While I’m always more hesitant than excited when a book is comped to one of Stephanie Garber’s titles (this one mentions “Once Upon a Broken Heart” in its marketing materials), I was also intrigued by the vague comparisons to “The Princess Bride” that I found floating around. It’s a hard target to hit, but when authors manage to balance humor, romance, and fantasy altogether, those end up being some of my all time favorite reads. And this one definitely sounded like it had potential!

Let’s start with some pros! One thing that this book definitely goes hard on is the quippy dialogue. Now, I’m quite picky about quippy dialogue, so the fact that this didn’t immediately put me off the book is a definite mark in its favor! Moreover, as much of the romance between these characters rotates around their quirky banter with one another, readers who enjoy this style of interaction are going to gobble this one up. While I did find myself getting a bit tired of it as it went on, there are definitely readers out there who will appreciate this style.

Further, I liked the addition of chapters from the villain’s perspective. This wasn’t something I was expecting, and I think it added a much needed note of seriousness to the affair. This character is truly vile, and I appreciated the fact that the author fully committed to writing this sort of character and devoting this amount of page time to him.

That said, the book as a whole failed to really land. Part of this is due to the pacing. The book starts off fast, but not in a good way. We meet Persephone and then literally three pages into the book, bam! Azriel shows up and their quippiness takes off at a gallop. I barely had time to meet the heroine or hear anything about this world before I was thrown into the scene of these two’s first meeting. Usually when you get a first meeting like this, you at least know and care about one of the characters. Through knowing them, the reader is given a window into how to interpret the this newly introduced character and the interactions between them.

But Persphone was just as much an unknown to Azriel when they met, so this didn’t give me any insight into either of their characters. Is she usually trusting or untrusting? Is she more chaotic or lawful in her approach to situations like this? As the story continued, of course, I got to know both of these characters better. But the sudden introduction of them both so early in the book put me on the backfoot right from the start. I’ll also add that I think some of the fun was taken out of the quippy dialogue due to these choices, as well. Due to this, the book always felt a bit lacking in its world-building and characterization. As the story continued and the pacing slowed down some, I appreciated the author’s attempts to more fully flesh these bits out. But in many ways it was too little, too late.

The pacing picked up again towards the end, with a lot of plot points hitting quickly all within the last few chapters. There were a couple of twists and turns here that I don’t think quite tracked with some of the information we had previously, but it’s also clear that everything was being set up for the sequel. We’ll see if I get around to checking that out, but there’s a decent chance that my estimation of this one could rise based on the execution of the next book. Overall, I’d say this was just an ok novel. In some ways it read as unexpectedly middle grade (both in the sheer number of animal companions and with the tone of the dialogue at various points). But I also think that it will appeal to a specific sort of fantasy reader who likes fast dialogue and quirky characters.

Rating 7: Had potential, especially for readers who enjoy lots of dialogue, but the pacing was off and some of the tone of the writing read veered closer to middle grade than young adult.

Link will go live on The Library Ladies blog on Jan. 24

Well written YA fantasy that had my attention so much I finished in a day. Sometimes these stories can feel a bit too familiar - or similar to other books in the same genre.. however, Prophecy was phenomenal.

I don’t know that there is an emotion I didn’t feel reading it and found myself excited for more of the story and sad for the ending of it all.

This book is one of my first few reads of 2025 and will probably be a re-read for me as well. With some questions I need answered — I am excited for additional books to follow!

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for this phenomenal arc in exchange for my honest review!

What an amazing book. I absolutely devoured it in two sittings. I loved all of the character development. I can’t even post too much because I don’t want to give anything away, but the vibes were vibing and the snarkiness of the the leads was amazing.

Definitely a great book for fantasy romance lovers.

I received an ARC from the publisher in exchange for an honest review

Prophecy by M.L. Fergus is a third person dual-POV YA fantasy. Persephone was sold into slavery as an infant and is trying to survive her latest owner. Azriel is a member of a people persecuted by the king of their kingdom and is searching for a young woman to help save the young king of his people. Azriel believes that Persephone is that young woman and Persephone sees this as a chance to escape, but she’s going to get caught up in a plan that leads her to her destiny.

There is something very 80’s/90’s about this and I love that. The opening chapters have a The Princess Bride kind of vibe and Mordesius is kind of a Prince Humperdink-ish character. He’s just so vile for the sake of being vile and I would like more villains who are villains just because. He did have a traumatic incident in his early life but it doesn’t not explain his personality or his political scheming and I’m fine with that. I don’t need every villain to have a redemption arc or some grand traumatic reason why they want things to go their way; they can just be jerks who want political power because, in real life, there are jerks who just want political power.

Azriel and Persephone’s romance has plenty of banter early on and some pining as a lot goes unsaid between them but they both also know there is a spark there. Azriel is a pirate robber who meets Persephone by trying to steal one of her chickens and proceeds to be playful when she fights back. It’s not the dramatic high stakes YA fantasy that I’ve become used to and I’ve found that I really miss this set-up of an adventure-style fantasy with banter between the main characters that leads into a romance.

In this book, there isn’t really a magic system beyond seers and the world might be our world but set in a fictional kingdom as there is a mention of Latin, much like The Princess Bride could have been set in our world. Again, it goes back to that 80’s/90’s-style of ‘is it our world? Is it not? Is there magic? Is it science?’ and that could make this a great gateway for readers looking to try out epic or political fantasy but don’t want a ton of worldbuilding or a lot of rules to learn.

Content warning for mentions and depictions of attempted sexual assault

I would recommend this to fans of The Princess Bride and other 80’s and 80’s fantasy films, readers looking to dip their toes into fantasy, and those looking for a YA fantasy with banter and pining but also some adventure and political intrigue

I really enjoyed the start of a new, exciting fantasy series! I enjoyed the banter and romance between the MCs. I definitely see the comparison to the Princess bride. I look forward to reading the next book as well!

Prophecy follows a young slave named Persephone as she encounters a thief skulking around her current owner’s home. The thief, Azriel, concocts a plan and offers Persephone an escape which she accepts with the intention to run from Azriel the first chance she gets. When their journey takes a vicious turn and they encounter unrest in the land, Persephone helps save Azriel’s life only to fall deep into his people’s plot. The king’s regent has been hunting his people for years. Persephone must figure out who to trust and how important her freedom is as her resolve wavers, and she finds herself wanting to help Azriel and his people.

This was a really solid first book in a series. There’s a lot of setup and world building. I found the world itself to be very interesting and the dynamics between the groups described very well. It’s a good pace with some slower moments while still having a lot of action and intrigue. I struggled a little with the writing style, but did get used to it and enjoyed it by the end. The twist at the end didn’t really surprise me, but I liked what it has setup for the next book. The villain having a perspective was a big highlight for me. He was very much a terrifying man and being in his head was so alarming and so well done.

Persephone was a good main character. I liked all her interactions with her animals and found that very cute. She’s quite the spitfire and I always find that makes fun mcs. She had great banter with Azriel and their budding romance was cute. Her scenes with the regent were so anxiety-inducing. He’s truly a vile man and I was worried about what might happen. Azriel was a great love interest. It was sweet how much he cared for Persephone and their scenes together were always amusing.
Overall, this is a good first book in a new fantasy series and if you really like banter and adventure, then I’d definitely recommend checking this book out.

Thank you to Penguin Teen CA and Netgalley for the arc in exchange for an honest review!

I'd like to thank NetGalley and the publisher for allowing me a chance at reading this solid fantasy entry.

The villain is absolutely, 100% disgusting. His chapters were so GOOD / well done for being disgusting.

I can see where the comps to Princess Bride comes from. It has that quirky humor where male and female banter at one another, secretly they like one another and or are falling in love, and they're amassing a coterie of people and animals.

The reason I knocked it down two stars is that something about the kingdoms and how underdeveloped they were hindered to the overall plot and the prophecy. At the very end we see people from two other persecuted groups was a relief but came too late.

As soon as the group gets to the castle / keep and she has to pretend to be a noble it gets absolutely CRAZY and the villain and his henchman were worrying me.

I liked this book enough to seek out / keep an eye out for the second. If that one is as good then I think I'll push my rating up a star. (EDIT: After reading Book 2 immediately after, yes, pushing this up a star.)

The prose is flat and distances readers from the story. The chemistry is lacking and the world-building is weak. Recommended to fans of The Princess Bride.

This was an amazing book, I couldn't put it down! I can't wait to see where it goes in book 2. it was paced perfectly

when you want the second book of the series but the first one isn’t even properly published yet. this book was messy like she was entertaining fs but that ending was pure chaos + conflicted feelings since the king was speaking about *vague spoiler* marrying her only chapters ago. this book follows Persephone a slave who is sold of to a man and sets of on an adventure to fulfill a prophecy made long ago. the book isn’t bad but aspects of it just aren’t good, like the pacing and the fact we met azriel three pages into the book. It could’ve just been overall better and made me enjoy it more. The romance also just kinda fell flat there was no good connection between the two and wasn’t really rooting for them even though they were cute at times.

in the end it wasn’t bad the writing was interesting, and the way she wrote the narrative was very new to me but not in a bad way it just took me some getting used too, but it totally helped the book picked up midway through.

The ending was insane and i can’t wait to read the next one!

Great fantasy read and I felt the vibes of so many other stories that I loved. Super hard to find on Goodreads though...

Thanks to NetGalley and Penguin Random House for the ARC!
This novel follows the story of Persephone and Azriel. Persephone being a "slave" and Azriel coming to save her from owner, revealing that he has to take her somewhere and to trust him wholeheartedly. Along with her trusty animal friends, they embark on a journey that Azriel believes could set him and his people free from the tyranny of the king's regent.

I found that the story description was extremely interesting and thought it would be something I would enjoy, but I found that the pacing and overall execution was a tad lack-luster. The beginning started off pretty fun with the introduction of the two main characters and their funny banter, but as it hit the middle, the pacing of the book completely slowed down. And really only until the last couple chapters did it pick up and did readers receive a plot twist that was not the biggest surprise.

Overall, I think that the story has a lot of potential of being really good, especially with the set up for the next instalment. I just hope that the pacing improves and that readers get some more lore and romance!

It's rare that I can't finish a book that I receive for a review, but I just couldn't stomach this. The trend of snarky boy meets "tough" girl is boring at this point, and I could definitely do without the female character (preposterously named Persephone) being threatened with a spanking by the equally preposterously named Azriel, whom we are apparently supposed to like) and being stripped topless and whipped. All in the first few pages. I had to put it down at that point.

Thoroughly enjoyable! Fun characters, fun romance, exciting world. I had a little bit of difficulty with the pacing, but it still didn't affect my reading enjoyment much. Just made it feel a little bumby rather than a smooth, fluid reading experience.

Sometimes, you just need a quick little fantasy adventure with two snarky leads to get you through your day.

Prophecy is a low-fantasy adventure story filled with plenty of humor and romance. I've seen it compared to The Princess Bride, and while I haven't watched the whole movie, this book did remind me of some of the scenes I'd seen. I probably would have read this book in one sitting if I had the time, and it was refreshing to read due to its shorter length and quick pacing. I also really like the style of the prose, especially in the dialogue.
The fantasy elements in the story are relatively limited to the "prophecy" that foretells the importance of certain characters in the story. Otherwise, we follow Persephone, a slave longing for freedom, and Azriel, the thief who intends to grant that to her...although he may have ulterior motives. Like I said, the plot is very fast-paced. While the first part of the story is more adventure-focused, the second half has more politics and court intrigue. The story is fairly predictable, but there are some major plot twists at the end, and I didn't mind the familiar tropes. My only issue now is that I have to wait at least a year for a sequel.
The characters are very charming, and I think they're what drew me into the story. Persephone is a very intriguing main character, and I really liked her as a character. Azriel was my favorite (unsurprising, right) because snarky boys with possibly tragic backstories automatically win my favoritism. There are a handful of other characters with limited importance, but I'm excited to see more of Rachael, Tiny, and some of the other side characters.
Fantasy fans looking for a quick adventure story with plenty of twists and action will enjoy Prophecy.
Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for the free e-ARC!

4.5/5

I absolutely loved this book! I read it in one setting because it was so good and I could not get enough of the characters. I really loved the characters the author created and there journey that they took. The story was fast paced but detailed where I felt immersed but not bored. I will be recommending this book to all of my family and friends.

I can see the similarities between the Once Upon A Broken Heart series, and this one since they both have a prophecy aspect. As for the other authors that this book is being compared to, I have not read any of their books so I cannot say for them. I also see a similarity between Stephanie Garber's writing style and this one. Still, it almost reminded me of Lauren Roberts’ writing style or even Holly Black's.
The characters reminded me of the ones in The Cruel Prince, especially the MMC. He reminded me a lot of Cardan, which I quite enjoyed. But it was almost like I didn’t know the characters which I understand because this is the first book in a series that I did not realize before today, looking at it on Goodreads. Another book, this reminds me of is The Stolen Heir; the sort of adventurous feel of it, and also Dance of Thieves where I remember a lot of similarities there as well. Those two, I feel should've been mentioned in the list of books Prochecy is similar to.
I was worried that I wouldn’t be able to finish this book because I’m not in a fantasy mood right now but I flew through it. It was quite fast-paced. It kept me entertained the whole time. The dialogue was fantastic! Almost up there with Holly Blacks and Lauren Roberts! I will definitely be purchasing this book when it comes out in January and am very glad that I read it, and discovered a new series for me to obsess over!
The lore/world-building in this book was very well flushed out for the most part. I still do feel like I have some questions at the end, which is completely okay because again this is the first book in a series. Normally that happens in the first books. There was one particular character that drove me insane the whole entire time. He just kept failing and failing and not accepting it, and I was quite annoyed with him. I will not say his name to avoid spoilers.
I’m trying to avoid spoilers this entire time because I would feel so bad if I were the one who spoiled it when this book comes out next year! Overall, I did like the two main characters, especially the MMC. I enjoyed him very much because of his dialogue and his banter with the FMC. I loved that! Now I am a bit upset that I have to wait until not next year, but possibly the previous year to find out what happens. I'm on a cliff here and I don’t like it!
Anyway, if you enjoyed Dance of Thieves, Once Upon a Broken Heart, Powerless, or any book in the Folk of the Air universe you would enjoy this. What a great true young adult book!!

It was a fun read! I don't know if it does justice to the description but it was a quick and interesting book to read. A very positive point was Persephone, I really liked her character!!