When WIshes Bleed Book Review

When Wishes Bleed is the first book in the duology by Casey L Bond.

BLURB

One Prince. One Witch. One Fate.

The upheaval in my life began the moment a prince stumbled into my house and asked me to read his fortune. Any other night, I might have made an excuse to get him to leave, but this was no normal visit. My fingers prickled to touch him. So, I granted his request by handing him a single wishbone. When he snapped it, the wish … bled.

Hearing me suck in a shocked breath, he asked what it meant. Such an ominous omen could only mean one thing: his death was imminent. Fate revealed that he wouldn’t die of natural causes. Someone wanted him dead. Stunned by the revelation, the man I now knew as Prince Tauren disappeared into a night I feared he wouldn’t survive. The following day, I received an invitation to the castle. While it seemed the prince believed I could intervene and uncover who was plotting his death, his motives didn’t stop there. I was being summoned to join twelve other women in vying for the opportunity to be his wife and future queen.
​
Going could mean jeopardizing my plans to reclaim my heritage and resurrect the House of Fate. But staying would guarantee Tauren’s death, and the blood of his wish would be on my hands.

REVIEW

What an amazing and intriguing book by Casey Bond. From the beginning of the book, I was hooked. I have read other books with witches and witchcraft but this has topped my list.

Fate, I knew all too well, was real. He wasn't an obscure concept of destiny, or a dream of what the future might hold. And he certainly wasn't luck or a wishing well. He was sentient and very much alive. I was Fate's daughter, and he lived inside me.

The world building and characters are varied and rich. I can truely imagine myself walking through the streets and seeing the people along with Sable. Sable hasn’t had the easiest life and on her birthday things will change for her.

Children would ignore their own experiences and feelings if adults pressed them hard enough into the straight and narrow line. It was how prejudice and ignorance were perpetuated through the generations.

Sable’s life changes as soon as she gets a visitor looking for a reading, who turns out to be the prince. I loved the relationship that built between Tauren and Sable as she heads to the palace to stop his death.

Besides, every girl, witch or not, dreamed of becoming a princess. Not with crowns and gowns, but princess of the of someone she loved, and who loved her in return. Witches only hoped to tolerate their hand-fasted for a year.

This book explores different societal structures as well as beliefs about marriage. I loved the coming together over Sable and Tauren, who love each other but have different backgrounds, find a way to be together. The ending was fantastic and I’m looking forward to The Omen of Stones.

We had to process death with emotion, and experiencing death, and mourning the loss of someone you loved, was not only inevitable for all of us, it was something that transformed us into a stronger version of ourselves.

This book had me at the end and had me cry! I definitely recommend this book.

5/5 stars