I enjoyed this book, from the world building, character development. It’ll be interesting to see where the story goes moving forward

4.5/5 ⭐️ ARC read- releases February 14, 2025

Aisling had been told all her life that her enemies were the fae- barbarians who relished in the suffering of mortals and killed without reason. But with a peace treaty on the line between the humans and the fae, Aisling must marry the king of her enemies, Lir, the king of the fae. With hatred in her heart Aisling enters Lir’s kingdom and what she finds causes her to question everything she thought she knew about the fae, her people and most of all- herself.

This was amazing. The Mortal Queen is a true enemies-to-lovers slow-burn and I ate it up. I immediately requested the second book because wow!

World Building:
Ashley Metzler’s writing is so insanely descriptive, she perfectly paints this world and the people in it. I was constantly in awe of how she described things and of the metaphors that she used (I did have to look up a few words but I like learning new things lol). The world building was perfect, no notes.

Slightly Annoying:
Aisling holds so firmly to her beliefs even when faced with clear fact that contradicts them. This was annoying because it was so obvious to me that everything she believed were lies. However, I think it’s very accurate for a person who is in her position to be holding on to their beliefs. So while I was annoyed by her constant defense, I understand it and it made sense for her situation.

Side Character Depth:
I also wish the side characters had a little bit more depth. Gilrel and Galad were really the only ones who I didn’t have to check my highlights to remember who they were lol. But I expect this will be better in the next book, because in the first there is still the whole fae hating mortals and vice versa so there was really no opportunity for depth since they mostly avoided Aisling.

Thank you NetGalley for the ARC- I received this eARC for free and all of my opinions are my own

Hooked from the beginning. Who doesn't love fae, unseelies and magic. Loved the unexpected twists and cant wait for more.

Thank you Ashley Metzler, Second Sky and Netgalley for the ARC

This book really surprised me! I really did enjoy this and I’m super excited to read book 2. The world building was really good, the plot is really interesting but I definitely expected more romance for the way it was promoted. The slow burn was really slow but I'm excited to see how they will find their way back to each other and to see them fall in love in the next book hopefully. Aisling’s naivety annoyed me so many times but I'm looking forward to see her growth and I loved Lir.

Over the last 12 months, I have been reading more fantasy and romantasy books so was excited to read this one when I was accepted.
It definitely leans more into the fantasy than the romance aspect - the fantasy element driving the plot compared to some others I have read. That being said, the (very) slow burn romance between the FMC and MMC definitely added to it and I really enjoyed watching their relationship slowly develop. One thing I did particularly like about the slow burn aspect of the enemies to lovers trope is that it seems more realistic given their starting points.
The world building in the first few chapters I found more challenging (probably because I’m not sure how to pronounce half of the names either!) but the plot moved at a good pace so this didn’t last too long.
Definitely recommend - and I’m so glad I requested the sequel as I’ll be going straight into that!

I absolutely loved this book. I want to say I devoured, but it took me a little to finish because I read a portion of it to my husband while he was in Icu and he passed away the next day. I enjoyed the relationship between Lir and Aisling immensely. Aisling is such a well written fmc. I can't wait to dive into the next book!

Yeaaahhhh! What a story!

Absolutely devoured this, I couldn’t stop reading, the story is fairly complicated in the beginning with lots of detail around the world, the family, the names to remember, but, stick with it and it unravels into a wonderful fantasy with very last minute romance addition, although the tension is there, it’s a slooooowburn.

Aisling is “sold” to the fae king, but unbeknown to her family, she’s actually a kind of fae as as she spends more time in the fae lands and with the king Lir, her powers develop.

The ending was unexpected, when Aisling fled Lir’s side to run away with Dagfin to find a way to break the curse, I didn’t expect Lir to let Aisling leave his side, let alone set off with the “enemy”.

The tension built and built as the story unraveled and it left you on the edge of your seat waiting for the second instalment to find out what happens next!

Thank you NetGalley for the ARC for an exchange of my honest opinion!

I started reading this book without any bigger expectations but to my surprise, this story hooked me from the beginning! I was invested since the first chapter and I got into it instantly.

Although the writing isn’t my style, the whole story and character were amazing. It was more political than I thought and little to no romance despite arranged marriage 🤭🫣

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