A shapeshifting god,
an immortality granting peach,
and a woman gifted with forever.
England, 1184: Anna is used to hunger and hardship. Ever since she was seventeen, when the pale shadows of her vitiligo were spotted, she has spent more than a decade struggling to survive alone and in exile. Then a single act of kindness towards a beautiful stranger and the taste of a divine peach changes Anna’s life forever.
Suddenly, her body is as untouched by Time as it by harm. As she watches the world change around her, knowing every human connection is only temporary, there is only one person she trusts to always return no matter the years or distance…
The shapeshifting god who gifted her with immortality.
I casually stumbled upon Peaches & Honey and I am still in awe of how much I ended up loving it.
The premise of a girl being gifted immortality was developed in such a beautiful way, with a writing style that feels dreamy and captivating: through a narration that intertwines historical events and tragedies with Anne’s life, the book shows how she slowly learns how to live instead of just surviving, and how years of tragedy and pain may have harmed her, but never changed her fully- she is still someone who would always and undoubtedly put herself in the way of danger to protect others.
I truly adored that Anne’s soft and kind heart is never seen as something that makes her weak, but as a merit, something that can help her make the world a better place when everyone else is so quick to turn their eyes away from sufferance.
And all of this is accompanied by a slow burn for the ages: the evolution of the relationship between Anne and Khiran was handled so delightfully, and the way they both became the only constant for the other in an endless life of uncertainties had me in a chokehold.
Khiran is the epitome of the perfect love interest: he is gentle and attentive, and even though he is an extremely powerful God he never underestimates Anne, but instead always tries to make her understand her value and be by her side (and never in her way) in whatever way he can. He may be a bit overprotective to a flaw, but what fantasy love interest isn’t a little bit? And he also admits his mistakes and atone for them, which is extremely sexy.
The world-building is well-developed but not overbearing, adding a layer of fantasy elements to our real world, and I’m absolutely curious to see how the main plot will evolve in the next book.
I recommend Honey & Peaches to readers looking for a fantasy book with historical (and mythological) elements and an exquisite romance that will make them think of Hob and Morpheus from Sandman.
areaderamongthestars 