For fans of Daine, Wild Magic, and the ability to speak to animals, this is for you! This cozy fantasy delivers the right amount of spice, stakes, and swoon. I loved being immersed in two characters desperately wanting to be seen and accepted for who they are. Keep reading this book review of Asiri and the Amaru for my full thoughts.
Summary
Asiri has a gift – she has the ability to speak to animals. However, when she begins to feel that her talents are being abused in her home, she escapes to a delightful coastal village where she plans to hide her gift and finally live a “normal” life.
This proves difficult as her path keeps crossing with Dario, the village’s charming and handsome animal healer – and the person most likely to guess her secret.
Through a twist of fate, Asiri and Dario stumble across an injured Amaru, a creature who had, up until then, been thought only to be myth.
Now, Asiri has a mission.
Convince Dario to help the creature.
Protect it from the superstitious town people.
Keep her gift a secret.
And absolutely, most definitely, NOT fall in love while doing so.
Review
(Disclaimer: I received this book from the author. This has not impacted my review which is unbiased and honest.)
Asiri and the Amaru being dual POV is brilliant. Not only do we get to witness the mis-conceptions and misunderstandings, we can see – from early on – the similarities between Asiri and Dario. The way they are struggling to be seen for who they are. How they’ve been so hurt by those who should have loved them, seen them, accepted them for who they are. But how their love, their passions, their words, their abilities were used against them. It hurt my heart to see! I just want to scoop them up and protect them.
What can you not love? Both of them have such huge hearts and their love for animals will melt even the coldest of hearts. But at the same time, sometimes these large hearts can be something we have to navigate. We have to make sure we don’t get taken advantage of those we trust. And we have to make sure we can still figure out who is worth our compassion, our generosity. But Asiri and the Amaru is for people who have ever felt like they have to reduce themselves.
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Who have been called names for being who they are. And the importance for finding someone who loves and sees us for who we are. Who never asks us to diminish our light. (Can I just also say how much I loved the footnotes? It brings a level of humor to the book which had me laughing!) I also adored the found family themes within Asiri and the Amaru. All in all, an utter win like I predicted. I’m so glad the hype was 100% correct!
Find Asiri and the Amaru on Goodreads, Storygraph, Amazon, Bookshop.org, & Blackwells.