The Castle & The Cloister is set in the nation of Honoria, conquered two centuries earlier by the Inver clan, who choose to rule with ongoing wars and blood. Honoria's current king is set on a course to start a new war that could mean more pain and loss for Honoria. Honoria used to have their people devoted to pacifist goddesses and certain cloisters still hold to the old beliefs, resisting the changes wrought by the Inver clan. In the sun goddess Raea's cloister, Fia and her daughter are seeking refuge, with Fia determined to give her daughter the safety and security she lacked growing up. But before they can truly be allowed in as part of the cloister, Fia is given a task that takes her into the heart of the kingdom, to the mountain fortress where the Inver king and queen reside, and to the political machinations at work there. In the fortress, Ariana Inver was once a follower of the goddess of the stars but is now the queen. After years trying to keep peace for the nation, Ariana has to find a way to keep her husband from moving forward with his new plans for conquest. In the mountain itself, underneath the fortress, the man known only as the Priest is in charge of keeping the Inver religion. Blinded during an attempt by the king to clear all claims to the throne, the Priest will have to work to find a way to a new future for Honoria, one that might change everything that the people have known. Together, these three will either find a way to bring peace or have the nation dragged into another war.
First of all, the world-building here is so vast and intricate, it felt like something that could have existed once in history. From the way the pacifist goddesses used to keep the nation of Honoria to the way the Inver clan moved in and, well, demolished everything, all of it held my attention, making me feel rage or wonder at different turns in the book. I hated certain characters, I rooted for others, and so much of that was also based in how much this world was made to feel real to the reader. Weymouth focused on the settings described in the title itself, the Castle where the Inver clan keeps their stronghold and then the Cloister, where Fia had hoped to make a life for herself. Two opposing forces bent on changing the other to their own ends. The castle wants to take control of the cloister and for the sake of forcing them to bend to Inver rule, to unite all the people so that Honoria will be a force to contend with when it comes to other nations declaring war against them. The castle also wants all the resources of the land that the cloister keeps under its protection. On the other hand, the cloister is determined to keep the peace, to help all of the people, not just those in Honoria, and the only way that can happen is by trying to curb the murderous tendencies of the king and possibly forging an alliance that both sides can uphold. The world-building also had an interesting religious system in place to further fill in the ways of the Inver clan as opposed to the cloister and their followers.
The fact that the Invers made blood the focus of so much of what they did, even offering blood when they prayed, drove home the fact that they were a brutal force, used to making threats and following through on them. The fact of the matter is that the king himself dispatched most of his siblings and his father in order to gain the throne and these acts proved that he was the best candidate for king because of what the people believed. It felt like everything was settled with some kind of fight to the death scenario and with this being the accepted way of things in the world made it that much more of a hard hitting truth. With the cloister however, they were meant to keep peace and spilling blood was something they were supposed to avoid unless it was meant to heal. It was an intriguing force to oppose the Inver way, the fact that the cloister had its own beliefs that were yes, against the Invers, but at the same time, could be argued that they weren't exactly the best to be in charge either, with their vows and tasks given to postulants, or the women who followed the goddesses in their cloisters. The cloister also had their own methods for doing things that felt difficult to understand, seen with Fia and Ariana and their paths in the book. Weymouth made these people feel real because everyone had their reasons, their beliefs, and neither side was strictly right or wrong. That precarious sense of middle ground for the world, where the leads make their home, is what draws the reader in because if neither side can be wholly in charge, perhaps the next step towards an actual lasting peace would be to find a way they can meld together.
As for the characters, I can honestly say that aside from one secondary character, I was sincerely impressed with every person focused on in this story. I can't even say that I have a favorite because each lead had their own path, their own things that I supported and their own things that I was against. I loved Fia because of the fact that she was a nursing mother, forced to leave her daughter behind for the sake of helping the queen, Ariana, in trying to stop a war from starting. Fia also helped with Ariana in the post-partum recovery, as the start of the book has Ariana giving birth to the new heir of the kingdom. Both of these women are so strong already but to show them in these situations as new mothers adds another layer to their fortitude, showing just how people in all ways of life have to pick themselves up and continue on after one of the most excruciating experiences of their lives. And I appreciated this so much because of the, let's call it, recognition it provided for people who have been in the same position. Ariana is literally bleeding through her clothes but she is putting herself in front of peace talks because she is queen and she hopes to prevent a war.
Both Fia and Ariana were also motivated by their own beliefs, Fia with her neglected childhood and her search for a home and Ariana with her upbringing in a cloister where all she ever knew was her religion and devotion to her goddess which has now been cast aside in her new role as queen to a king whose family history was filled with cruelty and murder. Fia could be cold and calculating but over the course of the book, she slowly comes to realize that the circle of people she cares for has grown and that change means she will take up whatever new role comes for her and make the best of the situations she finds herself in. Ariana has to find a way to reconcile the life she now leads with the beliefs she still holds, as keeping them separate for so long has not done much good for herself or her role as queen. There is also much to say about the Priest, who I felt had been dealt a hard hand in his life and yet managed to be such an intriguing character. I could not have made the life that he had created for himself after what he'd gone through. I would have thought he'd be motivated by revenge but the Priest surprised me by how level-headed he was, how quick he tried to protect people and the way he chose to step up when change was inevitable. His devotion to his new nephew was lovely to see compared to the way the king, Orden, regarded his new son. As for Orden, while I didn't love this character, I did appreciate his devotion to his queen, even though he never truly understood Ariana. I found it interesting that he did everything he could to make her happy, to protect her in his court, and yet at the same time, he loved the way she would show her devotion to him in turn, which came across as an imbalance in the power dynamics of their relationship. Weymouth drew every character with a deft hand, filling them with real world concerns and because of that, every nuance feels earned and respected over the course of the story.
Concerning the plot, it felt straightforward enough at first. Our three leads have to find a way to stop a war before it begins. Their positions in the kingdom and their backgrounds make it difficult to find a true, sure way through to making that a reality. At the same time, Weymouth had so many twists and turns, reveals that made me sit up and reconsider everything that had come before that moment. Various things that were exposed over the course of this story made my jaw drop because in the end, there were so many threads weaving together or being pulled apart that the final picture at the end of the story was not the one I expected to see. Honestly, I'm still sitting here after that epilogue and reconsidering everything that was seen in the book and I'm eyeing the release date like I could somehow make it change to earlier in 2027 because I NEED to know how everything resolves. I'm grateful for the fact that this release is book one of a duology. I don't know if my heart could take waiting years for a series to come to a conclusion.
At the end of the day, this is such a respectable read. I was infinitely impressed with everything Weymouth created here and when my copy arrives, I will be going through it with a fine-toothed comb, just to be sure I grasped everything that was so carefully crafted for this book. For now, I will be trying to find the time to go back and read every other Weymouth book I own while I wait for the conclusion to this book to be released.
Rating on my Scale: 10 Stars!! I had no doubt in my mind that I was going to absolutely LOVE this book. I want to find other readers so we can discuss everything about this book for hours. Read this book for the political intrigue set in a fantasy world and meet a cast of characters that pull at your heartstrings whether or not they are the hero of the story.
My thanks to NetGalley, Saga Press and Laura E. Weymouth for this eARC in exchange for a honest review. All opinions are my own.
