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3.25 stars! This review will be spoiler free!
Synopsis:
Jude and Taryn, twin younger sisters to Vivi who’s half-fae, are stolen from their mortal world by Vivi’s faerie father and taken to live in the High Court of Faerie. Jude and Taryn have grown up in Faerie ridiculed and debased at every opportunity. Most especially by Prince Cardan, the youngest son of the High King. Jude finds herself targeted even more so now, and when she finally starts to fight back, she finds herself swept into the political intricacies of the Court. Through her own scheming and deception, she discovers more than her backbone, but betrayals to come, allies in unlikely places, and a propensity for bloodshed she never thought she’d have.
Initial thoughts:
I feel like this was an okay introduction to a new Fae series to hit YA shelves. From this book, I got a different view into the Fae world, a crueler, insightful, more true to folklore, kind of Fae world. There’s (some) angst, there’s betrayal, there’s familial love, there’s political intrigue, and of course, there’s a beautiful prince. Now, this wasn’t the best read to me, but it wasn’t terrible. Cardan, Vivi, and Jude are all I care about character-wise, the rest were meh. Then I have other problems with the pacing of the book and the overall plot. BUT, what’s keeping me for that sequel is the intriguing ending. The second half of the book was loads better than the first, and the events that take place in the last few chapters make me crave book two.
Reread 2019 thoughts:
4.25 stars. I liked this so much more the second time. I'm even more intent on finishing this trilogy now, I'm glad I reread it! This time around the romance definitely felt more like an oncoming slow burn. The betrayals seemed so much more intense. The plot was still REALLY predictable, but I was more okay with it this time since it was a reread and I knew how it would end anyways. Onto Wicked King!
Plot: In short, I loved the world, the main character, and the ending.
Though I’m not exactly a noob to Fae folklore, I’m happy to say that this world felt pretty developed. Subtly too, not info dumpy in the slightest. There’s an intricate way in which a human must navigate such a and lethal world. We see how the world’s hierarchy is designed: humans are clearly treated like rubbish and High Fae are despicable. For the magic, we see how bargains are struck and how glamours/compulsion works, but that’s about it. There’s magic that’s still quite unexplored (innate abilities? royal source of power?), but since it doesn’t really take precedence here, so I didn’t feel that this mattered too much. The different Courts though, that’s something that I wish we got to learn more about, but I imagine that’s to come in the sequels.
I can’t quite put my finger on any one thing that left me feeling so unsatisfied. Maybe it was how superficial everything felt. Maybe it was how predictable the plot was, with the easy to spot betrayals and “plot twists.” Maybe it was the lack of depth to a majority of the characters. Maybe it was the presence of so many characters in addition to that lack of depth. But right now, I’m also thinking that this is only the first book. There’s books to come to explain more, to give more life to the characters, to spring up unexpected twists and turns. And I believe the next book will be better because I tend to not like first books as much as the nexts in the series.
Now pacing was an issue for me. The beginning of the book was slow, the middle picked up the pace only a little bit, then something crazy happens! Then it’s slow again, then finally comes the ending, which was my favorite part! That ending had me on the edge of my seat and my heart racing. I was rooting for Jude all the way! And now there’s this nice open-ended, (hate these endings, but love them so much), cliffhanger that will lead into the next book. AND IM SO READY.
Characters:
JUDE becomes something I was not entirely expecting in this story, which makes me forgive the predictability of the plot. Her choices left me dumbfounded sometimes. She was already really cool standing up to the High Fae and being not too shabby with a sword, but I liked her even more when her dark and scheming side came into fruition.
TARYN… eye roll. She can die.
VIVI I appreciate for love of her sisters.
MADOC is someone of interest right now. The confusion that Jude feels towards him, the love/hate she has, also has me confused as to whether or not he could be redeemable.
CARDAN was a predictable little shit and I needed more from his character than just cruel. We sort of get an explanation, but it came so late and wasn’t good enough for me. I suspect he will become more interesting in this next book.
Overall:
I didn’t love it, but I didn’t hate it! Tends to be how I feel about firsts in a series. I believe this laid out a good platform to build upon, so I just hope she brings so much more to the plate in the sequel. And I obviously want to read the sequel after that ending. OMG. That ending. I’m still reeling from those last two chapters.