MAIN THEMES:
Why Choose? + SLOW Burn
Magical Academy
Hidden Secrets
Political Intrigue
Fated Polyandry
Escaping Trauma
Huge shout out to D. Smythe for providing me with a copy of her novel, A Disaligned Meridian!!
To be honest, when I got it, I thought I was getting myself into another pirate romantasy (based on “Meridian”). BOY, was I wrong!! Not a single pirate in sight!
The story is set around Valeria, a 19-year-old 5’10, raven haired and blue eyed resilient badass who was kidnapped at 14 and held captive by an unnamed maniac. She was tortured, experimented on, and her inherent magical powers stifled. There are a lot of mysteries in the book that never quite get solved, such as: What exactly are Valeria’s powers? Why did they kidnap her? Who kidnapped her? What was their endgame?
Here’s what we do know:
Children are being kidnapped all over the realm. Some randomly show back up, sometimes it’s just their bodies, sometimes they’re never seen again.
Valeria is the center of the most powerful Meridian to be seen in a millennia (more on that later).
Her powers are so great, she refuses to tell anyone what they are.
Her and Nyros - who she was in captivity with for 2 years - have major beef.
Her 4 fated lovers are rich and hot AF
Everyone seems to be immortal humans (no mention of Fae or any other species), but there’s gotta be a way they die… right?!
The World:
Valeria’s world is made up of 4 realms: North, South, East, and West. The ruling Meridian of each realm form a council that governs them as a whole.
“Steph, what the heck is a Meridian?” Don’t worry, I got you… Take the fated mates you’re used to, and multiply it by 4. One woman is fated to be bonded for life to 4 men - a polyandry family, if you will. At 17 years old, she learns their names. At 20 years old, she finds them (or that’s how it’s supposed to go…). The men are bonded in a way as well, but it can vary from brotherhood to romance. It’s known this will happen, so there’s not really any jealousy (yet).
Valeria just so happens to be in the strongest Meridian basically ever, and we are still waiting to find out why and what she is capable of.
The Characters:
Even with Valeria’s tremendous trauma that she is attempting to recover from, she is a spit-fire. She’s sassy, doesn’t think before she speaks, and has walls bigger and stronger than the fabled Jericho. I surprisingly resonated a lot with her feelings of never being enough for those she cares for and the desire to just isolate and shut down when overwhelmed.
Her Meridian is made up of Aurellion (heir-apparent to the South realm and headmaster of the academy she attends), Thalor (the adorable lover-boy her same age that essentially becomes the buffer between her and the others), Darian (the buffest, gruffest man you’ve ever met who’s a general in the army and secretly a teddy bear), and Nyros (the one she has hella beef with). The dynamic between all of them is truly beautiful - the men have already formed a close brotherhood prior to her arrival and they now have to navigate trying to figure out who, exactly, she is and wtf is even happening… The individual relationships she has with each one are effectively massive rollercoasters and it’s an intense slow burn situation with every. single. one.
Tiana is a fellow academy student and the only one in the whole school who can match her wit and banter. I absolutely adore Tiana and would become her bestie in a heartbeat! She serves as Valeria’s rock and quickly became my favorite side character.
There is so much growth and then repression throughout the book, that no one can say D. Smythe writes stagnant characters.
The Plot & Writing:
As the first book in a series, there’s a decent amount of world-building, but D paces it well with the multiple POVs - that allows for different parts of the world to be developed without committing pages/chapters to setting the scene.
The book ends on such a cliffhanger, I had to double-check that my Kindle didn’t glitch out! BECAUSE WHAT DO YOU MEAN YOU ENDED IT THERE?!?! And there’s no release date for book 2 yet, so now I need a stiff drink to be able to sleep…
Only reason I didn’t give it 5 stars is because I didn’t ugly cry, or even shed a tear, but I hear that might change in book 2…
In summary, snag a copy IMMEDIATELY upon release - you won’t be disappointed!
Trigger Warnings:
Graphic Violence
Blood and Gore
Slavery, Imprisonment, & Torture
PTSD and Major Depression
Suicidal Ideation/Attempted Suicide
Trauma
Child Abuse (recounted)
Explicit Sexual Content
Political Intrigue
