Stela Brinzeanu

CW/TW: Sexual assault, incest, violence, character death
RATING: 3/5
REVIEW: I received a free copy of this book from Netgalley and am voluntarily leaving an honest review.

Set in Stone by Stela Brinzeanu takes place in Moldova in the middle ages. It is the story of an upper class girl, Elina, and a lower class girl, Mira, who discover feelings towards each other and struggle to make their feelings work in a time when such things were unspeakable.

The first half of this book had me fascinated as to what was going to happen next. I loved hearing the stories of the three major women as they learned more about themselves and came to discover their strengths. Halfway through the book, though, things started falling apart, and I felt that the book traded some of its depth and importance for the action scenes. Still, this didn't destroy the book, and the ending chapters almost redeemed it. As I think of the book, I think of it as a very dark book, with some brightness from the characters. There is a lot of death in this book, and a lot of near-death as well. The author does not shy away from the brutality of the Middle Ages, especially in the way women were treated, and their lack of options.… (meer)