As rumours of evil King Mordeus’ resurrection spread through the shadow court, Princess Jasalyn and shape-shifter Felicity swap places to try and bring King Mordeus to an end. While Jasalyn teams up with the charming Kendrick alongside his group of friends as Felicity sets out to get closer to the Wild Fae king, Misha. Soon, their missions are compromised, alongside their hearts.

Thank you to Netgalley, Hatchette Australia & New Zealand and Lexi Ryan for providing me with this E-ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Although this book reads as a standalone, I’m kicking myself for not reading the These Hollow Vows duology beforehand. It would have helped me better understand the characters, their relationships, magic system as well and avoid sneaky spoilers from the first two books. Regardless, I really enjoyed Beneath These Cursed Stars which included some of my favourite tropes:

-magic
-secret identities
-forced proximity
-one horse
-forbidden romance
-‘who did this to you’
-slow burn
-found family

Whilst I enjoyed all of the characters, I felt particularly connected to Felicity. Even though she was disguised and acting as Jasalyn, her personality shone through which we got to see fully toward the end of the book. I absolutely frothed the build-up of tension and romance between Felicity and Misha.

Of course, the story ended on a major cliffhanger and I’m in a world of pain being left in suspense like that. I can’t wait to continue the adventure in book two (which I need stat!)

Publication date: 9 July 2024

"And what if you find yourself living beneath nothing but cursed stars?".

This was a fantastic read right from the very start. I loved going back and forth between Jasalyn and Felicity and seeing how their stories intertwined. Add in chemistry and tension between them and the males they shouldn't want and an intriguing story of an evil trying to rise again and you have me sold. But holy cliffhanger batman! I'm going to be hanging out for the next book in this Duology with bated breath.

I want to start by mentioning that I've read the previous Duology in this universe and rated both books similarly to this one. I don't think Lexi Ryan is a bad writer, but this particular writing and story isn’t for me.

In this new Duology, Jas takes centre stage, driven by revenge with a magical ring that bestows a deadly kiss as she tries to heal from past trauma. This time, the story unfolds through split points of view, introducing a new Heroine named Felicity, a shape-shifter destined to kill her father. Rumours are swirling about Mordeus' resurrection, leading Jas to join forces with an old friend while Felicity hides in the Wild Fae lands with King Misha, pretending to be Jas, while she attempts a mission of her own.

I particularly enjoyed Jas' perspective more than the previous duology by Ryan. Witnessing Jas' transformation into a fearless character when wearing the magical ring was captivating. I found her story engaging and look forward to reading the next book in the series for this reason alone, as I truly want to know how her story ends. However, Jas was the only character I truly connected with in this book. I felt no attachment to Felicity, whose romance with Misha felt rushed and lacked depth.

From this point in the review, I will be talking about spoilers which I NEVER usually include, however, I couldn’t write a fair review without mentioning some critical points to the story.

My main issue with this book and Ryan's writing style is the reliance on Betrayal and Hidden Secrets tropes, which I personally dislike with a vengeance. The revelation of Kendrick's lies to Jas about literally everything from how he met her, who he is, what he is and his romantic pursuit despite having a promised bride was just a hot mess for me. It's challenging for me to forgive his deceitful actions as from where I sit, he hasn’t been honest or upfront about a single thing with Jas. I really enjoyed his character when he was introduced and just knew there would be a few secrets, but I didn’t think there would be THIS many!

While there is minimal world-building, the book expands on the existing world from the previous duology. This lack of background information posed a challenge for me as I didn't initially realise this book was connected to the previous series. The pacing felt rushed in terms of character and relationship development, with emotions seemingly evolving overnight, which didn't resonate with me personally. Overall, despite the rushed character development, this YA series offers a consistent pace and an intriguing continuation of the world introduced in the previous books.

While this book is labeled as a standalone and doesn't require prior reading, I personally would have struggled without having read the previous ones. I did appreciate delving deeper into the history of the human realms and their leaders in power, exploring why Kendrick and his followers are so intent on overthrowing them. The narrative of how these leaders portrayed themselves as heroes while erasing their villainous actions was intriguing. However, it did remind me of Mass' Crescent City storyline, which was all I could think about when this aspect was revealed.