Without a doubt this novel was one of my most anticipated reads. As soon as I heard that we were getting a bipoc fae fantasy story, and saw the stunning depiction of the characters on the cover, I was sold. I went into this novel only knowing it was a fae romantasy, and anticipated being pleasantly surprised while watching this story unfold. 

The first line of this novel is one of my absolute favorites. I literally stopped reading to just let that line sink in, and mentally note that we were off to an incredible start. Our story follows our FMC Lore who is a human stuck in a fae world. The way humans got to this fae land has been lost to time, and is now retold through their oral histories and tales. Faes treat the humans with disdain, outright violence, and in some instances as pets or slaves. 

The novel opens with Lore working in her family’s apothecary and orphanage. We learn relatively quickly that Lore is extremely intelligent, and that she possesses the coveted skill of reading and writing in the fae language (which is extremely unusual for a human). When fae nobility learn of her talents she is forced to come into the fae lands and organize one of their libraries. I was so hopeful that our story would take off from here, but found myself getting a little lost and even bored at times as the story progressed. 

The descriptions in this novel of the world, character features, creatures, and surroundings were lush and vibrant. I could so vividly imagine the different fae, the dusty library, and the mysterious forest. I loved getting a glimpse of this new world through Lore’s eyes as she was simultaneously in awe and enraged by what she saw. Living in and among her oppressor was both a gift and a hardship. She had decadent meals, a bed and a roof over her head, but she was always looking over her shoulder in fear of snide remarks or a knife in her back.

While I loved the descriptive nature of this novel the pacing left me wanting more. It felt like a lot of action happened off the page. We would oftentimes see a peripheral character leave on a mission or task for weeks or months at a time. The passage of time was either described literally or just didn’t exist on the page at all. There was one point in the novel where Lore began planning for something, and on the next page she was in the middle of that action without the reader being a part of how she got from point a to point b. 

The pacing made it feel like something was missing. Like bits of the story hadn’t been fully developed, or had been cut down to fit the appropriate word count. After reading the ending I even began to wonder if some of the off the page actions were intentional to make the final reveal feel even more dramatic. Whatever the reason, it didn’t work for me and left the novel feeling disjointed. 

It’s very important to note that this story is more of a cozy fantasy with just a splash of violence. A majority of this novel is just slice of life content with Lore and her new fae friends learning about her magic while being on the run. It made any violent interactions feel that much more gruesome and unexpected. 

I wasn’t entirely sold on the romance of this novel either, which I can also blame partially on the pacing. While it was setting up to become a why choose, the characters really didn’t have enough on the page interactions to warrant their feelings towards one another. There is one semi spicy scene at the end of this novel that felt like it came out of left field. If this is marketed as an adult romantasy I’m surprised there wasn’t more spice sprinkled throughout. If it was to be remarketed to a young adult audience I think that could easily be done if they remove that semi spicy last scene. 

Sadly this novel does not have a happy ending, and it does have a rather devious cliff hanger. I wish the entire book had been as awe inspiring as the first line in the novel was. Unfortunately I think it’s a little too apparent that this was a debut novel, and it needed some more editing with regards to the plot and romantic development.