The story had some really atmospheric moments, and the way it mixes modern elements with folklore kept me interested. Some parts felt a bit slow or underexplored, but it was still a fun, moody read that fans of faerie stories will likely enjoy.

If it has Fae in it then I'm all for it.

The blurb sounded really good and I couldn't wait to get into this book. However, I found it to be not as great as I anticipated it to be.

Ciar wasn't a loveable character to me. The background on the Fae was okay, some things were interesting and some things I've read numerous times through other Fae based books. The overall storyline wasn't consistent, a bit all over the place. This book could have used more editing and I think it would've turned out much better.

This sadly was a DNF for me I just couldn’t get Into it but I really appreciate the opportunity to read and review it

Totally recommend giving this book a read to anyone who's looking for a fantasy to escape their current summer lull.

I love fairy/fae stories and this was no exception. My expectations were high so the story was just okay while the world felt magical.

I enjoyed this book Thank you to netgalley and the publisher for allowing me to read and review this title.

I read this book in the middle of a massive slump. Which is partly why I gave it 3 stars. I felt it was lacking something, however I just cant quite figure out what. It was entertaining. The writing was lovely.

Wow what a fantastic book with twists and turns all over the place such a good book I would definitely recommend it

The first half of this book was phenomenal. I deeply enjoyed watching Ciar and Mael grow up together, exploring both Faerie and Brinley. It's rare to find an author that can write from a younger POV so well, keeping it from feeling gimmicky or over done. Giving our protagonists such a solid foundation for their romance was a wonderful treat. In this genre, there's a lot of instant (or near-instant love). Reading about a fully fledged relationship as it develops is refreshing.

I appreciated the lore and world-building of this book. There were some unique takes on the Unseelie and Seelie Fae. A nice mix of familiar standards of the genre, but enough new additions to keep things interesting.

I devoured this book up until about the 70% mark. Unfortunately, that's where the story fell off for me. Without giving too much away, I'll simply say that the plot felt less tightened and focused after that point. The quality of the writing also seemed to dip, which makes me think the last half of the book just hasn't been as thoroughly edited as the first half.

This fae story subverted a few expected Fae story tropes that I really appreciated in regards to the unseelie and Fae border crossing. I also really liked that we got to spend time to the two MCs as children. Often, these integral relationship blocks are skipped over so the reader doesn’t get to experience the integral bonding moments. So this story gets kudos for that. What I struggled with the most was how exposition was presented throughout the story that kind of ruined the experience for me. For instance, we would meet a new character and get a long winded explanation of who they were at a seemingly random point in the story when they had nothing to do with what was happening at that point in time. I wasn’t ever able to bind with the female lead. There wasn’t much for me to think she was unique person with unique motivations, nor was she clever or humorous or gifted at anything, just a vehicle for a sad backstory and for something the plot to cling to. Because of this, I didn’t care much about the romance aspect, because I wasn’t invested in the FLs happiness. Overall, interesting approach to a common trope, but not executed to my personal taste.

Overall, this felt like an interesting character study...kind of. The timeline was a bit weird since we start with our main character between the ages of 5-7 and then without much sign-posting we end up with the character at 15-16....within about 100 pages or less. It was strange and hard to keep up with BUT it was cute to see a young child making friends with the forbidden fae. Though they end up essentially betrothed to one another without the main character fully understanding the bargain made - hello classic fae trap/trope- so that felt a bit like grooming but since the main fae character was not malicious in any way I feel a bit less inclined to mark it as such. Overall - this was fun and interesting but a little underwhelming.

Thank you NetGalley for the eARC. This book was so fun. I really enjoyed it. This book kept me interested and i enjoyed the book and this genre

A great take on the faerie mythos with nods to classic folktales, a compelling cast of characters, a first class story and plenty of action. Really enjoyed this one.

Anything that has the word Fae or Faerie I am all over it! I absolutely adored Faerie Silver, Iron Cold! Sone of my favourite Fae books are ACOTAR, and Cruel Prince so I have higher expectations, and this book fulfilled them all! Romance - Check
Badass MC - Check
Action - Check !!

I cannot wait to read the second one and start my reread on KU!

I loved every word of this book and would love a sequel as there are so many more stories to tell about the other characters.

Thank you Netgalley for an advanced copy of this book.

My number one complaint with this novel is that it reads like a first, maybe second, draft. The grammar wasn’t particularly bad but there were mistakes, and the writing didn’t flow smoothly. I caught myself rereading the same paragraph over and over because it was either poorly written or so dull that I couldn’t focus on it. The storyline in general was very dull and nothing happened that felt like a truly high stakes moment or like the characters were in actual danger.

The characters also felt very much like a first draft. They had no depth and never changed throughout the story. We see the main character, Ciar, grow from seven years old to seventeen but her inner voice doesn’t mature and she repeatedly makes silly, childish decisions. Mael, Ciar’s “love interest,” also never changes.

Speaking of Ciar and Mael’s love for each other, I didn’t buy it. They met when Ciar was seven and she went off to school at thirteen. In that time, they played together but they never had a real, intense bonding moment. Somehow, though, this brief time spent together as children causes Mael to become obsessed with Ciar. Their romance was very bland and passionless. Ciar is literally kidnapped at one point and there was still no intense emotion when she’s rescued by Mael. Again, it reads like a first draft.

I truly hate to rate this book so low because it had the potential to be something really good. I think Vic Malachai has the talent to write something interesting but she needs better beta readers, at the least.

As a young girl, Ciar wanders into Faerie and meets a Fae called Mael. They grow up as friends, but eventually Mael comes to the human realm to take Ciar back to the Unseelie court as his wife/consort. As readers, we learn about the Unseelie/Seelie courts and get a lot of detail about Fae customs.

I liked learning about the world, but this book was ALL plot. It moved very fast, and we really didn’t get to learn very much about the characters and how they felt about anything. Many side characters were introduced, but then never talked about again. I felt myself wondering why Mael was going through the trouble of searching for Ciar because I knew so little about their relationship and what they meant to each other. I liked the fairy tale feel of the writing, but I needed more from the story.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

I love the Faerie world and really loved the unique angle of this book - seeing a human wanting to join the world and bringing in others to join her.

2.5 stars
Thank you Netgalley and the author for a copy of this ARC. All thoughts are my own.

Whilst the premise of this book sounds unique and promising, the execution fell quite flat for me early into reading it.

I liked the unique setup between Faerie and the humans. I enjoyed that their interactions felt foreign compared to other fae fantasy novels I've read. The lines normally drawn between realms isn't as obvious here, and I appreciated this. The Seelie/Unseelie courts also were represented differently and I liked the author's twist on that. Whilst I wasn't a big fan of reading from a juvenile point of view, I appreciated the journey Ciar and Mael shared, stemming from quite a young age into adulthood. It made their connection through some of the dubious moments feel more realistic than others made.

The biggest issue I held for this book was it was long-winded and dry at many points, and I lost any interest far too early into the book because of this. There were moments where the plot devices used felt clunky and the sudden pacing changes were jarring. Many characters introduced in succession without little reason or context for them to appear other than to progress the story. I often grew confused for their placement in the world. I also didn't like the FMC all that much and given she is the main narrator of this world, this affected my overall opinion of the reading experience.

I wish I could say I enjoyed this book more than I had, especially given the clever concept of the world the author created.

Found this book far too slow to start for me and really didn't connect with the characters.
I wasn't engrossed and I didn't have that urge to reach for the book to read it.
Cover and title were pleasing and drew me in