Genre: Fae

In recent years, certain book genres or topics have become marketing fodder material that have taken on a considerably different impression and expectation from what they once were. Take for example “dark academia”. Once known for scholastic themed narratives rich in literature or academic theory, the term is now often associated with common romantasy publishing trends of spice, stories that have geeky main characters, magic research, or worse, any fantasy story that has some loose book or library motif. However, when it comes to Ava Reid’s YA debut novel A Study In Drowning, all of the common booktok/influencer associations of dark academia are thrown out the window. Meticulously crafted, nuanced, unhurried, yet beautiful and poetically written, A Study In Drowning is an impressively crafted story that returns to the “academia” part of the genre. The novel blends fantasy elements, scholarly pursuits, and metaphorical socio-political commentary presented through a light historical fiction lens. While not for everyone due to its notably slow pacing and the plot focusing on literary works vs more common, in-your-face fantasy concepts (not to mention it’s uncomfortable material to read though), I thoroughly loved this novel and found it to be brilliant. “I know you think I…

The following review is based on a complimentary ARC provided by Sourcebooks Fire via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. What if Mary, Queen of the Scots’ tumultuous reign and the surrounding scheming were influenced by the presence fae magic and other Scottish folklore? Sara Raasch and Beth Revis’s collaboration novel The Crimson Throne is an entertaining and straightforward YA romantasy novel as well as a liberally interpreted historical fiction story. Magical fae powers, cursed objects and weapons, historic grand castles and sweeping scenic landscapes, The Crimson Throne has all the right elements for a great fantasy story. Presented from dual perspectives, one a Scottish half-fae guardian of the crown and one an English spy sent to infiltrate said crown’s inner circle, the scene is set for a forbidden romance between two opponents meant to outplay each other with both the Scottish/England Kingdoms and the Fae Kingdom’s future at stake. An important note that is not clearly mentioned on early previews and listing at the time of this review for The Crimson Throne is that this is the first book in a brand new fantasy duology (the ARC received as well as Amazon’s presale store states it’s part of…

Desert dystopia, war-waging fae courts, hordes of the undead, metal-crafting and a dark, snippy otherworldly savior, Callie Hart incorporates a lot of appealing elements from all-across the fantasy genre and melts them together into the romantasy epic Quicksilver. Featuring a strong-willed and resourceful FMC cast into a magical multi-dimensional and vast world, there’s a lot to like in Quicksilver and the intertwined fates of its main characters paired with steamy scenes feel directly catered to what most romantasy readers are looking for. Unfortunately despite being full of ambition, demonstrated through its overarching plot, the actual execution of its various fantasy elements doesn’t feel connected and at times, the rules of magic and world-building to be quite wild and unhinged. With less than graceful transitions between its fantasy and romance scenes and near incoherent magic rules towards the end of the story, Quicksilver was unfortunately a miss and an overhyped booktok influencer pick for me. Depending on how you look at it, Quicksilver can either feel like a nod to many popular fantasy books that came before it, or a manic combination of everything trendy thrown together haphazardly. Taking the romance element out of the equation temporarily, the fantasy-filled story of…

Emily Wilde’s Encyclopaedia of Faeries is a curious case of a lot of great ideas implemented in a slow and laborious manner. Incorporating aspects of historical fiction, fantasy, light romance and folklore, the elements were there for what many positive reviewers have describe as a cozy and enchanting read. Unfortunately the narrative and tone was not for me and I alternated between struggling to stay interested in the story and being baffled at seemingly random lurches in unexpected directions. The main highlight for me and the area Heather Fawcett was consistently strong in was the folklore aspect layered into the story. Emily Wilde’s Encyclopaedia of Faeries is full of lengthy and detailed stories told by the villagers of Hrafnsvik, encounters with the Fair folk, and even recapped from Emily’s own research. These stories placed in self-contained chapters are often longer than non-folklore chapters given that the story is presented via Emily’s written journal, some entries being extremely short and uneventful. These stories all have some sort of theme that connects to whatever Emily is experiencing at the time, and the imaginative quality of these tales often surpasses the novel’s actual story itself (like modern Grimm fairy tales). The interest within…

The House in the Cerulean Sea has a plot, genre and tone that ordinarily isn’t quite my taste, but T.J. Klune’s execution and lowkey sarcastic humor kept me going. Hopefully optimistic, sweet, and a very comfortable easy read, this is not my typical read but it’s still a novel I don’t regret picking up. The plot is predictable and some extended metaphors and social commentary are a bit on the nose (this has a tone and approach better suited for YA, apart from a few rare adult-natured jokes), but it’s unapologetically warm and has so much mass-appeal. Other reviews describing The House in the Cerulean Sea as a modern fairy tale are quite appropriate. The style of narration told from the perspective of the main character Linus Baker evokes that nostalgic fairy tale feel that’s felt through Klune’s descriptive visuals and dialogue (the house for example screams fantasy fairy tale aesthetic, including the gorgeous interpretation on the cover). While reading this, I could instantly see this being adapted as either an animated or live-action miniseries. Linus Baker is a refreshing, atypical main character aged 40, overweight, uptight, queer, no frills government worker who serves as the perfect foil to the…