Mary E. Pearson does amazing with her world building!

This book leaves you on a cliffhanger like no other, and you're going to be scrambling for the next book. You have to trust the author's process on this one. I promise that it's worth it!

✨🍕The Courting of Bristol Keats 🍕✨
By Mary E. Pearson
✨ Thank you to NetGalley and Flatiron books for eARC! ✨

🍕 Enemies to lovers
✨ Found family
🍕 Morally grey MMC
✨ Slow burn
🍕 Multiple POV

✨ Something’s about this world sucked you in. It was modern, but not. Spooky but not. Thrust an unknowing mortal, pizza delivery girl into a land with magic and you have an intriguing start to a series.
🍕 There is an ABUNDANCE of everything we love about fantasy:
✨ Gods/monsters
✨ Mystery
✨ Magic
✨ Fun world building
✨ Romance
🍕 With all of that I truly enjoyed the story. Bristol was an excellent FMC, she was super relatable and you could truly understand her motivations.
✨ This doessss end on a bit of a cliffhanger, but also sort of abruptly which left me hungry for more [which there will be!].

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
🌶️: Yes

This was my first book by Mary Pearson and I loved it! Bristol is a strong female main character, and her character development is done really well throughout the story. She has been lied to by everyone in her life, and I think her actions are justified by this. Her whole world is turned upside down when she learns she is being “courted” by a group of Fae who need her help to possibly save their kingdom. Once Bristol finds herself in Elphame, secrets about her past and her family start to unravel, making her question everything she has known.

I really enjoyed the world building and the way Pearson overlaps the Fae world with Bristol’s “real world”. Because of Bristol’s past, and not staying in one place too long, she hasn’t had much of a chance to develop lasting relationships. This makes the new relationships and found family that she develops in Elphame more heart-warming, because it’s something she hasn’t experienced before, outside of her immediate family.

Pearson keeps the story interesting with the threat that Elphame is facing, Bristol navigating a world she didn’t know existed, Bristol and Tyghan’s relationship, and the magic and secrets that Bristol is now faced with. Most of the story flows really well, but there were some changes between chapters that felt a little jarring because of sudden character changes or a time jump, but the story is still easy to follow and well-written.

There are a lot of side characters to follow, but I felt like Pearson did a great job of making most of them relevant to the story. I enjoyed seeing the interactions with Tyghan’s fellow nights and also with the other recruits that trained with Bristol. I also hope to see some more development from Bristol’s sisters, Harper and Cat, in the second book.

The Courting of Bristol Keats is a beautifully written fantasy/romantasy with, magic, secrets, betrayals, found family, and discovering who you really are and what you want for yourself. I am excited to continue this series and see where Bristol’s story goes.

Woo, what a ride.

For context, I read The Remnant Chronicles a long time ago and rated them well so I must have liked them, but I don't remember a lot. Based on how much I liked The Courting of Bristol Keats, I will probably go back and reread them to see how they hold up.

For Bristol, I really liked this take on Fae. The concept and backstory are complex in a compelling way. The characters and their relationships are interesting without being tropey or too closely resembling dynamics that we see over and over again in the genre. It was quite refreshing in that way.

I like how the time discrepancies between the human and fae world contribute to the story. I liked how the author connects the dots of Bristol's upbringing slowly throughout the book. I like how the information that is withheld from the characters and me as the reader made sense to be withheld and didn't feel glaringly obvious or fall into the miscommunication trope. I like the chemistry between Bristol and Tyghan.

The development between Bristol and Tyghan felt pretty well paced and organic. The only thing that ever bothered me about Tyghan was that he didn't feel very kingly but I think that's just consistent with his character. I really liked that once he made his decision to be with her, he was all in. When he says, "This is not a dalliance." Yes. Validation. Love to see it. If I'm being nit-picky, their first intimate encounter was a little cringe to me, the way it is written. The rest of it was fine though.

I thought it was interesting how the other chose to disperse other POV's throughout the book, like that of the snake and the horse. I wonder if that will have any significance moving forward, as Bristol mentions the snake looking like he ate something. I like the addition of little details like that.

My biggest complaint is that the ending felt super abrupt to me. I wasn't expecting it to end when it did. It maybe didn't have the emotional impact I was looking for, like a big reveal or revelation but I am still very much looking forward to the sequel. I'm intrigued to see where the story goes. I'll absolutely be recommending this book to my customers who love fae romance.

🌟3.5

Thank you Netgalley for the arc! I was not prepared to enter such a large world with multiple books. I mistakenly thought this was a standalone novel (that's on me). This was an enjoyable read, but definitely not my favorite. The slow burn romance was nice, but fell flat at the end for me. Knowing now this is a multi-book series (trilogy perhaps) the ending makes more sense, but still fell a little flat for me. I enjoyed the world building once I got into the story a little more and the characters were enjoyable as well. I would recommend this book if you want to get into a series, but it's not my favorite (or my favorite by this author).

I am so happy to read a new book by Mary E. Pearson! I enjoyed Bristol Keats as a character, the world-building, romance, and the mystery. The only thing that threw me off was that the book ended in spot that left me wondering where the rest of the story is. I had to check to make sure I wasn't missing anything.

Book review

The Courting of Bristol Keats by Mary E. Pearson is a truly captivating and thrilling romantic fantasy.

After losing both their parents, Bristol Keats and her sisters struggle to stay afloat in their small, quiet town of Bowskeep. When Bristol begins to receive letters from an “aunt” she’s never heard of who promises she can help, she reluctantly agrees to meet and discovers that everything she thought she knew about her family is a lie. Even her father might still be alive, not killed but kidnapped by terrifying creatures to a whole other realm, the one he is from.

Desperate to save her father and find the truth, Bristol journeys to a land of gods and fae and monsters. Pulled into a dangerous world of magic and intrigue, she makes a deadly bargain with the fae leader, Tyghan. But what she doesn’t know is that he’s the one who drove her parents to live a life on the run. And he is just as determined as she is to find her father, dead or alive

Much like Pearson did with the Kiss of Deception (the Remnant Chronicles), she has created such a vivid and deep world without bogging the reader down in unnecessary details. Her character development is also exceptional and you’re immediately connected with the main characters, specifically Bristol and Tyghan, due to this. There’s still much to learn about them but I think that’s absolutely the plan for the next installment. And the ending of course has me pining for the next book already!

Exquisitely written, deep, complex, and also such an adventurous, well paced read. I highly recommend this book!

After losing both their parents, Bristol Keats and her sisters struggle to stay afloat in their small, quiet town of Bowskeep. When Bristol begins to receive letters from an “aunt” she’s never heard of who promises she can help, she reluctantly agrees to meet―and discovers that everything she thought she knew about her family is a lie. Even her father might still be alive, not killed but kidnapped by terrifying creatures to a whole other realm―the one he is from.

Desperate to save her father and find the truth, Bristol journeys to a land of gods and fae and monsters. Pulled into a dangerous world of magic and intrigue, she makes a deadly bargain with the fae leader, Tyghan. But what she doesn’t know is that he’s the one who drove her parents to live a life on the run. And he is just as determined as she is to find her father―dead or alive.
I love a Mary Pearson YA fantasy like no other book in our high school library, and make no mistake, this is one to add to your shelves. Super story, love the romance and the betrayal.

I enjoyed getting to know Bri and the world she has been thrown into. I bounced between reading this eBook and listening to the audiobook because I didn't want to have another book competing in my mind. Can't wait for book 2.

Thank you to NetGalley and FlatIron Books for giving me an ARC of this fantastic read!

The Courting of Bristol Keats by Mary E. Pearson was so good. When I wasn’t reading this book, I was thinking about reading this book. Much like Pearson did with the Kiss of Deception (the Remnant Chronicles), she had created such a vivid and deep world in my mind.

I love the way she describes the setting and the heart and backstory she gives to her characters. I feel like I got to know these characters and it’s only the first book! I understand that there is still also much to learn about Bristol Keats, her father, Tyghan, and Elphame in general.

I thought Bristol was such an interesting FMC. I felt like i had learned so much and yet so little about her because she told the reader a lot of what SHE knows but there is so much about her we as readers don’t know because she also doesn’t know it and I LOVED that.

Tyghan, our stubborn but fearless king, I loved. I think there is so much more to him than what we are given especially with his relationship with Kierus and how his friendship ended. Now sometimes I am like … yeah he’s fallen for his best friends grown up daughter. Sure the time difference thing from the mortal world and Elphame is explained, but I try not too think about it haha

And don’t get me started on the ending! I feel like Pearson has us in for a(nother) wild ride much like she did with the Remnant Chronicles. I cannot wait to see where this series goes and to learn more about this world of Faeries.

Gorgeous written, deep, complex, and also such an adventurous read. I definitely will need to read it again soon because it’s just going to be stuck in my brain for a while! Great Read!!

Thank you Netgalley and Flatiron books for the eArc of The Courting of Bristol Keats.

4.5 ⭐️

This has been one of my favorite reads of the year. I was having a difficult time finding a book that really caught my attention and sucked me in before I started this, and it exceeded my expectations. It was just an easy, fun read that kept me entertained. The plot was good but i wasn't a fan of the ending. I can't wait for the next book and hopefully we'll see even more development of Bristol and Tyghan's characters.

I had incredibly high hopes for this, but in the end, I’m not sure if I’ll read book 2. The plot suffers from pacing issues, a somewhat predictable plot (though to be fair, it’s revealed on the early side), and an unconvincing romance.

Readers looking to scratch a romantasy itch will find a solution here, but I don’t think any of its parts are quite strong enough to hold up outside of that particular genre.

I enjoyed this book. I liked that Bristol didn't have immediately give in to the Elf court just because they told her what she wanted to hear. I did feel that the love affair between her and the king was a little contrived. Overall, though, a good book.

A huge thank you to Flatiron Books, Macmillan Audio, and NetGalley for sending me an E-ARC and audiobook of A Courting Of Bristol Keats in exchange for review

4.5 stars

I’m MAD and the reason is that how am I supposed to wait for book 2 in this series when the first one isn’t even released yet?

This gave me the same feeling I got when I read ACOTAR but honestly I liked it more. Mainly because I’m left with so much mystery, it was so interesting. And Bristol was so relatable. Generally in a fantasy book world I’m not a fan of things being modern/urban but the glimpse we get of that is so brief and really funny. Oh this girl? Yeah…. She delivers pizzas… but she can totally solve all the problems magical Fae can’t even figure out. It wasn’t exactly enemies to lovers but close enough for me to love it (fav trope).

There’s just so many secrets and bamboozling that occur I was on the edge of my seat the entire time. It was incredibly fast paced for how long of a book it is and I appreciate there was no lull.

And let me just say, the narrator for this (Brittany Pressley) ATE. Oh my god.
She did voices, she did accents(good and believable ones), this woman is engaging and kept me focused even with my ADHD brain.

We have a large cast of characters and they were all fantastic. I seriously don’t know how I am going to wait for more. Thank you SO much for both of these versions! I will be pushing this book on everyone I know upon release. ♥️

Imagine the cruel prince series aspect of a mortal girl in the fae lands, but with gods and monsters, plus on a mission to find her father with more magic and twists. The ending is kind of brutal for the readers 😭

This is essentially a story about a girl named Bristol Kets who travels to a distant land in search of her father who she presumed was dead. In this land she learns she’s not just a regular girl and her father is not just some regular man. There’s a sexy, but annoying, king a war, and tons of mythical creatures.

I’ve only ever heard good things about Mary E. Pearson’s books so when I heard his was her fist adult book, I was intrigued, but for a majority of the book, it didn’t feel adult. The writing felt very juvenile. The only thing adult about it were the spicy scenes.
Going into this, I expected it to be an epic romantasy adventure. It feels more like a Harry Potter story than a rescue story. Bristol goes into this world determined to find her father ASAP and bring him back to her sisters, but she takes her sweet time finding her father. The story is in the same setting for over half the book. It doesn’t feel like she’s in a rush to save her father. She spends most of her nights dancing and falling in love with a king. In the end, she doesn’t even technically find her father. Her father finds her.

Another problem I had with the story was the romance itself. There is no question that there was chemistry between the kind and Bristol, but their love basically happened out of nowhere. Their development was nonexistent. I know why they start to fall in love, but its more told instead of shown. So, the reader doesn’t get to feel the romance blossoming. It kind of just happens. A scene about their love that I thought was just ridiculous was when her friends ask her if she’s in love with the king she has absolutely no idea. She’s very clearly conflicted and doesn’t know if she does or not, but literally the very next chapter he asks her if she loves him and without hesitation, she says that she does????? What happened to the conflict a literal chapter before. There was just no development there. I would get it if he was near death and she suddenly realizes she can’t live without him, but that doesn’t happen at all.

I have one last complaint and then I’ll say the things I like about the book. The ending. The ending was so random and abrupt that when I flipped to the next page, I was kept going back and forth to make sure I was at the ending. I knew that this was going to be a series, but I thought maybe it would end on a cliff hanger or a clear resolution for that part of the story. The ending felt lazy. It was as if she didn’t know how to end it so she just gave us what we got.

Even though I clearly had a lot of complaints about this story, I did rate it 3 stars. 3 stars is a good rating in my book. There were some aspects of the story that I did enjoy. Even though I thought Pearson’s writing was juvenile, that doesn’t mean I thought it was bad. The prose was quite good. It was easy to understand, and the imagery was beautiful. I love the character of Tyghan. The king was sexy and sweet and funny and everything a girl would ever dream of, and his romance with Bristol was quite sweet. Closer to the end of the book there were several moments when I was swooning. There was also a plot twist like 80% into the book that had me screaming. It was nothing I could’ve expected. It brought the story to another level. I was also lucky enough to receive an audio copy of the book, and genuinely, without the audio I don’t think I would have enjoyed the story as much as I did. The narrator was truly impeccable. The voices and tones she created brought the story to life.

This is by far my favorite book of this year. Mary e Pearson’s writing is completely perfection. BUT EHAT WAS THAT END?!

Thank you for the opportunity to read The courting of Bristol Keats by Mary E Pearson.
I absolutely LOVED this book.
Need more!
fae, miscommunication, force proximity

2.25/5 stars overall

This book truly had all of the right ingredients but the measurements were just slightly off. The summary of the book really captured my attention and reading through it felt like remnants of The Cruel Prince trying to piece together with Emily Wilde’s Encyclopedia of Faeries, which I was genuinely excited about (give me romance! Give me Grimms-like fairies!).

The story starts with you meeting Bristol and learning she is in the throws of grieving for lost family. It then abruptly switches to Tyghan, a fairy king, who has (no spoilers) motivations for wanting to bring Bristol into the fairy world. The competing POV chapters felt disjointed throughout this novel. The character depth and world-building fell flat for me in this book (it took me quite a while in the intro to understand what possible timeframe this book takes place in). The book lacked these key elements, which made it challenging to truly be immersed in this book and care much for the characters.

I was rooting so hard for this book but ultimately left disappointed.

Thank you to NetGalley, Flatiron Books, and Mary E. Pearson for this free ARC in exchange for my honest review.

Thank you NetGalley, publisher, and author for this ARC.
The Courting of Bristol Keats pulled me in quickly from the beginning. It did hit many tropes that are seen in current fantasy romance. My feelings are mixed about the book. To start off, I did like the characters and thought they were well fleshed out. The plot itself is where I started to have more mixed feelings. In the beginning we get an idea as to Tyghan's motivation for this novel. I liked how he started off and that we slowly saw as to where is anger and revenge came from. However, the relationship between him and Bristol is where it felt flat. I loved how they started out, it was very enemies-to-lovers. But at one point, it switched too quickly without seeing where that relationship changed. We went from angry to suddenly opening up and falling in love and leaving his anger towards her completely behind. The angst of that relationship was completely gone. There was more off screen interaction of their relationship growing that we didnt get to see. It was more of a "they hung out during the festivities, talked about themselves, and suddenly were in love". That was the momentum of the story and it was cut short when that sudden switch happened. He seemed suddenly okay with who she was and her search for her father. The training just felt like it added bulk to the story but didnt push it forwards. It just gave us more of a chance to get to know the secondary characters. I hope we get to see Julia and Rose's role more in the sequel. The interaction with her father towards the end felt awkward and it didn't feel "resolved". She went back to the royal grounds and continued on like normal...ish, like saying that she'll be back at training etc. With all that being said, I did enjoy the book overall and hope the things that lacked in the first book get are better fleshed out.