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phangirl's review against another edition
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.5
C - 7; A - 8; W - 6; P - 5; I - 4; L - 3; E - 1.
34/70 (49%)
I really liked the concepts in this book. It really felt like it had do much potential but imo it fell flat in every way. The writing and pacing were decent at the start, but about 60% in the grammar started to drop off and the pacing slowed down a lot for me.
when I finished the book I was so angry about the Morgan's complete lack of agency that I couldn't s op thinking about rhe book. There is literally no point in which Morgan makes an active choice or takes any action. Eg not drinking the potion (Draven threw it away), leaving (Draven made that happen), killing Florian (self preservation but is debatable), loving/liking Vesper (he enchanted her), etc.
It's not for me. The plot and 'character development' were predictable (and I almost never make predictions while reading), which is so disappointing!
34/70 (49%)
I really liked the concepts in this book. It really felt like it had do much potential but imo it fell flat in every way. The writing and pacing were decent at the start, but about 60% in the grammar started to drop off and the pacing slowed down a lot for me.
It's not for me. The plot and 'character development' were predictable (and I almost never make predictions while reading), which is so disappointing!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Bullying, Emotional abuse, Sexual content, Torture, Violence, Death of parent, and Murder
Moderate: Animal death, Death, Homophobia, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Sexism, Sexual assault, Religious bigotry, Lesbophobia, and War
Minor: Body horror, Child death, Drug use, Pedophilia, Slavery, Kidnapping, Cannibalism, and War
allisonamber's review against another edition
adventurous
mysterious
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
Definitely a slower pace but because of that it helps the world building. A different spin on Arthur and the knights of the round table mixed with fae. The FMC is very innocent and naive so not always relatable or a character with a lot of depth but I’m sure that will help develop throughout the series.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Bullying, Domestic abuse, Sexual violence, Torture, and Death of parent
Moderate: Homophobia and Lesbophobia
cakins28's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
The first in the Blood of a Fae series by Briar Boleyn, this novel follows Morgan Pendragon, sister to King Arthur, as she discovers her true identity and the power that comes with it. Morgan, first born child of King Uther, is stripped of her right to inherit the throne of Camelot when her younger half-brother, Arthur, is born. Despite this fact, she never holds any ill-will toward her brother. She grows up alongside him, loving him and trying to protect him from their drunk, power mad, abusive father. In the end, though, it’s not enough to stop Arthur from becoming a bigger tyrant than even their father was.
Narcissistic, power mad, Arthur is paranoid of everyone and everything around him, including his older sister. But this is more than a simple sibling rivalry - Morgan is part-Fae, making her a social and political outcast, even in her own family. When food in Camelot becomes scarce, and the civilians begin to get restless, Arthur decides that he has to rely on his sister to retrieve the legendary sword, Excalibur.
Embarking on a quest, in the middle of the night, with the captain of the Royal Guard, Kairos Draven and a rather detestable mercenary named Whitehorn, Morgan steps into the great unknown and will discover her true power and identity.
⭐⭐⭐⭐/5 stars based on the following:
- The world building was exceptional. While the geographical and political terrain of the kingdom aren’t terribly complicated, the world of Queen of Roses is just complicated enough to hold interest. Each area within the kingdom has it’s own distinct features. The fact that the world is much larger than Morgan originally believes it to be is an important detail that makes the political aspects of the book much more intriguing.
- The characterization in the first half of the book is excellent, and the characters act exactly within their characterizations throughout. There is never a moment when I thought “I can’t believe that character did that!” The choices made by each character fit precisely within the boundaries of how you expect the characters to act.
- Despite the fact that it is a romance novel, the adventure and fantasy were much stronger than the romance was. Of course, there’s romantic, and even sexual, tension between Morgan and Draven, but it isn’t such a huge part of the story that it detracts from the rest of the plot. The love triangle is short-lived, which makes it much more bearable. Morgan’s naivety makes the love-triangle and subsequent betrayal much more believable.
- The fact that the twists were predictable does take away from the story somewhat. I do enjoy being right when my predictions come true, but I would still like some surprises to remain surprises.
I predicted Arthur turning on another nation very early on. I predicted the reality of who Draven was, I predicted that Morgan was more powerful than anyone realized, I predicted that the medicine she was taking was actually meant to subdue her power. All of those “twists” were glaringly obvious from the outset of the novel. F-boy (whose name I genuinely can’t remember) got his comeuppance too quickly. I genuinely hated him, and assumed that he would be going with Draven and Morgan on their quest. His death came to early in the book. He definitely deserved what he got, but we had just been introduced to the stakes of Morgan’s success/failure. Removing him from the equation before she set out for her quest removes some of her personal interest in the success of the quest.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Domestic abuse, Sexual violence, and Death of parent
Moderate: Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Child death, Homophobia, Sexism, Sexual content, Blood, Sexual harassment, War, and Classism
frog4earth's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
funny
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.75
For a first print run, this first book in Briar Boleyn’s new ‘Blood of a Fae’ series is incredibly well done. There were noticeable grammatical errors/spelling errors that did take me out of the story in the beginning… but as the story went on and continued to pull me further in, they became a LOT less noticeable. I will also say that unfortunately, for me, Vesper’s character twist/plot twist was quite predictable. He was too good to be true 😫. On the flip side though, I still felt so much shock/anger/betrayal for Morgan when we found out what Vesper had wanted all along. I also didn’t predict that he worked for the King, so that all very well made up for the predictability of Vesper’s twist! Waiting on books 2 and 3 to arrive on Friday — I can’t wait, I think it will only go up from here!!!
Content Warnings
Moderate: Animal death, Gore, and Sexual assault
Minor: Homophobia and Sexual content
viselik's review against another edition
fast-paced
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
I received an ARC of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
I found the book quite enjoyable, and it was a quick read. I read it in about 4ish hours. I found the retelling of the story of Excalibur and King Arthur an excellent spin on the story, filled with fae and a believable world! I'm pretty interested to see where this story will go and the story of Morgan (who I totally did not call Morgana more than once).
The relationship between Morgan and Darven was interesting. Still, I did not see a spark of romantic tension between them, which was fine as I got so interested in the world and the story of the fae I forgot this was a romantasy (romance fantasy) book.
Without going into spoiler territory, I enjoyed how Arthur was in this! I loved seeing his arc and change throughout the book, which also helped me like Darven as an excellent comparison.
I found the book quite enjoyable, and it was a quick read. I read it in about 4ish hours. I found the retelling of the story of Excalibur and King Arthur an excellent spin on the story, filled with fae and a believable world! I'm pretty interested to see where this story will go and the story of Morgan (who I totally did not call Morgana more than once).
The relationship between Morgan and Darven was interesting. Still, I did not see a spark of romantic tension between them, which was fine as I got so interested in the world and the story of the fae I forgot this was a romantasy (romance fantasy) book.
Without going into spoiler territory, I enjoyed how Arthur was in this! I loved seeing his arc and change throughout the book, which also helped me like Darven as an excellent comparison.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child death, Chronic illness, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Gore, Homophobia, Misogyny, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Grief, Religious bigotry, Death of parent, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Sexual harassment, War, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism
Moderate: Kidnapping
lastblossom's review against another edition
challenging
dark
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
tl;dr
An interesting take on Arthurian legend. Too dark for me, sadly.
Thoughts
I keep telling myself to give dark fantasy another chance, and I should stop telling myself that. My feelings on this book are split. On the plus side, some great twists on fae and Arthurian legend. The story had some great reveals, and I liked all the supporting friends. But it turns out I am tired of things being miserable always and at all times. While this doesn't go all the way into "gritty" territory, the storyline is definitely dark enough, with our MC constantly being kicked around from all directions (mostly from her really terrible brother), with barely a sliver of relief. At one point, I started to wonder why she was even still doing the quest, when she'd probably be better off just running away. Or perhaps using the time away to build that secret army her brother thinks she's got going on. But if you want a dark fantasy, this book absolutely fulfills the prompt. There's also a decent amount of spice, and a very slow burn romance (that looks like it won't really see completion until later installments), and I liked the world building.
Thank you to NetGalley and Starwater Press for a review copy. All thoughts in this review are my own.
An interesting take on Arthurian legend. Too dark for me, sadly.
Thoughts
I keep telling myself to give dark fantasy another chance, and I should stop telling myself that. My feelings on this book are split. On the plus side, some great twists on fae and Arthurian legend. The story had some great reveals, and I liked all the supporting friends. But it turns out I am tired of things being miserable always and at all times. While this doesn't go all the way into "gritty" territory, the storyline is definitely dark enough, with our MC constantly being kicked around from all directions (mostly from her really terrible brother), with barely a sliver of relief. At one point, I started to wonder why she was even still doing the quest, when she'd probably be better off just running away. Or perhaps using the time away to build that secret army her brother thinks she's got going on. But if you want a dark fantasy, this book absolutely fulfills the prompt. There's also a decent amount of spice, and a very slow burn romance (that looks like it won't really see completion until later installments), and I liked the world building.
Thank you to NetGalley and Starwater Press for a review copy. All thoughts in this review are my own.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Domestic abuse, Misogyny, Sexism, Sexual assault, and Blood
Moderate: Child death, Death, Homophobia, Sexual violence, Death of parent, Murder, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, and War
Minor: Xenophobia
reading_historical_romance's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
Arthurian mythos x bodyguard romance trope = ❤️❤️❤️ OMG YES PLEASE
Princess Morgan Pendragon is 20, and the older half-sister of King Arthur, ruler of the Rose Court of Camelot and the kingdom of Pendrath. Her late father feared that Morgan inherited fae blood from her mother, so he named Arthur heir to the throne, and dedicated Morgan to serve as an acolyte to the goddesses beginning on her 21st birthday. Morgan chafes at the idea of being shut away in a temple to perform religious rites, and she fears her brother as she observes his increasingly cruel machinations to grow his power.
Kairos Draven is a mercenary soldier who arrives in Pendrath to join Arthur’s Royal Guards. Morgan soon learns, however, that Kairos’ true mission is to protect her on a dangerous quest. Arthur commands Morgan to locate and extract the mystical sword of Excalibur from the legendary, abandoned fae kingdom of Valtain. Morgan is sickened by the idea of Arthur obtaining a weapon of untold magical power, but she learns that she has no choice but to comply when she is threatened with the lives of her younger brother, friends, and innocent Pendrath citizens should she disobey his wishes.
This is the first book of a medieval fantasy romance series that remixes a number of different tales from the Arthurian literary tradition. Building on this foundation, the author has created her own mythological fantasy realm and original characters. To this point, I disagree with those reviewers who have criticized the author for not being faithful (or faithful enough) to canon in the narrative. This is because there isn’t any such canon in the first place. The Matter of Britain, in which King Arthur figures, is a body of literature created over the 12th-16th centuries. The tales changed throughout that time period, and many of the characters (e.g. Uther Pendragon, Lancelot, Galahad, Merlin) and stories (Excalibur, Lady of the Lake) that appear in this novel were developed in Europe centuries after Arthur first appeared in British text. Arthurian legend continues to be reimagined today, as is the case with this novel.
And I loved it. Absolutely loved it from beginning to end.
Morgan has been a victim of physical, verbal, emotional, and psychological abuse throughout her entire life. She has been conditioned to question all of her thoughts and emotions. What other reviewers have perceived as being weaknesses in her character, I saw as self-doubt, disassociation, and emotional capitulation resulting from years of persistent victimization by her family of origin. One of the main themes of the novel is the development of Morgan’s emotional intelligence and self-awareness.
I love Kairos. We are not supposed to know everything – or really anything of importance – about him as far as his backstory in this novel. For the romance tropes to work over the course of a series, we need to learn who he is as slowly as Morgan does. The fact that this author makes us want to know him, thereby feeling frustration that we don't, is a testament to her writing ability. She is able to intrigue us by seeing Kairos only as Morgan herself sees him. Morgan wants more. So do we!
This is not really a criticism as much as it is curiosity to know why this book is targeted as an adult romance and not as a YA. All of the characters except Kairos read as older teenagers to me. I did not think that the sexual content was spicy enough to warrant "spicy romance" or "only one bed" descriptors. If the sexual content in only a couple of scenes was toned down, this would fall squarely in the YA category, and I think I would have enjoyed it even more going into it with that expectation. The coming-of-age storylines (Morgan, Lancelet, Galahad, Kaye, and even Arthur) are not what a reader of adult fantasy or spicy romance is typically looking for. I think that might be the primary reason that some of the reviews have been more lukewarm than I believe this novel deserves. I am downloading book #2 as we speak!
Romance tropes: bodyguard romance, slow burn, enemies to lovers, hurt/comfort
TW/CW: Thank you to the author for your thoughtful consideration to provide this for the reader. The page number is located in the ToC.
Thank you to NetGalley and Starwater Press for the opportunity to read and review this novel. All opinions are my own.
Princess Morgan Pendragon is 20, and the older half-sister of King Arthur, ruler of the Rose Court of Camelot and the kingdom of Pendrath. Her late father feared that Morgan inherited fae blood from her mother, so he named Arthur heir to the throne, and dedicated Morgan to serve as an acolyte to the goddesses beginning on her 21st birthday. Morgan chafes at the idea of being shut away in a temple to perform religious rites, and she fears her brother as she observes his increasingly cruel machinations to grow his power.
Kairos Draven is a mercenary soldier who arrives in Pendrath to join Arthur’s Royal Guards. Morgan soon learns, however, that Kairos’ true mission is to protect her on a dangerous quest. Arthur commands Morgan to locate and extract the mystical sword of Excalibur from the legendary, abandoned fae kingdom of Valtain. Morgan is sickened by the idea of Arthur obtaining a weapon of untold magical power, but she learns that she has no choice but to comply when she is threatened with the lives of her younger brother, friends, and innocent Pendrath citizens should she disobey his wishes.
This is the first book of a medieval fantasy romance series that remixes a number of different tales from the Arthurian literary tradition. Building on this foundation, the author has created her own mythological fantasy realm and original characters. To this point, I disagree with those reviewers who have criticized the author for not being faithful (or faithful enough) to canon in the narrative. This is because there isn’t any such canon in the first place. The Matter of Britain, in which King Arthur figures, is a body of literature created over the 12th-16th centuries. The tales changed throughout that time period, and many of the characters (e.g. Uther Pendragon, Lancelot, Galahad, Merlin) and stories (Excalibur, Lady of the Lake) that appear in this novel were developed in Europe centuries after Arthur first appeared in British text. Arthurian legend continues to be reimagined today, as is the case with this novel.
And I loved it. Absolutely loved it from beginning to end.
Morgan has been a victim of physical, verbal, emotional, and psychological abuse throughout her entire life. She has been conditioned to question all of her thoughts and emotions. What other reviewers have perceived as being weaknesses in her character, I saw as self-doubt, disassociation, and emotional capitulation resulting from years of persistent victimization by her family of origin. One of the main themes of the novel is the development of Morgan’s emotional intelligence and self-awareness.
I love Kairos. We are not supposed to know everything – or really anything of importance – about him as far as his backstory in this novel. For the romance tropes to work over the course of a series, we need to learn who he is as slowly as Morgan does. The fact that this author makes us want to know him, thereby feeling frustration that we don't, is a testament to her writing ability. She is able to intrigue us by seeing Kairos only as Morgan herself sees him. Morgan wants more. So do we!
This is not really a criticism as much as it is curiosity to know why this book is targeted as an adult romance and not as a YA. All of the characters except Kairos read as older teenagers to me. I did not think that the sexual content was spicy enough to warrant "spicy romance" or "only one bed" descriptors. If the sexual content in only a couple of scenes was toned down, this would fall squarely in the YA category, and I think I would have enjoyed it even more going into it with that expectation. The coming-of-age storylines (Morgan, Lancelet, Galahad, Kaye, and even Arthur) are not what a reader of adult fantasy or spicy romance is typically looking for. I think that might be the primary reason that some of the reviews have been more lukewarm than I believe this novel deserves. I am downloading book #2 as we speak!
Romance tropes: bodyguard romance, slow burn, enemies to lovers, hurt/comfort
TW/CW: Thank you to the author for your thoughtful consideration to provide this for the reader. The page number is located in the ToC.
Thank you to NetGalley and Starwater Press for the opportunity to read and review this novel. All opinions are my own.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Child death, Violence, and Murder
Minor: Animal death, Cursing, Emotional abuse, Gore, Homophobia, Physical abuse, Sexual content, Blood, Death of parent, Lesbophobia, and Injury/Injury detail
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