(Cover and blurb taken from Goodreads)
Official Blurb:
Faerie wasn’t supposed to be real…
Tricked by a fae prince, Elora is stuck in the Faerie realm far from her young sisters who depend on her for survival. Under the terms of her bargain, she can’t go home to the mortal world until Prince Brannick becomes the next High King.
Or until he’s taken out of the running…
Sabotaging Brannick’s chance at the crown will be much faster than helping him win. The fae prince may be charming, powerful, and wickedly handsome, but that won’t stop Elora from selling his secrets to the highest bidder.
By day, she uses her master sword skills to train the prince, while ignoring her growing attraction to him. By night, she conspires with a rival king in a nearby court whose plans could destroy half of Faerie.
If she gets caught, Brannick will kill her. But what’s life without a little bit of danger?
My rating: five stars out of five
This book was magical and unique. I loved the twists and turns the plot took. Definitely a page-turner. Love the idea of a tournament for a dying king’s throne.
And the differences between Faerie and the human world. There is an interesting dynamic where humans have creativity and passion that the faeries lack, yet the faeries have this awesome power and world. It evokes the question: Which would you choose to be?
This was a rather minor thing, but one of my favorite things about Faerie was the curse of thorns in Bitter Thorn. Such a great detail.
Call it cliché, but I love it when humans get tricked by faerie bargains. It’s so fun to see them try to get out of it. In this case, Elora was tricked into journeying to Faerie, where she would stay until she helped Prince Brannick win the tournament—even if it meant missing her wedding and leaving her sisters penniless.
Elora certainly made blunders, though she was relatable in the fact that I was rooting for her the entire time, and loved that she wielded a sword. She may have done some not-so-smart things at times, but then also came through with plenty of smart moves.
Brannick is a character I would’ve loved to meet in real life. He’s such a stuck-up prince, but I would’ve fallen for him. So arrogant and mysterious. So kissable. And yet he has a softer side. Plus I love a guy who always has a faithful wolf at his side.
The faction of friends around Brannick were quite interesting. Lyren was the most interesting, as she kind of befriended Elora. Yet, Elora was still warned that faeries like to keep humans as pets. I hope we come to learn more about the others in future books.
I loved the sprites! I want to live in a world where they exist because I would totally make friends with them too.
The ending is so clever and unexpected! But I won’t tell you.
(Disclaimer: I get commissions for purchases made through this link. This did not influence my review.)
