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2.97 AVERAGE
2.97 AVERAGE
First I want to thank NetGalley for this free eARC for my free and honest review.
This book was so hard to get through. In the beginning I was really worried about Josh but the way that the book is told through Kesina’s perspective didn’t work for me I had no interest in her as a character.
I thought that the fantastical elements to the story were fun but I didn’t find the amazing.
I think that there is definitely an audience for this book I just don’t think I am that audience.
This book was so hard to get through. In the beginning I was really worried about Josh but the way that the book is told through Kesina’s perspective didn’t work for me I had no interest in her as a character.
I thought that the fantastical elements to the story were fun but I didn’t find the amazing.
I think that there is definitely an audience for this book I just don’t think I am that audience.
So much more than a fairytale, I adored this book! It’s a new take on the world of faerie, and it is quite fascinating. We follow the main characters as they become trapped in a world which is not their own, where lies and truths merge, making it difficult for them to trust their surrounding, friends or even themselves. Its also a commentary on foster care, broken childhood and survival. Really loved this book. *Book provided by editor through Netgalley, all opinions are my own*
Before I actually get in to the nitty gritty of it all, I think it’s probably best to start by pointing out that the description of this story is misleading. Given the recent popularity in Fae and Faerie led novels, I imagine a lot of readers will come to NCT expecting something similar to The Cruel Prince or An Enchantment of Ravens, which is where I suspect the majority of negative reviews and DNFs will come from. This novel does not romanticise the Fae mythology as a lot of current novels are wont to do.
Sarah Porter’s NCT is something that reads more in the realms of horror, with Prince, Unselle and their fellow companions being altogether the most sinister portrayal of fae that I have had the pleasure of reading. Porter’s imagery of the havoc that is experienced by Ksenia, Josh and Lexi in both the Fae and human realms is as vivid as it is unsettling.
I was also surprised at how little the fae were ‘on screen’, especially Prince who is essentially billed as the Big Bad in the description. Instead, a lot of the focus is on Ksenia and Joshua and their relationship with each other. This in itself is difficult to swallow at times as although they are foster-siblings, the co-dependency between them is unhealthy and Josh’s romantic and sexual feelings towards Ksenia alongside his treatment and manipulation of her is something I found extremely uncomfortable to read, especially as we learn about Ksenia’s history and past sexual abuse. That said, although it is uncomfortable to read, I don’t think readers should be discouraged.
Porter uses Lexi and Ksenia’s relationship contrasting against Ksenia and Josh’s relationship to illustrate the difference between a healthy and unhealthy relationship. One of my personal highlights was being able to read about Ksenia’s recovery of her time and experience in the Fae realm and how Lexi helps her acknowledge that she needs to fight her personal demons for herself and not because it will make Lexi happy. I think this was one of my key moments for Ksenia as it felt like a lot of her personality and motivations were based around what would make Josh happy.
If I have any negative comments to express about Never Contented Things apart from Sarah Porter’s writing being sometimes hard to follow, it is mainly that in order to illustrate Josh as the ‘Good Sibling’ and Ksenia as the ‘Bad Sibling’ from outsider perspectives, characters like Emma become almost comically villainous in how they blame Ksenia for Josh’s disappearance at the beginning of the novel rather than potentially blaming Josh for Ksenia’s ‘death’. However, I do believe that Ksenia’s treatment by both sets of her foster parents is an excellent commentary on the treatment of sexual assault and abuse victims and survivors by society as a whole.
I received an e-ARC of Never Contented Things from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.
Sarah Porter’s NCT is something that reads more in the realms of horror, with Prince, Unselle and their fellow companions being altogether the most sinister portrayal of fae that I have had the pleasure of reading. Porter’s imagery of the havoc that is experienced by Ksenia, Josh and Lexi in both the Fae and human realms is as vivid as it is unsettling.
I was also surprised at how little the fae were ‘on screen’, especially Prince who is essentially billed as the Big Bad in the description. Instead, a lot of the focus is on Ksenia and Joshua and their relationship with each other. This in itself is difficult to swallow at times as although they are foster-siblings, the co-dependency between them is unhealthy and Josh’s romantic and sexual feelings towards Ksenia alongside his treatment and manipulation of her is something I found extremely uncomfortable to read, especially as we learn about Ksenia’s history and past sexual abuse. That said, although it is uncomfortable to read, I don’t think readers should be discouraged.
Porter uses Lexi and Ksenia’s relationship contrasting against Ksenia and Josh’s relationship to illustrate the difference between a healthy and unhealthy relationship. One of my personal highlights was being able to read about Ksenia’s recovery of her time and experience in the Fae realm and how Lexi helps her acknowledge that she needs to fight her personal demons for herself and not because it will make Lexi happy. I think this was one of my key moments for Ksenia as it felt like a lot of her personality and motivations were based around what would make Josh happy.
If I have any negative comments to express about Never Contented Things apart from Sarah Porter’s writing being sometimes hard to follow, it is mainly that in order to illustrate Josh as the ‘Good Sibling’ and Ksenia as the ‘Bad Sibling’ from outsider perspectives, characters like Emma become almost comically villainous in how they blame Ksenia for Josh’s disappearance at the beginning of the novel rather than potentially blaming Josh for Ksenia’s ‘death’. However, I do believe that Ksenia’s treatment by both sets of her foster parents is an excellent commentary on the treatment of sexual assault and abuse victims and survivors by society as a whole.
I received an e-ARC of Never Contented Things from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.
I received an ARC from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
DNF'd @ 25%
I thought this sounded fantastic, but unfortunately I just couldn't get into the story or the characters in the least. It just wasn't for me. Thanks anyway, NetGalley.
DNF'd @ 25%
I thought this sounded fantastic, but unfortunately I just couldn't get into the story or the characters in the least. It just wasn't for me. Thanks anyway, NetGalley.
I received a free copy from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
Sorry guys this is gonna be a no from me... DNF'd at ~8%.
Perhaps I should have given this book more of a chance, but it's been a couple of weeks since I started it and I have no desire to go back. Not only did I find it pretty cringe-y, but there were some problematic elements as well.
The story - what I read of it - involves two foster siblings: Josh and Ksenia. Both are upset because Ksenia is about to turn 18, and her foster parents are planning to force her to move out. Josh and Ksenia have such a strong bond that the idea of being separated has them thinking of making risky decisions.
One night, while having a "last hurrah" of sorts, Ksenia and Josh run into a group of ~mysterious~ and ~beautiful~ people having a party. Surprise surprise, they're all fairies. I guess that Josh and Ksenia are glamoured? Because everything gets really confusing (and sexual???), and when Ksenia wakes up from her daze, Josh is missing.
Not only did I have kind of a hard time following what went on with the fairies, but the dialogue was just really cheesy and cringe-worthy.
"Pure images"?? I'm not even sure what that is supposed to mean. I had a difficult time keeping track of which fairies were which, and found their physical descriptions to be hard to follow.
Another major turn-off for me in this first part of the book I read, was a questionable sexual encounter Ksenia has with one of the fairies. During the party, one of them basically forces her up against a tree to distract her from what's happening to Josh, and she says -
"It should have been thrilling, but I wasn't sure how I felt about it."
...then later: "I was getting dizzy, and I tried to push him off."
I just thought to myself - OK, if this is gonna be a book that both glamorizes and idolizes these fairies, but also lets scenes like this occur, where there is clearly NOT consent going on... then no thanks.
The one thing that seemed initially interesting and possibly promising was the both Josh and Ksenia seemed to be queer and gender non-conforming. A scene early in the book describes Josh as usually dressing feminine, and Ksenia preferring to dress masculine - Ksenia remarks how often they are mistaken for the opposite sex, and how they enjoy it. I would have like to see this play out, but everything else about the story was just such a turn-off...
I may give this another try in the future, but for right now there are just other things I would prefer to read.
Sorry guys this is gonna be a no from me... DNF'd at ~8%.
Perhaps I should have given this book more of a chance, but it's been a couple of weeks since I started it and I have no desire to go back. Not only did I find it pretty cringe-y, but there were some problematic elements as well.
The story - what I read of it - involves two foster siblings: Josh and Ksenia. Both are upset because Ksenia is about to turn 18, and her foster parents are planning to force her to move out. Josh and Ksenia have such a strong bond that the idea of being separated has them thinking of making risky decisions.
One night, while having a "last hurrah" of sorts, Ksenia and Josh run into a group of ~mysterious~ and ~beautiful~ people having a party. Surprise surprise, they're all fairies. I guess that Josh and Ksenia are glamoured? Because everything gets really confusing (and sexual???), and when Ksenia wakes up from her daze, Josh is missing.
Not only did I have kind of a hard time following what went on with the fairies, but the dialogue was just really cheesy and cringe-worthy.
"For half a moment I thought they must be models, dancers, on break between takes of a music video, because they had the glitz and seduction of pure images."
"Pure images"?? I'm not even sure what that is supposed to mean. I had a difficult time keeping track of which fairies were which, and found their physical descriptions to be hard to follow.
Another major turn-off for me in this first part of the book I read, was a questionable sexual encounter Ksenia has with one of the fairies. During the party, one of them basically forces her up against a tree to distract her from what's happening to Josh, and she says -
"It should have been thrilling, but I wasn't sure how I felt about it."
...then later: "I was getting dizzy, and I tried to push him off."
I just thought to myself - OK, if this is gonna be a book that both glamorizes and idolizes these fairies, but also lets scenes like this occur, where there is clearly NOT consent going on... then no thanks.
The one thing that seemed initially interesting and possibly promising was the both Josh and Ksenia seemed to be queer and gender non-conforming. A scene early in the book describes Josh as usually dressing feminine, and Ksenia preferring to dress masculine - Ksenia remarks how often they are mistaken for the opposite sex, and how they enjoy it. I would have like to see this play out, but everything else about the story was just such a turn-off...
I may give this another try in the future, but for right now there are just other things I would prefer to read.
eARC provided by publisher through NetGalley
Never-Contented Things follows foster-siblings Josh and Ksenia as they become entangled with fairies and find out that their gifts come with a price.
I had a few expectations going into this book because the synopsis mentioned fairies but what I read didn’t add up to anything I could have ever imagined and it got weird quick.
The weirdest, most uncomfortable part was the relationship between Josh and Ksenia. Of course, they aren’t actually siblings but she puts herself in a caregiver role so it just doesn’t seem right. Also, the word baby in this book was used one too many times and was very cringey.
Even if their relationship was not part of the book I didn’t like any of the characters. They were flat and Josh was rather annoying. I also thought that Prince would have a much larger role in the story than he did. There was enchantments at work but he was more of a behind-the-scenes guy as were a majority of the fairies. I wanted more fairies and a fairy world but the reality they were in was basically another version of the not siblings house.
Overall, I didn’t like this book for many reasons. This is one you have to go in with no expectations and probably without reading the synopsis. I hope others have more success with liking it because there are some great concepts but the execution was not there.
Never-Contented Things follows foster-siblings Josh and Ksenia as they become entangled with fairies and find out that their gifts come with a price.
I had a few expectations going into this book because the synopsis mentioned fairies but what I read didn’t add up to anything I could have ever imagined and it got weird quick.
The weirdest, most uncomfortable part was the relationship between Josh and Ksenia. Of course, they aren’t actually siblings but she puts herself in a caregiver role so it just doesn’t seem right. Also, the word baby in this book was used one too many times and was very cringey.
Even if their relationship was not part of the book I didn’t like any of the characters. They were flat and Josh was rather annoying. I also thought that Prince would have a much larger role in the story than he did. There was enchantments at work but he was more of a behind-the-scenes guy as were a majority of the fairies. I wanted more fairies and a fairy world but the reality they were in was basically another version of the not siblings house.
Overall, I didn’t like this book for many reasons. This is one you have to go in with no expectations and probably without reading the synopsis. I hope others have more success with liking it because there are some great concepts but the execution was not there.
Warnings: mentions of childhood rape, domestic abuse, coercion, body horror, parental abuse physical violence, incest
Rep: Three of the POV characters are canonically queer, with one of them also being a black girl, and there is a sapphic relationship formed at the end.
First off, the one thing this book did right was horror - I have come across dark fae stories often enough, but this one truly makes them terrifying, in a sense that it barely skims on their beauty and dives headfirst into a terrific imagery of manipulations, hallucinations and dread. There are certain scenes in this book that project an image of a horror movie so clearly in your mind, and I have to give kudos to the writing for being exactly what this book intended to be.
Moving on, this story's blurb may suggest that it is just about two siblings trapped by the faeries (though they aren't really called that in this book) but it is about much more. It has themes of obsessive love trapping you in place, toxic relationships, self-realization and misanthropy. Being told by Ksenia, Josh, Lexi (their friend), and Unselle (one of the faeries), the story winds up being about the importance of truth in a land of lies. Speaking of lies, I liked that it went by the approach of not fae-telling-twisted-truths-as-they-can't-lie, but by they-are-outright-manipulating. Josh gets dragged into their schemes when he tries to get them both (he and Ksenia) refuge into their realm, as he doesn't want to be separated (he's 16, she's almost 18) from his foster sister when she ages out of the system. Her love is familial, borne out of a shared misery from the world and the adults who disappointed her, but his leans towards romantic, and she doesn't realize it is healthy. Meanwhile, Lexi, who is Josh's best friend but who has always admired Ksenia and wanted to be her friend, sees this and tries to get Ksenia out of it, thus being dragged into the faerie games.
The first half of the book was entertaining and kept at a good pace to keep me engaged, but the second half languished a bit, deciding where it wanted to go; it manages to get back on track by the end, delivering a good bittersweet conclusion to the story. A big thing I liked about the story is how it presented the complex nature of Ksenia's character arc in a physical manifestation, the resolution of which was mirrored by the way out of their predicament. Also the concept of the self, as the way you present it, as well as the way you hide it, was played around well in this. The dialogues could have been better, because sometimes they actually spoke in teen-speak but then other times they are unnecessarily archaic sounding.
And finally, because this feels necessary to add because this has often been something that bothers me - while the story does suggest incest between the foster siblings, it isn't condoned or romanticized, and instead presented as abuse.
Overall, this is a well-written horror urban fantasy, satisfactorily self-contained in its lore and story.
Received an advance reader copy in exchange for a fair review from Tor Teen, via Netgalley.
Rep: Three of the POV characters are canonically queer, with one of them also being a black girl, and there is a sapphic relationship formed at the end.
First off, the one thing this book did right was horror - I have come across dark fae stories often enough, but this one truly makes them terrifying, in a sense that it barely skims on their beauty and dives headfirst into a terrific imagery of manipulations, hallucinations and dread. There are certain scenes in this book that project an image of a horror movie so clearly in your mind, and I have to give kudos to the writing for being exactly what this book intended to be.
On a leafy street, in a drowsy yellow house, I stumbled onto something monstrous. My spirit had to swell, and it had to change its contours, to meet the enormity on its own terms.
Moving on, this story's blurb may suggest that it is just about two siblings trapped by the faeries (though they aren't really called that in this book) but it is about much more. It has themes of obsessive love trapping you in place, toxic relationships, self-realization and misanthropy. Being told by Ksenia, Josh, Lexi (their friend), and Unselle (one of the faeries), the story winds up being about the importance of truth in a land of lies. Speaking of lies, I liked that it went by the approach of not fae-telling-twisted-truths-as-they-can't-lie, but by they-are-outright-manipulating. Josh gets dragged into their schemes when he tries to get them both (he and Ksenia) refuge into their realm, as he doesn't want to be separated (he's 16, she's almost 18) from his foster sister when she ages out of the system. Her love is familial, borne out of a shared misery from the world and the adults who disappointed her, but his leans towards romantic, and she doesn't realize it is healthy. Meanwhile, Lexi, who is Josh's best friend but who has always admired Ksenia and wanted to be her friend, sees this and tries to get Ksenia out of it, thus being dragged into the faerie games.
The story is different now; that’s how it goes. You think you have a good hold on the thread, you think you can follow it, but then it twists and winds and knots in your hands and suddenly you’re on a path you never even knew existed.
The first half of the book was entertaining and kept at a good pace to keep me engaged, but the second half languished a bit, deciding where it wanted to go; it manages to get back on track by the end, delivering a good bittersweet conclusion to the story. A big thing I liked about the story is how it presented the complex nature of Ksenia's character arc in a physical manifestation, the resolution of which was mirrored by the way out of their predicament. Also the concept of the self, as the way you present it, as well as the way you hide it, was played around well in this. The dialogues could have been better, because sometimes they actually spoke in teen-speak but then other times they are unnecessarily archaic sounding.
And finally, because this feels necessary to add because this has often been something that bothers me - while the story does suggest incest between the foster siblings, it isn't condoned or romanticized, and instead presented as abuse.
Overall, this is a well-written horror urban fantasy, satisfactorily self-contained in its lore and story.
Warmth is usually a performance, a way of covering up for something deeper. Something frozen. Inside us it’s like the ocean: the temperature drops as you go down.
Received an advance reader copy in exchange for a fair review from Tor Teen, via Netgalley.
(4.5) Wow — I don't think I've ever liked a book with such a low goodreads rating so much before. Like I was legit stunned to notice its rating right now, because I would almost give it 10/10! But that's not the point, so here's my review.
This book is about extremely flawed people who make bad choices for good reasons, and covers some dark topics (a relationship that verges on foster-sibling-incest that is not condoned by the narrative; mentions of past, off-page sexual assault; some images that might count as body horror? But I'm a scaredeycat about that stuff and wasn't bothered, so). It's desperate and poetic and sad and hopeful.
There are horrible cruel fairies and truly high stakes. There are teens who just love each other so much and don’t know how to show it right. There's the terror of being being known and understood by another person, and worse, being known and understood by yourself. And there's something so nice about reading a book in which the main characters care so hard. Everything in it, from the emotional arcs to the plot, are driven by how much they love and want to protect each other.
Of these three main characters, none of them are straight, which I love. You have people who already know and are comfortable with their identities, and others in various states of figuring themselves out. Ksenia has a less defined identity in that there's some discussion of how she's not really a girl or a boy, which is cool nonbinary representation, but I have some thoughts on it. A lot of how people see Ksenia's gender seems to rest on the ambiguity of her appearance. And don't get me wrong, I also love an androgynous aesthetic and people expressing gender identity through physical appearance. And this book in particular has wonderful descriptive writing. But sometimes the focus on what she looks like, how she can look like a guy or whatever, makes it feel like the book thinks Ksenia's appearance is why she's nonbinary. Maybe if we got more of Ksenia's thoughts on her gender identity, it wouldn't feel that way. But Ksenia never really thinks about it. Her nonbinariness is confirmed by other people (who have noticed things or are fairies who Know Things About You) who obviously are more limited in what they can tell us about her gender — which is perhaps why the focus seems to get stuck on what Ksenia looks like and what clothes she wears. I don't think that makes the representation bad, but I think it makes it feel less full than the incredibly-fleshed out emotions that crowd the book.
Anyway: emotional, flawed, queer teens trying really hard to save themselves but mostly each other. Dark content but fiercely hopeful. Beautiful writing and a weird, tingly-creepy fairy world. Appears to be a hit or miss kind of book, but I loved it.
If you like Holly Black's [b:The Coldest Girl in Coldtown|12813630|The Coldest Girl in Coldtown|Holly Black|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1367312471s/12813630.jpg|17962903] or [b:The Darkest Part of the Forest|20958632|The Darkest Part of the Forest|Holly Black|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1397755014s/20958632.jpg|40214184], you should read this! If you read Sarah Porter's other book [b:Vassa in the Night|28220892|Vassa in the Night|Sarah Porter|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1452803823s/28220892.jpg|41396000] and liked the weirdness but could have used more sense-making weirdness, DEFINITELY read this.
This book is about extremely flawed people who make bad choices for good reasons, and covers some dark topics (a relationship that verges on foster-sibling-incest that is not condoned by the narrative; mentions of past, off-page sexual assault; some images that might count as body horror? But I'm a scaredeycat about that stuff and wasn't bothered, so). It's desperate and poetic and sad and hopeful.
There are horrible cruel fairies and truly high stakes. There are teens who just love each other so much and don’t know how to show it right. There's the terror of being being known and understood by another person, and worse, being known and understood by yourself. And there's something so nice about reading a book in which the main characters care so hard. Everything in it, from the emotional arcs to the plot, are driven by how much they love and want to protect each other.
Of these three main characters, none of them are straight, which I love. You have people who already know and are comfortable with their identities, and others in various states of figuring themselves out. Ksenia has a less defined identity in that there's some discussion of how she's not really a girl or a boy, which is cool nonbinary representation, but I have some thoughts on it. A lot of how people see Ksenia's gender seems to rest on the ambiguity of her appearance. And don't get me wrong, I also love an androgynous aesthetic and people expressing gender identity through physical appearance. And this book in particular has wonderful descriptive writing. But sometimes the focus on what she looks like, how she can look like a guy or whatever, makes it feel like the book thinks Ksenia's appearance is why she's nonbinary. Maybe if we got more of Ksenia's thoughts on her gender identity, it wouldn't feel that way. But Ksenia never really thinks about it. Her nonbinariness is confirmed by other people (who have noticed things or are fairies who Know Things About You) who obviously are more limited in what they can tell us about her gender — which is perhaps why the focus seems to get stuck on what Ksenia looks like and what clothes she wears. I don't think that makes the representation bad, but I think it makes it feel less full than the incredibly-fleshed out emotions that crowd the book.
Anyway: emotional, flawed, queer teens trying really hard to save themselves but mostly each other. Dark content but fiercely hopeful. Beautiful writing and a weird, tingly-creepy fairy world. Appears to be a hit or miss kind of book, but I loved it.
If you like Holly Black's [b:The Coldest Girl in Coldtown|12813630|The Coldest Girl in Coldtown|Holly Black|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1367312471s/12813630.jpg|17962903] or [b:The Darkest Part of the Forest|20958632|The Darkest Part of the Forest|Holly Black|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1397755014s/20958632.jpg|40214184], you should read this! If you read Sarah Porter's other book [b:Vassa in the Night|28220892|Vassa in the Night|Sarah Porter|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1452803823s/28220892.jpg|41396000] and liked the weirdness but could have used more sense-making weirdness, DEFINITELY read this.
If you are looking for gorgeous faeries and being dazzled by faerie court and intrigue, then Never-Contented Things is not for you.
Don't get me wrong, there are faeries in this book, but they are not the kind you fall in love with.
Josh and Ksenia are foster siblings. They were placed in the same house at ages 10 and 12, with Ksenia being the older sibling. When the story starts, she's about to age out as an adult and she isn't sure what she is going to do with her life.
It's clear from the start, Josh has some serious co-dependency issues regarding Ksenia. He's desperately in love with her, and while she loves him, Ksenia's is a familial love. However, her love for him is also desperate and she's afraid to be without him. And I think this is because he's really the only person/family who loves her (so she thinks) and she's afraid to lose that.
That said, it makes for an uncomfortable read, but not a bad read by any means.
There's a lot going on in this story and it mainly centers around a lot of bad decisions and unhealthy love. Josh takes it upon himself to make decisions on Ksenia's behalf and because of this, they're now living in some sort of faerie realm that looks identical to their neighborhood and house, but it isn't.
It really, really reminded me of the scene in The Labyrinth where Sarah wakes up in her bedroom and it all looks normal, but upon further inspection it really isn't normal and she isn't really home. As a child, that scene gave me a crushing sense of panic, and I felt the same way reading this story with Ksenia's confusion about her surroundings.
The faeries don't play a huge role in this book, but of the faeries, Unselle is the scariest thing ever. She's the one featured on the cover of the book. Unselle is gorgeous and creepy and honestly I felt like she made Prince look angelic.
The main arc of this story is about healing, and the differences between healthy and unhealthy relationships. Because on one side we have Josh, who thinks he has the ability and power to know what's best for Ksenia, and on the other side we have Lexie, who wants Ksenia to discover and learn her truths for herself.
Lexie is one of my most favorite characters in this book. She is strong and she reminds Ksenia to be strong for herself, not for anyone else.
Obviously, I sincerely dislike Josh. I realize that the faeries tricked him, but on the other hand, he made some really shitty decisions and I just couldn't find it in me to like him.
This is one of those books that I literally have spent days thinking about, because there's so many elements and themes in this story that I needed time to digest them all. At first when I finished it, I told myself it was too uncomfortable of a read and I'd likely not read it again. But as I've sat and thought more and more about this book, I know without a doubt I'd re-read this one.
As a trigger warning, there are discussions of rape in this book. Also, the relationship between Josh and Ksenia can be considered incestuous, even though they aren't technically related in any way besides being placed in the same house as kids.
Don't get me wrong, there are faeries in this book, but they are not the kind you fall in love with.
Josh and Ksenia are foster siblings. They were placed in the same house at ages 10 and 12, with Ksenia being the older sibling. When the story starts, she's about to age out as an adult and she isn't sure what she is going to do with her life.
It's clear from the start, Josh has some serious co-dependency issues regarding Ksenia. He's desperately in love with her, and while she loves him, Ksenia's is a familial love. However, her love for him is also desperate and she's afraid to be without him. And I think this is because he's really the only person/family who loves her (so she thinks) and she's afraid to lose that.
That said, it makes for an uncomfortable read, but not a bad read by any means.
There's a lot going on in this story and it mainly centers around a lot of bad decisions and unhealthy love. Josh takes it upon himself to make decisions on Ksenia's behalf and because of this, they're now living in some sort of faerie realm that looks identical to their neighborhood and house, but it isn't.
It really, really reminded me of the scene in The Labyrinth where Sarah wakes up in her bedroom and it all looks normal, but upon further inspection it really isn't normal and she isn't really home. As a child, that scene gave me a crushing sense of panic, and I felt the same way reading this story with Ksenia's confusion about her surroundings.
The faeries don't play a huge role in this book, but of the faeries, Unselle is the scariest thing ever. She's the one featured on the cover of the book. Unselle is gorgeous and creepy and honestly I felt like she made Prince look angelic.
The main arc of this story is about healing, and the differences between healthy and unhealthy relationships. Because on one side we have Josh, who thinks he has the ability and power to know what's best for Ksenia, and on the other side we have Lexie, who wants Ksenia to discover and learn her truths for herself.
Lexie is one of my most favorite characters in this book. She is strong and she reminds Ksenia to be strong for herself, not for anyone else.
Obviously, I sincerely dislike Josh. I realize that the faeries tricked him, but on the other hand, he made some really shitty decisions and I just couldn't find it in me to like him.
This is one of those books that I literally have spent days thinking about, because there's so many elements and themes in this story that I needed time to digest them all. At first when I finished it, I told myself it was too uncomfortable of a read and I'd likely not read it again. But as I've sat and thought more and more about this book, I know without a doubt I'd re-read this one.
As a trigger warning, there are discussions of rape in this book. Also, the relationship between Josh and Ksenia can be considered incestuous, even though they aren't technically related in any way besides being placed in the same house as kids.
Full review to come when I am more than halfway through, but so far this is EXACTLY the kind of book I've been wanting to see from the Young Adult genre, and I'm glad 2019 is making so many of my book wishes come true.