Book One: Court of Blood and Bindings
Genres: Fantasy, Romance, Fae
Main Tropes: enemies to lovers, chosen one, strong/intelligent female lead, emotional scars, one bed, age gap
Synopsis: Emelin, a half Fae and half human, thought she was full human until Creon, also known as "The Silent Death" and full Fae warrior, sees her doing magic and abducts her. Quickly she finds out that he needs her to help him change the world, although she's also got to protect herself. Fae aren't to be trusted so easily, and she didn't even know she was sort of one of them until he came along.
Review: Author Lisette Marshall did an amazing job with structuring and pacing this story. I admit that I initially picked it up to practice spotting story beats. But then I got sucked into it so fast and ended up binging instead. That said - thinking back, this story hits the mark beautifully and is well written. The inciting incident is high stakes, the midpoint is intense, and the bad guys closing in...oof. It hits deep, and is a beautiful blend of romance and fantasy. Every character is rich and deep, with a complicated backstory and a bunch of reasons behind the things they're doing. Plus, the world and magic system are really interesting, and make you want to learn more and more to see if the characters will reach their goals...and how...and why.
One thing I was a bit on the fence about is the age gap, but I think that's...sorta standard in Fae Romantasy. The author handles that issue a little bit in the third book, but if you don't like age gap tropes: you might need to suspend some belief for the first two and just enjoy the story.
Book Two
I particularly liked the adventure and lore of book two, where Emelin is finding out more about herself and the new people around her - including her heritage! Lisette drops enough hints that you start to guess things early on, and so the reveal is extremely satisfying later on. We also see a lot more action in this book, and it's not just guts and glory - the characters have a lot of feelings about what they're going through, which makes it a lot more believable and intense. This is action done right, in my opinion.
This is the spiciest book in the series so far (at least in my opinion).
Book Three
Book three felt like a type of book I haven't read before. And at first...it annoyed me to no end because I couldn't put my finger on why it felt so different. But then I remembered that there's something called a flat character arc. I think the author used that here (with a twist - which I won't ruin, but it's beautiful). The plot is very character driven (more so than the first two, in my opinion), which also felt unique. But the thing that made me absolutely love book three was the lore and fantasy. Emphasis on lore and fantasy. It gets deeper than before. I have so many questions and theories that I can't wait for book 4 to come out.
P.S. The villains are truly villain-ing in this one.
Basically: if you love lore, magic, and Fae, you'll love this series.
The one thing I'll warn about: the spice is spicey, although it's definitely written for women. As the series progresses, so does the relationship...which means it's not just spice for the sake of spice. It was actually really lovely to see that, and the author did a beautiful job with it.
If you're looking for your next Fae-filled series after binging ACOTAR....then read this. I think I'm getting another book hangover from it - it's that good.
You can find these books on Amazon!
Or check out the author's website here!
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