The Rogue and the Healer [Paperback]
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- Homeschool Family Favorite
- Sibling Loyalty + Found Family
- Moral Integrity and Courage
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The Rogue and the Healer
Book Three in the Five Kingdoms Chronicles
A richly woven tale of torn loyalties, hard choices, and the cost of doing what’s right—ideal for readers ages 12–17 and families who value clean, thoughtful fantasy.
After barely escaping their enemies at sea, Katrin and her brother Cyril return to Talisfarne only to find their home shattered and their world unraveling. Their beloved stonecote lies in ruins. Cyril faces expulsion. Astrid is promised to a prince she doesn’t love. And when the heir of Katrin’s darkest enemy falls ill, only her healing gifts can save him.
But what if healing him endangers everything—and everyone—she holds dear?
With Tsarevich Sasha watching their every move and magia growing stronger within her, Katrin must walk a knife’s edge between mercy and betrayal. As each friend faces a future shaped by impossible choices, the fate of the Five Kingdoms—and the Kingdom of the Fey—hangs in the balance.
🗝️ What readers will experience:
- 🌿 Thoughtful, character-driven fantasy with deep moral tension
- 🩹 A brave healer forced to choose between justice and compassion
- ⚖️ Interwoven themes of sacrifice, power, and emotional maturity
- 📚 Clean YA fantasy with layered worldbuilding, perfect for homeschoolers
🌊 A Slavic-inspired epic for fans of Shannon Hale, Megan Whalen Turner, and Tales of Goldstone Wood—and for any reader who believes friendship and courage are stronger than magic.
Possible triggers: book contains a character's memory of being struck with birch rods as a child and the off-screen flogging of an adult male. Questions? Use contact form below.
Genre: Historical fantasy, action & adventure, coming of age, mythological creatures and folklore
Audience: Middle schoolers, teens, young adults, adults
Recommended Reader Age: 12+
Explicit Language: None
Explicit Content: None. Later books in series contain sweet romance.
Violence: Action-packed battles that may include death, but without gore or graphic violence
"This fairy-tale-like story follows a pair of down-on-their-luck siblings as they try to outsmart a villainous duke.
In this book set in the fantasy world of Talisfarne (which sometimes resembles a bygone Russia), Katrin and her younger brother, Cyril, live by themselves on a small island. They were orphaned after their mother died of an illness, and their father was murdered by marauders who broke the government’s peace treaty not long after. Magic, or “magia,” abounds—alongside plenty of enchanted creatures like fey and even sirens: “Her silver tail [splashed] a shower of dazzling brightness so that Cyril felt he’d been sprinkled with the shards of fallen stars.” After losing their house (and everything in it) in a contest, Cyril makes a deal with Ilya, the contest’s winner: Deliver a mysterious package to Ilya’s father, and Ilya will return the property to Katrin. This seemingly simple task leads to wild twists and turns. Cyril winds up in jail, and Katrin discovers the power behind her exceptionally beautiful singing voice. Along the way, readers meet a colorful cast, including the Princess Astrid, Diogenes the woodsman, and an evil duke. Stuffed with traditional fairy-tale references, such as clever disguises and an old woman with mysterious gifts, the novel tackles multiple storylines and characters. Swanson ably juggles everything and everyone, delivering both an intriguing plot and lyrical prose that may remind some readers of Erin Morgenstern’s The Starless Sea, from 2019. (“Cyril huffed and grumbled and shrugged into his cloak. His gait looked stiffer than usual as he departed the cottage for tutors or prayers or whatever it was he did these days between sun-up and midnight.”) The author conjures a vivid world where her characters discover themselves in endlessly surprising ways, melding ancient folklore with politics and enchantment.
A charming tale brimming with magic, beauty, action, and memorable characters."
OUR VERDICT: GET IT
(Publishers note: this book was originally published as TSARINA SCHOLAR WOODSMAN THIEF)
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