A Dance of Blood and Destiny

The Eldritch Trials

By: K. R. S. McEntire

Narrated by: Ursula Harmon

Can an exiled princess save a broken kingdom?

The Aolani Kingdom is under attack. If murderous bandits don't destroy the peaceful and prosperous fae community, then kingdom politics and family drama will. Eighteen-year-old Princess Kaia is done bending to the will of her overbearing mother who thinks an arranged marriage with a powerful elven prince can save the kingdom from being ransacked by assassins, bandits, and rogues. She's done hiding her forbidden romance with her vampire boyfriend. If Kaia's father was still around, she suspects he'd grant her the freedom to choose her own path in life and love. But he's been missing for years and presumed dead. While estranged from the royal family, Kaia learns that information about her father's disappearance might be found on the island of Elderton, where the deadly Eldritch Trials take place. Now Kaia must enter the trials to learn the truth about her father, prove herself a worthy queen, and save her Kingdom from all who stand against it. A Dance of Blood and Destiny is part of The Eldritch Trials, a melanated, magical shared fantasy world.

©2023 Keshia McEntire (P)2024 Keshia McEntire

Excellent story, lovable characters

I loved Kaia as an MC and her growth through the story, as well as the development of her relationship with her mother. Tayo is just soooooo dreamy!!! I really enjoy the basis of African mythology for the characters, as it's not something that is seen very often. The narrator was great, except I feel like she was just a little flat/monotone at times. She did a great job portraying emotions when speaking as the characters, though, and overall it was a great performance.

The ending is the best!

Overall, I enjoyed the story and absolutely loved the ending.
I often struggled with the FMC as she would came across as a spoiled teenager. I think that may have been the author’s intention, however.
The love interest was good but a bit too golden retriever for my liking. Sometimes it really seemed like he was just the love interest with no other depth, which bugged me. I felt better about him by the end of the story as well, he had more depth overall though I did still feel like his life was a little too centered around the FMC.

Love the Series Concept!

This was a fascinating story with great worldbuilding and character development! I met this author (and most of the others in this shared world) at Imaginarium Book Festival earlier this year. Since The Eldritch Trials are a shared world and not a true series that needs to be read in order, I love that each author chose to focus on different fantastical races. This one looks closely at the fae and to a lesser extent the elves. The interactions between races and the cultural differences added a lot of flavor to the world. The story itself took quite a long time to actually get to the trials, which was where the protagonist was hoping to find information about her missing father. I wish the story had gotten to the trials quicker since that was the catalyst for many other story threads, but overall, I enjoyed this book very much and can't wait to start reading the other books in this shared world.