BLOG TOUR: The Unwilling by Kelly Braffet

I'm excited to be a part of the Blog Tour for The Unwilling by Kelly Braffet. I received an electronic arc from the publisher for honest review. Thanks so much to MIRA and Kelly Braffet for letting me be a part of this fun tour and giving me the opportunity to read The Unwilling.

Title: The Unwilling

Author: Kelly Braffet

Published by: MIRA

Released: February 11, 2020

Source: Review Copy from Publisher

Goodreads   Amazon

Synopsis: A penetrating tale of magic, faith and pride...

The Unwilling is the story of Judah, a foundling born with a special gift and raised inside Highfall castle along with Gavin, the son and heir to Lord Elban's vast empire. Judah and Gavin share an unnatural bond that is both the key to her survival... and possibly her undoing.
As Gavin is groomed for his future role, Judah comes to realize that she has no real position within the kingdom, in fact, no hope at all of ever traveling beyond its castle walls. Elban - a lord as mighty as he is cruel - has his own plans for her, for all of them. She is a mere pawn to him, and he will stop at nothing to get what he wants.
But outside the walls, in the starving, desperate city, a magus, a healer with his own secret power unlike anything Highfall has seen in years, is newly arrived from the provinces. He, too, has plans for the empire, and at the heart of those plans lies Judah... The girl who started life with no name and no history will soon uncover more to her story than she ever imagined.

An epic tale of greed and ambition, cruelty and love, this deeply immersive novel is about bowing to traditions and burning them down. (Synopsis from Goodreads)

My Thoughts: The cover is what really drew me to this story. It's beautiful. It made me think of secrets, maybe magic, maybe even haunted manors. What can I say? I love a good cover. The synopsis didn't really give me that much of an idea of what I was walking into.

This book is not going to be for everyone, but if you're willing to stick with it, I think you'll be pleased. The Unwilling is a daaaark book. It has trigger warnings for child abuse. I mean, this tale is not a happy one. 

It's also a chunky monkey book, it's long and a little on the slower side. You have to have a certain patience when it comes to this story.

I enjoyed it. It might not have been a story that kept me on the edge of my seat, but it gave me an experience. I'm glad I stuck with it. I really enjoyed the writing. It had some really interesting world building. The characters were interesting to follow.

This book is a journey and I'm glad I went on it. If this book sounds like your kind of thing, I'd definitely recommend giving it a read.

Kelly Braffet writes stories about unhappy people making bad decisions, occasionally with magic. She is the author of The Unwilling (available 2/20 from Mira Books), Save Yourself, and Last Seen Leaving; her first novel, Josie and Jack, has been made into a feature film starring Olivia DeJonge, Alex Neustaedter, and William Fitchner, and directed by Sarah Lancaster. Her writing has been published in the Fairy Tale Review, Post Road, and in several anthologies, as well as on Salon.com. She is a graduate of Columbia University and Sarah Lawrence College.

She is married to the tall and immensely talented writer Owen King. He's dreamy. For more, seewww.kellybraffet.com.

Thank you for stopping by my Blog Tour Stop for The Unwilling by Kelly Braffet. Thanks so much to MIRA and Kelly Braffet for letting me be on this tour and giving me the chance to read this book.