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ephemerily's review
4.0
Someone recommended this book as an adult fairy story without a lot of violence. And it is (but see below)! While there are references to past wars and devastation, the plot follows a plain young woman who finds out she is the "truemate" of the famous fey king, whom she has dreamed about her whole life. And he's not dark and evil but just trying to be careful to keep his power contained and not scare her off as he courts her. She has an annoying mom who insists she have a giant wedding, and a creepy would-be suitor who tricks her into getting engaged to him instead. The world and magic are interesting, and the heroine remains down-to-earth and likable even as she is swept up into a different world.
I'd have rated the book five stars except that it uses numerous points of view: not just the heroine and hero, but the fey bodyguard, some other random fey soldiers on a mission elsewhere, her parents, the suitor, her best friend, her best friend's mom, several bad guys, and the vain queen. While this gives the reader insight into the various plots brewing, it really slowed the book down for me, and I found myself impatient to get back to the main characters.
Also, there was a violent rape scene about 3/4 of the way through that came out of nowhere and really disturbed me; if I hadn't liked the book so much earlier, I'd have put it down. It wasn't just the graphic violence but that some of the language seemed to confusingly suggest that the victim likes it,calling her "willing" and "eager" even while she's sobbing, and saying that she doesn't mind when he is brutal... but she is magically enslaved to him in some ambiguous way, and the scene is from his point of view, so I did not find the claims comforting, and maybe found the scene more disturbing because of them. I wish the book hadn't had this scene! I don't think I want to read the sequels.
I'd have rated the book five stars except that it uses numerous points of view: not just the heroine and hero, but the fey bodyguard, some other random fey soldiers on a mission elsewhere, her parents, the suitor, her best friend, her best friend's mom, several bad guys, and the vain queen. While this gives the reader insight into the various plots brewing, it really slowed the book down for me, and I found myself impatient to get back to the main characters.
Also, there was a violent rape scene about 3/4 of the way through that came out of nowhere and really disturbed me; if I hadn't liked the book so much earlier, I'd have put it down. It wasn't just the graphic violence but that some of the language seemed to confusingly suggest that the victim likes it,
Content Warnings
Graphic: Rape and Sexual violence
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