Between the breathtaking book cover and the author, Elizabeth Lim, it is hard to imagine who wouldn’t want to read A Forgery of Fate. This young adult fantasy begins as a Beauty and the Beast retelling with an East Asian-influenced setting and other elements, but the story becomes more than that with the author’s own unique signature. Ms. Lin crafts a fierce and capable female character, Tru, while managing to keep the character likeable; the author also crafts a compelling male lead in Elang. As the backstory is slowly revealed, the relationship between the two becomes more authentic. Descriptive writing (especially about food) is balanced out with strong pacing, moving the narrative along.

This young adult book is whole-heartedly recommended–especially if you love fairy tale retellings. If you haven’t discovered Elizabeth Lim yet, then jump on board. Her Six Crimson Cranes is set in the same fantasy world as A Forgery of Fate and there are a couple of minor cross-over Easter eggs tucked in.

Content Analysis:

Profanity/Language: 23 mild obscenities;1 scatological word.

Note: Exclamation of “Gods” in fantasy world setting not tallied as profanity.

Violence/Gore: Report that a parent has been lost on the ocean (interpreted as dead); parent slaps child on the face; reference to crime lord who is known to slit throats; verbal threats of harm; characters are pursued with intent to harm; character pulls a knife in defense; a brief scene of attack/fight including tackling, jumping, harming eyes, thrown daggers and other items; bloody cloth is thrown at a character and they are told that their acquaintance has be stabbed in the back and dumped in the canal; family is kidnapped; man punches a young woman in the face; house is set fire with individuals held inside, implied death/harm; incident related in which a curse was placed upon someone that resulted in a messy death; characters discuss briefly if someone might be killed by a knife through the heart or by poison; character questioned by an animal who inserts barbs (painful); character turns others into stone on a whimsy; attack which results in falling debris, destructions of property, injuries, implied deaths, no details; character fantasizes on how she would violently hurt/kill someone, brief; vision in which a character sees blood; brief scene in which character battles a monster, some details; it is expected that someone will meet assassins; character is covered in scars from battles and assassination attempts; character is painfully transformed into a monster; creature slaps a character; character is frozen; character strikes another with lightning; characters are pursued and hit with harpoons, causing injury, mention of blood; character knocked unconscious; destruction of property by fire; character punches another in the face; brief climatic scene of fighting with barbs, sword, hitting, etc., mention of blood; character melts away; recollection of a scene in which character is ambushed by bullies and there is a fight with hitting, punching, etc.

Sex/Nudity: A girl is going to be sold as either a servant, courtesan, or a concubine; reference to mythical creature luring women to be concubines; a few instances of inuendo; kiss on hand; characters kiss passionately upon a few occasions,

Mature Subject Matter

Death of a parent, death, gambling (addiction to), art forgery, betrayal.

Alcohol/Drug Use:

Herbs used to render characters unconscious; reference to wine.