I think going into this one thinking it was going to be similar to The Cruel Prince really hindered my reading enjoyment. This book was nothing like Holly Black’s world and story, except maybe the way that the fae were portrayed and written (which I quite enjoyed). If I was really going to compare this story to another, it would definitely be Emily Wilde’s Encyclopedia of Faeries by Heather Fawcett (which I absolutely adored). This book is definitely a cozy fantasy with a few stakes and the tone overall just felt…weird? The romance was the main focus of this story, which isn’t what I enjoy reading in fantasy-romance. I really want a well-written fantasy world with a good magic system that happens to have a strong romance plot.

I had a few issues with this story overall that didn’t make me enjoy the story to its core. I found the romance enjoyable, but there were just things I found myself wishing were more prevalent in here. It seemed the author was trying to write a story with a heavy political plot focus, but I felt like there just weren’t enough stakes for me to care. All of vibes and ideas in here really pointed at a cozy fantasy story, and the plot the author was following really didn’t go with the writing style of the book.

I don’t think this story was necessarily bad. The writing was solid, and the romance and characters were quite sweet. But I couldn’t really connect overall with the story because of the way this was written. I’m interested in reading the sequel (which I didn’t even know existed until we were left on a cliffhanger. This book really read like a stand-alone, and I saw this marketed as such before it came out), but it’ll definitely be lower on my TBR list. I’d try more from this author, but this wasn’t a new favorite as I thought it’d be.