Starved by Naomi Kelly

“I may not believe in gods or demons, but I believe in me. I won’t give up, I won’t give in.”

I want to thank Bookworm Books PR and Naomi Kelly for this ARC!

Synopsis:

The narrative follows Méabh, who loses her home and family in Carraig an Chroí due to a famine. The villagers blame the Dark Forest for the crop failure, but Méabh knows the ones that caused it is their neighbouring island, Ravensland. As the Ravens demand payment from the starving villagers, Méabh enters the Dark Forest and makes a deal with the demon who lurks there that changes her life forever.

My thoughts:

This was my first time reading a narrative inspired by Irish myths and I really enjoyed it! I’m more familiar with Norse and Greek mythology so this was definitely refreshing and eye-opening.

I love how the story is littered with the Irish accent. There were many common phrases and words that were altered to phonetically suit the way they would be pronounced in Irish; I ended up reading the whole thing with an Irish accent in my head!

Méabh is an incredible FMC — she’s resilient, courageous and a rebel at heart (especially when she realises the bargain she made with the demon wasn’t what she expected). She’s also quite sassy and not afraid to voice her opinions with the people around her.

The concept of founder x fledgling between Méabh and The Dubhling was fascinating and a take on the forced proximity and enemies to lovers trope that I don’t encounter often when reading! The slow burn was real between these two, and TENSION towards the end was: 🥵🔥!!

If you’re someone who loves reading about demons, powers, Irish myths or are looking for your next enemies to lovers story, definitely check this one out! 🙌🏻✨

Tropes in Starved:
✨ Demon MMC
✨ Enemies to lovers
✨ Forced proximity
✨ Defiant FMC
✨ Shadow welding abilities
✨ Irish myths
✨ Secrets
✨ Powers
✨ Magic
✨ Mythical creatures

You can order your copy of Starved here. Follow Naomi Kelly on Instagram for her newest updates and works!