I was super excited for Mary E. Pearson to come out with an adult fantasy. And boy did she not disappoint. We have Bristol Keates and her two sisters who have lost both of their parents under mysterious circumstances. Briston is struggling to support her sisters when she starts to receive letters from an unknown aunt offering support. When Bristol agrees to meet with the aunt she unwittingly discovers that everything that she thought that she knew about her family and the world around her is not what she thought, including that her father may not actually be dead. Bristol travels to the fae land under the guise of helping them locate and close a hidden door, when her true goal is to locate and save her father.

I did enjoy the plot of this book. However, I thought that some of the characters could have been flushed out a little more. I also was not a fan of the insta-love between Bristol and the fae king. Overall I rated this book four stars and I'm looking forward to book two.

Thank you to NetGalley and Flatiron Books for the eArc of The Courting of Bristol Keats by Mary E. Pearson in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.

I had high hopes for this book--the description was alluring and the story sounded interesting. I did genuinely enjoy the story! The protagonist had potentially, but there were points in which she's almost unlikable beyond the fact that she's naive. The biggest issue is the pace and the inconsistent writing. The pace is so slow for no reason--sometimes I feel the writing is trying to over-reach. As a series, it is a start to a story with potential, but the pace could have been better.

5 Stars

This was wildly amazing and an epic dive into the land of Fae. If you’ve been wanting a more adult version of the type of faerie world that we got with Holly Black’s Folk of the Air series, then look no further. I need the next book ASAP and will be so unwell until I get the ending to this epic fantasy!

I loved this book so much! I'm super excited to see what is next!
If you liked books like The Cruel Prince and ACOTAR i think you'll love this story!

Publisher's summary
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.

Thanks to NetGalley & Macmillan Audio for the ALC of this book!

The Courting of Bristol Keats
By: Mary E. Pearson
Narrated by: Brittany Pressley
Publisher: Macmillan Audio

This book was so well written, the world building and character development was perfect. And the ending! Omg! I need book 2 now!

Book: ⭐️⭐️⭐️ .5
🎧: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Spice: 🌶️
ARC review
Let’s start with the good. The writing style in this book is more sophisticated than the average book tok recommendation. She does a great job building the world and magic system without over loading the reader. The characters are interesting and the storyline is intriguing. However, this only gets you through the first half of the book. I initially thought this book was going to be a fantastic read. But somewhere along the way it stalled. And then it just- ended. It was a bit like blow-pop sucker that just never made it to the bubble gum. It was enjoyable, but it just never completely got to the good stuff. I was entertained, but that eventually became frustrating when the plot stalls and the storyline keeps going with no resolution. The big revelations in the second half had been predictable and so the reveal did not really further the plot. I felt frustrated after 17 hours of audio (or 550 pgs in the physical).

SPOILERS:

We knew she wasn’t going to end up mortal. We knew her dad was alive. We knew he was going to end up being the one who had stabbed the king. So once these were confirmed, it didn’t change anything for the reader. I actually would have liked it better without the chapters that confirmed her father was alive and let that big reveal be the plot twist. Or introduce him sooner and put a new spin on the “love triangle” between loyalty to a lover vs a parent. I assume this will be the second book. But if so, it took far too long to get there. And we haven’t even found the mother yet. This book Needed a bigger cliff hanger OR about 200 fewer pages.

The audio narration was okay. I do hope that more books that feature dual POVs with a male character move to duet narration. It is so much more entertaining and seems to be the trend of the future. It is a big ask for a narrator of one gender to voice so many characters and so many of the opposite sex. And this book does have a lot of characters. They partially overcome this with accents, but this would have been a great book to do as a duet narration. Thank you for the opportunity to review this book.

Overall, I liked this story. I thought it was a bit too long, but still, a good story. Bristol and her sisters are struggling after the disappearance of their mother and the supposed death of their father. She begins receiving letters from an aunt promising to help she and her sisters. Bristol has never heard either of her parents speaking of her having an aunt. She decides to go met the aunt and discuss the offered assistance. She soon discovers everything she thought she knew about her parents is a lie. Her father might still be alive and living in the realm of fairies. She sets out on a journey to find him.

There were so many good things about this book. I am always a fan of being brought back into the world of Fae and seeing how each author spins their interpretation and creativity of the faerie world. It’s the only time I enjoy the modern world being mixed into my fantasy books. The magic system Pearson weaved was intriguing to me and I enjoyed the slow revelation of certain magic pieces. I felt connected to all of the characters and loved watch friendships develop and seeing Bristol find her place in the faerie world. I loved how she held her own and wasn’t afraid to do what needs to be done.

Regarding the narrator, I think she did a great job of making each character distinguishable and unique.

That being said, the amount of spicy scenes just distracted and detracted from the story for me. I was hoping for a little more slow-burn romance, especially considering this is only the first book. Spice is not my thing, so I was very disappointed with the amount in the story, not to mention the choice to have the book end on a sex scene rather than a cliffhanger. That, along with the fact that I felt the ending didn’t leave me with the feeling of “I need to know what happens next” regarding unresolved plot points, I don’t know if I will read the sequel…

*Thank you McMillan Audio and Netgalley for an ARC in exchange for an honest review*

The Courting of Bristol Keats was a nice surprise! I wasn’t sure what to expect going onto this one, but I thoroughly enjoyed it.

I loved the characters, the world, and the magic. Bring on book 2.

I truly like and respect Mary Pearson’s take on writing in a way that fits her story. It’s usually unique and different than your average read. Her Remnant Chronicle series was amazing and this one fit her style—but more adult. :)

My thoughts…it was difficult for me to truly get into this one, personally. It very well could have been my mood and if I read it another time, I might just love it. But the first time around, I thought it was okay. It was nice to have such short chapters but there were times I was totally lost in my audiobook I had to backtrack and listen to the chapter again because I missed something important—or even to know whose POV I was listening to.

All in all, it was a good book. :)

After loving Pearson’s The Remnant Chronicles series, I was sorely disappointed with her adult debut. It was a predictable story and fairy world with originality or charm. The romance felt forced, and I just couldn’t invest in Bristol enough to care.

The Courting of Bristol Keats is a dark twisty fantasy with a heavily complicated romance. I was very into it from the beginning; the concepts early on are intriguing. A mysterious aunt she doesn't know ever existed offers to resolve her financial problems if she only shows up to meet? Obviously a trap. Love that start. Around 60% though, it really lost me. The idea of a romance with her dad's best friend is uncomfortable at best no matter the odd time thing, and the tick situation gave me massive ick. This had 5 star potential for me, but it falls far short. It also feels its length at over 550 pages. 3.5 stars
I listened to the audiobook, and I love Brittany Pressley's narration. Very well done.
Thanks to NetGalley and Macmillan Audio for this ALC!

Romantasy • Fae • Fantasy Series
Pub Date • 12 November 2024

🗝️ Thank you to @macmillan.audio and @flatiron_books for the free digital book and ALC. 🎧

As a testament of sorts, I did finish ahead of my buddy read schedule. Enjoyable but I left this book wanting more.

Bristol Keats is a 22 year old human who, following the suspicious deaths her parents, ends up entering a bargain with some fae and lands herself in their world, Elfame.

There’s a lot going on in this book. There are Bristol’s two sisters, her aunt, the townsfolk and mayor, the different fae clans and villains, the inner circle of the king, the knights, and healers who are all named and given speaking roles. Then the “recruits” who are vying to be selected for a special fae task. Can’t forget the King and love interest Tyghan, not to mention Bristol’s maybe not-dead father... All this to say there are a lot of characters and events happening - and in the end, the side plots did not add much, other than padding a lengthy book.

The ending also knocked this down a peg for me because it ends literally in the middle of a sex scene with no plot lines resolved. In an almost 600 page book I expect to have some resolution.

🎧 bumped up a star for the audiobook. Brittany Pressley did a great job managing multiple POVs and brought each character a unique voice. This made tracking the many characters more enjoyable. She kept me invested through the slower middle section. The bonus interview with the author and narrator at the end was the cherry on top.

I love portal fantasies and this book turned out to be an immersive portal romantasy that for the most part really worked.

My thoughts:

🧚‍♂️I was captivated and invested in the characters. Our main gal is strong and sassy and I enjoyed her journey of self-discovery. I wanted more about the side characters, though - some of them were pretty intriguing and I'd have liked to see them more fully developed.

🚪I enjoyed imagining this fae world. The world building is satisfying - not overly complicated and there were some aspects of the magic system that worked well to create interesting plot twists.

🎨But then... that abrupt ending. No spoilers here, but suffice it to say, it's a long book that you work through and then it just drops off on kind of a cheesy note. It really needed one more chapter to satisfyingly set up the "cliffhanger" for the next book. This is possibly just a "me" problem though, as folks who are bigger romance fans might not see it the same way.

📖I'll reach for the next book, as I want to see how this resolves and I am hoping it will be an opportunity to flesh out more of these interesting characters and the hard choices they will face ahead. I really hope the next conclusion will be more satisfying.

🎙The audiobook is fantastic! Brittany Pressley is able to switch voices and tone for the characters which makes it so much easier to follow. I really enjoy her narration.

Fans of portal fantasy, romantasy, fae worlds, magic lessons, stories of family secrets, and a little bit of spice should consider picking this one up. Cool that it was a Book of the Month add-on last month!

Thank you to the Macmillan Audio Influencer Program for my copy in exchange for my honest review.

I had high hopes for this one after hearing only great things about Pearson's previous books, but this read was a real letdown for me. It started off promising, but soon turned into an SJM x Holly Black ripoff. The FMC was uninteresting, the romance was annoying, the plot was sluggish, and the ending was anticlimactic,

I wouldn't have been able to finish this if it wasn't an audiobook. It had no business being 16.5 hours/560 pages long.

🌿Adult Fantasy🌿

Interesting: ⭐️⭐️⭐️💫

🎧This story has all your typical fantasy tropes of popular books today. The portal adventures always intrigues me. It has an interesting story and good writing as well as excellent audiobook narration. However, the pace of the book is slow and unfortunately, in my opinion anyway, it is not a “clean” adult book.I will say that the mystery of Bristol Keats heritage as well as the secrecy involved is a great aspect and what kept my interest going. Overall pretty decent book but Mary Pearson’s YA novels are much better!

Author: Mary E. Pearson
Publisher: Flatiron Books
Audio: Macmillan Audio

🔔Content notes: heavy language (shi*, fuc*, asshol*), loss, violence, lqbtq representation, mentions lovers/coupling, innuendo, explicit scenes that begin around fifty percent through novel

This audiobook was a pleasant surprise. The narrator brought to life the many characters of Mary E. Pearson.s novel The Courting of Bristol Keats. The storyline was inventive and had a few twists and turns that were intriguing and kept my attention. I’m looking forward to the second book in this duology.

I am a huge fan of Mary E. Pearson’s Remnant Chronicles and Dance of Thieves duology, so when I learned about her debut in the adult fantasy romance genre, I had to jump at the chance to get an arc copy. I’m extremely thankful to NetGalley and Macmillan Audio for the opportunity to listen to an advanced listening copy of Bristol Keats narrated by the ever-so talented Brittany Pressley.

Since this is an audiobook review, I want to first acknowledge Pressley’s narrative performance. This is not my first audiobook with Brittany Pressley as the narrator. I often enjoy an audiobook with Pressley’s name attached so I was excited to listen to this one. I think Pressley’s performance was engaging and she seamlessly wove through a variety of characters, each with their own unique personalities and accents. Brittany Pressley is without a doubt a pro.

I did find that I struggled with this book by only having the audiobook. This isn’t a reflection on the performance, but this book will jump to many different POVs—Bristol, Tyghan, and random side characters—that I often had to reorient myself on whose perspective I was experiencing the story through. I got lost a lot and didn’t know what was going on. I would definitely recommend that if someone has the audiobook for Bristol Keats, to also accompany it with the physical or ebook and follow along. I think if I had that, I would have followed the story better and had a better experience in that regard.

That being said, there were still elements of this story that fell flat. The main characters, the romance, and the plot were all very….vanilla. It felt like many other fantasy romance books that already exist and there wasn’t anything unique about this one that really made it stand out to me.

There were some really interesting factors with the world building and even some side characters. However, so much of this story is dedicated to Bristol and Tyghan and their relationship, and I just didn’t care about anything that had to do with them. And that’s really unfortunate given that they are the primary characters.

And then, the ending… I’m not even sure what to make of that. It was just an odd way to end a book. It felt like the chapter wasn’t even done? Or there’s a missing chapter? Actually, there were several instances in this book where a scene would end abruptly and then it would be the next chapter with a different persons POV in a totally new scene, and I would be like, “Wait, what? Did the book skip?” But, no. That’s not what happened.

I really really wanted to enjoy this because of my prior affection for the author. But unfortunately it was a miss.

Performance Rating: 4/5
Story Rating: 2.75/5

This book was the perfect escape this last week. Dripping with whimsical faerie lore, this portal fantasy felt immersive and real. It felt familiar and safe in a way that I needed.

Brittany Pressley delivers a stunning performance. Her narration was spot on with many unique character voices. Each character’s personality felt distinct. I also really enjoyed the author-narrator interview at the end of the book.

I highly recommend the audio for this book. It is a bit on the longer side, and the writing is lyrical (which I love!). I think the audio helped keep me going. The chapters are short, and I was able to finish this rather quickly.

Thank you Macmillan Audio for the ALC of The Courting of Bristol Keats. I really wanted to like this one a lot! Mary E. Pearson is a special author to me as she's part of the reason I've started to read fantasy. With that being said, I do wonder if it's just the narrator or that Pearson's books are just better as physical or ebooks for me than an audio book.