REVIEW BY: Christie
TITLE: Counterpoint
SERIES: Song of the Fallen, Volume 1
AUTHOR: Rachel Haimowitz
NARRATOR: Craig Beck
PUBLISHER: Riptide Publishing
LENGTH: 11h 55m
RELEASE DATE: September 7, 2016
BLURB:
It is the twilight of mankind. Depleted by generations of war with a race of dark beasts, humanity stands on the brink of extinction. The outlands are soaked with the blood of the fallen. The midlands are rotting with decadence and despair.
Elfkind, estranged by past crimes, watches and waits for nature to run its course.
And then the two collide.
Ayden’s life has long been guided by two emotions: love for his sister, and hatred of all things human. When he’s captured in battle, he is enslaved in the service of a human prince, Freyrik Farr. Freyrik’s always known elves to be beautiful and dangerous, but never has one affected him as deeply as Ayden. Teetering on a dagger’s edge between duty and high treason, Freyrik discovers that some choices can change a life, and some an entire world.
Between prejudice, politics, pride, and survival, Ayden and Freyrik must carve a new path, no matter how daunting. For nothing less than the fate of both their peoples rests on the power of their perseverance – and their love.
REVIEW:
So, Counterpoint had a pretty interesting blurb and premise that I found intriguing. After listening to the audiobook, I can say that the narration was indeed good and the story interesting, however, considering that the book ended with a very unfulfilling and frustrating cliffhanger, I will not be continuing on with this series.
Ayden’s sister crosses the border from elven lands to the human world, therefore breaking many rules and laws that both species have put in place for hundreds of years. Before Ayden can get his sister back to their lands, human soldiers have found them out and captured them. Not before an epic fight, mind you. Elves are magical creatures, in tune with the music of everything in creation. When in synch with nature and themselves, said music can be wielded as a very powerful weapon against enemies. Which happened in this case. Ayden was able to throw lightning at the soldiers, which ended up killing several before he was finally subdued and brought before Prince Freyrik.
There’s something about the deadly but oh so stunningly beautiful elf that calls to prince Freyrik. So, instead of kill him outright for the deaths of his soldiers, the prince takes Ayden as his slave and installs him in Freyrik’s personal rooms as his companion, of sorts. As time goes on, and the men continue to cohabit the prince’s rooms, they learn more about one another and affections form then grow. Then the affections flourish. However, the world in which humans live is harsh and unforgiving. And, Prince Freyrik cannot let his people see his affection and love for Ayden. In fact, the people demand Ayden’s blood be shed in order to compensate for the lives he took before being captured in battle.
Counterpoint is a dark, sometimes very violent tale of a love that cannot be, yet still persists and grows between a human prince and his elf slave. Their relationship is just shy of abusive at times, but beautiful all the same. Yet, the two must hide their affections from those around them, for fear it will upset the kingdom and result in Ayden’s death. Which seems to be what the people want.
Can Prince Freyrik keep Ayden from being whipped and tortured, maybe even killed, in order to save him from an horrific punishment that his people are demanding as repayment for the men killed when Ayden was captured? What about their relationship? Is it really love between the two? Surely, Ayden isn’t really Freyrick’s slave, right?
Well, for the answer to these and many other questions, look no further than the book. However, I will strongly caution you: there is no resolution in this book whatsoever. It ends on a cliffhanger, and that makes it even worse. So, in my opinion, the book really isn’t worth reading or listening to. I experienced more angst and irritation after the book was over, because of where it ended in the story, than during the scene where Ayden was being whipped to within an inch of his life, in front of Prince Freyrik who was impotent to do anything but sit and watch as his lover was being brutalized.
I do not appreciate when a cliffhanger is used as a device to withhold a large chunk of the story from the reader, in order to manipulate them into buying the next book. It puts a very sour taste in my mouth, and makes me instantly drop the series without any need to continue and find out what happens next.
Craig Beck, you are a phenomenal narrator!! I am in awe of your spectacular talent (and super sexy voice by the way), and cannot wait to hear more of your narrations soon. Thank you for lending your voice to this story. If not for your narration, this book would have gotten a 1 from me. However, you yourself brought the rating up to where it is now. That’s the power of a narrator, folks. They can make or break a story for sure.
RATING: 
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