The Courting of Bristol Keats is a must-read for romantasy and fae fans, offering a unique fantasy world, an intriguing magic system, and plenty of twists, lies, and secrets. Fans of ACOTAR and The Cruel Prince will be captivated by the high-stakes romance and masterfully written spice scenes. This spellbinding tale balances danger and desire, keeping readers hooked until the very last page.

Many thanks to Netgalley and Macmillan Audio for the free audiobook.

Actual Rating: 3.75 stars. I normally try to do half or full stars, but this book was really an in-between rating as it was just shy of 4 stars. Some reasons I detracted the quarter of a star are that I felt the contemporary human world jokes and odd obsession with laundromats kept pulling me away from the fantasy elements of the book. The writing felt like a juxtaposition of beautiful fantasy writing mashed together with cheap or silly jokes. It’s a personal preference, but that wasn’t for me. I also felt like the MC was extremely immature. I know that she is a young adult, but I found some of her behavior a huge turn-off. That is a nuanced point because authors don’t owe readers likable characters and all people have flaws. However, this felt like a New Adult book rather than an Adult book to me. I could tell it was the author’s adult debut.

Overall, I found the fae world interesting and really fell for the romance and complications of the book. Honestly, I wish that the second book was coming out right away because I would love to jump right into it.

If you like Romantasy, I recommend giving this book a try. The audiobook narrator did a great job bringing the story to life!

While the world-building is intriguing and the audiobook narration by Brittany Pressley is excellent, the story’s pacing felt uneven, with key elements revealed too late to keep me fully engaged. The romance fell flat, but the overall fantasy elements were enjoyable.

In this gateway fantasy making a deal with the fae is no small matter. This is something Bristol Keats learns as she enters Faerie to find her father. As Bristol learns more and more about faerie, and her parents she realizes that her whole life may be based on a lie.
This fun read has a great world, that I hope will be further developed in the second novel of this duology.

Thank you Netgalley for this advanced reader copy!

I was excited about this book, but it was a bit of a struggle to get through. The premise of the story was promising but the execution was lacking. I feel like the reader found out aspects of the worldbuilding and such were revealed too late or not clearly defined. The characters were ok but didn’t stand out. The cliffhanger was abrupt. It was just ok.

I love the premise of this book, but after 3 weeks of having to force myself to pick it back up I have to admit this is a DNF for me. I was not engrossed in the story and found the world building more tedious than engaging. I also am not a huge fan of fae or the ‘seemingly normal girl who is actually very special’ trope so I perhaps should have avoided this one in the first place. However, the writing itself was well done and the visuals were fun!

All that being said, I think this novel will work for a lot of people! The audiobook narrator was great and there is clearly a lot of lore in this work. Bristol is a strong female character which is lovely to see and her drive to find her father is admirable. Fans of fantasy novels and fae are sure to enjoy this duology and I recommend they pick it up!

Thank you to NetGalley and Macmillan Audio for access to this audiobook in exchange for an honest review!

The book: For fans of ACOTAR, this is New Adult style romantasy—adult in terms of the level of spice and the length, as well as the tropes, but with a heavy influence of YA (young naive main character must go on a journey of self-discovery to save a parent, text that very explicitly explains all of the twists, sometimes more than once, to ensure that the audience understands what is happening). There is some action, a lot of betrayal, lies, intrigue, and romance. I knew this was the first in a series but I found the cliffhanger at the end so abrupt I actually checked my file to make sure I wasn’t missing a chapter.

The narrator: I think this narration style is a little polarizing, and either you love it or hate it. It’s highly expressive, with the narrator doing different voices, accents, being breathy and low or shouting when necessary. Definitely high energy and bringing a lot of interpretation to the text in a way that will keep your attention.

I'm crying, I can't believe I got an ARC of this book. Mary E. Pearson is my absolute favorite author and I have been dying for her to come out with a new books for years now. I'm not kidding when I say that I already have 6 different editions of this book preordered.

Honestly, I knew this would be 5 stars before I even read the first word, but it's such a relief to be able to report that I was right. This book was so good! Mary E. Pearson transitioned seamlessly from young adult to adult. The writing was just as lyrical and evocative as always, and I adored Bristol as a main character. She's drawn into the faerie world due to her mysterious parentage, and it was so much fun to follow her journey. I don't want to spoil anything, but the romance was just as swoon worthy as all of Mary E. Pearson's previous fantasy books, and while that cliffhanger ending was cruel, I kind of expected it after reading The Kiss of Deception. I have no idea how I'm supposed to wait for the next book, though. (Also, sorry for the gushing, but I become incoherent when I love a book this much.)

Also, Brittany Pressley did an amazing job with the narration, but that's to be expected. She's narrated some of my favorite rom-coms, so I knew I would love the way she brought the story to life, and I did.

Thank you to Macmillan Audio and Netgalley for granting me an audio ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I am utterly obsessed with this book. The writing, the world, the characters…. Pearson is back with a phenomenal book, one that I can’t wait to see out in the world.

Thanks Net Galley for fhe ARC audio.

Bristol Keats finds herself immersed in another world to help find her father. Can these new beings be trusted? Bri finds out the truth of her roots, her family and her new friends.

While much of the writing style was simple enough to follow, I felt that some side characters didn't add to the plot. I also struggled to understand the magic logic. The development of the world and the plot were not discovered by the reader/listener until far too deep into the story. I had considered DNFing this one but decides to go thru it anyway. I can't say I'd recommend the book as it's left us with the world's largest cliffhanger and yet I don't care one bit about it...I guess I couldn't connect with any of the characters enough care.

This was quite an adventure! I enjoyed this romantasy story. It gave me ACOTAR feels and I devoured that series!

Unfortunately I have decided to DNF this book. It's just not for me. Far too many tropes being utilized in one story and I'm only 50% of the way through. It also was a bit cozy feeling for me and I don't like cozy fantasy, so people will probably like this book, it just wasn't for me.

Ok so reading some other 3 star reviews, I'm realizing this was not ever going to be the book I thought it was going to be. I came here for the dead dad trauma, but everyone else came here for the fae romance. When I realized this was much more of a fae romance than it was about finding her allegedly dead dad, I was no longer interested. 3 stars because that's entirely a me issue, and I have no real negatives against the writing.

Thank you to Macmillan Audio and NetGalley for an audio ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I received a free ARC of the Audiobook from the publisher via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

Fae book.......sign me up. When I didn't get approved for the e-book ARC of this series I was sad so when the audiobook was available even with the length I was like let's try again and pumped when I was approved. I love books with fae in it and this book was no exception. The narrator does an amazing job. Additionally Mary E. Pearson is an amazing writer. You learn to love the characters. Because I essentially listened to this over three weeks I probably wasn't as annoyed with the almost lack of action that seemed to take place. There is some but for the length of the book not a lot. That being said it is still amazingly well written and I will for sure read the sequel.

Definitely recommend this audiobook. Narrator did a fantastic job keeping me engaged in the story. I do think this is going to be one of those books that is better in audio format. I was entertained. But some parts felt a bit drawn out. The romance was not one of those swoony epic love story that I crave. But I was still entertained. I was very ecstatic to get an early listen as this is Pearson’s first adult book, I think it was well balanced with fantasy, adventure, romance, and some betrayal. The writing was enjoyable as usual.
Audio performance was a five star.

I listened to this on audio and the narration is 🙌🏻 fantastic.
I preordered this book before I got the arc because of the special edition. I’m a sucker for those sprayed edges. 🥴

I’m rating this 3.5 ⭐️

I liked it enough that I will read the second book, especially after the abrupt ending. 😤 I wanna know what happens next 🤷🏼‍♀️

3rd person POV 👎🏻

I wanted more. I wanted this to be a 5 star read especially with the cover/edges. I’m not disappointed that I read it though.

Thank you NetGalley and publishers for this audio arc in exchange for my honest review.

Mary E Pearson won my heart with her YA Romantasy "Dance of Thieves." I was thrilled to learn that she was writing her first adult series. It does not disappoint!

First off, the special first edition is looking absolutely gorgeous! However, I have found that as these beautiful extras become more and more popular, the book itself rarely measures up to the expectations, especially in the romantasy genre. i have been very disappointed recently with some stories that seem to rehash old plots and have the barest of a fantasy world around the two main characters. I am happy to say that The Courting of Bristol Keats stands out above these in some important ways.

Pearson knows how to build tension and world build at the same time. Set in a faireworld at war, Bristol is recruited as a human with potential faire power because of her parentage. Unknown to her, both her mother and father were key players in the fairy realm before her and her sisters were born. She agrees as part of her own quest to find out what happened to her parents. But as she and the king of the Fae become more attracted to each other, he must hide from her his own knowledge about her father and the role he played in the story.

The plotting beautifully builds an impossible situation that takes its time unfolding. As a result, the characters in the story are wonderfully fraught and complex, and Bristol has a heavy burden to carry. While the story takes a bit of time to take off, it is well worth it. The ending will make you long for the next book immediately.

I was grateful to have access of an ALC of the novel through Netgalley and MacMillan audio. I enjoyed listening to the dual POV narrators. They really enhance the humanity of each character and highlight how what each of them chooses to do is reasonable and even right, while also being at odds with each other. My heart was breaking by the end for all of them!

While the narrator is good, this unfortunately just didn't work out for me very quickly. Everything just seems to be pulled from someone else's fantasy novel and Bri is just so one dimensional.

This book had all the right elements to be fantastic - a mortal woman approached by mysterious beings & taking a bargain leading her into Elfame, the collision course with a bitter fae king trying to keep war at bay in the kingdom, magical military school, family secrets, hidden powers... And yet, I found myself bored much of the book. There were too many characters to track, which led to them being flat/forgettable. The romance felt forced as a result; far too insta-love with no realistic backing. Also, despite a war being at their doorstep, not a whole lot happened with this plot point and tbh, not a lot happened in general. That said, there was some solid banter and fun had at points, just not enough to help me love the book.

The audiobook narrator was fantastic though, solid 5 stars for the performance. While the writing style and head hopping in chapters made it difficult, the narrator's performance kept this book from being 1 star.

3.5 stars for this on-trend romantasy. Bristol, regular girl (tm), is recruited by some fae to help them save their kidnapped king. While training to use her latent magic, she falls for the fae prince. But it turns out that he's been lying to her about his relationship with her parents (bc they were fae, too). After 100+ chapters, there's no plot resolution.

The book is definitely Not For Me, but if you like current romantasy tropes, this is a good example of them. The writing isn't bad and there are tons of places for the plot to go. (I wish that it had gone somewhere in the hundreds of pages it had to go there in this book, but from what I can gather this doesn't matter to a lot of romantasy readers.) I personally prefer a much tighter plot with a resolution. On the spice scale, there are several open door scenes.

This objective review is based on a complimentary copy of the novel.