Many thanks to Solaris/Solaris Nova for a complimentary eARC of this title in exchange for an honest review.

As Prince Fierre ascends the throne, he contends with several problems. He must balance the demands of his court (who wrangle for advancement, titles, and even sexual favours) while he battles with his own disordered eating and body dysmorphia. He elevates his best friend and longtime platonic companion, Aiven, as his right hand which should make things easier...if not for his yearning for a romantic relationship with the serious and reliable Aiven. Aiven, meanwhile, does his best to support his best friend. As everything conspires to tear these two apart, Fierre and Aiven are drawn ever closer together and to a path forward.

First things first, there are content warnings abound for disordered eating and body dysmorphia, purging, dubious consent and sexual assault, and others. I can imagine that parts of this novel can be very difficult to read for people who have experience with these. As sensitively as one can, I think Darcy Ash does a good job to write sensitively, never gratuitously, but this book may not be for everyone, understandably.

This is a slow-burn romance where the growth of the characters and their relationships with one another is the focus. Yes, there is a magical setting, faintly reminiscent of Scotland, but world-building is not central to the book (though Darcy Ash leaves us with just enough tidbits to tantalise us about exactly how this world works). Fierre and Aiven's growing bond is delightful and the pay-off is very satisfying when the pair can come together for their happily ever after. The characterisation is not very deep but there is enough for the reader to fill in the gaps and we learn enough about the main characters' backgrounds, motivations, and psychology to move the story along. Given the focus on Fierre and Aiven's relationship and the focus on Fierre's development, pacing was very tricky to manage. Some of the broader subplots about rulership and the schemes of the various courtiers are underdeveloped by comparison and things sometimes felt like they occurred and were resolved abruptly.

All in all, I think this is a worthwhile read if you appreciate a romance between two good friends who overcome the odds together. Some readers may struggle with the heavier content or the world-building but there is a genuine sweetness and tenderness between the main characters which still shines through.

5/10

Thank you to NetGalley and Solaris Books for providing me with an eARC for this book.

I find this book hard to review because it really wasn’t for me. There were parts of this book I enjoyed: I liked the main characters, I liked elements of the romance, I liked the books approach to healing. However, the execution didn’t land for me.

A lot of my issues with the book come with the ‘fantasy’ parts of this ‘romantasy’ story. Much of the world building felt either lacking or inconsistent. The use of Scottish words throughout didn’t feel like they carried much significance for their use in this world.

Additionally, the subplot of Fierre’s progression towards societal change felt underdeveloped. Whilst this was fine as an underlying subplot, once it was given full focus in the final portion of the book I found it hard to be invested or to believe in the effectiveness of Fierre’s plans.

When it comes to the romance parts of the story I found the book was more successful. The two main characters were charismatic and had plenty of chemistry. Parts of their dynamic didn’t make much sense to me and things definitely felt rushed, but, ultimately I’m always happy to see a good mlm romance in a fantasy setting.

The book deals with some very heavy and triggering issues, primarily Fierre’s eating disorder. Fortunately, this was given a lot of space within the story to be fully explored and is generally well handled. I did have some issues with the linking of this and the world building, as the driving cause behind Fierre’s eating disorder is his status as a royal. This felt limiting and somewhat simplifies Fierre’s illness. Despite this, whilst I cannot speak to the experiences personally, the details of Fierre’s actions and thought processes felt realistic and well written.

As well as this, the book explores sexual violence and the use of sex as both a political tool and a form of self harm. This topic was approached with a lot more nuance and complexity than I expected and far more than I have found in other books. Additionally, all of the sex scenes were well written to conveyed the tone of the range of interactions and dynamics found in the story well.

Whilst writing this review I’ve suddenly found that I have a lot to say and a lot to discuss about this book. I think this is indicative of where a lot of the book’s issues come from, it’s trying to deal with too much. This has resulted in a book with a lot of good ideas, but, many aspects are left feeling underdeveloped.

With his ascension to Prince Regent, Fierre Dannatyne is now the Sky, a living embodiment of godly perfection. With his father’s health fading, Fierre must wade through a morass of savage clan politics, while navigating the rigid expectations of his role as Sky. The only one on his side is Aiven Grian, his best friend and the Star of the Sky. Though Aiven’s promotion has not been popular, he is the one man Fierre can trust implicitly.

Aiven is not sure he is worthy to be the Star of the Sky, but he will do his best if it means he can help Fierre. The weight of the regency is a gruesome one and Fierre struggles to balance all that he must be, both physically and mentally. When the king’s health takes a turn for the worse, Fierre and Aiven travel to a distant island to see him. Far from home, Fierre deals with a growing treachery at court and the ramifications of his own worsening health. With Aiven at his side, Fierre must untangle a web of lies, confront his own demons, and determine what kind of king he wants to be.

The Two Hungers of Prince Fierre is well written and the world building, which is heavily Scottish in flavor, is also generally well developed. But everything about Fierre’s eating disorder was a challenge to process. It’s designed to be that way, of course, and I applaud the author for tackling such a weighty topic and doing so in a unique way. But for anyone with food-related triggers, the book may be a difficult read. It certainly was for me, even though my relationship to food is quite different than Fierre’s. So just be aware of this aspect going forward.

Fierre’s entire sense of self worth is wrapped up with his role as a prince and, by extension, the sexual favors he must grant to the men at court. He knows no other way and he has spent his entire life trying to mold himself into the kind of prince his father demands. But doing so has stripped him of his health and his well-being. Aiven is Fierre’s closest friend and even he is bound by the strict rules of their society. Their romance is sweet and, while not particularly deep or passionate, it does read like a long-time friendship finally blossoming into something more. And Aiven is the only one who cares about Fierre without also demanding something from him. So that offered a layer to their romance I appreciated.

The overall resolution to The Two Hungers of Prince Fierre was disappointing. It felt too easy and and it lacked the tension the rest of the novel possessed. In a way, it seemed somewhat dishonest and minimized the struggles Fierre went through up to that point. Other readers may view this differently, but certain challenges Fierre faced were resolved too neatly. I won’t go into further details to avoid spoilers, but the last quarter of the book was frustrating, especially given Fierre’s skewed relationship with food.

The Two Hungers of Prince Fierre was a good book, but it wasn’t an easy one. There were parts that were difficult to read and there are certain scenes that some will find potentially triggering. Fierre and Aiven are a charming couple and their personal journey will please most readers. The writing was fairly strong and well rounded, but I found the last quarter of the novel disingenuous. That said, I think most readers will find something to appreciate about The Two Hungers of Prince Fierre and how it tackles a challenging topic.

I was not expecting what I read when I started this book, but it that is not a bad thing. I was honestly not expecting it to be so raw and full of emotional depth.

I'm really sad. I wanted to like this book so much, but it just didn't work for me. I have been craving a queer, fantasy and was excited to give The Two Hungers of Prince Fierre a read, hoping that it would be just what I was looking for. Sadly, it was not. I struggled with some of the characters experiences. I can handle some hard-to read situations when they are done well; I just didn't feel like that was the case in this book.

This was a tough read for many reasons. Firstly, I was unaware of how guttural the eating disorder topic would be, how deep it would get. That’s on me, however a lot of things in this book just didn’t make sense to me. Why the supposed ruler was forced to do sexual acts, how the love interest didn’t notice he was starving himself. For a debut this was a very well done story, but I sadly couldn’t completely get on board with it. I was specifically caught off guard by how quickly the ED was ‘fixed.’ Given the entire plot revolved around it, I expected it to be handled better at the end.

THE TWO HUNGERS OF PRINCE FIERRE is a compelling romantasy that cuts close to the bone with its exploration of eating disorders.

The setting is Scottish inspired, with rugged hills, misty isles, and a bustling capital. I liked that Fierre's journey took him across multiple different places to show off more of this world. It was a nicely drawn setting and one that followed through into the rest of the world building with a lot of thought given to how this society functioned in terms of roles and expectations.

This is a book that looks at eating disorders, how they can warp your thinking, and how hard it can be to break out of it. There's the guilt that comes with taking pleasure in food, the thoughts about how you're not thin enough or pretty enough. It was quite hard to read at times, see it all laid out so plainly, so insidiously, but it was ultimately a hopeful tale of breaking those patterns and recovering - and that it doesn't have to be attempted alone. Loved ones will be there along the journey to provide support.

Linked to this discussion is one of beauty standards. It is a beauty standard that leads to Fierre's eating disorder and I liked how the book examined that beauty standards are pushed for an ulterior motive - the motivation of powerful external forces to make you believe there is an obtainable better if you just try is never just for the sake of "beauty" alone. It is about power and control (here in an overt political way rather than over wallets and purchasing power.)

The counterpoint to these discussions is the romance. It is one of understanding and support in opposition to the rigid controls on Fierre. There are some highly charged moments (the ritual bathing stands out early on) as they both try to ignore their feelings (and in Fierre's case, cope with it badly.)

The book is a standalone, with Fierre and Aiven's story coming to a close, but it feels like there is space for more tales in this world - the ambassadors and the healers in particular feel like they have tales to tell.

The romance was sweet - friends to lovers, which I always like, and it was really mostly about an eating disorder, done from an interesting angle: rather than societal norms writ-large, there's pressure on Fierre in particular because of his role as prince and some religious traditions/expectations.
There was also something about the writing and pacing that didn't quite work for me and some stuff that felt repetitive or overdone. I think a lot of people would love this though: a queer romantasy about a prince and his protective commoner best friend.

(3.25 stars) This is a slow burn, mutual pining, childhood friends to lovers romance surrounded mostly by some extremely unsavory court politics and abuse. The main plot revolves around Prince Fierre and the familial/religious/political creation and reinforcement of his eating disorder. His disorder is depicted with care, though the resolution felt superficial. Ultimately, I felt like the plot was pulled in too many directions and the tone was a bit darker than expected in some aspects (the "favors") while too shallow to really dig into any one thing (misogyny, classism, sexual violence) in a satisfying way. But the characters were well crafted and I was really drawn into their lives and perspective with some great line writing. I will definitely be interested in reading more from the author in the future.

(This was a review of a free advanced review copy. Thanks to Solaris, Darcy Ash, and NetGalley for that privilege!)

The writing itself is decent, especially for a debut, but the world-building felt lacking. I don’t usually expect deeply intricate world-building in shorter fantasy romance novels, but in this case, a stronger foundation was needed to support the weight of the book’s heavier themes. Without the scenes depicting assault and disordered eating, there wouldn’t be much substance to the plot. Additionally, the resolution of these difficult topics felt unconvincing—if a story is going to introduce such intense subject matter, it needs to invest the time and care required to address it meaningfully. By the end, I was left without a real sense of closure or purpose; it read more like a string of tragedies rather than a narrative where the prince MMC’s suffering contributed to a greater thematic or character-driven arc.

Thank you Netgalley and the publisher for the ARC!

This book was something else. It is a queer romantasy with a scottish setting that deals with some heavy topics.
I highly recommend reading the trigger warnings before starting the book.

The world building is done slowly throughout the book and the it is moving rather quickly.
It does sometimes get confusing because it has a few plotholes and the ending comes surprisingly fast and leaves you with questions.

The Story follows Prince Feirre which was just appointed as the ruler of Eilean-Oir who is in love with his childhood best friend, which is a former farmer. Feirre also immediately appointed him as his right hand once he became a ruler.
Overall the book is rather heavy with the MMC having an eating disorder, which is approved by his doctor and him having to give out sexual favours to his Royal Appointments ( i don't get why they are called like that) which most of the time are abusive.

All this time Aiven, Feirre's best friend and now right hand has to watch how Feirre suffers with starving himself and how he is treated by the Royal appointment. At first he doesn't even realize he is in love with him even though the pining is so obvious.
Overall the book is really driven with the topic of the eating disorder and Feirre not realizing that is what is making him sick while being put down all the time and being belittled by his Royal Appointments even though he is rather smart and wants whats best for his people.

The book does have a happily ver after.

Overall i don't know what to think of this book. The story in itself was interesting especially how your mind works in the full throes of going through an eating disorder and what it does to you.
There is definitely potential for this story if you work out all the plotholes and look at the world bulding again.

I really wanted to love The Two Hungers of Prince Fierre, and based on the comps I thought that it would be exactly my kind of book. But unfortunately, it wasn’t.
First up, I loved the prose and the story flowed well as I was reading – I had no problems finishing the text, and would definitely give this author another try based on the language.
However, for me there were some glaring issues with the plot and worldbuilding. Fierre as Prince Regent was supposed to be at the top of the hierarchy, and the way the lairds used him for sex that either was dubcon or outright rape worked for me. To me, that was a complete reversal of the power balance and I can’t see how this as a system would have worked for any amount of time, with the supposed ruler effectively becoming a victim.
The second aspect was the forced starvation of the prince – I thought that his own body image and his loathing of his own looks was shown well. As someone who grew up in a decade where a waifish silhouette was held up as the beauty standard to aspire to, and having since had to work hard at accepting my own body, Fierre’s obsession with thinness struck close to home. What didn’t work for me is how his starvation was seen as a mysterious illness - Aiven the farm boy should surely have caught on to what was ailing the prince – and also how relatively easily the word of a village healer heralded Fierre’s convalescence. It felt like the diagnosis was too hard won, and the cure to easily attained.
If you’re looking to pick this up, definitely pay close attention to the trigger warnings as the synopsis glosses over these. I won’t be publishing a review on other platforms.

Thank you Author and Rebellion for approving my ARC request, and Netgalley for providing it. (I apologize for the mix up) Happy Publishing!!

With a heavy heart, I pronounce this one of the toughest book I’ve read since Poppy War. I had many triggers when I read the book. I blame myself not to take the warnings seriously haha. At first, I thought it would be like song of Achilles because I had the same feeling like when I read them but I was wrong.

When the writers wrote this book is about trauma journey, they are not kidding. Most of the people in the king court are red flags (besides our 2 main character ofc). My rating should be around 4-4.5⭐️ the book was okay, was not a fan of a few mc’s decision and the inner monologues but yeah.. let’s just say things would have been different if the mc’s response was not as it were. But he was sick so I shouldn’t be so harsh (sorry I just frustrated that I can’t help him)

BUT THE DIALOGUE DAYUMM!!
“You were always like the damned sun, hot enough to fry me.. give me your heat, will you?” with pleasure, your honour☺️

“I’ll be with you every step of the way.. and every canter”

“I’ll let the demon take me, so you can walk free”

[stop here if you don’t want spoilers]




Being the king with no power certainly had its horrors. Their perception of a king is the definition of nightmare. The politic plot is not my thing but the highlight is the journey of healing and I’m so glad that Fierre have someone like Aiven and I always prays for their happiness.

“He’s the Sky to me in more ways than one. When I look ahead, he fills the whole horizon.” My favorite line in this book.

While not for me, this is a perfect fit for readers who crave a heartwarming, queer romance with a strong focus on self-love, healing, and body positivity, set in a richly imagined fantasy world with a dash of Scottish flair.

DNF at 42%.

This is more a reflection of me than the story. The historical/fantasy based Scottish world was enjoyable, and the premise was interesting. The idea of the social pressure on appearance, and the gender flip of the expectation of male royalty needing to attain and maintain physical perfection made me think a bit more critically about gendered expectations in society. The court system and characters were well set up for a compelling political intrigue.

The unfortunate impact of a well written and believable pressure made the body image part of this uncomfortable enough that this was not something that I could finish.

The Two Hungers of Prince Fierre is a new queer romantasy that deals with some heavy topics. It might not be a good fit for everyone (please read the content warnings before starting) but I enjoyed it and thought the romance was sweet.

The world-building is sprinkled slowly throughout the book. This helped make the pacing feel quick even without an action-filled plot. The novel is set in Eilean-òir, a queer normative realm that doesn't have magic and is based loosely on historical Scotland.

The story begins with Fierre, on the verge of officially becoming the Prince Regent due to his father's worsening health. Their kingdom places extremely high beauty expectations on its royals. The pressure to conform to those standards and stay unreasonably thin is clearly on Fierre's mind at all times and causes a lot of insecurity and body dysmorphia. He's essentially being forced to starve by his realm's religious and political elites who command what someone in his position should look like.

The second POV we get is Fierre's most loyal friend, Aiven. Aiven sees the pressure that their society is putting on Fierre and tries his best to support his beloved friend.

Fierre and Aiven have a tender relationship that I became enamored with very quickly. They grew up as childhood best friends and have remained close despite their class differences (Aiven is the son of farmers). They have so many touching moments. The book was at its best when it focused on these two! If you love a romance filled with oodles of yearning and healthy doses of jealousy, hurt/comfort, and angst, then you may love this. As someone who loves the "angst with a happy ending" and "mutual pining" tropes, I was enthralled! 

Their relationship doesn't come easy though. Fierre uses casual sex with other men as a distraction from his hunger. There is no romance or any feelings between Fierre and these other men. These sexual relationships are political and also a tradition among high society men in their kingdom. They are also acts of self-destruction for Fierre, who uses these experiences to punish himself for - what he sees as - failures to live up to his kingdom's expectations.

I want to be clear: This book is largely about the main character's eating disorder. It is not a subplot or something that can be quickly skipped over. It is the focus of much of the book. If this could be triggering to you, you should skip this book.

The Two Hungers of Prince Fierre is about the dangers of unrealistic beauty standards and the harm that they cause. It's also about healing, finding strength in love, and challenging harmful beliefs and practices. I enjoyed reading this and I think that others who love character-focused romantasy may too.

3 stars and my thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for the eARC.

I said it before with The Great Cool Ranch Dorito in the Sky and I'll say it again with this: we should have more books about men and boys dealing with eating disorders and the recovery from such.

There's not a lot of information on the author on Goodreads, so I don't know or need to know their experience with disordered eating, but I do see that the issue was handled with care in the story. Fierre needed a kick in the ass to get it started, but I do wish that we were given a more forceful main character. I also wish we could have settled on a more real life place instead of a "Scottish inspired" world. It felt unfinished and disjointed.

I did truly love the love between him and Aiven, but I wish it didn't feel so rushed. It felt like we were jumping from point to point with little pausing; and Aiven went from best friend to right hand man to star of the sky to lover to husband while also, for some reason, enforcer of the new status quo? Idk.

There are two extremes to this book that never quite find a balance, which I found frustrating because the prose was good and the concept was interesting.

On one extreme is a sweet fantasy romance between Fierre, a thoughtful prince preparing to rule, and his childhood friend, Aiven, a steady, kind farmer-turned-minister. When they learn to trust each other and work together, they are brave enough to face any challenge.

On the other extreme feels more like a literary fiction of a young man who sits at the center of power but is exploited by those who are poised to serve him due to traditions that were established just two generations before. He is trained from a young age to starve himself as much as possible and to purge himself whenever he eats so much as a sweet pastry. He sleeps with high ranking Lairds at his court out of requirement of offering political favor, not out of enthusiastic desire to do so. And those Lairds regard him with sadistic animosity for his compliance. Every thought and action outside of his relationship with Aiven is controlled by a handful of men. There is a parallel to explore about the exploitation of women in society throughout history, but it doesn't go that deep here.

While the situation in itself is dire enough to propel the story forward, so much time is dedicated to these various forms of suffering, that it made for a difficult read. Chapter 10 is especially painful and definitely reads more as a dive into psychological trauma reinforced by insidious social norms than a romance novel. I happened to be reading The Vegetarian by Han Kang at the same time as that chapter and while both gave me the same unsettled feeling of exploring disturbing patriarchal behavior. However, unlike The Vegetarian, this particular book is also framed as a romance and has to set you on that lighter path in the latter end of the story. It feels too unbalanced for me.

Too much of the story is dedicated to the grim extreme. It gets to the point that when Fierre and Aiven change their outlook and seek to change society, I felt too exhausted and hurt to feel happy for them. I should have found Fierre a compelling protagonist, but he shuffles off a great deal of his trauma in days in what would take anyone else years for the sake of resolving the story. I should have found Aiven and his unwavering love and loyalty to Fierre endearing, but I was so angry at him. Aiven served as a minister at Fierre's side for years and is described as smart and competent and knowing all that goes on to run the country, yet he seems largely unaware and complacent of the political corruption surrounding and manipulating Fierre for years. Even when he is doing what he can to set things right, Aiven often resorts to violence instead of relying on his supposed political savvy, nearly killing a man more than once, yet it is framed as him being protective.

In the end, I did not enjoy this story. The prose made for an easy reading experience, but the story itself left me feeling more disturbed than anything.

Thanks to NetGalley and Solaris for this ARC in exchange for an honest review. Please keep in mind the following content warning: Eating Disorder, Sexual Content, Sexual Assault, Vomit, Violence, Emotional Abuse

This book was a deeply emotional experience, and I really enjoyed it, except for a few minor issues. Despite being a difficult book to go through and often depressing, there was always a glimmer of hope, which is what kept me reading. At first, I wasn't sure if I would finish the book due to how dark it started but I'm glad I did. However, if any of the content mentioned before is heavily triggering for you, I recommend putting this book down. Fierre's eating disorder is an important plot point of this book and it gets pretty graphic.

Although the portrayal of EDs has changed so much throughout the years, they still get misrepresented most of the time. I have grown up with media that accuses people with ED to be narcissistic and arrogant, often being the bully with a dark secret and I'm glad that this book steered away from these stereotypes. Fierre cares a lot, sometimes too much and many times it only makes him feel guilty for struggling with food. Darcy Ash does a great job at showing the complexities of this disorder but also critiques the ways society enables unhealthy habits and body image.

However, I felt a bit disappointed with the plot. Some plot points were introduced a bit too late and that only caused the resolution to feel rushed. The antagonists were defeated a bit too easily and I even forgot why they were threatening in the first place. Thankfully, I'm more of a character-focused reader so although it did bother me a bit toward the end, the characters of Fierre and Aiven were strong enough that my rating didn't suffer that much.

This book is a great read for people who care more about the characters than the plot, people who enjoy the hurt/comfort trope, and dark books with a glimmer of hope at the end of the tunnel.

I’m 3-starting this one because the writing style is SO GOOD. Like, seriously.

I probably wouldn’t have been able to finish this one if the writing hadn’t been so engaging.

It comes down to the characters. I feel like both the characters AND the setting is supposed to be unlikable, but I was looking for REDEMPTION, GROWTH, CHANGE. And we do get change, but it’s so friggin abrupt. I was left wanting…so much more.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for my arc!