“Don’t you sound the romantic fool. Love cannot fill empty bellies or stop the swing of a blade. It’s pointless. It’s a wasted emotion that hinders at the worst possible moment.” – Kaianne

Carved Amidst the Shadows is a dark epic fantasy story, first in the Brands of Taelgir series, written by M.T. Fontaine, one of the SPFBO9 participants. A book that was on my radar after the recommendation of friends whose criteria I trust; and I can say that I enjoyed many elements of this book, such as the intricate political schemes, a slow-burn enemies to lovers romance and the detailed and rich worldbuilding.

The plot starts when Kaianne's life is broken into a million pieces, after her brother is born as a Flawed, bringing the assassination of all of her family; she's only saved due to the help of her brother's best friend, prince Andreiyes. Forced to have the life of a Carved, she starts a quest for revenge against those that ended with her family's life. She was a girl that had everything except for certain obligations, and after these traumatic moments, she will be forced to mature and grow, to adapt to the hard life of an outcast.
With the time, Andreiyes decides to start training as a warrior, to be the first noble doing that. Some revelations from his father, and his own ambition, make him start questioning the beliefs that all people assumed as true, beliefs that give the Order an immense amount of power over the monarchs; he wants to shake off the yoke they have over the different kingdoms of Taelgir. A path that will end intertwining his fate with Kaianne's one, years after their last encounter.

“The weight of a death on your hands, especially the first…It makes you question who you are, what you have done, what it meant. Then you spend time wondering if it was truly deserved. If you are like me, every kill shall haunt you every spare moment you have.” – Andreiyes

And this second encounter between Kaianne and Andreiyes marks the start of a delicious subplot, a slow burn enemies to lovers which Fontaine inserts super well into the plot, as the natural evolution in the relationship of two people that are condemned to collaborate if they want to overthrow the Order. 

Fontaine adds a third character that acts as a counterpoint to the plot, Master Rau, giving us an insight into the Order's politics and rigid control they have over the different kingdoms of Taelgir; they are the few Marked that can travel between kingdoms, and that's the reason they spend so much time looking for Flaweds and Carveds. But even in this kind of character, not everything is black or white, as we can see him trying to protect somebody weaker than him, helping a kid survive; Master Rau can feel things for other people.

“We keep our loved ones in our hearts forever. She will never leave you, but the world goes on whether we want it to or not.” – Rau

Even if this book is a character driven story, we cannot conclude this review without talking about the extensive worldbuilding that Fontaine introduces; Taelgir is a land with history, created by gods who didn't predict the evolution of it. A war is prophesied by the Order, increasing their tyranny over the different monarchs; but common people are also affected by their persecution of Flaweds. There's also some myths introduced by the characters that I would like to see more explored in maybe a prequel novella.

In summary, if you are looking for a dark fantasy, inspired by the medieval world, with some romance and morally grey characters, Carved Amidst the Shadows is a book that you will like. Fontaine has revealed to be really promising, and I can't wait to see how the story of our characters continues!