I am keeping my review to here since I DNF’d a debut novel, but I don’t seem to be alone in my thoughts just others finished it. First, as others say, watch the content warnings and take them seriously, especially if you are not in the right palace for the book. Second, the world building took quite a bit of suspension of disbelief and some of the pacing was off. I am giving it three stars as I did not finish but much of that was the content and writing style which I was warned about and is more subjective respectively. Still, if people like cozy queer books, I suggest others first, such as Alexandra Rowland.

⭐️ 3.75/5 - rounded up
🌶️ 3/5 - several explicit scenes that serve the plot; steam is present but not forefront

I quite liked this book! The premise, based very loosely in Scottish tradition, follows a young prince as he ascends his throne and the best friend who loves him through it all. Grounded in a culture that considers thinness to be evidence of divinity, Prince Fierre is expected to starve himself to maintain his status and struggles with deep-rooted body dysmorphia. Fierre’s best friend and right-hand, Aiven, must help him learn to love himself and his body despite the king’s cruel disapproval and the lairds’ lustful and controlling interference.

The friendship between Fierre and Aiven was so warm and wholesome. Watching their relationship blossom felt natural, and I loved that the author didn’t try to artificially create conflict through unnecessary miscommunication tropes (a personal pet peeve of mine). This book truly felt character focused and, while the world-building was rich, plot was certainly back seat to relationship dynamics. Some folks might prefer a more plot-driven story, but I personally love a character-focused exploration.

My issues with this book were entirely centered around the last 15% of the story. The ending and conflict resolution did feel rushed — I would have appreciated another 50 pages to let Fierre truly come to terms with his body dysmorphia and reconcile the cultural demands for thinness with developing a health body image. With a little more work to round out the story fully, this book could have been a true 4-star read.

Thanks to Netgalley and Solaris books for the ARC!

Darcy Ash’s The Two Hungers of Prince Fierre is an interesting debut novel set in a fictionalized version of Scotland weaving a love story with themes of societal expectations, self-image, and longing. The tale focuses on Prince Fierre and his loyal friend, Aiven, as they navigate the pressures of their kingdom and the depths of their own desires.

In this fictional realm, royalty is expected to maintain a slender, ethereal figure, symbolizing their divine status. This demand leaves Prince Fierre perpetually hungry, not only for sustenance but also for love and passion. The title itself reflects the dual forms of hunger he experiences: the physical hunger imposed by societal constraints and the emotional hunger that drives his love and desires.

The novel deftly addresses serious themes such as anorexia and societal pressure, framing them within a rich narrative and an intricate world. While the worldbuilding is imaginative and allows Ash to explore these issues with nuance, there are moments where it feels underutilized. Some aspects of the plot felt predictable, with a clear trajectory from suppression to the fulfillment of longings.

What stands out is the portrayal of the relationship between Fierre and Aiven. Despite moments of doubt about whether their love is reciprocated, their individual feelings remain unwavering. This steadfastness becomes a source of strength for both characters, grounding them amidst the turmoil of their world.

Ash’s decision to set the story in a fictional reality gave her creative freedom to explore the themes of hunger and love in a way that resonates deeply. The novel’s exploration of eating disorders and self-acceptance within this context is both sensitive and thought-provoking. However, a less predictable narrative might have heightened the emotional impact.

Overall, The Two Hungers of Prince Fierre is a compelling debut that tackles important themes through the lens of a poignant love story. While it could have benefited from more surprising plot developments, it remains a thoughtful and evocative read, with its core relationship serving as a testament to the power of love and self-acceptance.

Yikes, heed the trigger warnings on this one. I appreciate the author trying to tackle disordered eating in a romantasy setting, but it ultimately did not work for me. The worldbuilding is absolutely bizarre (fetishizing thinness in medieval fantasy Scotland???) and the two main characters don't feel well developed. The whole thing honestly feels very much like a fanfic AU - e.g. the odd worldbuilding set up so that all the men in court are sexually involved with the main character, except the other main character who is obviously his true love, and the characters having very little behind them because we're meant to have the basis of whatever fandom to draw on. The book also feels like it's going for a very cozy vibe despite dealing with two incredibly difficult topics, and everything is resolved way too quickly and easily.

Special thanks to NetGalley and Solaris for providing me with a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review

This book had some interesting parts for me. The standards they held for their royalty was fascinating, especially the dichotomy between the starving poor and the intentionally starving royals.

This story was unique and captured my attention. Unfortunately, after the 50% mark it started to lose me. The pacing shifted as did the tone, and it essentially became too perfect. Everything from relationships, ED, trauma, poverty, etc was all trying to be solved in a very short amount of time which greatly affected the novel, especially regarding court politics and public perception. Most of these issues are social, and while I understand that this is a fantasy novel, social issues are not wrapped up over night.

I also just ended the book with questions. One example is that this society and court system rely heavily on gender roles for people identifying as male and female, yet from brief asides there are non-binary and trans people in this world and it seems to be pretty socially accepted. How would a highly gendered society work if they believed that gender can be fluid, change, and just overall differ from the assumed “norm” how do these characters interact in the stories do they have “roles?”

"Do you think I look pretty in a crown?"

"The Two Hungers of Prince Fierre" is the story of the titular prince and his loyal friend and right-hand man, Aiven. As Fierre prepares to ascend to the throne, his duties constrict ever more closely around him, while Aiven does his best to support his friend, who seems to fade more with every passing day.

This book is greatly concerned with physicality, as Fierre is forced to blur the line between using and abusing his body in order to fit the image of the king as god's vessel on earth. Be sure to heed the trigger warnings for portrayal of an eating disorder, including both mental and physical aspects, and depictions of sexual assault. This was the first novel I've read where the main character has an eating disorder and the story follows his troubles and recovery. I believe it's an important topic, and I felt like it was handled with great care. I do wish Fierre's recovery had been given a little more time and played out less like a perfect therapy session.

I also wish Aiven had been given a stronger arc. He's one of the two main characters, his perspective alternating with Fierre's, and while he does grow a little more into himself over the course of the story, he is mostly there to support Fierre with whatever he might need. It definitely is more character driven than plot driven, which is overall my strongest issue with the book, as I prefer the latter. Some of the (plot-wise) most important action scenes happens completely in absentia of the protagonists, which I found disappointing, and other obstacles are resolved fairly quickly as well, considering how strongly they had impacted the characters.

The romance was definitely cute, and felt cosy despite all the roughness Fierre has to endure. There is a number of explicit scenes, not just between Fierre and Aiven, as Fierre is encouraged to provide royal "favors" to those in his court, but the protagonists also get their fair share. I could have gone for a stronger sense of yearning between the two main characters before they actually get together, but a prince and his right-hand man is always a strong match in my eyes. If you enjoy Freya Marske and Alexandra Rowland, this romance might be for you.

I am also putting this in the category of romantasy-adjacent queer books that pair certain liberal with certain conservative politics in a way I find hard to reconcile re: worldbuilding, but this seems to be a whole trope now, so I am not going to single this book out. Maybe I will write an essay about this somewhere else another time.

Thank you to Netgalley for providing a digital copy of this book for review consideration.

I have incredibly conflicting feelings about this book. This might be the most challenging book review I have written; never before have I felt so torn on what to rate a book. There are aspects of this book that are great: I think the overall direction of the book and the writing style are quite well done, and I overall appreciate that the book wrestles with quite heavy themes. On the other hand, I found the worldbuilding to be bloated and a handful of scenes deeply unpleasant in a way that I didn’t feel were handled well by the book. I can understand why other reviewers are giving them book a solid 4 stars, as much of the characterization and message of the book are quite strong. I can also see why reviewers are giving it 2 stars as other aspects of the book are distasteful and whether or not it succeeds in addressing these points is up to the reader’s determination.

<i>The Two Hungers of Prince Fierre</i> is a very character-focused story of Prince Fierre and his friend and right-hand man Aiven. Fierre is suffering at the hands of a system which expects very specific behavior from the prince: an unnaturally thin body and the offering of said body to the lairds of the country as a favor. The plot of the book revolves around a blossoming relationship between Aiven and Fierre, as well as Aiven’s attempts to convince Fierre that the system he lives under is causing him great harm. In doing so, the book confronts topics such as eating disorders, class disparity, body dysmorphia, gray areas of consent, and parental abuse.

I found this book to be quite strong in its characterization. Fierre and Aiven are interesting and complex characters, and the romance between them is believable and compelling. I enjoyed seeing their interactions; particularly in Aiven’s sheer devotion to helping Fierre face a huge amount of trauma and unlearn problematic behaviors. Where this was the focus of the book, I found it a rather enjoyable reading experience.

That being said, there are a few aspects of this book that I either didn’t particularly enjoy or that I otherwise feel the need to discuss.

First of these is the worldbuilding. The overall worldbuilding of this book is unwieldy and requires a huge amount of suspension of disbelief to get into; and I found some aspects of it to be ideas I could accept for the sake of the novel and others that I deeply disliked:
1. As mentioned above, one of the expectations of the appearance of the prince of this kingdom is an unhealthily thin body, requiring constant and harmful levels of dieting from Fierre. I have read other reviewers talk about this as a primary issue with the book, particularly given the fact that this fantasy kingdom is clearly based on Scotland (lairds, fashion, names, etc. all generally have a Scottish flavor). While I didn’t find the conflict between Scottish culture and the expectations on Fierre detracted from my reading experience, I can see why it bothered other readers. I was able to set aside some of these concerns as I did like that the book was using this as a vehicle to confront beauty standards, but this won’t work for every reader.

2. In this world, the prince is also expected to offer his body for use by the lairds of the kingdom as they wish. This results in a lot of sexual scenes of lairds that Fierre and the narrative clearly dislike using Fierre in ways that quite frankly just feel icky and borderline nauseating to read. While Fierre is, as far as I can tell, consenting, I found these to be the clearest example ever of the difference between ‘consent’ and ‘enthusiastic consent’. While Fierre is apparently consenting to the degrading treatment by the lairds, he is not apparently excited about it. His power in these situations is dubious; while he is the prince regent and can theoretically tell the lairds to stop, its unclear in the moment if this is the case. Furthermore, throughout the book, Fierre is physically very weak on account of his disordered eating, often passing out or being quite addled. Pairing this with situations of already dubious consent is difficult to read. While the treatment of Fierre by the lairds is criticized by the book, I don’t feel that this worldbuilding added to the book or had a particular point to make. Unlike the expectation of thinness that made a larger point about beauty standards and disordered eating, I could not for the life of me tell you the point of this decision in the book. I don’t expect every book to try to teach the reader a lesson or follow some strict moral code, but when something like this is included, I want to understand why the author felt it was important to include, and this book has left me baffled. Is the point that a devoted relationship with one partner that values you better than socially-pressured sex with awful people who do not care about your well-being? Is the point to depict the difference between people who want you and people who want your body? Objectification? True consent? Healthy versus unhealthy bedroom dynamics? Maybe I’m missing something, maybe there’s a point to this that I’m just not seeing, but I’ve been thinking about this all day and remain at a complete loss. Instead, these parts just felt gross to read and poorly handled by the plot.

There are a few other smaller details that I disliked but that probably don’t merit a whole paragraph discussing them in great detail as I attempt to sort out my feelings about this book. This book places a hefty emphasis on the concept of virginity and, like the topic of the previous paragraph, its difficult to tell why. It wasn’t particularly criticized as a topic nor was it glorified. It was mostly just used to make a character have to tell people around them when they lost it in a way that, again, felt a tad uncomfortable, or at the very least didn’t feel like it added anything to the book. The way this book handles Fierre’s eating disorder is also something that I personally don’t have the knowledge to comment upon but felt rushed, as though disordered eating is a behavior that can be cured rather quickly. I don’t have much to say on this, but it does further make me uncertain how I feel about this book.

In conclusion, if you are interested in reading this book and comfortable with the topics mentioned in the content warning and description of the story, there are things here which are interesting to read about, characters who are compelling, and a story that does, despite some shortcomings, have some charm to it. There are also aspects about this book that are challenging, confusing, or might leave a sour taste in your mouth. Do know your limits before you read this book and be wary if what I have discussed is something that you do not want to address in the books you read.

I am tentatively giving this book a very middle value of 3 stars. I could see a version of this book which handled the sexual expectations placed on Fierre differently getting a 4-star rating from me, and I could also see a version which handled the relationship between Fierre and Aiven differently getting 2 stars. My rating my change as I sit with this book for longer.

This book was a good. I enjoyed parts of it while others I found weren't paced the best. But I did like the characters and the chemistry between them as they grew and developed with one another. It was a good story based on Scottish mythology and I did enjoy it overall, just not as much as I wish I had

I'll start out by saying I was not surprised by anything that happened in this book, and at the same time I read it in one sitting because I absolutely could not put it down. This is a classic palace intrigue romance, with manipulated royals, nobles with ulterior motives, and all sorts of drama that only nobility could get up to. At the same time, it's a classic coming-of-age story, with our leads overcoming some very uncomfortable and sometimes devastating situations.

But through it all the relationship between the two leads shines through. The mutual pining. The strength they give each other. The complications imposed by the petty and desperate people around them. It's all there, it's all expected, but the way Fierre and Aiven work through all of it is tender, heartwarming, and has just enough tension to keep you wanting to see how the rest of the story unfolds.

I will say I think this book suffers from being too short--there were details and side characters that felt truncated for the sake of the plot, and I think we could have slowed down and spent more time exploring the world with our main characters. I hope if the author writes more they'll get more wordcount to play with.

A note about the ED and sexual assault content warnings: These are depicted on the page, so please take care if these are subjects that can trigger you.

I raced through this book in less than two days—it was impossible to stop reading! The Two Hungers of Prince Fierre balances deep, emotional themes like disordered eating, family trauma, and the lingering shadows of sexual assault with an undercurrent of sweetness and light. Fierre’s journey is so raw and tender, and his love for Aiven is the perfect combination of slow-burn and deeply satisfying.

It’s the characters who truly shine. Watching Fierre learn to love himself while confronting the harsh expectations of his position felt so real and hopeful. Despite tackling such heavy topics, the book is brimming with moments of joy, humor, and heartwarming romance that left me smiling through tears. If you want a queer fantasy that’s equal parts healing and heart-melting, this is the one!

Fierre and Aiven! They've been through tough times but managed to make it out alive.

I thought facing an impossible cultural beauty standard was a really interesting way to add interest to the various challenges these two faced. I've seen actual cultures horrendously force-feed girls into gaining weight so that their prospects for marriage are higher, and I cringe imagining it. This took the other route, where being slender is a virtue.

I do wish a bit more had explained in this regard. What is the 'look' that Fierre is trying to achieve? How is it defined? Where did it first appear in this world's history? How was it popularized? Given that it was such a large part of the book, I think these were questions were left unanswered, unless I'm mistaken, so I had a hard time connecting with what I was reading.

It frustrated me towards the beginning, when I felt, if Aiven is our hero, that he could have done more to step in and stand up for Fierre. There was a moment where Fierre's heart stopped, and the next day it was only 'do you feel better?' It was kind of underwhelming.

But overall I think Fierre and Aiven had good chemistry. And I enjoyed reading about them finding their way towards one another, and Fierre learning to value himself more.

Thank you Netgalley for the ARC!

The Two Hungers of Prince Fierre was such a good story. I totally recommend everyone to read this book as fast as they can because I couldn't put it down for a second.

When I saw this I had to have it, Thank you netgalley and to the publisher. I was captivated by the authors writing and the plot of the story. From the very beginning I was taken in. I found the pacing to be mid-level and it was perfect. I can’t wait to see what else the author writes.

it's easy to hate this book. the prince is basically encouraged to starve himself, and it's custom for him to offer his body up for the more influential(read: greedy, degrading, self-interested) lords of the court. even if he doesn't really want to. also, cue people encouraging Fierre's eating disorder.

it's also frustrating because it's supposed to be a custom, where the lords can use the prince's body because it's a 'favor' from the prince to them. what do the lords do in return though? be degrading??

the characters and setting are intentionally made to be unlikable, BUT the writing is impeccable. it's beautiful, but not purple prose. a fine balance. it describes the symptoms of anorexia really well - show, not tell. it's impressive, especially for a debut.

and Fierre's character might resonate with many. wanting to be skinny and beautiful and perfect. insecurity when you think you're too fat. sexual harassment. Fierre struggles with these for a good half of the book, but it makes his experience feel so real.

the romance is sweet and cute, and it's good to see Aiven being supportive and loving Fierre unconditionally. surprisingly, not many obstacles in their relationship.

one more thing to detest was how easy Fierre stopped his eating disorder?? like Fierre just listened to some people for 2 measly days and now he suddenly realizes everything he learned about his whole life is actually wrong. like how do you believe in stuff so easily and how do you suddenly overcome anorexia like you've never been afraid of food before?

4 stars

cw: anorexia, purging, grey areas(mc doesn't want to but is obligated to have sex), sexual content, and violence

I thought this was cute, but it's also quite heavy. The book follows Prince Fierre as he's crowned Prince Regent (essentially, his father is dying, and Fierre has to take over his duties but he isn't king yet). He's surrounded by lairds (it's Scottish inspired) who all want something from him (both sexual and in terms of their wealth and status), and at court, there's an extremely toxic culture surrounding eating and thinness.

In this country's religion, there's a thing that the Sky (Fierre's official title) is supposed to be the image of god on earth, and this is interpreted as beauty, which in turn is interpreted as thinness. Because of this, there's a huge pressure on Fierre to remain as thin as he can be, and to eat only minimal amounts, with even his doctor encouraging his disordered eating. I think the eating disorder is the most important part of the story, and there's some graphic details about how this affects Fierre, how he feels about food.

There was a lot more explicit sex in this book than I expected going in, and in the first half, a lot of it is with the different lairds, where it feels more like Fierre seeking to have sex because he's so insecure about his body, so he can feel beautiful, and this can be uncomfortable to read. I think Fierre's feelings were well explored here, and I think this scenes have a place in the book, but it can be a lot. While generally Fierre consents to these encounters, there were two instances (both with the same man) where they did something Fierre did not consent too, and this is called out in text.

In contrast, the sex scenes with Aiven as well as their romance felt very sweet. Aiven is the second POV character, and at the start of the story, he and Fierre are already in love but scared to admit their feelings. Aiven is peasant born but became Fierre's childhood best friend, and he is raised to the prince's right hand at the start of the story, much to the anger of some of the lairds. Aiven is also the only person who think the whole Fierre having to starve himself for an ideal physique is stupid and tries to encourage him to eat, but this isn't working.

I do think the eating disorder is resolved a bit easy, but to be fair, Fierre isn't immediately cured, he just acknowledges there's a problem and has to keep working hard to get better. The world building overall was a bit simplistic too, but I do think it worked for the story as it was more about the eating disorder and the romance than an actual fantasy plot.

I'd recommend to mind the content warnings for this one, especially for the eating disorder, but also sexual assault.

✰ 2.5 stars ✰

​​​“​​​They have so little, Aive! I don’t want to make them starve.”

“No.” Aiven’s voice dropped. “Only yourself.​​”

​ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ I do appreciate the clever euphemism in the title. How The Two Hungers of Prince Fierre not only entails to his hunger that is being controlled by a savage and wretched, if not baseless doctrine of ancient lore, but his intense desire for his best friend and newly-appointed Star of the Sky​ of Eilean-òir, Aiven. Who despite his lower rank in status compared to the many lairds who reap benefits of laying claim to sharing a bed with him, is perhaps the only one Fierre does want to wake up in his arms with.​ 😥

​“​​​I was supposed to deny myself nourishment, especially when fear and stress tempted me to indulge—but there were other pleasures to take.”

‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ It is a complicated and absolutely twisted set-up, one which the author does not hold back in showing the various means as to which ​delicate, beautiful, and holy​ Fierre ​Dannatyne​ does have to whet his appetite. Be it the hurtful way in which he satisfies his sexual urges or the harmful way in which he purges his soul of the sinful act of perhaps eating a morsel of delightful tastes more than necessary. Going in, you are warned of these triggers; that still does not make it deeply uncomfortable and troubling to read at times. Chapter 10, particularly, was extremely painful and very troubling.​ 😢💔💔

​ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ​However, I ​do feel​ the intent was not meant to be disrespectful or as savage as it was. While this particular form of world-building is definitely eyebrow-raising, it does remind me of how stringent if not demanding a model's life is. Or how we place such extreme emphasis on beauty simply meaning that one must be thin and slim to adhere to one's pleasures or affections. ​How everyone could openly leer at Fierre's body and pass judgment - weighing every ounce and inch - it was disturbing, to say the least. 😟 'Slender means beautiful–and​ beautiful means divine.​'That train of thought still very much exists and for Fierre to be naive or blind to it, was - to me, anyway - the way the author wished to show how we had to shed ourselves of this notion before our health and bodies deteriorated so rapidly that no beauty could save oneself from becoming a living corpse.​ 😞

​ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ How Fierre chooses to whet his appetite and cravings by allowing his misogynistic and cruel lairds to use his body to their whims and pleasure - simply for it is expected of royalty - a rather perverse custom, considering they have so many other duties than expected of them. Honestly, if I were to excuse or reason with the meaning behind the world-building, I would almost think it was a political satire meant to show how our minds are programmed to behave in certain ways, and how we take advantage of ourselves by mistreating our bodies.​ 🤔 ​​ 'I’m afraid of food.'​ And it was a twisted irony to see how concerned Fierre was about his people's own wealth of food - a sign that his heart was in the right place, just sorely misguided. It seems like I am reaching, but I do think there was no harm in it, it just was executed so alarmingly that it failed to hit positively.​ 😔

​Well, that is my reasoning, anyway.​... 🤷🏻‍♀️

“I’m afraid to say how much I want you,” he said.

“Then don’t,” I said. “Just hold my hand.”

​ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ I really wished though it could have focused more on the friends to lovers bit. Aiven was caring and considerate, compassionate and sincere and very much concerned for Fierre's well-being, perhaps the only one who truly did. At twenty-six, he did not expect his position from Master of Compliance '—the man who handles the​ palace accounts and checks legal obeisance—​' to change overnight, but even with his new duties, the duty he is most faithful and loyal to is being Fierre's best friend and pining for him from afar. He sincerely cared for his well-being, hoping that he'd be 'healthy, and safe, and happy, surrounded by the kind​ of bliss that you’ve always deserved​', and I liked how he did not hesitate to come to his defense.​ 🥺 Until, it is not so much pining, but suddenly staring at them in their faces who desperately palpable the yearning is between the two. And then, it very quickly changes into a passionate romance that felt a bit too much for me. Not to mention how it was outweighed by the pressing matter of Fierre's worsening health and the many challenges he faced that threatened his position of power. 🤦🏻‍♀️

​ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ I did not expect it to have that much steam as it did, but I've read more spice than this so I'm not complaining about that. What I am complaining about was how instantly Aiven became a master in the bedroom. Considering his limited interactions, some realism to their sexual deviances could have made for a more believable, if not quietly tender romance, rather than how wild and excited they both became.​ ​😕 'I promise you, I’ve never wanted anything more.​' Granted, they are acting upon a lot of pent-up feelings of years of unrequited love, but it still threw me off at how easily and readily prepared Aiven was to fulfill Fierre's desires​. And yet, the care and kindness and comfort of warmth Aiven gave Fierre was his healing blessing - the voice of reason - the calm of sense that reminded Fierre of how perfect he was - just as he was. ❤️‍🩹❤️‍🩹

​“I love the shape of you, no matter what,​ because your soul shines through it.​”

​ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ​It is a shame it failed to land on a positive note. I mean, I felt for Fierre - a lot. I felt sorry for him, and I felt even worse when he so easily accepted the explanation behind his weak condition... It did not help that it was spelled out in such a bland sense that it felt like it was meant to be explained in a wooden sense - to a child. And yet, I was glad that he was able to realize how much he was denying himself what he rightfully deserved - happiness and food - the sweetest things in life. But, I still ended up with a bad taste in my mouth, because of how torturous the trial was. 😮‍💨 Certain moments of the writing style also were a bit weak; I know it is a debut - but, it just did not quite match the tone. Maybe with a less volatile story line, I think the author does have the uniqueness to write a more compelling story. But, for now, I think I'll go eat something to make myself feel better.
​
*Thank you to NetGalley for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

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.