Review by Kelly Jarvis: The Elementist by Quinn Columba Boyko

I was lucky enough to read an early copy of The Elementist and was absolutely enchanted by it! Boyko tells the story of Caedris, a character who discovers herself through memory and her connection to the elements. Found wandering in the woods and covered in amethyst, emerald, and aquamarine tattoos, Caedris is pushed forward on a journey to find what is missing.

Boyko builds a beautiful world with her writing, presenting a society based on the premise of gifting. There is a host of characters to enjoy, and I especially loved Ferrid, the Lorekeeper, and Jocco, the sweet and steady farmhand. The love triangle between Caedris, Ferrid, and Jocco is full of twists, turns, and revelations grounded in emotional and social growth. The novel unfolds like the rings of a tree, looping around as it weaves together stories, memories, thoughts, and voices. The natural world oozes from the pages, but there are libraries and labyrinths too, all bound together by the web of Boyko’s prose. 

The beautiful cover created by Alison Weber, The Faerie Scribe, perfectly captures the essence of The Elementist, a sweet but quest-filled adventure to discover one’s place in the world. If you enjoy traditional fantasy writing, stories crafted with lyrical prose, and quests that are as internal as they are external, The Elementist is the book for you! You can find it here.

Kelly Jarvis works as the Contributing Writer for The Fairy Tale Magazine and a Recurring Columnist for Eternal Haunted Summer. She also teachers writing and literature at Central Connecticut State University. Her folklore inspired novella, Selkie Moon, was a semi-finalist in the Speculative Fiction Indie Novella Championship and her Gothic historical romance, Sea and Stars, is the winner of the Literary Titan Gold Book Award. Learn more about her at https://kellyjarviswriter.com/