My Review: Mestlven by Jesse Teller

Synopsis: 

Revenge, Insanity, and the Bloody Diamonds

Meredith Mestlven was abused and betrayed by her nobleman husband. After a desperate fit of retaliation, she fled for her life and lost her sanity. Now nearly 20 years later, she returns to her home at Sorrow Watch to destroy her enemies and reclaim her jewels. How far will she go to satisfy her revenge? Dark, cunning and beautiful, Mestlven will win your heart or devour your mind.

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So thanks to his previous works, Chaste and Liefdom, I was well acquainted with Jesse Teller's style and mode of storytelling. 

It's evocative and sinister, to say the least. 

Mestlven was no exception. 

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First off, the story involves characters from the previous works I mentioned. Personally, it helped to read them to get an understanding of who was who and—in some cases—why they were the way they are. However, I didn’t feel I would have been lost or any less in tune with the account if I hadn’t.

You get some new characters and—if you read the other books—you’ll get old ones, one of which is Meredith also known as Sob, the woman calls Mestlven, the soiled den of degeneracy, home. 

In effect, she is an assassin on the mental brink and you get to see her somewhat understandable motives for choosing such a line of work.

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I feel that this story gives you more of her and her past, which I loved. The perceived villains always intrigue me. No one is “bad” for no reason.

Jesse Teller creates a world here in which you are in the action and gaining knowledge of characters’ motives and development on the go, giving the reader a sense of the person’s actions, thoughts, and the like under various circumstances, often under intentional or inadvertent durress.

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The pacing of the story is just right, never moving too slow in one place or rushing elsewhere. 

On top of that, Sob and the other characters—whether you love them, hate them, identify with them, etc.—are believable and vast in personality.

Overall, this was a twistedly marvelous ride that sent my heart up, down, and to ultimate shattering so if you're a fan of dark fantasy, thrillers, or if you're just looking for that perfect read for the Halloween season, this is worth it.

5 stars!

Find the Author, view a Sneak Peek, or check out Mestlven on Amazon, Barnes and Noble, or Book Depository today!

Bye for now! 

~Jessica