Hellebore Fields
A Dark Academia Hockey Romance
Hellebore Fields is a dark romance novel that’s marked by inherent suspense.
Toeing the line between love and obsession, Rivkah Plume’s dark romance novel Hellebore Fields follows a naive academic’s love affair with an infamous hockey star on campus.
Tesni is intrigued when her professor assigns her to a group project with her college’s hockey star, Branwen. The two soon begin a relationship. But Branwen’s possessiveness and temper become an obstacle: Tesni is warned by both a friend and the mean girl on campus that Branwen has endangered his romantic interests in the past. When a second stalker begins to follow Tesni around campus, she is caught between common sense and her growing attraction to Branwen.
In the dual-perspective narration, Branwen proves to be haughty and self-aware about his flaws. He understands that he crosses lines but rationalizes his behaviors away, saying that they are necessary to protect Tesni. His perspective is fascinating, as he is able to justify each twisted decision he makes: “Tilt your head and protection becomes surveillance. I don’t tilt mine.” This darkness results in inherent suspense, as Branwen exists one step away from facing dire consequences for his actions.
Tesni, on the other hand, is less interesting as a narrator. Characterized most in terms of her academic excellence, she is quite naive, and her dynamic with Branwen is submissive and trusting, leaving little room for her to flourish outside of their relationship. Characterized by her victimhood, she isolates herself from her friends, makes excuses for Branwen’s dangerous behavior, and desires to save her partner from himself. While her arc comes to a satisfying conclusion, Tesni does not leave a strong impression beyond her relationship.
Indeed, the book’s suspense sustains interest, not its heroine. Branwen takes on the role of a detective for much of the story, seeking clues and laying out traps to “protect” Tesni. The conclusion to this storyline is abrupt if surprising, challenging the characters’ self-perceptions within their toxic relationship. However, the narration preferences conversations over action, and aspects of the conclusion are rushed and vague. People often have information that there’s no reason for them to have, which is jarring. Further, because most of Tesni and Branwen’s conversations are about the danger she’s in, their romance falls to the wayside; their feelings for one another are stated rather than explored in depth.
Hellebore Fields is a propulsive romance novel about the paper-thin line between obsession and devotion.
Reviewed by
Leah Block
Disclosure: This article is not an endorsement, but a review. The publisher of this book provided free copies of the book and paid a small fee to have their book reviewed by a professional reviewer. Foreword Reviews and Clarion Reviews make no guarantee that the publisher will receive a positive review. Foreword Magazine, Inc. is disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255.
