A really great debut novel for fans of Alexandra Rowland's writing (particularly Yield Under Great Pursuation).

This is a classic historical fantasy story set in Scotland with a very strong friends to lovers romantic plotline. I think the romance was the strength of this book as I found the scenes I enjoyed most were when the two MMC's were together. I was less invested in any of the side characters really.

I will also note that the major theme of this book is that Fierre has a pretty intense eating disorder so if you think that would trigger you, I would probably stay away from it.

That being said, this was an enjoyable, fun read and I look forward to seeing what the author does next!

rated it a 2.5 but rounding down for NetGalley because I wish I had enjoyed it more :(

We have a dual POV story between Aiven and Fierre, two old friends, as the former is about to get coronated as Eilean-òir's prince. Essentially, it is the two of them hiding that they're in love with each other (not a spoiler: both internally admit this early on), and battling Fierre's eating disorder and its affects on him the whole entire time. I think what really hurt this book was that it didn't feel like a book about a person with an eating disorder taking on new duties as a prince, falling in love, and learning to love himself. It felt like a book about all the horrid things eating disorders can do to your body and mind, while alluding to how they are usually learned and upheld by a specific person or societal expectation at large. And then it was like a really quick resolution that didn't really feel realistic or earned? I hate writing a negative review about a book, especially when it brings up really important issues, but the way this was done just felt really sour in my mouth. All of the horrible parts of EDs were on wide display for a large part of the book, and then all of the learning/lessons at the end were totally spelled out in ways that just made the book feel a bit robotic/stilted. There was also a lot of spice, and some sex scenes that just felt kind of added in to show "what happens when you don't have respect for your body and let people do whatever they want to you" kind of thing? I don't know.. it left a weird taste in my mouth a little bit, unfortunately, although I'm sure this was not the author's intent at all (due to the trigger warnings in the front of the book).

I went into this book being really interested/intrigued at the concept and how it would play out, and the messaging just came off like really really heavy-handed in a way that I just did not connect with, unfortunately. I really hope this can be helpful to people with past or present experience with EDs, but honestly the beginning has so much raw stream of consciousness about being in the trenches of it that I could see it being really hard for someone currently struggling to actually read this book without being pretty triggered. One upside of this book was that there were some really lovely moments of description with the language surrounding their love story, and I would have loved to see more of that story play out or some other aspects of the court.

Thank you to NetGalley for an ARC of this book in return for an honest review.

Prince Fierre has to deal with the pressures of being a royal figurehead, petty squabbling nobles, and shifting dynamics in his closest friendship in this medieval Scottish inspired erotic fantasy. I don’t think I’m the target audience for this book, so I’m giving it this score because I think there are some plot holes in the world building and that it isn’t being marketed correctly.

This book felt more similar to me to a kinky erotica book as opposed to a queer historical fantasy romance due to amount of sex in it and the tone of the sexual content. Those comp titles don’t set up your readers to know what they’re getting.

The way that Fierre was treated as a sexual object and even thought about himself in the narrative, even as he grew, felt like it was supposed to tittilate readers who enjoy the idea of a submissive, objectified femme “bottom” man. When Aiven became sexually active, he was framed in a topping, dominant role in a way that felt forced. Perhaps this is supposed to reflect the sexual norms of their society, but unlike the other social constructs the narrative sought to criticize (in a very shallow way) this never felt really questioned at all. The scenes of dubious consent and sexual assault were written all felt tinged with graphic kinky details, as well as way his eating disorder is described and treated. This book can get pretty dark, especially when Fierre talks to his father.

I think that books that explore kink this deeply can be powerful and healing experiences, but publishers have to be clear with their audiences so that they read the books they want to read. I would think about a book like Kushiel’s Dart, a popular kinky fantasy book, to explore how this book could be marketed differently.

I have never been more weirded out by a book before. Here in fantasy Scotland, you have to starve yourself to be liked! What the ever loving fuck kind of world building-- Please read trigger warnings before you get into this book. It's not for the faint of heart. I really don't have anything good to say about this one.

Oof. I wanted to enjoy this book as an easy and fun read. Big fail. I don't like giving mostly negative reviews, but for honesty's sake, I just can't be positive here. I'll keep it brief.

The worldbuilding doesn't make sense for me. It is reminiscent of medieval Scotland, but with a system where royalty need to be delicate, frail and weak, because they are the representation of god on earth. Which means they starve themselves. I... can't? It doesn't make sense when the laird around the king is your classical masculine characters, with misogyny and power play at work. and when, in so much of history, the nobility was distinguishing themselves by having an abundance of food. I can't see how a culture would ask their monarch to be weak.

Then we have the whole "the monarch gives favour to its lairds". Sexual favour. Which are more or less raquired of the king, but also a subject of behind the back talk and shaming. Monarch who, even though he is 26, has more of a teenager feel. Same goes for some of the other characters.

Then we have the guards, the overly archetypal main character, love interest and secondary character, antagonist and all. I see what thr auhor wanted to do, but it doesn't work, at least for me. It lacks a strong background for the worldbuidling, a coherent culture and also lacks subtetly. Let's not even talk about the lack of female characters. Or the fact that the eating disorder, centre of the book, is resolve rather quickly, all in all, which didn't seem realistic to me.

A good effort but it fails on the execution. Sorry.

DNF: Hoo boy.

It’s a terrible sign when an adult first-person narrator refers to his arse as his ‘behind’ (page one) but what convinced me I didn’t want to keep reading was the nonsensical wouldbuilding.

In Ash’s setting, which is a Medieval or maybe Elizabethan Scotland analogue, kings are supposed to be delicate and beautiful. To the point that they are religiously mandated to be anorexic, because that’s the only way to achieve the desired body-type.

This is, to put it mildly, insane.

Look: this is fantasy Scotland. Traditional Scottish manhood, for better or worse, is big and brawny and unfortunately macho. It makes zero sense, in this culture in particular, to venerate delicate, pretty men; to hold that up as an ideal. Especially when it’s acknowledged in-text that this is literally only for the monarch; other men are not supposed to be like this. I cannot come up with any way in which a culture would evolve this way.

More to the point: no monarch can be effective while starving themselves. Anorexia and/or starvation leaves you with pretty intense brain-fog, and leaves you permanently exhausted. No one wants a king like that! So you would never have a tradition mandating that your kings always be in that state. Especially not in a society where kings have real power, and the decisions they make (while struggling to think, while exhausted) will have real impact on literally everybody.

And let’s not even get into: Oh, the prince sleeps around, look how tragic and awful that is, look how his lords are taking advantage of him by sleeping with him. Nope! I refuse. We’re not doing that. It’s 2024, put your weird slut-shaming away already.

I called it quits (not even 10% through the book) when, during the king’s coronation, one lord goes to kill another one and is not immediately cut down for drawing a sword at the king’s coronation just a foot away from the king. The guards don’t even react, because it all happened too fast for the king to call them, apparently. Because the king’s guards don’t do anything unless the king orders them to act. If he doesn’t get off a cry for help they just watch him get assassinated, I guess.

OKAY. SURE. THAT’S NOT HOW GUARDS WORK, BUT SURE. WHATEVER. WHY SHOULD THINGS MAKE SENSE, WE DON’T NEED THEM TO MAKE SENSE, WHO NEEDS THEM TO MAKE SENSE???

When this book said it was going to be about eating disorders, I figured the main character had developed one on his own, not that it was religiously and socially mandated for him to have one. I have no interest in a casual approach to sex being treated as tragic evidence of how much this character doesn’t value himself – and the love interest thinking it’s a tragedy just makes him come off as deeply patronising. I’m bored of court settings where women just don’t exist (again, it’s 2024 and this book is being published in 2025, do better) and the farmer-based insults don’t make sense to me given that most nobles in this kind of culture got their wealth from farming (which the story actually points out). So???

A disappointed no thank you from me.

This was a soft, bittersweet romance with a well earned happily ever after in the end. Do check out the TW for this book if you plan on reading, it was tough at times in that regard.

Somehow I'd missed that this was a Scottish inspired fantasy world before picking up the book, so I was delighted to find a kingdom with quirky tartan colours (Royal PINK tartan? PINK? I still can't picture it), unique clan systems and fantasy foods that sounded vaguely familiar. It was a delight to stumble across Scottish phrases and words that I would use on the daily but have never read in a book before. I almost wish there was some element of Scottish folklore to really round it out- chuck in a selkie or two, or have the characters actually believe in the fae (the fairy pools are mentioned, but fae are dismissed as being make-believe).

The monarchy system was very easy to pick up, and Fierre and Aiven felt very believable as characters, so it getting into the meat of the story took no time at all. They were both likable and all of their scenes together were soft, sweet and intimate, their dialouge felt natural. I wish we had more time learning about how they had met and became best friends (how did the Prince get leave to visit a farm so often?), and how Fierre had even managed to get Aive into court in the first place. There was a lot of talk about how it had never been done before, but not much talk about how Fierre had achieved it with his father being the way he was, or about the backlash they may have received at the time.

A large part of this book focuses on Fierre's troubles with food, and it was desperately sad at times. He was so alone, and the "favour" system with the Lairds really emphasised his isolation - even if he was with a different Laird every night, none of them saw him as a real person, only an icon to be controlled/possessed. I think Fierre was using sex as another form of self-harm to be honest, but that wasn't explored in much depth beyond him realising that he'd been telling himself that he enjoyed it, when perhaps he hadn't at all other than to validate his self-image.

The book very much has a happily ever after ending, and it was <i>almost</i> satisfying for me- I just wish we had more time developing Fierres political views, and his recovery.


Thank you to NetGalley and Solaris for the eARC in exchange for an honest review.

3.5/5

This was a really cute and quite unique little fantasy. And it's not too long, so it's fun and easy to binge!

This is Scottish-inspired in its fantasy world, with unique tartans (which was such a cool little detail that I really appreciated), phrases, and foods. There's really magic to this fantasy, any sort of folklore creature is seen the same way our world sees them, as made up and just fairytales, which was kind of a bummer. GIVE ME WHIMSICAL CREATURES!

This definitely wasn't a complicated fantasy world (in my opinion), I caught on to all the world-building and politics right away (which I always appreciate).

I would look up trigger warnings, just in case you struggle with something in this book. Especially with food.

But this is overall a fun and heartwarming little fantasy. Very cute and sweet and easy to just enjoy.

Thanks to NetGalley for the e-ARC of this book in exchange for my honest review! My Goodreads review is up and my TikTok (Zoe_Lipman) review will be up at the end of the month with my monthly reading wrap-up.

DNF at 24%.

I wanted to love this book. I love the cover, It has a best friends to lovers trope and the theme of starving yourself to get the perfect body is an important one, but I just couldn’t connect to this story. So, instead of giving a debut a low rating, I decided to DNF.

Check out the trigger warnings if you want to read this one!

I was hooked from the cover and description and so glad I was able to read this. It had that romantic feel that I was hoping for and the main characters felt like real people. I enjoyed getting to know the world and how the story worked with it. Everything was what I was hoping for and enjoyed the overall feel of this. Darcy Ash wrote this so well and I’m excited to read more from them.

First things first: Wow, is this book ever about an eating disorder. Heed the content warnings if that may be a problem for you. It has a happy ending, at least for the MC involved—but the content could be very hurtful for some.

I thought the premise of this book was intriguing, and the world the author has created was interesting. I cared about both MCs, and the plot was fun. I did think the author took the easy way out a bit—things wrapped up too easily. If the last 20% of the book had been fleshed out to match the quality of the first half, I'd have enjoyed it a lot more. That said, I would read more from this author!

My thanks to the publisher/NetGalley for an advance copy of this book.

"The Two Hungers of Prince Fierre" by Darcy Ash explores the tumultuous life of Prince Fierre, who finds himself ensnared in a chaotic and toxic environment. He is surrounded by a retinue that perpetuates dysfunction, with the exception of his loyal right-hand man, Aiven. As Fierre navigates this challenging world, the novel highlights serious issues such as disordered eating, unhealthy body images, toxic relationships, slut-shaming, and self-harm, presenting a sobering portrait of the darkness within its characters' lives.

While readers who appreciated "A Taste of Gold and Iron" and "A Strange and Stubborn Endurance" might apreciate some aspects in Ash's work, it ultimately fell short for me. The intense focus on toxic culture overshadowed the plot, resulting in characterizations that felt a bit underdeveloped. I struggled to form a genuine connection with the characters, and the pacing felt a little off. Although the novel features intriguing elements and considerable potential, it ultimately did not resonate with me as I had hoped. The CWs were a lot for me personally--Though it may be a great read for others.

Thank you to Rebellion and NetGalley for the ARC.

Thank you to NetGalley for allowing me to read an arc of this book

I was drawn in by the cover and the happy ever after promise along with queer joy mentioned in the description.
However when I began reading and saw the authors trigger warnings, I realised that this book was not for me as it contains multiple accounts of sexual assault.
I appreciate the author giving the warnings and am sure they’ve written a great book, however I can’t continue to read it. I really wish that NetGalley would post trigger warnings in the books descriptions so that people could be informed about possible triggers before requesting