(4.5)
I flew through this! I loved Fortuna, I loved the world, and I loved the ending. I immediately want to dive into book 2 and cannot wait to see what happens next. It was so easy to get lost in this novel and forget that time was even passing. The world felt magical and fantastical without being overwhelming in its world-building. This didn't feel like the first book in a series, in the sense that it didn't spend forever building up the story and the world, and had it not been for the ending, you would think it was standalone. With it being written that way, it didn't feel incomplete and lacking like a lot of first books in series tend to feel. It is a dark urban fantasy with a bada** female main character. I have a feeling this series is going to be a new fav of mine!

Fortuna is a nightmare able to sense your biggest fears and use them against you. Powerful and the last of her kind in a world full of magical creatures. She is haunted by her brother's disappearance from two years prior and when the opportunity arises to get answers she finds herself making a bargain. She doesn't realize who she is making the bargain with or what it will mean for her future and her life. Now, she is being taken away from her safe home and into an unknown land with people, she has never met. She says she will do anything to save her brother, but how far is she really willing to go?

Thank you Netgalley for an advance copy of this!

3.75 Stars, .5 spice (tension, but still consider NA not YA)

This book is interesting, it reminded me of The Fae Chronicles by Amelia Hutchins (K.J. Sutton is a MUCH better writer), in the way the world works and based on the creatures we see - I think they both are followed more tradition lore around fae & faery with seelie and unseelie courts. That being said I think there is a level understanding regarding that lore that you need to get into this, she doesn't really explain any of it in the world building (which isn't a critique, for me it was actually kind of nice). It also takes place in our current world.

I am definitely intrigued by what Fortuna is and the powers she is given are really unique.

You can definitely see some aspects of Throne of Glass and a Court of thorns and roses there are the end, and the characters are inspired by the vampire diaries. (note I have continued to the other books and I find in the second book that the story seems too reliant on this vampire diaries inspiration...it feels to almost be a copy)

This books definitely reads more like a set up book for me (similar to ACOTAR) and doesn't really have a lot of its own weight.

Also as I have continued on with the series I have noticed that it seems to lack direction. Its like we hop from event to event with little purpose. Fortuna isn't directing her life towards a goal, she's full of indecision about what she wants and who she wants, and it makes the story hard to feel passionate about - there is nothing to cheer her on for?

Hoping future books find more direction, because I do really like learning about Fortuna's power, and I love a lot of the other characters

ALSO if you get into this series please be aware there is a very intense sexual assault sign in book 2 which could be very very triggering. It is important to the plot and cannot be skipped, if you have rape as a trigger you may want to not start this series.

In terms of the audiobook itself I really enjoyed the narration, it was a wonderful audiobook read!

I was extremely surprised to see this book available for request in Netgalley it is not new and the audiobooks have been available for over a year but I was happy to get it. It's been hyped in the book community for a while so I was excited to see what all the adoration was about.

The writing was masterful and fun, she's clearly a great writer. The premise and characters are intriguing. But, and this is a big but, ultimately the entire book was a giant cock block. So much yet so little happened. We have literally no answers and though I can sense we are suppose to fall for Collith he is the biggest problem. The mysterious elusive fae gave me nothing, no facts, no clues and no personality.

He refuses to tell her anything, not even the basics she needs to survive in his court and since Fortuna is a woman of action she goes around poking hornets nets and making unnecessary blunders. Fascinating yet frustrating 3.5⭐

Update: So I really wanted to try this series again in audio. I'm just not sure if my review has changed much since I first read the ebook in June of 2019. I might have to give the next book a shot, maybe things will start picking up.

Narrator Emma Lysy was ok. I liked her voice, but no character voice changes.

I received this audiobook at my request and have voluntarily left this unbiased review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

This is a first read for me by this author. The blurb really intrigued me. This at first sort of had ACOTAR series vibe in the beginning. I loved the initial banter between the main couple. I wanted more of a background or initial introduction/buildup in the story. I have to say a good chunk of the middle part was a bit slow. I thought this going to be a standalone, but it turns out its book 1 in a unknown # in a series. I just can't pinpoint exactly why I'm feeling indifferent about this book. This was an ok first book for me.

I received this book at my request and have voluntarily left this unbiased review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.