The Fantasy Review’s review of Swordcrossed by Freya Marske, a low stakes, queer romantacy novel.
Despite not having many (or any) fantasy elements one might expect from reading a book marketed as “romantacy”, Swordcrossed by Freya Marske is a brilliant book! It’s cozy, very gay, and the stakes are low, so you can relax and never worry that someone is about to die.
Spoiler-Free Review of Swordcrossed
The main characters are Matti and Luca, and they are perfect. Matti is uptight, stressed, and highly organised, running his family’s business while his father works for the council (or something).
Luca is a runaway, hoping to find a new life far from home, earning legitimately as a hired duelist, and then running small cons when money gets tight.
The premise of this book (without spoilers) is that Matti hires Luca as his “best man” for a pre-arranged wedding to Sofia. Matti also gets Luca to teach him how to fight with a sword, so they get to spend a lot of time together before the wedding…
You can see where this is going.
I loved this book. Swordcrossed has everything I want in a cozy fantasy: romance, a historical fiction setting (although in a secondary world, which is the only fantasy element in this book), and stakes that feel high enough to keep the plot moving, but low enough so you know nothing bad is going to happen.
The writing style is smooth and digestible, however there are some moments where the wool industry is discussed in a lot of detail… I believe the author did a lot of research for this, and it’s fair to say that it does add to the context of the story, even if it’s not the most interesting subject!
The romance storyline is kind of instalove, but there is a lot of time the two spend together (weeks) that we don’t really see. We jump forwards in time a lot, keeping the book moving, never slowing down so we get bored.
There are a couple of mysteries along the way, leading to a grand, rom-com finale that warms the heart. If you’re looking for a snug, low stakes romance that takes place in a Victorian-esque time period in a secondary world, pick up Swordcrossed!
