A review by hlburke
A Fairy King by C.J. Brightley
4.0
An enjoyable short read (or, in my case, listen).
Since I experienced the audiobook, a word first on narration performance: well done, some interesting takes on the voices, subtle when it needed, good clarity.
Story: I worry this is going to be assumed to be snarky, but it's really not. It's just that the easiest way to describe this book is Hallmark Christmas Movie for the Fantasy set.
It's very cozy. Very romantic. The whole main action is centered around the holiday and involves an idealistic romance. There's very little real danger and no real action, but it's a nice escape into a sweet tale with some good writing about connection.
My main quibble is a personal one: I do not understand female characters who are so apologetic about existing. Like she assumes she's done something wrong and apologizes so easily. The saving grace is that the guy is that way too, rather than being a jerk who makes her think she really DOES have something to apologize for ... but he has a reason for automatically assuming that he has given offense because of his upbringing and coding to be uber polite, but her ... I'm like, dang, girl, who trashed your self-esteem?
But I guess I have known women like this. They exist. This story actually works better for the personality type than other ones do, because as I said, the guy isn't gaslighting her to MAKE her feel guilty. She just keeps doing it to herself.
Since I experienced the audiobook, a word first on narration performance: well done, some interesting takes on the voices, subtle when it needed, good clarity.
Story: I worry this is going to be assumed to be snarky, but it's really not. It's just that the easiest way to describe this book is Hallmark Christmas Movie for the Fantasy set.
It's very cozy. Very romantic. The whole main action is centered around the holiday and involves an idealistic romance. There's very little real danger and no real action, but it's a nice escape into a sweet tale with some good writing about connection.
My main quibble is a personal one: I do not understand female characters who are so apologetic about existing. Like she assumes she's done something wrong and apologizes so easily. The saving grace is that the guy is that way too, rather than being a jerk who makes her think she really DOES have something to apologize for ... but he has a reason for automatically assuming that he has given offense because of his upbringing and coding to be uber polite, but her ... I'm like, dang, girl, who trashed your self-esteem?
But I guess I have known women like this. They exist. This story actually works better for the personality type than other ones do, because as I said, the guy isn't gaslighting her to MAKE her feel guilty. She just keeps doing it to herself.