Review: Little Kin - Katya de Becerra

Genre: Fantasy Published: Blackstone Publishing, September 2026 My Rating: 2.5/5 stars

“She was of the island, and the island was of her.”

The Story:

Cass was adopted as an infant and knows little about her birth-family. When she is informed that a family member has left her a crumbling house on Rothagisht -a remote island near the Arctic Circle- in their will, she seizes the opportunity for a new start. But the island of Rothagisht is nothing like she imagined. Ancient rites, covenants and mystical forces govern the lands, and Cass soon finds out that her bloodline connects her to the island in ways she did not anticipate.

What I liked:

Admittedly the premise is far from original, but the atmosphere and fantasy-elements do a lot of work to make up for that. Although it’s labeled as horror, I’d categorize Little Kin as more of a dark fantasy/fairytale for adults. It’s atmosphere is steeped deeply in Nordic folklore-elements and the descriptions of the landscape and lore transported me back to my trip to Iceland (one of my favourite travels to date).

The way Becerra integrates the folk-elements into the setting and the story makes them feel completely authentic, whilst being completely original and unique. Unique in this case also means a little bizarre and uncanny. Personally, I loved that the author took that risk. As someone who grew up on Nordic and Germanic fairytales, I can tell you that the authentic ones are strange. Believe me when I say, what happens here isn’t even that wild compared to some of the folktales that used to make the rounds…

What I didn’t like:

To summarize it in a single noun: the romance. In fact, I disliked it so much that I came to hate the entire character of Arden and had to actively refrain from skipping all the sections that feature him prominently. It’s a classic case of horribly cringy insta-lust, dog-whistled at from the moment Arden is introduced as a lean and muscular, improbably tall and handsome man, who shows Cass the ropes of the island.

Apart from being handsome, Arden barely has a personality and basically functions as a vessel for exposition about the island’s history and culture. That lack of character and chemistry with Cass makes their romance completely unbelievable. Especially considering how strongly the plot leans on their bond and willingness to sacrifice for eachother by the end.

Luckily, none of these sacrifices matter in the end, which brings me to my final reason for rating this book fairly low. The ending let me down immensely. Not only did it feel far too easy and unearned, it also has the balls to end on a celebratory sex-scene, which felt compounded all the cringe I felt about the romance into a single scene…

Recommended for fans of A River Enchanted, Heather Fawcett and Root Rot (specifically for the uncanny fairytale vibes). I personally do not see the comparison to T. Kingfisher that many people are drawing, as Little Kin distinctly lacks the cozy vibe and humor-elements that are so characteristic of Kingfisher.

You can find this book here on Goodreads.