Review of “On the Subject of Griffons” by Lindsey Byrd
“When true love is found, it’s merely found. The rest . . . the rest is just . . . what it is. Gender hardly matters when you find your love.”
I read a lot of fantasy. I love a queer storyline. So, when I saw this book on Riptide Publishing, I had to check it out. It did not disappoint.
Kera (Kerryn Montgomery) is a complex character. She is a mother and a widow whose late husband was a war hero who was killed for attempting to assassinate their country’s leader. She remembers Mori (Morpheus) mostly with affection, but then she is forced to spend time with his mistress and remember the time he betrayed her.
Aurora is equally fascinating. She is the “other woman” but she is so much more. Life has never been easy for her and, while she feels guilt for sleeping with Kera’s husband, she is also jealous of Kera’s privilege.
Together, they find they have much more in common than they ever could have guessed.
Kera’s son Aiden and Aurora’s daughter Faith have fallen ill with a plague that is ravaging the land. There is no cure, but they will not accept that. The legends of the griffons draw both mothers out on a quest with their children to seek out the talons and feathers that are said to heal any ill.
At first, they travel together for safety in the wilds. But, as time goes on, the four grow close until, to their surprise, love grows from the ashes of their past.
Over the course of their journey, Kera learns that she is stronger than she ever dreamed she could be, and Aurora learns to trust. They find that they are stronger together. They both learn to love again.
There is so much love in this story, it all but drips off the pages. Love of a mother for her child, love of a wife and husband for each other despite his betrayal, love between friends who served in the war together, love between two children who become chosen siblings, and love between two women who find each other where they never expected.
“Happiness, she discovered, wasn’t something her husband was ever capable of giving to her. It wasn’t something anyone could give her. It was something that she needed to farm and cultivate on her own. Something that she needed to look for within herself in order to bring it out to the surface. And while people could influence her happiness, they couldn’t provide it to her ready-made. She couldn’t place all her dreams in one person and think it would turn out well.”
