I love this book. I was hooked from the second I picked it up. The narrator was brilliant and I think it was really well red and such a beautiful story. I’m really intrigued to see where book 2 takes us although the ending did annoy me a little bit because Yeah this is very enemies to lovers which I was not expecting but I’m very glad it was. I was annoyed though that Aisling went back to her brothers despite knowing that they had betrayed her

An arranged marriage between two mortal enemy species, what could go wrong?

Aisling is being sacrificed in the name of duty. The only highborn princess of the mortal realm, she is being made to marry the king of the fae in a treaty for peace between the two species. Aisling had been taught her whole life that the fae are evil barbaric monsters who invaded and stole the land they now occupy from man. Though she doesn't wish to, she will uphold her duty and marry this fae so that there may be peace between them. During the ceremony Aisling pasts the test that exposes her and the king as soulmates in the eyes of the fae, if that wasn't already a surprise to Aisling, her world and views are about to be shattered as the truth to everything is revealed while she lives with the fae.

I enjoyed this book for the most part. It was a bit hard to get into but once we get to the location where the marriage will take place I understood it a lot better. The writer tended to get a bit flowery with her words and a lot of the names and fae words were a bit hard to understand but the plot is easy to follow and towards the halfway mark you don't want to put it down.

The secondary characters were easy to follow and I really enjoyed the character of Gilrel (an animal handmaiden) and her relationship with Aisling. To put it bluntly, Aisling is a bit of snooty aristocratic bitch at the beginning. She feels like the animal fae are beneath her and thinks the other fae are highly improper...it was off putting but it was the way she was raised and all she knows. Slowly throughout the book she and Gilrel's relationships changes to one of true friendship I feel, and it was nice to see Aisling overcome her upbringing and come to appreciate and care for all the species around her.

This is a real and true slowburn, so if you're looking for spice you'll be left wanting. There is only one kiss (and it's at the end) but the tension between Aisling and Lir the last half of the book is very intriguing. I can't say how the next book will be, I've never read this author, but I have hopes we can get a bit more from Lir and Aisling since they are supposed to have this all consuming dangerous true love thing going on.

I listened to most of this one thanks to an ALC and I really have to commend the narrator, Samantha Norbury. With so many fae conversations that occur throughout the book it was really amazing she made the language and the pronunciations seem so easy. And it was way better hearing how it was supposed to be said than what I would've made up in my mind if I was reading it. I would've butchered the hell out of it lol. Samantha's pacing was great too and her voice was pleasing as well. She did a good job of mixing up the voices for different characters too. I will be keeping an eye out for future narrations done by her.

I will most likely continue on in this series as I want to see how Lir will find Aisling after she took off like she did and I'd like to see if the author tones the flowery stuff down a bit. Thank you so much to Second Sky Books for gifting me an eARC and to Bookouture Audio for gifting me an ALC of this title in exchange for an honest review!

I loved the pace of this book, the descriptive world building (that wasn't just randomly dumped on you), and the slow burn. I really enjoyed that it was a romantacy but it was a lot of fantasy to begin and I cannot wait to continue the series!

This book has such fantastic world building! The characters are believable and I really enjoyed reading Aisling’s voyage. I enjoyed the tension between the characters and how they overcame the difficulty of not understanding each other. It would be great if more people would be so open to learning about others. The writing is strong, the characters are great and the story, overall, was so enjoyable.

3.5

Ashley Metzler's writing is beautiful, creating a magical world I felt fully immersed in. The way she brought nature to life and described the connection between the natural world and the Sidhe was captivating and one of my favourite parts of the book.

This was slow-burn done well - I felt the desire between the two main characters (very) gradually building throughout the book as they got to know each other and built trust. The author has left me hanging on for more and I can't wait to see how the relationship develops in the next book.

I did find that the writing was very repetitive, specifically the dialogue and flashbacks, which was disappointing as the descriptions were nothing short of stunning.

I also found myself getting incredibly frustrated with the female main character; her naïveté and refusal to accept facts that were served to her on a silver platter. However, I suspect this was mostly intentional and will allow for greater character development in the next book.

Nothing bad to say about this book :)
Romance? Yes. Fantasy? Yes. Intriging story? Also yes!
Fae and humans, action and romance and of course great characters and an interesting worldbuilding.

I stopped reading at 18% in. The writing was a bit too pretentious for my liking. Like it was attempting to be a high fantasy novel, but really just repeating the same thing over and over. I just really was not enjoying it.

I miiiight come back to it later as I can see why others may enjoy it, but for now it’ll live in my DNF pile.

Absolutely loved this book! I already left a review on Goodreads (Kiki) but I wanted to share my opinion on here to!

I just want to say a big thank you right off the bat for letting me read this!! I feel very privileged.

Now the main thing that I would say that bothered me with this book was some of the flashbacks that Aisling would get? Specifically, I felt like some of the memories she had of things her father said to her could have been shortened instead of rewriting the same sentence over and over again? For example, she would have this memory of her father's opinion on the fea king, and I felt like I reread the same thing multiple times in each chapter. In my opinion, if you want to refer to the same "flashback", it would not be needed to repeat the entire sentence, but maybe just refer to it as a word or two... As like a reference to that memory instead of saying the entire thing again. That happened also with multiple other memories she had from things her father had told her about the Aos sí.. so I just feel like some of those instances could either be taken out entirely or just shortened.
("Do not forget the world that made you. They will try to deceive you. They will spin lies as easily as they spin their thread. No mat-ter what or how much they take from you, do not let them take who you are. Where you come from.".... I feel like I read this so many times, so I'd shorten it in some places to not be so repetitive)

Another thing was how I didn't really feel super connected to either the queen or the king. I did enjoy their relationship and their growth together quite a bit, but I do feel like there could have been more. I will say though that kiss at the end I think healed my soul so thank you for putting that in.

Overall, I think the writing was exceptional. I was hooked from the very beginning, and the trope and the theme and the genre was right up my alley. The Celtic aspects were chefs kiss, the words chosen to describe or express either a feeling or a scene were picked so well. If I were to write a book I would hope to write it this way, because overall the writing felt very mature? If that makes sense? It read as if it was very thought through, and looked into quite a bit to make sure it was perfect.

I'm really excited to be able to read the next one either soon or when it comes out! You did a wonderful job with this book and I cannot wait to read more from you. I think you're a wonderful author so far and I love the way you write!! I'm just a really big fan of character development and backstories, but I understand that not all books will deliver that. But nonetheless, I will keep reading your books. So thank you for introducing me to you! With much love, Kiki.

This author has such a beautiful writing style. The world building was incredible, It drew me right into the story, I also loved the politically arranged marriage aspect. I felt like it was a fresh take.

This one was heavy on the fantasy which I appreciate and Aisling and Lir were amazing.

Would totally recommend to anyone looking for their next fantasy read.

I found it incredibly hard to read this, it was repetitive and slow. I ended up skimming a lot due to this and the writing style. I got up to 20% before I decided to dnf

Such an enjoyable read! I really loved the world-building it’s unique, and you can tell a lot of thought went into creating the magic system and the political intrigue. I appreciated the FMC's journey of growth and finding her own strength. The romance was a nice touch, without taking over the entire story - think slow burn enemies to lovers. It did slow down a little in places, but overall, I couldn’t put it down. Can’t wait to see what happens next in this trilogy!

3.75 ⭐️

Thank you to NetGalley and Second Sky for the early access to the book of this first edition of a new fantasy series. This was good for the first book in the series and I liked the characters too! I can't wait for the second to be released too so I can read it too

This is an epic fantasy about a mortal who is forced into an arranged marriage with the fae king. While searching for a way to peace in their kingdoms, she learns about herself and the world she’s been sheltered from her whole life. This high fantasy novel is the first of a series and is a beautifully written epic journey. Hard to put down and left me anxious for more.

I thought the overall plot to this story was good, but I don’t like the way it was written. This book was 3rd person, which I’m okay with, but I feel like there were way too many characters with similar names and it was hard to follow all the different thoughts of each character. I feel like this could have been a slow burn but all the FMC and MMC did was kiss, and I was at 96% before that happened. I was disappointed that the main characters didn’t seem to actually give the marriage a chance, they never got to know one another or try to find attraction/understanding with each other.

This book is absolutely fantastic, the world building and the magic are incredibly described, and the lore is magnificent. The author was able to transport me into this magical world, where nature is an integral part of the fae and it’s symbiotic to their being and magic. That’s probably my favourite part of the book, along with all the creatures, myths and legends described. I absolutely love how our FMC processes the discovery of the lies have been fed to her since she was a child, highlighted in the book by sentences said by others and remembered by her. I feel it was a really clever way to show the internal turmoil that build our FMC’s character . If you’re expecting a fantasy romance though, you will not find it here. The romance was a heavy sub plot, of course it’s mentioned because of the plot of the story but I’d say is 0.1% of the events that happen. I found these aspect the weakest of the book, because I was expecting something different from reading the blurb (passion,fae romance). I wouldn’t say it’s a slow burn, because there is no “burn” at all. The relationship between our FMC and MMC it’s interesting, but they basically avoided each other for the whole book, so their relationship is kind of put in second place. The one building and lore though eclipse the lack of romantic tension and make me really look forward to the next book. I really recommend it to all fantasy lovers that love are very well though out magical world.

I would give this book a 2.5/3 stars

I couldn’t finish this book. I just couldn’t get into it at all. Which is a shame because the synopsis sounds absolutely amazing! For some reason I just couldn’t connect and it wasn’t grabbing my attention.

From what I did read, it is well written and very descriptive. Thank you NetGalley and publisher for allowing me to read this book before the publication day and I hope it does really well.

While an excellent premise, the execution was a disappointment for me.

Aisling is the mortal queen (not that you could miss it since the author uses the phrase no less than 333 times), and her people have been at war with the fae for centuries. A tentative peace is forged by her marriage to the fae king, Lir, and she sets off to live among her people’s ancient enemy.

See? A solid premise, and a different approach to the human girl/fae king trope. Unfortunately, I couldn’t care at all because I was too distracted by the writing. First, it’s endlessly repetitive. Once a word or phrase is introduced, you can be sure it will resurface again and again. Plus, we are treated to word-for-word repeats of flashback quotes spoken to the FMC a dozen times.

There is also an odd habit of rattling off long lists of names or items. On several occasions, four or five character names were listed in multiple sentences within the same paragraph. Probably my biggest gripe, though, is the frequent misuse of words, sometimes causing the meaning of a sentence to be reversed.

The book reads like it’s been translated to English from another language, badly, by a computer program. I’m certainly not saying that’s what happened, but if English is the author’s first language, they demonstrate a disregard for the rules of basic sentence structure and the definitions of words that is frankly shocking in a writer.

Underdeveloped characters, a nonexistent romance, and uneven pacing rounded out the experience. It’s a shame, because the author had a unique and interesting idea, and perhaps if less effort had been spent on the attempt to create flowery language, it could have been great.

*I received an advanced reader copy from NetGalley and am voluntarily leaving my honest review*

I loved this so much! The writing was beautiful and the story itself was super interesting. Metzler did a great job with the world-building and I felt like it was very easy to find myself imagining the world Aisling was working through. The slow burn was perfection and I also really loved that there was no spice as well. I never felt like the characters just woke up one day and were in love, it really felt like I could see their relationship blooming, which made it even more satisfying when they finally found each other on the same page. The Scottish/Celtic vibes were something new to me and I really loved discovering the world through that lens. Very excited for the next book! Thank you so much for the opportunity to read this ARC! :)

Ashley Metzler's "The Mortal Queen" is a captivating fantasy novel that seamlessly blends intricate world-building with a slow-burn romance that crackles with tension. From the moment I delved into this world, I was enthralled by Metzler's masterful prose. Her use of analogies is truly remarkable, painting vivid and unforgettable images in the reader's mind.

The story follows a reluctant princess on a journey of self-discovery, navigating the complexities of love and duty in a world steeped in magic. While the plot is rich in fantasy elements, including fae with captivating origin stories and a meticulously crafted societal hierarchy, Metzler presents this intricate world with effortless clarity.

The romance between the protagonists is a slow-burn masterpiece. The chemistry is undeniable, yet the enemies-to-lovers dynamic, coupled with arranged marriage and other classic tropes, is executed with refreshing originality. The witty banter between the characters is a highlight, with memorable lines like "In that case, how unfortunate for both our races that it is I who is married to Lir and not yourself" and "You shouldn't claim to wait upon that which you dread" adding depth and personality to the narrative.

While some reviews have noted the frequent repetition of the phrase "The Mortal Queen," I personally did not find it distracting. Given the title of the book and the third-person narrative, the phrase is to be expected. Moreover, I was impressed by the author's ability to maintain varied and engaging introductions for each chapter and scene.

"The Mortal Queen" is a must-read for fantasy lovers. Metzler's talent is undeniable, and I eagerly anticipate diving into "The Savage Queen" to continue this enthralling journey.

Thank you to the author, publisher and NetGalley for the advanced copy of this book!

The book is well written and reminds me of Tolkien. The mortal queen follows Aisling who is forced to marry the fae king in order to secure a peace treaty between their peoples. A really good plot with a few twists. The pacing was a little slow to start with but did pick up.

When I say this is a slowwwww burn I mean it is slow! Aisling’s character development was amazing and I would have wished to see a little abit more insight into the MMC, Lir. I hope the next book can really dive more into their romance and his character.