booksalacarte's review against another edition
hopeful
mysterious
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
A word so fitly spoken-3⭐️ 2🌶️ (clean YA fantasy)
One stunning bride.
One wedding.
One night with the king.
One execution come morning.
Rinse and repeat.
When the fae king of Naenden returns home to his palace only to find that his human queen has committed treason by conspiring to assassinate him, he has the queen executed and decrees that once every mooncycle, he’ll marry a human woman from the kingdom, only to execute her the following morning.
Unless…
Unless one woman offers herself as a sacrificial bride for the rest.
——————
✨My Opinion✨
This is a dual POV, clean fantasy romance retelling of 1001 nights, just with Fae and magic.
The magic system is interesting, but not everything has been revealed. So the first portion of magic revealed is about this sentient story weaving magic that bonded to a human. The idea of it being aware and able to hold conversations and be a witness to a being’s life, even the private parts is….. uncomfortable.
As for the characters, Asha was a fine heroine. She was self sacrificing while working through pride, which was very interesting. I enjoyed seeing her work through the different prejudices she had against Kierian.
Seeing the typical Fae issue of not being able to lie worked around and through was fun. Kierian was a tough cookie to figure out. You didn’t know if you could trust him or not. It was fun!
I didn’t love the story within the story, but I understand that it was necessary, and helpful for the context of the plot. But for the longest time it felt like filler, therefore annoyed me more than anything… even after it was revealed to be important to the plot.
Structurally, some of the chapter divisions are put in awkward places and messed with the flow of the story. Annoying, but not a deal breaker.
The book delivered the tropes that I expected, one bed, he falls first, “who did this to you”, enemies to “lovers”, betrayal, slow burn, treason, martyrdom, and a few more.
I started reading for the sister taking her little sister’s place plot.
I kept reading to see if the two main characters ever actually got together.
I started reading for the sister taking her little sister’s place plot.
I kept reading to see if the two main characters ever actually got together.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Vomit
Moderate: Blood, Classism, Fire/Fire injury, and Gaslighting
Minor: Panic attacks/disorders, Toxic relationship, Infidelity, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail
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