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.

Mary Pearson rings in her adult debut with a story perfect for fans of Holly Black. Bristol faces a steep mountain of obstacles to track down her missing-presumed-dead father. I loved reading this story about love in its many forms. Romantic and full of family--both found and born--readers are sure to get swept along and entranced by Pearson's take on the Irish lore and the worlds within Faerie that are at once decadent and dangerous.

The VIBES in this book are immaculate! For fans of Alix Harrow, Emily Wilde, or other dark fantasy lovers, we have fae, portal magic, “real world” girl stumbles into alternate reality, romantasy plot line, etc. I loved the set up, the entry into the fae world, the subterfuge, the magic system, all of it. The book ended abruptly and I’ll perhaps die waiting for book 2, but I’ll ABSOLUTELY be reading it!!!

3⭐️

The first half of this book was so strong and I was .
gripped. I really enjoyed world that Bristol was thrust into but then it just fell a bit flat. Just nothing really happened and the romance was pacing well but then went to insta love out of no where:

Things I really enjoyed about this book was the two worlds and got that interacted together. That I was never really sure of the real story and what was the truth. In the first half I thought the maze training scenes were a lot of fun. After the first half I feel like many of the chapters could have been omitted. It seemed like filler and didn't progress the story.

I didn't knock down my review of this, but it was evident that this was the authors debut in adult, The overall book still read very YA with sprinkles of adult content, I'm hoping that the author does find her footing in the adult books genre as I do really enjoy her books.

Thank you to NetGalley and Flat Iron Books for this advanced reader copy. My review is voluntarily my own.

This book started out as 5 stars for the first half. I felt like it started out with a bang and I really enjoyed the premise. As I continued the second half I realized that I had a hard time remembering who the side characters were and why they were important to the story. I don’t they were fleshed out as well as Bristol and tyghan. Things started to get repetitive with the interactions that Bristol had with the other girls as well as the party events. I also wish that I didn’t know the twist as a reader so early on. I wish we would’ve found out along with Bristol. I was also shocked that the ending was so abrupt. Over all I enjoyed the book and I appreciate being chosen to read it as an ARC.

Slow to start and it took me a bit to wrap my head around the premise of the book but by the end I really enjoyed it. I can’t believe it ended like it did so I can’t wait to see what happens next.

Did not want to put this one down! Read it every work break I had and stayed up way past my normal bedtime devouring it. Mary E. Pearson just gets it. She gets it every time.

The tension. The unveiling of the back story. Ugh.

Bristol Keats is the kind of main character I like because she’s determined, brave, a little reckless, but she is also anxious, unsure, and in need of some serious loving. I have a few guesses about what her transformation might look like when they remove that tick. I’m ready for book two NOW because I was not expecting it to end where it did.

(Only thing that I was not into overall was the weird age thing…I was trying so hard to block it out and not feel icky. Daddy’s bff? I mean at least he isn’t actually 47 because of the way time works, but it was still ick. Does add a lot to the plot though.)

Didn't like it as much as I thought I would but it was still really good. I wouldn't mind if the romance was toned down a bit, but that's prolly just me, I'm more of a mystery person.

The Courting of Bristol Keats follows a grieving young woman who finds herself in another world searching for answers after discovering her father's death may not be as simple as it seems.
I really thought this one was heading to being a 5 star read for me. I really liked the main characters, the magic system, the parallel worlds, the way the romance built and unfolded. I feel like this book gave us a lot of tropes we love in Romantasy books and it was an easy read. The chapters are short and fast which I love. I feel like it was everything I love in a Romantasy. I knew a cliffhanger was coming. I just was so let down by the ending of the book. It really felt like we were left in the middle of something and we are missing a chapter or Epilogue or something. Overall I really liked the story and Bristol. And can't wait for the next one.

Thanks to NetGalley and Flatiron Books for this ARC in exchange for review!

Overall, I enjoyed this book! I thought the plotline was intriguing and enjoyed the world and storyline as it progressed. I loved all of the elements this book had: fae, monsters, magic, etc. Once I got invested in the story, I absolutely loved it. There was a lot of depth to the story, and it unfolded well. Especially in the last quarter of the book!
However, now for some of my critiques:
The writing style was not my favorite. It felt that she was telling the story rather than showing it. By this I mean that I felt it lacked description and visionary details, which often made it hard to visualize what was going on. It left the story feeling very information heavy, especially in the beginning.
For a 500+ page book, I felt like not much actually happened until the end? The characters also lacked some development and seemed to be mostly stagnant throughout. There were a lot of side characters, so I think it’s often hard to develop characters really well when there are just too many. I am looking forward to seeing how they develop in the second book.
And what an interesting way to end a book?! I wouldn’t say it was a cliff hanger… just an interest choice.
Thank you to NetGalley and Flatiron Books for this e-ARC in exchange for an honest review.

3.5 🌟 thank you NetGalley and flatiron books for the gifted ARC!
I was unsure about how I felt about this book for about the first half. I definitely enjoyed the second half more. The author created a whimsical fae world that’s different than anything I’ve read so far, and I found the plot of this book to be really unique. The thing that kept me reading when I was unsure about the book though was the mystery and wanting answers.
I do think that the enemies to lovers happened a little too fast—one second they hated each other and the next they were obsessed. I would’ve liked a little more build up.
I also struggled a bit with the side characters—there were so many of them that there wasn’t much depth to any of them and it got confusing. I think having less side characters with more depth would’ve done wonders for this book.
I really liked Bristol as a FMC, and she had great character growth. I truly felt so bad for her bc EVERYONE in her life lied to her.
I’ll definitely be reading the next book because I want to know where the story goes and how the relationships mend after so many lies and betrayals. Also, the ending was really weird—it felt like it ended right in the middle of a chapter.

Bristol Keats has never stayed in one place for very long. Even when her sisters convince her nomadic parents to call Bowskeep, Bri only agrees to settle once her parents have both passed away. Having fallen on hard times after their parents' deaths, the girls struggle to make ends meet until they are given an offer they can't refuse-but offers from Faeries are more than they seem. To help support her sisters, Bristol is drawn into the troubled world of the Fae. What she doesn't know is that her parents were constantly on the run from the very people she is now trying to help save. Pearson's book is a little slow at the beginning as she begins setting up the world building and characters. Once we get into the Fae realm, the action picks up a bit as we see the story both from Bri's perspective learning the world as well as from Tyghan's who knows exactly who she is and how her family betrayed his. For readers who often yell things like "Just tell her already!" at their books, this might be a pass for you, but overall, I think the story is well worth the read.

I like Pearson's writing and I liked it a lot in this book especially. She is super talented. Lots of great characters to get behind.

Secret/hidden identities, Elfhame, forbidden romance, and magical training - The Courting of Bristol Keats is your next favorite fae romantasy!

Like the Kiss of Deception, betrayal is a major theme throughout the story. I really enjoyed the examination of how friendship betrayals can be just as devastating, if not more, than romantic ones.

The story starts slow and takes a bit to get into, but I loved the world, the characters, the training, and the romance. There’s so many different arcs to follow and so much more still to learn. I devoured it!

In my opinion, there is one major POV missing from this story (don’t want to spoil by saying whose). I really hope it’s included in the second book, as I don’t think you can fully appreciate the story without it. I can’t wait to see where this goes!

Thank you to Netgalley and Flatiron Press for the e-arc in exchange for an honest review.

DNF at 45%

I really tried to push through and finish this book but by 45% in I knew that this book just wasn’t for me.
I loved Pearson’s Dance of Thieves duology so I was SO excited to read this book.
I loved how quickly things were moving at the beginning but once Bristol arrived at Elphame the story started to drag.
The development of Tyghan and Bristol’s feelings for each other came out of no where. I felt no chemistry between them and their feelings for each other felt weird and forced. And then there’s the issue of Tyghan holding so many secrets from Bristol and the extreme creepiness of Tyghan developing feelings for his ex-best friends 21 year old daughter.
I really do think that readers new to fantasy will enjoy this book. It has so much potential and I can see people new to this genre being captivated by the story.
The problem for me is, I’m not new to fantasy. And this felt copy and pasted from popular romantasy books, most notably, Throne of Glass and other SJM series, Cruel Prince and the book The Other Side of the Mirror by indie author Dana Evyn. The similarities are insane and made this story unenjoyable in its lack of originality.
This is Pearson’s first dip into the adult fantasy genre but the execution was severely lacking. It reads like a YA, which isn’t a bad thing if it’s actually marketed as YA. I think if anything this should be marketed as NA (new adult) since at the start of the book Bristol is only 20.
Overall, for me, I just couldn’t look past all of these things to enjoy this book.
I really do think that this could be a big hit with new to the genre readers and the narrator for the audiobook was absolutely phenomenal.
Thank you NetGalley for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Wow, broad first read in a presumed series. Bristol, realing from the deaths of both parents, helping manage a home with her two sisters with tight finances, and as human as can be, is thrust into a fairy realm, Elphame. Tyghan, the acting king of Danu nation, one of the twelve kingdoms of Elphame, along with his advisors have deemed Bristol someone who could possibly save all of Elphame, if they can awaken the powers they belive she possesses.
Bristol, motivated by the financial security working with them could provide, takes the leap and follows Tyghan into the new realm.
She must come to terms with a new world, lots of magic, new creatures, and huge new truths about her heritage.
This is a romance and Bristol and Tyghan quickly fall deeply for each other despite misgivings and massive secrets between them.
The book didn't end on a cliff hanger per se, but it was pretty darn close. I'm going to be inpatient for the next book in this series.
I felt the writing was good and easy to read. It felt rather long and could possibly be shortened a bit, but that's really a minor thing.
Overall, enjoyed and left me feeling angsty as I await the next installment.
Thank you to Netgalley, the publisher, and author for the opportunity to read this advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.