Forging Silver into Stars by Brigid Kemmerer

"Fate has already drawn a path beyond this moment..."

Brigid Kemmerer can always be trusted when your definition of "light reading" is a page turning fairytale that keeps you up all night long. Welcome back to the lands of Syhl Shallow and Emberfall, where Cursebreakers trilogy took place. Years after the events of the Cursebreakers, the kingdom that Grey and Lia Mara hoped would unite is falling apart under the threat and fear of the magic that has returned to the land...But this is not their story.

This is the story of Callyn, a baker, brave and bold as any soldier, whose distrust of magesmiths and all forms of magic leaves her equally distrustful of strangers. It's the story of Jax, a crippled blacksmith, convinced his fate lies in the forge, under his father's abusive care. And it's the story of Tycho, the King's Courier, who stops at the small town of Briarlock when his horse throws a shoe, in desperate need of a blacksmith.

The first thing that pops out at me is that this book isn't all sunshine and roses. It's not a sickly sweet romantasy where Mary Jane's rule the world and everything is lovely all the time. Callyn, Jax, and Tycho all have backstories that left them damaged in one way or another. They all have presents that are leaving them torn and struggling. They'll have to overcome adversity if they want to find a happy ending, it won't be handed to them on a silver platter.

On the romance side of things, it is sweet. It begins innocently enough. Jax and Tycho circle around each other, both wary of what the other represents, yet playful. But as they get to know each other, the relationship starts to heat up. I suppose whether or not the sexual implications are age appropriate depends on your view of this book's target audience. I feel her books read as young adult, but I never thought about what the age range for young adult is. I had to look it up: young adult refers to an age range of 12-17. And to me, some of the content is inappropriate for a 12-year-old, but acceptable for a 17-year-old.

I love that the book is inclusive. Like with her story A Curse So Dark and Lonely, that features a heroine with cerebral palsy, Brigid Kemmerer addresses ableism in literature by offering us characters who are usually stigmatized by their imperfections. In Forging Silver into Stars, Jax has long been judged for his missing foot, lost in a childhood accident. He's been regarded as worthless, even by his own father, until Tycho shows up to reassure Jax that he's perfect just the way he is. And in case you didn't catch on, there are no distressing damsels or handsome princes in this fairytale. It's a romance between two young men from different walks of life, and the damsels here are perfectly capable of rescuing themselves.

My only real criticism of this book comes with the point of view shifting. BK jumps between the individual point of views of Callyn, Jax, and Tycho, as she swapped between viewpoints in Cursebreakers. She's set the tone for this trilogy; she can hardly stop now. But in the future, I'd love to see her try to write something from a single point of view.