A review by purrson
Prince of the Sorrows by Kellen Graves

adventurous dark emotional funny hopeful mysterious sad tense fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.75

I’m not big on the fae genre, but I loved this. The ending still has me reeling (spoilers later) but I loved the world building in this book, and how unapologetically queer and sex-positive the society is. The magic systems are so unique and interesting, the characters lovable (the villains horrendous), without any being clumsy or trope-y. Consent is handled so well, even with the typical issues of the genre.

I’m new to reading self-published work, and the quality of the writing is so good that when I finished this I was surprised it wasn’t published by TOR or another well-known imprint. That said I’m happy to avoid the publishing lags and have already preordered Book 2.

I was surprised by how deep the mystery/injustice that Cylvan and Saffron face runs, and how real the villains challenging and isolating our MCs feel: The mystery seems to catch the characters and the reader off guard together, which was unexpected (I’m not complaining) and I’m so interested to see where it goes; the villains’ plan of increasingly isolating MCs from their support systems, from their societal and innate power, and finally from each other, was chillingly realistic.
I really hope Book 2 (or 3? I don’t know how many are planned as I write this) lets us enjoy Cylvan & Saffron happy together, once they defeat their enemies and smash down the politics and villains that keep them apart and oppressed. Taran’s abuse tactics are so grounded in reality & Kaelar’s lechery feels so real, that I’m left angry at the other characters who comply and enable them.
All in all a fantastic book, and I’m hoping the next is even more enjoyable.
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