true. He is the perfect husband and everything is perfect.

But sometimes Sophia wonders about things. Strange things. Dark things. The look on her husband's face when he comes back from a long business trip. The questions he will not answer. The locked basement she is never allowed to enter. And whenever she asks the neighbors, they can't quite meet her gaze....

But everything is perfect. Isn't it?

TITLE: Comfort Me with Apples
AUTHOR: Catherynne M. Valente
PUBLISHER: Tordotcom
YEAR: 2021
LENGTH: 112 pages
AGE: Adult
GENRE: Horror
RECOMMENDED: Highly

Queer Rep Summary: No canon queer rep.

COMFORT ME WITH APPLES is a story of trouble in paradise, when Sophia finds something out of place and begins to question everything she knows about her life.

The worldbuilding is amazing, deftly layered through lists of community rules and the details of Sophia’s explorations. Sophia is a bit saccharine as a character, I prefer more of an edge to protagonists, but her sweetness is important to the plot and is used very well. 

I love the ending, it ties things up neatly in a way that suits the story as a whole.

CW for fatphobia (brief), gaslighting, death.

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A close-up of a woman's face with vines in front of it. The purple flowers from the vine surround her eyes like eyeshadow too low on her face.


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