★★★☆☆.75 I read this book and annotated it for the lovely Lumé as a book swap!
Whats the book about?
Abriella and her sister Jaslyn are mortals who pretty much live as slaves to her cousins after the death of their mother. They live in a one room basement, and Brie has to steal each month just to try and make ends meet. The only light in her life is her sister, and the hottie Sebastian who is training under the Mage who lives next door. When Jas is sold to the Unseelie King, Brie has to head into the land of the Fae to try and get her back. Prince Ronan of the Seelie Court is looking for a mortal bride, so the only way to get to her sister is to pretend to be interested in being Prince Ronan’s wife. She ends up in the middle of an Unseelie band of misfits who have their own agenda and reasons for helping Brie, not to mention their attractive Fae leader Finn. Stuck between the Seelie and Unseelie courts with a power she doesn’t really understand, Brie must stay alive and steel her heart against what needs to be done to save her sister.
My thoughts on the book
Okay, this is going to sound really weird but this book gave me ACOTAR/Twilight/The Mortal Instruments vibes which made for an interesting story. What can you expect from this book? You can expect Fae, magic, rival Fae courts, a love triangle, some Fae politics (sort of) and a bit of morally grey-ness. It was a really easy and entertaining read, but it was nothing new or unique. As with most books of this genre, you have the main girl who has powers she doesn't quite understand, you have the obvious choice who is all sunshine and light, and you have the broody guy who the MC is inexplicably drawn to and doesn’t know why.
This is a song I’ve rehearsed a thousand times, a hymn I’ve played in my most desperate moments. Better to pray to deft fingers, to shadows and camouflage, than to the old gods. (1)
I think my least favourite character is Abriella, the main character. She is pretty useless and is continuously slow to understand and process new information. She flip flops over and over about who she can trust and who is going to betray her without any real solid evidence for her change in opinions. I would have loved more interaction between Abriella and the band of Unseelie misfits. The scenes where they were involved were my favourite. The writing was good but the world building was a bit wishy washy and after reading it, I’m still not really sure how the Fae and their magic works (other than it isn’t limitless). Like, why can they do different things? Is it just random or are skills passed down in family lines? I just feel like there was a lot that wasn't explained in the detail necessary in a high fantasy kind of setting like this one. The whole time, I just didn't really trust Sebastian, and I just couldn’t root for the two of them together which made the whole ‘love triangle’ portion of the story a bit lack-lustre. Whilst reading the scenes about Prince Ronan looking for his mortal bride, it just made me think of like, a high stakes Fae ‘The Bachelor’ and once I thought that, I couldn’t un-think it! The ending was fairly abrupt, which was odd, but of course I will have to read the next one to see who she ends up with.
I will definitely read the sequel which looks to be coming out next year, but if you’re looking for a new take on mortal enters the world of the Fae and has to choose between two guys, you’re not going to find it here. In saying that, I read it quickly and overall it was an enjoyable story. Hopefully my annotations bring some extra joy to Lumé’s reading of it! Have you read this? I would love to hear your thoughts in the comments or find me on Instagram @kell_read ✨