Reviews with content warning for Abandonment - The Unseelie Prince

I can't rate this a 5 solely because it was unsatisfying in the way it left me wanting more. thankfully there is more but holy shit holy shit holy shit!!!

my heart was in my throat for the whole last chapter. my heart was pounding while reading the whole book.

most fantasy enemies to lovers books do one of two things: enemy does bad things with good intentions, or out of misunderstandings, or is in some way cursed or forced to be bad, or enemy falls in insta-love and suddenly regrets everything he's done as he develops empathy.

this one does neither. Valroy does bad things because he has to but also because he wants to. there is a twinge of pity and empathy in the fact that he was created for the purpose of cruelty, that it's all he's ever known, but he revels in it and does not wish to stop and this is unacceptable to Abigail. He doesn't even seem to understand why she finds him so abhorrent which makes it even harder to untangle her feelings for him.

Abigail is a perfect character. From first meeting she is downtrodden but warm-hearted, not in a Pollyanna cheerful way but just someone with a deep sense of empathy and justice. She's scrappy and insightful but she doesn't have the power to actually win her battles. The war between her lust and loathing for Valroys is much more palpable and realistic than other fantasy e2l protags and I adored everything she did.

The setting is lush and intricately woven, the side characters are vibrant and lovable, the writing style had me desperately flipping to the next chapter, and I'm writing this as fast as I can so I can get to the sequel. Fucking stellar.

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themidnightritual's review against another edition

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adventurous medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.5

This book had a lot of great things that I liked, a fae prince, witches, a magical maze, The Morrigan, and a friendly sea monster. It is reminiscent of Percy Jackson & The Battle of the Labyrinth, but it’s adults and has some mild spice. (Lots of foreplay and that’s about it.) The characters were very interesting to me at first, I love the way they are described and introduced. However they do not seem to develop at all throughout the book and their flaws quickly become more and more difficult to look past.

It is very frustrating to watch the FMC constantly struggle fruitlessly to get any sense of power or control in the narrative, cry about it, and then decide they’re helpless and do nothing. So many chapters end with “But choice did I have?” And I’m like OMG you had other choices you’re just passive and don’t believe in yourself at all! And she just cries so much. Whines a lot about doing the right thing to an ancient, blood thirsty fae who could care less. The MMC is very static and him coming to realize he has feelings for the FMC is like watching a baby realize it has feet. Emotional intelligence of a rock and coercive as hell.

The ending was just okay. The sea monster was my favorite.

TW: abandonment, infertility, mentions of rape, coercive sexual situations,

Content Warnings

ka_ke's review against another edition

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It’s just not good? Abagail is annoying, Valroy is frustrating and the whole book is slower than you’d want it to be.

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glass_carousel's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional funny tense slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

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its_j's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional mysterious tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

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