Super hard to rate. I enjoyed the first 20%, appreciated the slow burn, the characters and the writing and when there was a shift in setting and characters, I was intrigued by the plot but started to not like the book anymore. The writing got super repetitive and the plot became inconsistent. There were so many points where I was so confused by some line drops, that I assume were supposed to be foreshadowing for the grand reveal but I would forget them as they were one liners and when the grand reveal/ plot twist happened, I was SO confused. But I also liked the plot twist?? Idk i’m very confused and don’t know how to feel. 2.5-3.

3⭐️2.75🌶️

Contemporary Fantasy
Dark Romantasy
Magical realism
1st Person
Dual POV
Fae
Enemies to lovers
Stockholm syndrome
Trials
Twist

Tw: sexual assault, confinement, murder

This is a fun time, more than a good time.

For how short this fantasy book was, there was a lot going on… It was trying to be a lot of things in 320 pages. Cliche dialogue, typical plot… but the ending had a decent twist that only had the tiniest foreshadowing. So it was a decent surprise.

The POV overlap was really not great. I was annoyed at reading the same moments but from a different POV. It slowed the pacing down a lot. The fantasy aspect didn’t start until almost 1/2 way through the book…it felt like a lot of build up in a world where none of the action took place. 

The FMC was portrayed as biology Barbie. Not really someone I wanted to root for. I was very confused by her as the FMC in a fantasy. It didn’t track. She starts out not cursing… and replacing words in a ‘The Good Place’ way, then curses in the second half of the book. She‘s inconsistent and not not a trustworthy narrator. 

The MMC is a prince who is numb except when he kills. That’s it. That’s his personality. Got it. And unoriginal with his shadow powers. It is what it is at this point. 

I’m hoping that the next book gets better. It was indie published and picked up before the second book was done, so maybe things get better with a good editor? It’s the same length… So jury is out. I’m reading book 2 because I got it from the library with the first one and I’m a little curious with the ending. If book 2 is the same, I’ll be done.

The longer I think about it, the lower i want to rate the book… but I was fine while reading it…

 Check the content warnings! The pacing is a major issue with this book. It takes 65 pages before the premise is even mentioned, with the first section of the book establishing characters and setting that have nothing to do with anything. Then from there the plot moves but has a cast of extremely unlikable characters. The protagonist is terrible and just finds people who feel a "need" to protect her for no reason. She is subjected to gratuitous, over the top violence and assault (there is a seen in a dungeon cell that is particularly gross and unnecessary). Other characters suffer graphic violence in such a casual way that it's nearly comical.

The "twist" at the end is completely unearned and reaffirms why these characters are unlikable. It's really just thrown in at the end so it can set up a sequel. Skip this.

Overall I enjoyed this story! I found that it was a little slow to drop into the main plot as we were introduced to Callie. Mendax started as pretty 2D and most of his chapters were just hornier renditions of Callie’s previous ones. However, in the later half of the book his chapters moved the plot along just as much as Callie’s and gave important context of Fae World we were experiencing.

What an ending!! Excited for book #2 to be out soon. 🧚🏻‍♀️✨

Spice Rating: 🌶️ 🌶️ .5

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I'm really glad I did this as a buddy read and had friends who pushed me on with this one because I think the twist is what saved the book a *little* bit for me.

Callie is a scientist living in the middle of nowhere studying luna moths and the parasite that is slowly killing them. As a small, beautiful blonde woman, Callie's life is ROUGH (cough, sarcasm, cough) because she's quirky and single. One day, Callie discovers the mushrooms that might save the luna moths from the parasite, but when she tries to harvest them (in spite of multiple warnings not to), she's swept into a portal to the underground world of the Unseelie fae. Callie lands on the Unseelie prince, who is known for his hatred of humans, leading the Unseelie to believe she is a trained assassin sent to kill the prince. In order to make her way home, Callie has to survive three trials and try not to fall for the Unseelie prince--after all, he is the bad guy... as we are repeatedly reminded.

The good: The twist at the end did have me. I was ruminating on some theories throughout my read, but I enjoyed learning what really happened.

The bad: This book heavily relied on archetypal characters, overused tropes, and cheap shock value. The writing was predictable and just... not very good. I felt the characters were underdeveloped and shallow. Though the twist was interesting, I wish the book would've focused on those revelations and background (IYKYK) instead of the "relationship" between Callie and the Unseelie prince, which was basically insta-lust. 

I don't think this book was for me, but I can completely understand why people enjoy this book. It was almost like a Wish version of ACOTAR, which seems to be common in the romantasy genre. 

I did, however, preorder book 2 because I'm morbidly curious to see what happens. 🤷‍♀️