This book is quite good! I feel like it was slow getting started, but it was enjoyable once it picked up a bit.

Although it is a bit... unoriginal, I'll say, it's not in a bad way. If you want another human/elf love-affair or fairytale-type story, or another story about a prince who falls in love with a commoner and realizes that his father is bad, then it's perfect for that!

And I will say that although I was expecting similarities to the ACOTAR series just because of the naming convention, it's not like that series at all besides it having elves and people. and dare I say, I like this book better!

This is a Fae romantasy retelling of Cindarella, which I think readers looking for slow-burn, spice-free romance will enjoy.

This book is mischaracterized as enemies-to-lovers. It's definitely not: golden retriever cinnamon roll Prince Stellon insta-falls for human Raewyn. But it is forbidden love. This would likely make better reading for YA readers than adults looking for more nuanced, developed connection between the main characters.

Thanks to Amy Patrick and The Nerd Fam for the advance reader copy.

I really enjoyed this book. Thankyou for letting me read and review it

I look forward to future books from this author

4.5⭐️
Thank you so much to Net Galley and the author for the earc copy!
This was such a refreshing read. For a novel with no spice but so much tension it was amazing. I felt like I was a child reading a fairytale.
Now, THE CHARACTER DEVELOPMENT. So good, honestly a solid 5⭐️ for that in its self. The characters were done so well, you felt emotion and connection with them. It made me feel like I was there in the story.
I can 100% state the fact the ending GUTTED ME. Which I hate cliffhangers so much, but it was needed.

Raewyn and Stellan meet in the market one day - Raewyn is shocked to find that the man she rescued from a gang of thieves is really a faerie lord. She is even more shocked to be invited to the ball he is hosting to find his faerie wife.

There is a contradiction at the heart of the legend of Cinderella - it is awfully egalitarian of the King to insist that every young woman attend the ball - but the corollary, of course, is that every young woman in the kingdom is expected to attend the ball, regardless of what she may think about it. Unlike Cinderella, Raewyn has no interest in dancing with the prince, too busy taking care of her two young stepsisters. But with the help a local witch (with an agenda of her own), Raewyn quickly enchants the prince at the ball.

I really enjoyed what a savvy character Raewyn was. Too often in fantasy books, I end up screaming at the page, "don't do it! It's a trap." Raewyn sees the pitfalls of making a deal without knowing the downsides, but is desperate enough not to see a choice in the matter. The MMC, Stellan, is a little more naive, but it makes sense for his arc as a sheltered prince.

I admit that I found the love triangle to be the least interesting aspect of the book. The two brothers are more divided by personality (the rebel versus the good heir) rather than illuminating any type of Raewyn's personality or decisions. To marry a fae prince would be making a decision - which brother is far less consequential. Prince Pharis is a lot more fun as an antagonist, and I hope the rest of the series will lean into that dynamic. I was far more interested in exploring her relationship with Earthwife Sorcha, who has Raewyn's determination, hardened into an unwillingness to consider collateral effects of her consequences.

This book is YA, but there are definitely some themes regarding sexual exploitation which would prompt important discussions with older teens - this would be a great one for mothers to read with teenage daughters who love Divine Rivals or Cassandra Clare.

✨ARC Review✨
I just finished this book and wow. I couldn’t put it down.
From start to finish, it was swoony, fun, magical, and gave me such warm feelings. It had Cinderella vibes, enemies to lovers, fae, magic, and an MMC who falls first and hard for the FMC which I am a huge sucker for. And the ending? What a cliffhanger! I cannot WAIT for book 2 to find out what happens with Stellon, Raewyn, Pharis and the rest of the characters. I absolutely loved this read.
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

I received this book as an ARC and really enjoyed it. The story follows an FMC who is willing to do anything to help her family. As she encounters the MMC, the relationship blossoms with many altercations along the way.

I enjoyed the FMC and her tenacity, while also respecting that she wasn’t whiny or over the top. I liked the MMC as well, even though I typically steer towards more Rowan or Xaden types of characters.

I am intrigued to see where the storyline goes and how the relationships develop along the way in the next book!

**2.5 STARS**

This is a light and fluffy romantasy with Cinderella vibes which I thought was cute and wanted to see played out. And I like that the “fairy-godmother” is kind of the villain. It’s a quick read though because the world-building is so light. It’s a world of Fae, Elves and humans with the High Fae ruling and humans being the lowest rank. I do think the world-building was too light for me, I just wanted more.

I also wanted more depth from the characters. They were just okay and I didn’t connect much to them. The romance is insta-love with no spice so I wasn’t quite into that because I wanted Stellon and Raewyn to get to know one another better, not just a week or whatever timeline it was in the book. Pharis, Stellon’s brother is the most interesting character probably because he’s loyal to his brother and protective and super suspicious of Raewyn.

Final Thoughts:

This was a very light romantasy read with insta-love and Cinderella vibes which kept it kind of interesting but I don’t think I’ll be continuing the series. I wanted more from the book and maybe that will happen in book two but it's not for me. If you don’t like heavy world-building romantasy books, then you might like this one.

Do you like Romantasy? Me too!
This was a great exsample of a action-packed fastpaced fantasy with tension-felt romance and a well known battle between humans and Fae. Through the story we get closer to the forbidden romance in a somewhat forced promixety. The maincharcters are nicely done and the worldbuilding is giving fairy tale vibes.

-banter
-lovetriangel
-Cinderella retelling-ish
-slow burn (but no spice)
-secret identity
-forced promixety

3,5 stars and a thanks to NetGalley for the ARC

3.5 ⭐️! Thank you to Netgalley, the publisher, and author for this ARC! I think this book is perfect for people who are new to fantasy or wanting to dip their toes in. It’s an easy read with an intriguing plot. Overall, I did enjoy this story! Cinderella retelling vibes with some fun twists. However, I would have liked a little more. I feel like Amy has created this wonderful world with some very interesting magic, so I wish we would have gotten a little more insight and world building. I did enjoy the FMC character, but I would have liked to see a little more development with the MMC. It looks like there will be a second book, so maybe we will get to dive in deeper in book 2. This story has so much potential!

I would have really liked to see more of the fantasy come out over the romantic feelings of the mmc and fmc but the story was good. Very slow start, but not over the top on the world building so I can see this being a good story to start with for those new to the romantasy genre.

Thank you to The Nerd Fam and Netgalley for the gifted eARC.

*Tropes I Loved:*
- *Enemies to Lovers* – The tension between the characters is electric!
- *Hidden Identity* – Secrets that kept me on the edge of my seat.
- *Cinderella Vibes* – That underdog, "finding your place" feeling.
- *Slow Burn Romantasy* – The perfect balance of magic and romance that builds over time.
- *later on Shadow Daddy (😏😏)* – There’s a mysterious, powerful figure who adds so much intrigue.
- *Protective MMC* – He’ll do anything to keep her safe, and I’m here for it.
- *Badass FMC* – She’s strong, fierce, and not afraid to fight for what she wants.

I just finished Court of Bright and Broken by Amy Patrick, and I can't stop thinking about it. The emotional depth of this book really took me by surprise. The characters are so well-developed, with struggles that feel incredibly real, making it easy to connect with them. The romance is slow-building but so full of tension—it kept me on the edge of my seat the entire time. What really stood out to me, though, was the way the book explores identity and belonging. It’s not just about magic and fantasy; it’s about discovering who you are when the world feels like it’s pulling you in different directions. Amy Patrick’s writing pulled me in and didn’t let go, and now I’m left eagerly awaiting the next book in the series.

This book has fae and humans alike. The magic system is a little bit different to what I have read before and some of the glamours were very unique.

This book is more romance with a bit of fantasy, the relationship between the two main characters changes dynamic. The mmc is a prince of the fae and heir to the throne, the fmc is a human girl.

Overall this book was easy going, fun to read and had a few unexpected twists. The characters were witty and grew independently. I would recommend to any romantasy reader.

Thank you for this arc in exchange for an honest review.

So. This was not a bad story and I did enjoy it. Fantasy novels can be quite heavy with the world building but this did not feel that way at all. It was easy to understand and I did like the FMC, Rayewyn. I also enjoyed Stellon and I could definitely see their chemistry. I also like the fact that there may be a love triangle situation going on and I really looking forward to the next book.

I loved this book! Minor spoilers ahead






At times I get tired of miscommunication tropes, but I feel like this was done really well. The story moved quickly and any time I had to set it down I found myself wanting to go back to it. There was a conversation between Stellon, Pharis, and Mareth that made me laugh out loud. I loved their sibling relationship, and I can't wait to learn more about Pharis and Mareth. Stellon was so naive and sheltered about things that at times it made me wanna pull out my hair a bit. I found myself thinking "the audacity!" at some of his actions. I'm bummed I got through this so quickly, I'm already ready for book 2! This was the first book of this author's that I've read.


Many thanks to Netgalley and Xpresso Book Tours for the e-ARC

DNF at 44%

I tried. I REALLY tried.
I wanted to DNF at 6% but I forced myself to give it a chance, telling myself it would get better. Spoiler alert. It didn’t. 😬

Why 𝒊𝒔 every 𝒐𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒓 word 𝒊𝒕𝒂𝒍𝒊𝒄𝒊𝒛𝒆𝒅 🫠

Not only are there an insane amount of words italicized… but it’s the wrong words, making the sentences read strangely. The inflection is off and it made me twitch. 😖

Aside from the great italic debacle of 2025, it’s extremely repetitive. The characters say the same thing over, and over, and 𝒐𝒗𝒆𝒓 again. (Sorry I had to.) I don’t know if the author thinks the reader is too daft to pick up on what she’s putting down… but have a little faith please. We get it.

The premise was great. I love Cinderella, and I was really excited for a good retelling, but unfortunately between the prose, the two-dimensional characters, the lack of world building, and the 𝑰𝑻𝑨𝑳𝑰𝑪𝑺… I simply couldn’t endure another word.

Thank you to Netgalley, and the publisher, for sending me an ARC in exchange for my honest review.

I liked it. I would’ve given it 4 stars, but the first half was rather boring for me. I LOVED the second half though. And the last part had me on edge. I can’t wait to see what happens in the next book.

My thanks to Amy Patrick and Oxford South Press for the advance copy of this book.

A Court Bright and Broken (or, ACBAB going forward) is an easy read, very light spice, slow burn Fae romantasy. The book itself speeds along when you read it, and it's a fun way to immerse yourself in a new world. The writing itself is well done, and I'd happily read other books by this author.

Our FMC, Raewyn, is a Fae romantic retelling of Cinderella, complete with fairly well done versions of the familiar romantasy tropes. She is a poor villager in a world ruled by the Fae king, with humans as second-class citizens to the Fae. By happenstance, Raewyn unknowingly finds herself saving the life of the crown prince of the Fae, Stellon. To thank her for saving his life, Stellon invites Raewyn to a ball at his castle, and our story takes off from there.

That being said, the book is described as an enemies-to-lovers, but our MMC Stellon is the most Instalust of Instalust males. There is no enemies to lovers trope here - which would have been fine had I not expected it from the description. Stellon is also....it can only be described as a goober. He's a gold retriever wrapped in a cinnamon role but also somehow woefully naive and ignorant of the world and his father's rule. I found myself getting annoyed at Stellon multiple times throughout the book (the only way he can think to thank the literally starving to death woman who saved him was inviting her to a ball? What?), and I couldn't see how an FMC as wily as Raewyn allegedly was would want anything to do with this goober. I found myself checking the description to the book as I read it, to see if it was actually a YA novel. Again, not that there is anything wrong with it, but because I went in with certain expectations as I read it and I was surprised at how juvenile our MMC acted.

Stellon is not an only child and his relationship with his siblings (the dark and brooding BadBoy brother, and the smart and clever sister) is endearing and comes across as authentic. Stellon's banter with Raewyn is okay for him being a credulous, naive moron. But I found myself wanting Raewayn to realize she could do so much better than Stellon. I rated it three stars because I enjoyed the writing, I would happily read a different book from this author, and the book itself was easy to read.

Oh my stars, have you ever picked up a book expecting a light read and found yourself enchanted? That's exactly what happened when I delved into A Court Bright and Broken by Amy Patrick. This tale sweeps you into a world where fae politics intertwine with a classic Cinderella-esque story, creating a narrative that's both familiar and refreshingly unique.

We follow Raewyn, a humble peasant girl determined to save her family from destitution. With the aid of a village elder, she attends a royal ball under the guise of a fae, thanks to a magical glamour. It's here that she catches the eyes of not one, but both royal princes, setting the stage for a tantalising love triangle. The chemistry between Raewyn and Prince Stellon is palpable, though some might find their immediate attraction a tad swift. Personally, I adore a slow-burn romance, but the instant connection here didn't detract from my enjoyment.

The world-building is quite immersive, painting a vivid picture of a realm where fae and humans coexist, albeit not always harmoniously. The concept of glamours adds a delightful layer to the story, allowing for intriguing twists and turns. However, I did find myself yearning for a bit more depth in certain areas, particularly concerning the political landscape and the histories of the fae courts. But given that this is the first in a series, I'm hopeful that future instalments will delve deeper into these aspects.

One standout element is the dynamic between the royal siblings. Their camaraderie and loyalty to one another add richness to the narrative, and I found myself just as invested in their relationships as in the central romance. The ending delivers quite the cliffhanger, leaving me eagerly anticipating the next book. I have so many questions and theories, especially regarding Raewyn's true identity and the potential for deeper conspiracies within the court.

For those who appreciate tropes like hidden identities, forbidden love, and a touch of court intrigue, this book is a gem. On my spice meter, I'd rate it a bell pepper - there's a sweet romance with some swoon-worthy moments, but nothing too steamy. Overall, I'd give A Court Bright and Broken a solid 4 out of 5 stars. It's a captivating start to what promises to be an enchanting series , and while it's more romance than romantasy, I'm looking forward to see where we go next.

3.5 Feels more romance than romantasy but I liked it nonetheless. Less world building that I wanted/hoped for but I’m excited for book 2