constant2m's review
4.0
I won't lie; I felt so bad for Caelynn. She loves her homeland, although she is one of the weakest clans of the fae. And when she learns that her parents plan to marry her off to another land, she grows desperate. Unfortunately, she is tricked and trapped and left with no choice for freedom other than killing a fae prince. It doesn't matter that he's evil. He is the brother of the first fae she thinks she might be able to love. And now he will hate her forever. And if she's caught, well, will she have the ability to escape a second time?
I received a free ARC of this novella and have reviewed it willingly.
I received a free ARC of this novella and have reviewed it willingly.
thehamsterreads's review
5.0
Night Bringer tells the tale of how Caelynn was trapped in a bargain with the Night Bringer, an evil and ancient beast. I’ve read the first 2 books in the Wicked Fae series prior to this, so while I knew what happened, I was so excited to find out exactly how it happened! You can definitely read this before the rest of the series because it gives a great glimpse into the world and characters. If you’ve already started the series, I can’t recommend this book enough because it gives a whole new perspective of the young, hopeful Caelynn before the events that changed her. I loved this novella and the rest of the series and I highly recommend it if you like fantasy and fae!
I read this as part of an ARC copy of the upcoming anthology Realms of Fae and Shadow and I’m voluntarily leaving an honest review.
I read this as part of an ARC copy of the upcoming anthology Realms of Fae and Shadow and I’m voluntarily leaving an honest review.
half_bloodreader's review
adventurous
tense
slow-paced
2.0
Story got me engaged at the later third of the novella.
When I read the synopsis, I was excited. A dark fae Cinderella tasked with killing her own soulmate by making a bargain with "the devil"? Harsh! But once I started reading, the prose somehow dragged in my mind, and the many typos and incorrect tenses didn't help, cutting the flow even more and numbing my enthusiasm.
This book was once being offered to newsletter subscribers, which is why I'm mentioning it: you'd wager there'd be almost no typos at this point, correct? I hope it gets fixed in the final version (I've read an arc of the anthology Realms of Fae and Shadow, where this novella is included). There's also a sort of continuity error, where Caelynn narrates a kiss with a certain character is her first, when she's mentioned kissing her classmate at the festival before. I'm the type who notices these details and gets pissy.
The story goes as follows: Caelynn is from the impoverished and ridiculed Shadow Court, which she loves. But her parents have other plans for her future such as marrying her off to a richer Court (because that's been so smart in the past). She yearns for the power to prove herself, yet ends up at the talons of the Night Bringer literally. It's like that moment in Once Upon a Time, where Rumplestiltskin booms Cinderella's fairy godmother into sparkling ashes and takes over in "helping her" with a bargain. But with more teenage angst.
Back to the premise. It was interesting and shadow fae isn't a kind you hear about much, but here they just sound like humans who do magic, which really ruins it for me. If you write about fae, I want fae. Discipline and fae? Helicopter fae parents? They're sounding too human. And the prejudice!
They can also straightforward lie.
There are some worthy ideas being explored thou, like:
When I read the synopsis, I was excited. A dark fae Cinderella tasked with killing her own soulmate by making a bargain with "the devil"? Harsh! But once I started reading, the prose somehow dragged in my mind, and the many typos and incorrect tenses didn't help, cutting the flow even more and numbing my enthusiasm.
This book was once being offered to newsletter subscribers, which is why I'm mentioning it: you'd wager there'd be almost no typos at this point, correct? I hope it gets fixed in the final version (I've read an arc of the anthology Realms of Fae and Shadow, where this novella is included). There's also a sort of continuity error, where Caelynn narrates a kiss with a certain character is her first, when she's mentioned kissing her classmate at the festival before. I'm the type who notices these details and gets pissy.
The story goes as follows: Caelynn is from the impoverished and ridiculed Shadow Court, which she loves. But her parents have other plans for her future such as marrying her off to a richer Court (because that's been so smart in the past). She yearns for the power to prove herself, yet ends up at the talons of the Night Bringer literally. It's like that moment in Once Upon a Time, where Rumplestiltskin booms Cinderella's fairy godmother into sparkling ashes and takes over in "helping her" with a bargain. But with more teenage angst.
Back to the premise. It was interesting and shadow fae isn't a kind you hear about much, but here they just sound like humans who do magic, which really ruins it for me. If you write about fae, I want fae. Discipline and fae? Helicopter fae parents? They're sounding too human. And the prejudice!
They can also straightforward lie.
There are some worthy ideas being explored thou, like:
the magic in our surroundings longs to be used. Even those of us who have shallow magical wells, can learn to use what’s around us. The more we practice, the more we commune with our element, the less magic we need inside of ourselves to do extraordinary things.
In conclusion, cool idea. I know it's not that big, since it is a novella - 104 pages is novel length tbh -, but the fact remains I ended up not understanding much of the magic system. How can light block sound? And there were awkward and unnecessary moments, like when her classmate came to visit at night. What was the purpose? That sounded nothing like a pep talk. I didn't enjoy this as much as I thought I would, and yes the need for editing is a really big part of it - you can't expect non-fluid reading to not factor in, dear author. Or is it pleasant when you're trying to move something that's rusty and in need of oiling? Creak creak creaking in your ears. Getting stuck every few inches, slowing your progress? I'd think not.
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