Bound to the Broken Crown by. Astoria Hope | ARC Review

My Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️

Spice Rating: 🌶️

Title: Bound to the Broken Crown (Magebound Courts, #1)

Author: Astoria Hope

Format: eBook (NetGalley)

Pages: 441

Publication Date: 1/27/26

Publisher:

Categories: Romantasy, Dark Fantasy

Disclaimer: **I received this book free from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. All thoughts and opinions are my own.**

Thank you to Victory Editing for giving me a chance to read this eARC in exchange for an honest review!

A prince cursed to destroy everything he touched. Until he touched her.

Isca never dreamed her gift for sensing emotions would draw the eyes of princes—let alone the Assembly of Mages. Brought to court under the guise of diplomacy, she quickly learns her secret task: soothe the beast raging under Prince Emrys’ skin and deliver his heir back to the Assembly to forge into a weapon. Refusal means her family’s ruin.

But Emrys is not the monster she expected. Yes, he’s volatile. Yes, he’s destructive and dangerous. Beneath the curse, she glimpses the man—giving, fiercely protective, and unbearably lonely.

To the Assembly, Isca is a tool. To Emrys, she’s a temptation he cannot afford. He pushes her away to protect her, even as his eyes betray the truth: she is the only thing keeping him from drowning.

He could break her with a touch. She could bind him with a heartbeat. While their enemies scheme to use them as pawns, desire threatens to undo every wall they’ve built.

Together, she and Emrys could shatter the Assembly’s chains. But that would mean laying bare her betrayal—the one thing with the power to destroy both the man and the monster.

Bound to the Broken Crown is book 1 of the Magebound Courts Trilogy featuring a tormented cursed prince, the empathic mage sent to calm his inner beast, and their slow-burn romance. This book contains spicy content and graphic combat violence, Suitable for readers aged 18+

Content Warning: violence, death

Bound to the Broken Crown has all the elements usually found in a romantasy: magic, enemies to lovers, a Prince with a curse, and a woman to save him.

Isca, has magic that can sense and manipulate emotions, so she is tasked by the Mage Assembly, to be a diplomat and help two princes rule their kingdom of Darreth. They also want her to procreate with one of them because she has magic and the line of royal mages is dying out. Isca knows that if she doesn’t do this, her family will be threatened.

Isca turns out to be really good at diplomacy. It helps that one of the twin princes, Nisien is actually nice. Where as Emrys is grumpy, violent and cursed. He’s prone to killing people when he loses control of the beast inside of him. Of course Isca’s drawn to Emrys. What happens between them is a slow burn, enemies to lovers romance. I enjoyed their tumultuous love story, which ends in a happy ending. He becomes obsessed with her but loathes the curse within him so he tries to stay away. There is spice, but not a lot of it.

I did like learning about Isca and her family. She really grows when she leaves them and is in Darreth. There is a found family there for her with the princes and her lady’s maid, but the people also gravitate to her and she has really found her footing as a diplomat.

I do wish there was more world-building and political intrigue. I also wanted to know more about Emry’s curse but there was barely information on what it is. Despite all that I think this was enjoyable as a light fantasy read. It’s a quick read and the focus is more on the romance. But I did get invested in the side characters like Nisien and another prince, Owain, from another kingdom so I hope there will be books about them.

Final Thoughts:

This was a quick read which was kind of nice, without too much heavy world-building and a story focused on the enemies to lovers romance between Isca and Emrys. Overall, I enjoyed it and look forward to reading the other books in the series.

Book Links:

Goodreads | Amazon | Barnes & Noble

Night Terror by. Vincent Ralph | ARC Review

My Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️💫

Spice Rating:

Title: Night Terror (Bleak Haven, #2)

Author: Vincent Ralph

Format: eBook (NetGalley)

Pages: 240

Publication Date: 1/20/26

Publisher: Wednesday Books

Categories: Young Adult, Thriller, Suspense, Mystery, Horror

Disclaimer: **I received this book free from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. All thoughts and opinions are my own.**

Thank you to Wednesday Books for giving me a chance to read this eARC in exchange for an honest review!

Who the hell holds up a bookstore? That’s what Noah asks when his favorite spot is suddenly targeted by masked attackers.

But these people don’t want a ransom. They are searching for Bleak Haven’s very own urban legend – The Burning Book.

When something with a thirst for flesh creeps from its pages, Noah must team up with the other hostages and try to escape the mall without turning their town into a bloodbath.

Content Warning: death, violence

I thought this book had much more action than book one, Dead Fake. I enjoyed that it was fast paced and had a zombie coming after a bunch of kids in a mall!

I still think I’m not the right audience for this series because I’m older and yes, it reminds me of R.L. Stine Goosebumps, but again, I have just grown out of it.

But I think teens would enjoy this series.

Final Thoughts:

I think teens and younger young adults who like YA Suspense/Horror would really enjoy this.

Book Links:

Goodreads | Amazon | Barnes & Noble

Other Books I’ve Read From This Author:

Dead Fake by. Vincent Ralph ⭐️⭐️⭐️

Dead Fake by. Vincent Ralph | ARC Review

My Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️

Spice Rating:

Title: Dead Fake (Bleak Haven, #1)

Author: Vincent Ralph

Format: eBook (NetGalley)

Pages: 256

Publication Date: 1/20/26

Publisher: Wednesday Books

Categories: Young Adult, Thriller, Suspense, Mystery, Horror

Disclaimer: **I received this book free from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. All thoughts and opinions are my own.**

Thank you to Wednesday Books for giving me a chance to read this eARC in exchange for an honest review!

Would you Swipe to Die?

When the new craze takes over Bleak Haven High, Ava Wilson refuses to join in. As the niece of an infamous murderer, it’s the last thing she needs.

The mysterious website allows people to view their own ‘death’ – an AI generated version of their final slasher-movie-moments. But, when some of her classmates’ deepfakes are replicated in real life, Ava can either catch the killer…or be the next victim.

Content Warning: death, murder

There’s been a trend at school called Swipe or Die, where there are AI produced videos of how someone will die. It’s been called a deep fake when someone finally does actually die, someone close to Ava. Ava is the niece of a murderer so she’s had an interesting life and family – and this cuts close to home.

I think teens and younger young adults will like this one. It has teenage friendship drama. There is mystery, suspense, horror, and a surprising twist.

For me it was an okay read but I kind of lost interest in the middle, only because I think I’m not the target audience. I think I would have enjoyed this when I was a teen though! I was always reading R.L. Stine in my younger years.

Final Thoughts:

I think teens and younger young adults who like YA Suspense/Horror would really enjoy this. I will be reading book two since I was gifted an arc so I look forward to reading that one.

Book Links:

Goodreads | Amazon | Barnes & Noble

The Night Ship by. Alex Woodroe | ARC Review

My Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️

Spice Rating:

Title: The Night Ship

Author: Alex Woodroe

Format: eBook (NetGalley)

Pages: 224

Publication Date: 1/20/26

Publisher: Flame Tree Press

Categories: Horror, Thriller, Apocalyptic

Disclaimer: **I received this book free from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. All thoughts and opinions are my own.**

Thank you to Flame Tree Press for giving me a chance to read this eARC in exchange for an honest review!

An apocalyptic world turned into a pitch-black sea of nothingness, but smuggler Rosi and her crew of survivors aren’t alone. Something hungry lurks below…

Driving a logging truck through the Romanian mountains, smuggler Rosi and her crew come across a radio signal that hints at impending doom. As the world goes completely dark, their truck becomes a vessel sailing across a sea of nothingness.

But they’re not transmissions trickle in through the radio from similar isolated islands across the country, from amateur radio hobbyists and police cars and customs facilities.

Attempting to rescue survivors and find a way out, the group save more lives, but soon discover that something hungry lurks below, and it’s sending up agents – and transmissions – of its own.

Content Warning: death

I was asked to read and review this book and I took a chance on it even though it’s out of my comfort zone. I do read dystopia but not so much ones like this one.

It’s the end of the world, Rosi is with a few people and they are in a truck getting transmission radio signals and hearing people all over talk about being alone, that this is the end and they just want people to know they are out there.

How is the world ending? I’m not sure – something with vines? I was confused most of the time. They were running from something, but even they didn’t know what it was. I felt like this world-building was very vague. But I did feel the tension from beginning to the end of the story.

It’s also a short story, way under 300 pages, but I just felt like there wasn’t much there for me to feel invested in the characters or what was happening since I was confused. I did get that this took place in Eastern Europe, and I got a hit of some politics in the story, but again, not enough that I knew anything concrete.

Final Thoughts:

I think this was a well-written story but not something the kinds of stories I usually read, so I felt it was an okay read for me. But if you like apocalyptic stories, where you don’t get the answers right away – you might like this one.

Book Links:

Goodreads | Amazon | Barnes & Noble

Oxford Blood by. Rachael Davis-Featherstone | ARC Review

My Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️

Spice Rating:

Title: Oxford Blood

Author:Rachael Davis Feathersone

Format: eBook (NetGalley)

Pages: 320

Publication Date: 1/13/26

Publisher: Wednesday Books

Categories: Young Adult, Mystery, Thriller, Dark Academia

Disclaimer: **I received this book free from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. All thoughts and opinions are my own.**

Thank you to Wednesday Books for giving me a chance to read this eARC in exchange for an honest review!

Love, Lies, Legacy…High-achieving state-school pupil Eva has one dream – reading English at Oxford. If she gets in, not only will she receive a world-class education at an elite university, but she will be fulfilling the dreams of her mother and gain some independence from her father, the overprotective Inspector Dawkins.

At the same school, Eva’s best-friend George is also hoping to go to Oxford. The attraction between him and Eva is undeniable, but they’ve agreed to put any romance on hold until their places at Oxford are secured. Eva cannot be distracted from her goal – although when they are both invited for interview week, their future together feels oh-so close.

Until George shows up dead.

The police rule his death an accident, but the behaviour of some of the other interview candidates has Eva suspecting foul play. When a shocking secret about George is revealed, Eva finds suspicion falling on her. What was meant to be one of the most important weeks of her life is fast turning into a nightmare.

All eyes are now on Eva, including the anonymous posters behind OxSlay, a gossipy social media forum exclusively for Oxford students. But amongst the conspiracy theories, lurk hidden clues. Could they help Eva clear her name – and catch the killer?

Content Warning: bullying, death, grief, murder

Set at Oxford this story has a murder mystery, secrets about bloodlines and a very determined FMC in Eva. Eva has a chance to get into Oxford but she needs to go through the daunting process of interviewing. There are a few kids who are there with her, along with her boyfriend, George, but the spots are coveted and very limited.

As the story goes on we learn more about secret societies, classism, racism, colorism, and sexism that takes place at this prestigious learning institution. Also, someone is killing people, and trying to frame Eva for it. But with her infamous detective father, and her new found friends, the clock is ticking to found out who is committing these murders.

I don’t think I was the right audience for this book even though I did enjoy the murder mystery. I do think young adults and teens would like this one though. But everything happens really fast, and I didn’t see how Eva could just jump right in trying to investigate these murders, one of them being someone close to her, plus try to focus on her interview without processing anything. I think things just happened way too fast that it didn’t feel believable. Also, because it’s happening so fast, she’s so stubborn in thinking she knows all the answers, even defying her dad’s advice. I wanted her to stop and breathe a little!

Final Thoughts:

I liked the setting of Oxford and learning so much about students trying to get into a place like that. There was great discussion about racism, and colorism, which is important for any reader. Also the murder mystery did move along quickly. This one was a quick read, and teens and young adults will probably enjoy it more than I did (the older adult).

Book Links:

Goodreads | Amazon | Barnes & Noble

The Sins of Silas by. Kylie Snow | Book Review

My Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️

Spice: 🌶️🌶️🌶️🌶️

Title: Sins of Silas (The Otacian Chronicles, #2)

Author: Kylie Snow

Format: ebook (kindle unlimited)

Pages: 784

Publication Date: 9/18/25

Categories: Romantasy, Dark Romance, Series, LGBT+

A SECRET MAGE. A VENEGEFUL PRINCE.
WILL FORBIDDEN LOVE UNITE THE REALM – OR BURN IT DOWN…
*please check trigger warnings before diving in

Five years ago, Silas La’Rune lost his mother, his home and his love, Lena Daelyra. Grief turned into rage, and rage to purpose. Now known as the Slayer of Witches, Silas wages a brutal campaign against Magekind. But during a raid on a Mage village, he finds Lena alive, hiding a secret darker than she is a Mage herself. Torn between fury and forbidden desire, Silas can’t help but show mercy when faced with the eyes of his lost love.

Amid a Kingdom on the brink of war, with no one else to turn to, the pair form a fragile alliance to to topple the tyrant King of Otacia – Silas’ own father, Ulric La-Rune. Yet another shadow looms, a rising necromancer is
beginning to terrorise the land they once called home.

Forced to hide their past, every stolen glance reignites a fire they cannot tame. As rebellion ignites and old loyalties fray, Silas can’t decide what will destroy him her lies or his sins…

Content Warning: death, violence, torture, rape, cheating

I really don’t like the original book covers for this series but so far the story is addicting. It’s filled with tropes and so many ridiculous situations happening all at once, it’s entertaining and comical at times, it’s hard to put down. It’s SO messy.

Silas and Lena are now teamed up as allies, trying to find more allies in neighboring kingdoms so that they can find this mysterious Necromancer and also put an end to the reign of Silas’ father who is an awful king. But in between all the searching for allies, and trying to figure out this mystery about the Gods and prophecies – there is SO much relationship drama.

I was like this most of the time. 🫢 Because I’d be reading something and then something crazy would happen or some random information would drop. I would even start laughing because of all the whiplash in this story! It’s one after the other and it’s entertaining as heck.

Silas and Lena are Soul-Ties (fated mates) and clearly are trying to stay away from another and be with other people but we know and almost every character in the book knows – they want one another. Silas is married so he’s trying to keep up a front and and then there is Lena who is itching to get with Roland, until Torrin comes along too and she wants him as well. This woman….wants them all! And the spice? It’s got all the smut for the smut lovers out there. Threesome anyone? Like love triangle what? Why stop at a triangle huh? 🤣. My eyes were like this 😳.

Honestly, I just wanted Silas and Lena to talk things out. And they eventually do and it’s a loaded talk, more trauma, more secrets we didn’t even know, torture that Silas endured. But why is there now more than one rape scene in this series? Is the darkness really necessary when we have enough relationship drama going on? It just seems so out of place in both books and just feels like it’s thrown in for shock value.

There are other relationships going on like with Merrick and his lady problems.

The one thing I do enjoy about this series is the found family. I love the side characters like Merrick, Torrin, Elowen, Viola, and Dani.

I also like how the world opened up and humans and mages meet the warlocks. But again the story takes on a wild turn near the end, like a cell phone shows up – so now there are going to be portals huh? I don’t know if I can take anymore of it but the ending was crazy and ends in a cliffhanger.

Final Thoughts:

The writing is not really for me but it’s easy to consume and the story is entertaining and messy. The world building is still not the best. Do I like Lena hooking up with everyone in front of Silas, nope because aren’t they Soul-Ties? Or are we going for Why Choose? Because that could work if Silas was down with it. 😅 I’m reading this series for the drama! It’s messy as hell and I need to see what happens in book three with Silas but I hope it ends at three books because I don’t think I can take anymore. 😆

Book Links:

Goodreads | Amazon | Barnes & Noble

Other Books I’ve Read From This Author:

The Lies of Lena by. Kylie Snow (audiobook) ⭐️⭐️⭐️💫

My Blade, Your Back by. K.M. Moronova | Book Review

My Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️

Spice: 🌶️🌶️🌶️

Title: My Blade, Your Back (Dark Forces, #2)

Author: K.M. Moronova

Format: ebook (kindle unlimited)

Pages: 378

Publication Date: 12/9/25

Categories: Dark Romance, Series, Military Romance

Broken. Lost. Unforgiven.

One month after surviving the Under Trials, Emery Maves finds herself in a world she doesn’t recognize―with a man whose cold eyes are haunted by secrets she can’t remember. Stripped of her memories, Emery is tormented by dreams of danger, death, and deceit. The only constant is the lure of the experimental drug that shatters her mind but leaves her almost invincible―and the dangerous pull of the man called Mori.

Cameron Mortem is fighting a battle he thought he’d already lost. He knows letting Emery in could destroy them both, but her amnesia is a curse neither of them can outrun. Forced together on a high-stakes level black mission that goes disastrously wrong, they find themselves thrust deeply into the underworld of the black market with an unexpected foe.

But as old scars are torn open and hidden plots unravel, Emery discovers she’s more tangled in this world than she ever imagined. And Cameron will have to face the one person he fears most: himself.

Loyalties will be tested. Secrets will be weaponized. Their bond―once forged in blood―may be the only thing that can save them. If they don’t lose themselves first.

Content Warning: death, violence, torture, drug use, amnesia

This is book two in the Dark Forces duology and I just read book one Your Knife, My Heart, just a few weeks ago so it was nice that this one released right after.

I had a few expectations from this book. I wanted to know more about Emery’s life before the military, and we do get that in this sequel, but I feel like we don’t get it until almost halfway into the book. Emery has amnesia, which isn’t my favorite trope, but I really wanted to see her and her family to come in contact earlier in the book. The first half of this book is Emery not remembering Cameron, and integrating herself into the Dark Forces. It was nice to meet the squad though. But I was losing interest in Emery and Cameron’s story.

Things do pick up once Reed comes into the picture and we get a taste of how ruthless Emery’s dad is, giving us a glimpse into how her life before Dark Forces. Reed was an interesting character and there is a twist in the story.

As for the romance, it’s filled with angst because Cameron has self-loathing for what happened at the end of book one. I didn’t love that both of them were taking the experimental drugs, making them both crazy. 😅🤦🏻‍♀️. I didn’t care anymore like I did in book one, which is strange because I just read book one. So I don’t know what changed, but I wasn’t feeling it.

Final Thoughts:

I didn’t enjoy this one as much as I did book one. I think the first half is slow and amnesia isn’t my favorite trope, so that didn’t help. Eventually we get to meet Reed and learn more about Emery’s past life, but I think it happens too late in the story, and I stopped caring. Overall, this was an okay sequel for me.

Book Links:

Goodreads | Amazon | Barnes & Noble

Other Books I’ve Read From This Author:

Your Knife, My Heart by. K.M. Moronova | Book Review ⭐️⭐️⭐️💫

Hollow by. Caroline Peckham & Susanne Valenti | Book Review

My Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️

Spice: 🌶️🌶️

Title: Hollow (Crown of Hearts and Chaos, #1)

Author: Caroline Peckham and Susanne Valenti

Format: ebook (kindle unlimited)

Pages: 560

Publication Date: 11/25/25

Categories: Fantasy, Romance

Don’t listen to the whispers of the woods.
Don’t trust the man cloaked in shadow.
Don’t earn the wrath of the scattered spirits.
Don’t go out after dark.

The Great Hunt begins once every fifty years and only the Champions willing to face death to shatter the curse dare to enter.

The Champions…and me.

I’m no warrior, no swordsmith, and certainly no Fae, but the forest is my only hope. To enter those trees is to walk willingly to my demise. But I need the boon the forest will grant the winner and I’m willing to risk it all for a chance at claiming it.

I just never expected to face him beneath those trees. The beast who strikes fear into the desperate people of all lands. The monster who commands the legion of Hollows and makes our plight a thousand times worse.

The Hollows are empty of all things but none are so heartless as him.

Prince Bane intends to be the death of me. But I have an oath to fulfil before I’ll let him have me. And I’ll do whatever it takes to achieve it.

I am Ferris Creed and I’m going to unite the lost spirits who once bound the wandering trees in place, return the scattered amulets to the core of its corruption, and use the winner’s boon to change my fate. Come wretchedness or torment, through trickery and deception, I will get what I came here for. And no one will stand in my way. Not even Prince Bane.

*** Hollow is a dark Romantasy from the bestselling authors of Zodiac Academy, Caroline Peckham and Susanne Valenti. It is a heady cocktail of Summoners, seduction and spirits, set to get your heart racing and feet kicking. There will be a ruinous, black hearted love interest, a rebellious, ruthless FMC, plot twists, cliff hangers, dark humour and a healthy seasoning of make-you-blush spice. It is not for the faint of heart. All those who enter the forest are bound by its terms – will you walk willingly into the dark? ***

Content Warning: violence, grief

This is the first book I’ve actually finished from the Twisted Sisters (this author duo). I did try to read Zodiac Academy but I didn’t get past chapter one. But Hollow, I did actually finish.

The world in Hollow is filled with humans, Fae, and magical spirits in a deadly forest. Ferris decides to partake in the Great Hunt. The person who can collect all spirt amulets in the forest can ask a boon and she wants to help save her sister, Rissa, who was taken into the forest as a sacrifice. Ferris isn’t a warrior, which I thought was interesting. What she had going for her was pure determination and I admired her for that.

But spirits aren’t the only ones lurking in the woods – Hendrix is too. He is a disgraced Fae prince, who is a a mission of revenge. I thought his story was very interesting and tragic.

When Ferris and Hendrix/Bane meet, she basically becomes his prey. But he realizes he can use her as bait for the spirits they are hunting. Ferris hates the Fae and Hendrix looks down on humans so they didn’t get along at first but an attraction grows. It’s enemies to lovers and things get spicy between them! I did enjoy the bickering between them but I wanted to see more of an emotional connection and some banter but for some reason it fell flat for me.

As much as I enjoyed the scary adventures in the woods, and the quest of collecting these amulets, I did want a little more out of our main characters because they didn’t captivate me. I don’t know if it’s the writing, but I wasn’t connecting to them.

There is a lot of action at the end and some unexpected things happen.

Final Thoughts:

Overall, I’m not sure if the writing style is for me or maybe I just didn’t feel like there was anything new about the story. I enjoyed the cursed forest, the spirit animals and the Great Hunt. I also enjoyed the bickering between Ferris and Hendrix and even the spice, but I don’t know if I’m interested in continuing the series. But this a binge-able romantasy with no heavy world building so it was an easy read.

Book Links:

Goodreads | Amazon | Barnes & Noble

A Curse of Shadows and Ice by. Catharina Maura | Book Review

My Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️

Spice: 🌶️🌶️🌶️

Title: A Curse of Shadows and Ice

Author: Catharina Maura

Format: ebook (Kindle Unlimited)

Pages: 312

Publication Date: 10/28/25 (first published 3/15/22)

Categories: Fantasy, Romance, Beauty and the Beast Retelling

From BookTok sensation and USA Today bestselling author Catharina Maura comes a spicy and enchanting Beauty and the Beast retelling featuring a cursed emperor, a princess who possesses forbidden magic, and a marriage that could save them all.

Princess Arabella of Althea is left no choice when Felix Osiris, the Shadow Emperor, threatens to overthrow her country unless she agrees to marry him.

When she learns his empire is cursed and she’s destined to set them free, they come to an help him minimize the curse’s effect on his people, and he’ll let her go.

As Felix teaches Arabella how to control her forbidden and volatile magic, her feelings for him turn from hatred to passion … and she realizes that she must break the curse, or she’ll lose him forever.

Content Warning: violence, dubious consent

I’ve been seeing this one on Kindle Unlimited, thought the cover was really pretty and finally had some time to read it. And here’s what I think:

+ This is a Beauty and the Beast retelling and it follows the story pretty well. It did make the story a little bit predictable but it made the story easy to read. It’s also a quick read at barely over 300 pages.

+~ I did like the world-building. Arabella is forced to marry Felix who is this mysterious Shadow Emperor with a dark reputation. Felix is cursed, his lands are cursed and they need Arabella to help them break the curse. This is light fantasy though, and I wanted a little more depth, but for people who like an easy fantasy read, you would enjoy this.

~ As for the romance, there is a lot of spice in this one and it starts fairly early…and with dubious consent. Arabella actually is in love with another at the beginning of the story so, the fact that she’s hot for Felix early was fast. But I just went with it. There are a few tropes that people will like: forced marriage, shadow daddy, and forced proximity. For some reason though I wasn’t invested in them as much as I wanted to be.

Final Thoughts:

I think this one was just okay and maybe not for me. It’s an easy read and I liked the Beauty and the Beast retelling aspects but I just wasn’t invested in the story.

Book Links:

Goodreads | Amazon | Barnes & Noble

The Courting of Bristol Keats by. Mary E. Pearson | Book Review

My Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️

Spice: 🌶️

Title: The Courting of Bristol Keats (The Courting of Bristol Keats, #1)

Author: Mary E. Pearson

Format: audiobook & hardcover (libby & owned)

Pages: 547

Publication Date: 11/12/24

Categories: Fantasy, Romance

From NEW YORK TIMES bestselling author Mary E. Pearson comes a thrilling romantic fantasy full of dangerous fae, dark secrets, and addictive romance– the first book in a duology.

After losing both their parents, Bristol Keats and her sisters struggle to stay afloat in their small, quiet town of Bowskeep. When Bristol begins to receive letters from an “aunt” she’s never heard of who promises she can help, she reluctantly agrees to meet—and discovers that everything she thought she knew about her family is a lie. Even her father might still be alive, not killed but kidnapped by terrifying creatures to a whole other realm—the one he is from.

Desperate to save her father and find the truth, Bristol journeys to a land of gods and fae and monsters. Pulled into a dangerous world of magic and intrigue, she makes a deadly bargain with the fae king, Tyghan. But what she doesn’t know is that he’s the one who drove her parents to live a life on the run. And he is just as determined as she is to find her father—dead or alive.

Content Warning: violence

I borrowed the audiobook for this earlier in the year but – I was not connecting to it. So when I saw it on sale on Book Outlet, I bought the hardcover but it sat on my shelf. Now with book two just out, I wanted to finally finish this book. I borrowed the audiobook again, hoping the second try would be better but at the 23rd chapter I switched to the hardcover and glad I did.

+ The world-building is interesting. It follows Bristol Keats, who has two sisters, and their parents are gone. She’s trying to make things meet in the town they live in but it’s challenging. Now this is a portal fantasy – because on the other side of this world, is the Fae world and we learn that they need Bristol to close a door. Elphame is the world of Faerie and it has all kinds of mystical creatures. While there Bristol learns that her father could be alive and asks Tyghan, for help to find him in exchange for her helping them close this door.

+ So while Bristol is in Elphame, she goes to school and trains with other girls. The girls become a found family for her which is nice since she was missing her sisters. There is a big cast of characters in this story which is what made it hard for me to follow on audiobook.

+~ I did enjoy the romance for the most part. Tyghan is drawn to Bristol even though he knows he shouldn’t get involved with her. But spending lots of time together makes their feelings grow and they give into their desires. Their relationship is a challenge though when Bristol finds out the truth about everything – Tyghan, her dad, her mom, and that she’s half fae. I did enjoy the romance drama. But there is one thing that I couldn’t get over, and that is Tyghan and her father were friends. I get that time goes slower in Elphame than in the mortal world, but STILL…I couldn’t get over that Bristol is basically together with her dad’s ex best-friend. And there were some things Tyghan said about her to him that made me not like Tyghan.

~ Bristol is trying to find her dad, but she doesn’t know the whole story about her parents, or Tyghan – she’s being kept in the dark. And because of that, when the secrets are revealed I was kind of irritated with Tyghan’s response and his court as well. It’s understandable that they don’t trust her, but none of them could understand why she would want to save her dad? I was irritated that Tyghan felt justified in lying to her.

~ I felt like too many things were going on in this story at times. I didn’t feel like it flowed well at times because there were so many characters and at times I forgot who’s perspective we were on. Pacing was off also, sometimes it was too slow, but it does pick up in the end. There were times where I felt like it was just thrown in, like Bristol going to classes and training. I wanted more of that, but this isn’t an academia story so I felt like it was just there for her to make friends. But I would have liked to see her learning something about magic and powers because she needs it to close this door. Also wanted more of scenes with her and her sisters. There were also some parts that was more telling than showing.

Final Thoughts:

I was expecting a lot because I loved Dance of Thieves and Vow of Thieves so much, and this fell flat for me. I did like some parts, and I’m curious to see how Bristol balances her love for Tyghan and her father. But there are a lot of things that didn’t work for me. Hopefully the sequel is better, but I’ll be going in with lower expectations.