Jenni (jenni_t_reads)'s Reviews > A Sword of Bronze and Ashes

A Sword of Bronze and Ashes is a stand-alone novel that crosses genres from grimdark fantasy, folklore, Celtic mythology, horror and literary fiction. It tells a story about a mother called Kanda and her family. The book has two story lines, Kanda's past and her present, and we follow how Kanda's forgotten and hidden past as a mighty warrior caughts up with her present family life when a dead body is found in a nearby river. Kanda and her family have to flee from the danger and leave their home to find safety.

Spark's prose is purple ie. it's lyrical, poetic, repetitive, has a lot of adjectives, allegories, and very long and short sentences. It's Spark's trademark that can either make you love her books or dislike them, but for me, it's a style that makes me absolutely love her books. In this book, the world, the setting and the beautiful descriptions of nature pulled me into the story every time I opened the book. It was vivid and easy to imagine. The dialogue was also something I really appreciated, because it was realistic with all the repetitiveness that we do in real life.

The story itself felt old, but in the fantasy genre it's fresh and different. The story doesn't embellish motherhood, aging or family life, and it doesn't shy away from all the deprecated feelings and actions that one can have in the mundane life. The story was unrefined and I appreciated this so much because quite few authors are willing to say things as straightforward as Spark does! The characters were deeply flawed and realistic which makes Spark so good in the grimdark genre. There were some really good plot twists that I didn't see coming, because they were so well tied up to the flaws of the characters.

I loved this book. I was in constant awe of Spark's prose, which made me immerse myself in the story and understand the characters despite their flaws. The ending made me cry, because I saw it as an allegory for keeping going in life and building something new and beautiful even if you have lost loved ones and had to change in the process. Five stars.