Book Review: Saint-Seducing Gold
After That Self-Same Metal ending on an incredible cliffhanger, I was immediately desperate for more. Fortunately in the follow-up, Saint-Seducing Gold, author Brittany N. Williams doesn’t make the reader wait before launching back into the world of Joan Sands, The King’s Men, and the powerful Fae that threaten life in 1600s London as they know it. The book hits the ground running for a breathless, fast-paced adventure that hits on everything we loved about the first book, and taking them even further as the stakes continue to grow.
At the heart of the story, of course, is Joan, who has now become a Lady-in-Waiting to the Fae queen Titanea - herself still posing as the mortal queen - as a way for the mercurial Fae queen to keep her close. This pulls her away from both her family and her beloved troupe of players as she is now thrust into the sneaky political world of the Royal Court, a far less accepting place than the communities Joan usually calls home. Not that this stops Joan from working with her family and friends to try and find a way to reforge the pact between humans and the Fae before it’s too late.
For all that the Fae side of the plot is full steam ahead practically from the word go, in Saint-Seducing Gold Williams strikes a much-needed balance, knowing when to bring down the intensity and give Joan quieter moments with James and their parents, with Nick and Rose, the two loves of her life, and with her old theater troupe — including one scene in particular that blends all of these elements and called back to one of my more niche Shakespeare faves that had me unexpectedly emotional.
It’s hard to dive into the super-specifics of the parts of Saint-Seducing Gold that worked so well without giving away the twists in the story, but suffice it to say anyone who has an appreciation for Shakespeare and the era in which he lived and worked will enjoy this book, and anyone who has ever had to carve out a place in a world that doesn’t know what to do with them, will find themselves reflected back in a beautiful, thoughtful way that makes this series a must-read for book lovers of all ages.
Saint-Seducing Gold hits shelves on April 23. Special thank you to Abrams Books for an advance copy for review purposes.
