All the feels…
Trust Fenn to write a book that hits me right in the feels. I knew Eben and Tryggr already from before, as the Maid and the Orcs is one of my absolute favorite books of the series and probably my whole life, and I still didn’t expect Tryggred by the Orc to hit like that – but before I knew what was happening to me, I was bawling my eyes out. I identified so much with Eben: he struggles exactly with my brand of childhood trauma and all the consequences of it, never feeling good enough, wanting to earn love and be worthy by pleasing others… Feeling like you don’t deserve love if you’re not doing xyz thing. Watching him heal throughout the book was everything.
I feel him so much on his journey to self love and self compassion. He starts out believing his father’s words uncritically and indiscriminately: if his hateful words about the Skai are true (and as readers of the series we know that to some extent, they are), then his opinions of Eben must be true, too, right? But then this beautiful Skai comes along, and Eben starts questioning everything. To me, this is the most beautiful part of this story, and it had the biggest impact on me and my emotions.
Of course, if you don’t like miscommunication and misunderstandings as a plot device, this might not be the book for you, but I love it. I love the angst. I love the tension. And (spoiler) it’s incredibly funny to see these swaggering orcs with their superscenting noses (cough Tryggr cough) realize that what emotions they scent, and what those mean, can be quite different, and words help.
As readers we know relatively quickly what’s up, even with the single POV that keeps Tryggr’s perspective somewhat shrouded in mystery, but the reward is really in the journey here (and when you’ve read TMATO, or Yuled by the Orcs, you already know what’s going to happen, but you don’t have to have read them to enjoy this one).
This book is a gift and a gem, and even though it triggered me (hello, daddy issues), it warmed my heart like hot chocolate on a cold winter’s day. 💚💚💚💚💚
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