This book has so much potential, however, it is not the right fit for me. I like the premise of it, but the execution of the world is lacking. The relationship between the characters is confusing and very rushed. Virve is interesting, but there can be more to her. This feels more like a YA fantasy book than an adult one. It could have been a hit if there are more explanations for the world and the characters. If there were a hundred pages more, it would have been fleshed out.

Fae fantasies have been done and overdone. It’s hard to find one that has enough interesting and unique elements to stand out and unfortunately, this isn’t it.

Brittle tells the story of Verve, a young woman in a geographically and historically ambiguous location (post WWII? or not our Earth at all?) who, after the murder of her father, gets taken to an equally ambiguous location except with fae. Her captor believes she knows the location of a blade capable of killing fae, but also seems to want something more from her.

If I tell you it’s been compared to ACOTAR, you get the picture. The other comparison was to Little Women, which I coincidentally watched just the other day so the connection was fresh in my mind. Basically, if Jo and her sisters’ next door neighbor was Tamlin. I wasn’t a fan of all the parallels.

What I enjoyed was some of the last 10% of the book and the narration, to a point. It was clearly established and consistent in its style, but ultimately not my cup of tea. The pacing was slow and coupled with the fact that Verve spends most of the time either captive or in hiding, it wasn’t the most exciting. (The other thing she does is stumble, trip and fall, 33 times to be exact.) The first half of the book didn’t reveal nearly enough information for me to care about the rest.

All of it just kind of fell flat. The worldbuilding needed more… everything. The magic system was overexplained, there’s a religion I would’ve loved to know more about, a prophecy that didn’t really hit the way prophecies are supposed to… I think the time Verve spent being held captive could’ve been used to expand the fae lore a bit more since not much else was happening. A lot of questions and very little aswers.

I detected very little chemistry (actually, less and less as it went on) between Verve and the love interest and the notion that fae fall in love fast didn’t exactly help as much as further shine light on the fact that it happened too quickly.

It seems that I went into this with all the wrong expectations as I was under the impression that this book would be more on the epic, Tolkien-esque side rather than ACOTAR adjacent but oh well. I’ve read worse.

Thank you to NetGalley and Flame Tree Press for providing this ARC in exchange for my honest opinion.

Verity Springer (Verve) is based on Jo March, down to the sisters, absent father, and ink-stained fingers - and meeting Mr Baer. She finds her father murdered, but no-one believes her and then she is kidnapped by the Fae.

Good things: Verve is a decent character, with a reasonable level of frustration and anger at what's happening to her but a desire to keep her family safe.

Bad things: oh, the tropes. Feisty heroine that finds herself in a love triangle. Overly speedy romance with little to no actual spark. A real lack of explaining what on earth is going on most of the time - "tomorrow we start to do X" and she never demands answers, despite her theoretical feistiness. And OF COURSE she just happens to be the prophesied one with extra magical powers.

It wasn't immersive enough to rise above the tropes, I didn't hate it but I certainly didn't love it and am very unlikely to bother with the rest of the series.

I would first like to start off by thanking Flame Tree Press and NetGalley for and advanced copy of this book inn exchange for a review.

The curse of reading so many books in the same genre is that it can make it very easy for some books to feel the same as others. While this can be a good thing at times and bring out some nice feelings of nostalgia, it can make other books read as tired and boring. It’s not that I disliked Brittle or feel like it was written badly, on the contrary. I enjoyed it and feel like it was written well, its just that I struggled at times because I felt like I was reading a story I had read many times over, even though I did enjoy it.

If you continue to read after this point in the review, just be aware that general plot themes will be discussed, if you consider these to be spoilers, I would stop reading here.

The premise of Brittle was very interesting. A girl finds her father dead after she had found out he had in fact not died in the war. Before he dies though he warns her of the existence of Fae, trusting people, and the start of a war to come. At this point we’re getting set up for a very interesting story, which it is, but it feels like a tease continuously throughout the book.

Anyone who has read any sort of Fantasy story involving Fae will be familiar with the tropes of chosen one, power dynamics, and enemies to lovers. This book doesn’t fall short on any of those tropes and this is where I started to feel like I was continuing to read the same story I’ve read time and time again.

The main problem I think with Brittle, other than the same tropes that have been visited time and time again, is the size. I feel like Brittle really hurt itself by being the length that it was. There were many times throughout the story where I felt like I was being teased. I feel like the author was just getting into a nice swing of things when she would suddenly cut short on details or lore. When I go and read a fantasy book, I want to be fully immersed in the world. I want to know every little detail about how things work. I want to know what the magic system really is, not just that it exists. I want to know the history of the world and the struggles inside it, not just that they exist. I want the ending to not feel like I’m driving straight into a brick wall and being stopped in an instant.

There are a lot of good bones here and I hope that the author continues to build on these in her future works.

These reviews have been posted to both goodreads and storygraph

Little Women meets the European Fae court in this comfortable, light-mystery romance from Bethany Overmyer.
Blending two times and cultures must have been a blast, and it was intriguing to watch it all play out. Who to trust, what's the plan, who's really who they say they are-- all bundled together in a tale of being kind and overcoming childhood ptsd, even when everyone thinks you're crazy. And to top it off, you've been kidnapped by a member of the Fae Court.
Wild.
I must appreciate our heroine who--NOT by being an unbelievably-strong, domineering, and uncouth individual --took the centre stage as a capable and kind female character, with a strong sense of right and wrong, standing up to a lot of cruelty and callousness in a game she didn't know how to play.
I felt that our dear Fenn could have received a little more character building, maybe widening his focus past the sole object of his obsession. Seeing how he fit into the larger plot mentioned earlier in the book would have been nice, and I hope to see more of the macro plot expanded in the next book!
My favourite part of the book was the fascinating concept of residual magic use, and how each one was unique, like a family blueprint. I thought that was genius, and loved catching out the little details woven in. Especially at the end! Pay attention to who can do what--it'll surprise you later in a grand aha! moment.

All in all, a pretty sweet, comfortable mystery that is blessedly free of bad language or sexual/gender politics appeasement.

Thank you so much for the advance reading copy. I can’t wait to read more from the publisher.

I was captivated right from the start. The mystery, the actions, Verve’s inability to resist the unfolding of her story. The story is divided into two parts and the tone of writing skillfully reflects the division of development. I love it when an author can manipulate my mind to feel exactly what the character is going through. I felt like I was kept in the dark about a lot just like Verve was and empathize with her even more.

The Great Stuff:
- Keep me guessing and wondering what’s happening next in the plot.
- World building, magic, rituals—all were coherent and blend well with each other, exactly how fantasy should be.
- The focus on details without losing pace.
- I love all the scents, I catch myself trying to inhale, such a great way to evoke emotions for the readers.
- I want more of the romance!!

The So-so:
- Character depth was a bit lacking for me but it’s really more of a preference. I like a lot of mental dialogue and how thoughts realize into the plot/ character interaction.
- There are certain details that are quirky but I’m yet to see their purpose e.g., why is Verve always being offered food? Why is she clumsy but specifically stumbling over her dress and inanimate objects? Why do we pay so much attention to her hair?
- There were a short period in the middle where I felt like a lot of details were being “described” without grounding into any action or plot development (like all the rooms, Verve just moving around, Olive’s tantrum that didn’t take me anywhere but a short backstory). Part 2 has the same level of details but it moves much better.

All that being said, I can’t wait for Book 2!! The ending put me on edge, I did not see that coming.

This book was sooooooo good. I haven’t stopped thinking about it since I read it. I read this in one sitting and couldn’t put it down after I started reading. I agree this is for fans of Carissa Broadbent and I would also say for fans of ACOTAR or TOG. This book has everything romantasy lovers want. This book is fast paced but with good world building and character development. I loved the fae/human worlds, the magic system especially at the end, and I OBVIOUSLY loved the romance (can’t wait to see more development of this in the next book). 100% can’t recommend this enough and I can’t wait to read the next one.

I received an ARC of this book and am leaving this review voluntarily.

Every book I read which involves fairy land, the characters may change, but many themes prevail. The questionable love interest, the darkness which threatens the heroine, the comedic relief characters. Brittle, by Beth Overmyer, had many of these themes in Brittle, but she also took her story in new directions, defying the tropes and leaving the reader at the end with possibly more questions than answers.

Plot (no spoilers).
When her father leaves her with a mysterious and ominous message about the land of the fae, Verity Springer, or Verve, leaves her well-worn desk where she is used to writing fanciful tales, and finds herself thrust into the very world she writes about. Caught between the world she knows and is trying to save and the intriguing world of the fae, Verve must learn to adapt to a new reality while staying true to herself and her goals of protecting her loved ones and finding the truth about her father.

I could not put this story down. From the beautiful writing of the fae lands, to the descriptions of the change our heroine goes through, this was a page turner until the very end. There were parts which left me scratching my head, and I sincerely hope this gets approved to be a series because I need some answers! Without spoiling things, I need to know how the situation at the lake ended up the way it did. How did Verve escape? Why do fae fall in love so easily? I was also really uncomfortable with some of the romantic scenes. Verve did not seem super into it and I don't know if it's just because Overmyer doesn't have a ton of experience writing romance scenes or it's integral to the plot. Still, I blasted through this book and was sad when it was over. Really looking forward to whatever Beth Overmyer does next; hopefully a sequel (or two!).

(Spoiler free)
Welp, I've met my new book boyfriend...

This is the first book I've read in a while (since A Dawn of Onyx) that gives me the hit-you-in-the-feels ACoTaR vibes. If you're a fan of Rhysand, or any fae baes, this book is FOR YOU.

The author packs quite a punch for a book under 300 pages. There is no filler here. Every page has pertinent information or witty dialogue, flows nicely, and is deliciously bingable.

We've got a human FMC and some Fae MMCs. This has some intricate fae lore and an interesting system of magic pertaining to the fae and their realm.

FMC- Verity, but she goes by Verve. She is a writer (this book is set in the olden days where women did not easily have a career), has strong attachments to her family, is smarter & more capable than she realizes, and she suffers from Ptsd/Panic attacks. She is self-described as plain & thinks she's nothing special, but the MMC faes beg to differ.

MMCs- (To avoid spoilers, I'm going to describe them without names and let you figure out which one is the jerk and which one is swoon-worthy)
One fae wants Verve to fulfill a prophecy, claims he's in love with her, bosses her around, hurts her on several occasions, doesn't give her free will, etc & one just wants to save her, help her, empower her, teach her, and love her and is one of the best book bfs I've read in a LONG TIME.

Verve is taken from her home realm into the fae realm and has to navigate the abrupt change in her life while deciding who she can trust. Again, this is under 300 pages, so we've got a fast-moving plot. The author weaves a lot of detail into these pages and sets things up for the next two books in the trilogy quite nicely. I would consider this a 'clean fantasy'. You're getting an epic romance, but no smut yet (fade to black).

I will definitely be reading the next books in the series and giving away a copy of this on my tiktok page around release date. (@HauntedHouseBooks)

Pros:
-New Fae book boyfriend (Rhysand quality, god tier)
-Fast-paced
-Easily binged
-Likable & relatable FMC
-Great magic system
-Great world building
-Enjoyable prose, elegantly written
-Witty banter between MCs
-Mental health/trauma representation

My only cons (which may be pros for some folks)-
-fade to black romance scene (think Twilight fade to black) the build-up was strong, & I wanted more of them
-The MC says 'blast' like 20x anytime something goes wrong (but all books have their overused phrases, don't they?)
-The MC is a bit of a prude at first, but this is set in a time where women were expected to be modest, not cuss, etc. So it fits the book, but I wanted her to loosen up a bit (and she does a bit by the end)

In summation, I adored it and will be impatiently awaiting the remaining books. TYSM for letting me be an ARC reader and please keep me in mind for future releases in this series.

i am SO happy that i stumbled across this book

this went above and beyond my expectations. i've really been struggling lately to find fantasy romance that doesn't feel overdone, but everything about this felt fresh and interesting, definitely no tired tropes happening here.

this book set down the frameworks for the beginnings of an epic fantasy saga and i can already tell that i'm going to be all over the rest of this series too. i would hesitate to categorize this as fantasy romance, i felt that it read more like an epic fantasy that had a romantic subplot. although the romance took a backseat to the other machinations of the plot, the plot made up for it tenfold with how interesting and engaging the rest of the story was.

we have prophecies, evil fae lords, not evil fae lords, romance, a strong heroine, logical decision making, and newfound magical powers. need i say more? the great writing was just the cherry on top of everything else, the pacing moved things along at just the right speed and i never felt like anything was rushed or dragged along.

if you want a heroine with a brain, light romance, and a seriously cool fantasy world, look no further. cannot recommend this enough and am already anticipating book two

I could not put Brittle down! It is one of the first books I’ve read in a while that I wished I could be reading at all times. It’s mysterious until the very end, which kept me hooked. I had no trouble connecting to the main character, Verve, and I could easily imagine myself in the world that the author has built. I am already looking forward to a sequel!