State of Sorrow Review

I was lucky to go to the launch party at Waterstones (it was that snowy week where everything was closed and you weren’t sure if trains would run or not). I ended up with a nice postcard, the book (signed of course), a tote bag, a Lamentia candle from Geeky Clean and Melinda standing up to shake my hand because she recognised me as Moon. Thanks Mel, I felt like a celebrity for a few seconds.

State of Sorrow by Melinda Salisbury

A people cowed by grief and darkness.
A cut-throat race for power and victory.
A girl with everything and nothing to lose…

Sorrow all but rules the Court of Tears, in a land gripped by perpetual grief, forever mourning her brother who died just days before Sorrow was born. By day she governs in place of her father, by night she seeks secret solace in the arms of the boy she’s loved since childhood. But when her brother is seemingly found alive, and intent on taking control, Sorrow has to choose whether to step aside for a stranger who might not be who he claims to be, or embark on a power struggle for a position she never really wanted.

Rating:

It starts very poetic and almost like a fairytale which was a lovely way to start, and then it is a sad sorrowful tale. It was good to read it after the launch as I had Melinda’s insight into it and I went in it thinking of grief and how to process it. My heart hurt for the whole kingdom as they have lost joy and basically live in permanent forced grief.

It also helped to know that Mel writes the “twists” not as twists but as logical ways for each character to achieve something and it was itneresting to read with that lense on, as what Vespus does and all those little twists definitely made more sense. Some were more “predictable” if you look closely enough to the “crumbs” of what they are doing, and some still surprised me (specially the twist about Sorrow).

All in all, it is a sad but beautiful tale and I recommend reading it.

Moon recommends

Reading State of Sorrow or Melinda’s other series, Sin Eater’s Daughter. If you want to read more about grief you can try Letters to the Lost which blew me away.