Arini's Reviews > The First Girl Child

✨ 3.75 "CURSED" stars ✨

the first girl child is a well crafted, lush, and epic historical fantasy tale of a cursed kingdom that captivates its readers with equal parts of intrigue and adventure inspired by the norse mythology. it's the perfect read for fans of sky in the deep . reading this book had felt like watching someone's entire lifetime period played out through a montage. a quick snippets of moments that despite all the emotions they'd evoked inside me, i was still left feeling a little discontent at how fleeting each of those moment came to pass. id barely had time to fully appreciate it before the image changed.

main concern
the story spans more than twenty years starting from when bayr was born (which then marks "the activation" of the curse plaguing the kingdom) up until it's lifted (which eventually happens when he is about twenty years old). so the book covers significant moments from bayr's childhood to his teen and new adult life. now bcs of this, the book feels draggy at times. i truly enjoyed reading about bayr's adventures throughout the years, but (as in most cases with filler scenes) they seemed a little pointless and only prolonged the resolvement phase of the main conflict which was the curse itself. i wish the author had started the story with bayr at the age of eighteen instead and provided us with a few flashbacks when necessary. that way it'd make the book feel less like a "documentary" and more like a full fledged story that has a clear stages of plot from exposition, to conflict, to climax, to resolution.

aside from that, everything else is written off almost to perfection. i love the elaborate world building, how the kingdom is divided into different clans. the magic system is a little unutilized, but i love the keepers' temple and what it signifies. the writing is beautiful and vivid. it brings the story to life. the book is less about the forbidden romance of two main characters, but more about the journey of collective characters. its focus is not only on bayr and alba, but also other characters surrounding them as well. i feel like this book doesnt even have main characters. they're all equally important, and the pov alternates from all of them. although some do happen more often than others. the relationship dynamic among these characters is truly exceptionally done. you can find the distinction in each shift and how they all intertwine in the end.