A review by ashley_dang096
A Court Bright and Broken by Amy Patrick

2.0

A fae romantasy retelling of Cinderella featuring a golden retriever-esque fae prince who falls for a poor human girl who makes a bargain with a witch that will change both their lives. The story follows Raewyn, a human girl who's family is poor and she needs to find a way to feed her sisters and find medicine for her father, and Stellan, a fae prince who dreams about marrying for love. When they meet and Raewyn saves Stellan, he gives her an invitation to the ball his father is hosting. The very night Raewyn goes to the local witch to try and sell her something in order to make ends meet but the witch gives her a new bargain: if Raewyn attends the ball (which she never intended to in the first place) and do a service for the witch (which she will tell her at a later time) then said witch will plant a garden to feed her sisters and cure her father. The bargain is too good to turn down and Raewyn immediately agrees.... yet when she arrives at the ball she realizes too late that she has been enchanted and that she is enchanting both the prince and the entire royal court. Raewyn must keep up the act but finds herself thrown in a love triangle between the two princess. Unfortunately I did not care for this story at all. I love a fun retelling of a classic fairytale but I just found myself so bored by this take. I didn't care all that much for the characters and wasn't all that invested in the slow burn romance. I didn't feel any chemistry and the story just felt kind of dragged on. I wish i could like the story more but I won't be continuing the series as it isn't for me but I do think maybe other fantasy slow burn romance readers might have a fun time with this.

Release Date: February 14, 2025

Publication/Blog: Ash and Books (ash-and-books.tumblr.com)

*Thanks Netgalley and Oxford South Press and The Nerd Fam for sending me an arc in exchange for an honest review*