When I first saw the cover drop for this book on Twitter, it was hyped as 'the lipstick book.' Still to this day I want to know what lipstick the girl on the cover is wearing. Unfortunately, that is about my favorite part of Never-Contented Things.
So the book is about two foster siblings--Josh and Ksenia--and their friend Lexi. Now, Josh is the "good" child and sometimes Ksenia is put in the position of having put a bad influence on him. Afterall, she has an awful history. To make this long story short, there is much betrayal and secrets and lies between these three, but at the same time, ultimately they also relate to each other and connect with each other...sometimes a little too much. And so the plot of the story begins and we move on in our review...
On to the next (and very important) point: the faeries. What faeries? Well, they did exist. They offered their nasty, evil magic. "All magic comes at a price dearie." I was unimpressed. I guess my point is that--according to the synopsis--I expected less foster sibling (and third wheel) drama and thought there would be far more fae realm this, and legions of fairies that, etc. I guess will take the blame for casting such a strong expectation on the book, but honestly that's the vibe I got from the synopsis.
The biggest perk of this book from me, in all seriousness, was the writing. Long paragraphs, elegantly written sentences, it was just the content that fell through for me.

I really liked this book, but I’m not sure I can tell you why. It is a very dark and complex story and the ending was nothing like what I expected.

The story is split up into parts and each part is told from the perspective of one of the characters, Ksenia, Josh and Lexi. They have very complicated relationships to each other. Ksenia and Josh are foster siblings who have lived together since they were young. Josh has an unhealthy obsession with Ksenia, and this obsession is what drives the whole plot. He can’t bear that when she turns 18 she will have to leave their home, possibly the town they live in, and that it is possible that he will never see her again. This is what drives him to make the bargain with the Fairies. Ksenia loves Josh, but as a sister and although it pains her that they will be separated she can’t bring herself to let Josh down. Lexi is their friend who gets caught up in the whole situation, and who eventually saves them both.

I liked Ksenia, although she was hard to like. She doesn’t let many people in to her private life, and I can understand why. She had a hard childhood and her first forays into the foster care system did not go well. Her current home has been good if not exactly loving. She truly loves Josh, but not in the way he loves her. And even though she tells him this, she still gives him hope that when he is of age, he is 2 years younger, she would consider a relationship with him. She unwittingly feeds into his obsession with her.

Josh was harder to like, his obsession with Ksenia was creepy and so unhealthy. Plus he is the whole reason why they find themselves in the situation they are in. But by the end of the book, I at least felt sorry for him, and I wanted the best for him.

Lexi was my favorite character. She was certainly the strongest of the three. She did not put up with Josh’s obsession and called him on it more than once, about how unhealthy it was. She was also able to be objective about what was happening and was able to outwit the Fairies because of that.

The Fairies were unlike anything else I have run across. They were horribly cruel, but in such ways that it was sometimes painful to read. They took delight in pitting Josh and Ksenia against each other, and in destroying the town they lived in. The changelings were also different than other stories I read.

The plot was very original I thought. I don’t want to say to much because it is the best part of this story. It is very dark and disturbing at times, but it was also hard to put down. The world building and the writing were of course excellent.

I don’t think this book is for everyone. If you liked Vassa in the Night then definitely give this one a shot. If you like dark and disturbing then you might give this a try. But be prepared for an ending that will make you sad but will also leave you satisfied.

Thank you to NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Ya'll... YES!!! This was a 5 star for me! I was excited to find out I was approved for this via NetGalley. I have so many feels from this book! I was not let down. I highly recommend this book.

I love books about faeries so I was anticipating loving this book as well, which was why it was a shock when I didn’t. Not too much of a surprise though, I knew it wasn’t going to be the book for me by the first chapter. There are so many things that I think drag this book down, but I know that some of the things I hate most about this book will be the aspects other people love it for.

The characters are just not my cup of tea, at least Josh and Ksenia aren’t. They’re foster siblings, and Josh is madly in love with his foster sister. It’s played off as slightly taboo but never treated as gross as it felt to me. Both of the siblings are painfully quirky and different. They have tragic backstories ™ and that excuses how irritatingly clingy Josh is and what a bitch Ksenia can be.

Ksenia at least experiences some growth and change, Josh is never adequately punished for his behaviour, nor does he get any kind of real ending in the story. Lexi, their best friend, is tolerable, if a bit perfect. Xand is a caricature of a terrible boyfriend who only thinks about himself. Let’s not get into how Ksenia’s foster parents are human garbage as well.

I could handle bad characters but the world is just also…bad. The human world barely feels inhabited and faerie-land is confusing and uninteresting. There’s no hard magic system, weird stuff just happens. Anything could happen. There are no rules at all. The faeries barely get any characterisation. They’re meant to feel like monsters – and they do, but there’s nothing deeper there. They’re bad because it’s fun to be bad. They’re meant to seem clever but they can’t even manage to really trick a couple of teenagers so…

It’s just such a cynical book so devoid of any magic. Faeries don’t have to be beautiful and kind. You can do faeries who are tricky and chaotic and still have them be interesting to read about! It felt like the faeries were thrown into the weird incest romance plot as an afterthought so it could be sold as a faerie story instead of what it is. A weird story about two edgy/weird siblings being creepily obsessed with each other.

I think this is going to be an extremely hard sell for most readers. You have to push through the weird incest for quite a while before you get to the faeries and even then the scenes with them are few and far between. You never really learn anything about them, other than that they’re hot and dicks. Abusive behaviour is quickly forgiven because faerie enchantment and the incest plot is dismissed as tragic instead of the fucking creepy coping mechanism of two kids suffering from a lifetime of abuse.

This isn’t going to be for most people, and with the glut of faerie stories out right now you can certainly find one with a better crafted world and more interesting fae within a few minutes. Preferably one without incest undertones. Props for being diverse though I guess?

This book held so much promise but sadly failed to deliver. I appreciated the dark and twisty aspects to the fae - very Holly Black-esque. However, the fae aspect of the book didn’t live up to the hype of the book and there were so many forced moments. Maybe if I hadn’t read the synopsis, I’d have liked it more but alas, this book just wasn’t what I expected. The author does, however deliver some beautiful imagery and has a story that flows well.

I would provide my own synopsis, but considering others have already covered this, I will just provide insight. Being a lover of YA supernatural literature (especially fae related literature), I found this book to be lacking in many areas. I really wanted to like it because of my love of fae folklore/mythology, but unfortunately, these magical creatures take a backseat in this novel. This book focuses more on the relationship between foster-siblings Josh and Ksenia, and adds other points of view provided by friends.

Pros:
1. I love how dark the book is, and how the author describes the grotesqueness and brutality of the Fae.
2. The author writes beautifully and is very descriptive about scenarios and the thought process of her characters.

Cons:
1. The Fae take a backseat! I feel like the summary is not very honest about what the book is mainly about.
2. Dialogue by Josh seems forced and cheesy.
3. The author gets TOO into the thought process of these characters and I found myself wanting more action and less thinking!
4. Too many flashbacks and POV's from characters that we have zero connection to! I felt like I was sighing every time I knew the POV of someone new was about to begin because it was like re-reading the entire book all over again.

This book may not be for me, but it may certainly be for other people who prefer psychological thrillers, because, honestly, this is the type of book it is. It is not the typical Supernatural YA title and I would almost say that this book is geared more towards adults. I am not saying this because of the romance or LGBTQ stuff, but how the author FOCUSES on the psyche of the characters rather than the plot/action.

What do you all think?

I was really excited for this book, the cover is gorgeous and the description sounded great. Sadly it was not for me.
I would say the story is more about the slightly disturbing relationship between two teenage foster kids. One of whom takes things a bit too far, which is where the fairie involvement comes in.
Even then the “fairies” aren’t really that active in the story. Just kinda there to stir things up every once in a while.
I will say the writing was lovely and very descriptive which made it possible for me to finish the book.

*Arc provided from NetGalley in return for an honest review*
*TRIGGER WARNING- This book contains mentions of rape, suicidal thoughts, and kidnapping*

Ksenia and Josh are foster siblings that don’t fit in. Ksenia- cold, calculating,detached; and Josh- vibrant, unapologetic, and popular, have one major thing in common--their loyalty to each other. So when Josh disappears during a party full of people that don’t look fully human, Ksenia is determined to find him and bring him home. But when Josh reappears, Ksenia can’t help but feel that Josh isn’t the same, and hard as she tries to convince herself otherwise, they’ve become trapped in another world. Now Ksenia, with the help of their friend, Lexi, has to figure out how to save the whole town, before they are lost forever.

I have to be honest and say that I did not expect to enjoy this book. I love stories about the Fae, but I lean more towards Sarah J. Maas’s version, the sexy type. The Fae that Ksenia and Josh are dealing with are the pure, mythological type. They are cruel, horrible, grotesque, and they feed on grief and despair. This book was dark and twisted, and very very heavy in it’s content.

And I loved it.

If you are looking for a story of obsession, twisted love, PTSD, redemption, and lots of strong LGBTQ characters, then this is the book for you.

I loved the multiple perspectives, especially because the author would give us a snippet of a flashback from one character (enough for you to say, “Wait, WHAT?”), and then give us the full flashback from another character. I found that it provided a wonderful well-rounded view of the events and relationships that these characters were going through. Especially Lexi, I just adore her persistence and the way she stood up for herself against even the most terrifying of circumstances. Her ability to pinpoint Ksenia’s inner turmoil to find just the right thing to say was truly inspiring.

LOVE all the nods to fairy lore!!! True names, eating the food, changelings, the inability or refusal to lie, portals, the cruelty of the fae. Just wonderful.

I also loved that one of the most persistent themes was that of consent, and that each character had a different relationship with it. Ksenia struggled to understand that she needed to be asked for it, Josh struggled to request it, and Lexi made sure to demand it, in all things. My (I think only) major problem with this book is that the author didn’t follow through. We went the entire book with a persistent, recurring theme of the necessity of consent, and in the one moment when it mattered the most, it wasn’t given. That moment is the only reason that I am giving this book 4 stars instead of 5.

I found Never Contented Things difficult to put down, and any fans of Holly Black are sure to love this story.

*ARC received from NetGalley in return for an honest review*

This book was one that sadly disappointed me right from the start. With the lack of dialogue and the weird descriptions, everything felt a little off. There was no way for me to feel invested when everything was shown and not told. While the idea behind the story had so much potential, the writing itself could use quite a lot of work.

This book is a masterpiece, and it has the creepy vibe of "And the Trees Crept in" by Dawn Kurtagich. I loved the characters and will buy this book. However, I kind of wish that it was mentioned the creatures were fay and what was their world called? I also wanted to see a bit more development between the two straight girls suddenly deciding they are gay. Also, did not like the ending for Josh because I was rooting for him and Ksenzia (sorry if I spelled it wrong) to be together. Those are the only reasons it is not a five-star book in my opinion.

For my full review, please check out my blog at https://bookgirlreviewsbooks.blogspot.com.

4 out of 5 stars.

This book made me feel awkward, disturbed, and a little depressed. There was not one happy moment. Not one.

I wanted to read this book because I thought it was about the Fae. The summary hinted at having some story components to Fairie royalty. As an avid Fae/Fairie reader, I was expecting a story about either the Fairie Courts (Summer, Winter, etc) or the Seelie/Unseelie my courts. Instead, there is just a strange creature named Prince. That's it.

The words "enchanted and changling" are used, but other than that, there really isn't anything that makes you think that fae are involved. The individuals stealing kids could be any random group of psychos.

On top of that the writing style features these sophisticated ideas being told in childish terminology and lingo. Do kids still really start sentences with "Like"? It just didn't come across well. That dialougue was LIKE totally off the mark.

There are some sensitive topics covered and honestly it gave me the creeps. I'm LIKE so open minded and this LIKE totally made me feel the jeepers 😂... seriously though, I'm truly an open minded person and can enjoy a mixture of literature and art. So the fact that this story felt very creepy and weird to me means that it will probably get a worse reaction from the general public.

I can see the connections the author wants us to have with these characters, but I just don't feel it. For someone who doesn't read or listen to as many books as I do then this book might be hard to follow.

I forced myself to finish this because it was my first ever Advanced Copy from NetGalley. If not for that, I would have gone without knowing the fates of these characters and I can't even remember the last time I didn't finish a book I started.

Let me finish by saying that if you are interested in this book because you like fairie books, then you may not get what you want here. This book will fit for those who are interested in a more sinister type story. The main characters are in a toxic relationship where one is having second thoughts but scared to leave. I'm all for some real bad guys who aren't secretly nice guys trying to be bad. The bad guys aren't the problem. For me they are the only believable part of the book and they are fairies. It's the humans who say and do the unrealistic things. You may love this book, if so, we are on opposite sides of the prism. That's ok because if we all liked the same things then we wouldnt have any variety.

The synopsis/summary for this one needs to be tweaked so that it's target market is hit correctly. Otherwise the book will get a lot of negative ratings because of how and who it it currently marketed towards.

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.

I wanted to enjoy this as the premise sounded so good, but I found the book geberally confusing , I understand we aren’t meant to know what’s going on to empathise with the characters but I just found it frustrating and it took away from my enjoyment of the book. I enjoyed the darker side of this and it was well written and a good tale I just thing the confusion of the characters loses something

Thanks to netgalley and the publisher for a free copy for an honest opinion

This is a hard book to enjoy, though I don't think that was its intention. I wouldn't even categorize it as YA fantasy, it was more like... allegorical, the way fairytales are? Personally, I don't mind incest-y, gothic-y relationships that are troubled and "bad" but intense (like Heathcliff and Catherine), but man, I at least want to enjoy the characters. I don't have to like them--but they should be well drawn, fascinating, engaging. I couldn't stand Josh at all. Sometimes the writing between him and Ksenia was so cringe-inducing I just skipped whole pages. On the other hand, I really liked the themes of consent throughout and found them interesting.

It’s been awhile since I finished a book and said “huh” out loud. I began Never Quiet Contented on January 30th 2019 and it took me until February 24th 2019 to read the last line. This is a hard read y’all. Tales of maniacal fae are woven into an overall theme of consent. Told from three POVS, Never Contented takes us on a long twisty journey of Ksenia-a bowler hat wearing, gender norm bending broken human. Ksenia is in the foster system with her “brother” Josh and our main character has lived a pretty terrible life by the tender age of 17.

Speaking of Josh, his POV was hard for me to read because he is SO extra. I’ve always had problems with my attention span when I can mentally hear how overly dramatic a character’s cadence is in a book. It could 100% be a personal flaw on my part, but he annoyed me to no end through out the entire story.

Back to our story, Ksenia is unwillingly pulled into a world of mystique and wrongness when Josh decides the real world wasn’t meant to host him nor Ksenia because of how different they are. Ksenia is compliant at first because she loves Josh, but as the story unfolds the reader is meticulously guided toward the realization that maybe Ksenia isn’t ok with being in this other world and the eventual realization she was taken there against her will.

“Because consent doesn’t count if you don’t know what you are agreeing to.”

When I read that quote for the first time my arms erupted in goosebumps because it is so true. Even if you love someone they still have the power to over step their boundaries and infringe on your consent.

At times this book frustrated me to no end. Other times I couldn’t put it down, especially when read from Lexi’s POV. I originally saw the cover of this book and was giddy because I’m currently on a Fae binge and the cover is GORGEOUS, but honestly the faeries took a back seat in this story. It was overall a solid read and I’m very thankful to Netgalley for providing me an advanced copy for review.

Absolutely brillaiant. I am a sucker for any book with fairies in them, good or bad. 😏

Thank you to NetGalley and Macmillan-Tor/Forge for an E-Arc in exchange for an honest review.

I’m going to start off by saying this beautiful book is NOTHING like The cruel prince, as some are highly thinking it is but with that being said if you enjoy the faerie aspect and world building in TCP then you will enjoy This book!

We meet Ksenia, a foster kid that has never felt true love; one who has never thought she deserves a place in the world.
Joshua, Ksenias newly foster sibling who has a heart of gold and loved by everyone he meets. The bond they have with one another is so tremendously huge that some people in there lives don’t know how to accept it.

One day, when their lives are struggling to get them apart, Josh takes it upon himself to fix it so they can be together forever. One event causes such a domino affect that Ksenia isn’t to sure what to think or feel anymore. Josh makes a deal with a faerie in exchange for him and Ksenia to stay together forever, away from anyone would doesn’t agree with what they feel.

Lexi, Lexi is such a beautiful character; one that has had a generous life but also one that knows you have to earn what you have. After some events, Lexi and Ksenia become closer then ever and I LOVE IT. My heart is so deeply happy with how this novel ended.

Book Review: Never-Contented Things

Title: Never-Contented Things
Author: Sarah Porter
Pub. Date: March 19, 2019
Rating – DNF’d at 31%

I received an eARC via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

This isn’t going to be a long review, and it’s going to be spoiler free. I wanted to like this book. Truly I did, but I came to the conclusion that it wasn’t the right book for me. I struggled with the idea of not finishing this book and writing a review for it. I’ve never DNF’d a book that I’ve been approved for. But I want to be honest.

Based off the synopsis I was excited, dark faerie with maybe some intrigue and an escape plot – that’s what I took away from reading it. This book is vastly different from what I was led to believe and that’s partially on me. I should’ve read some reviews before requesting this title.

Based on what I’ve read, I don’t think Never-Contented Things is a bad book. The writing is quite good, flowery and the use of color is heavy. The pacing is a little fast, and the format of how the story is told – to me – feels like reading through a haze.
It’s kind of hard to explain. I get that the author was trying to put us (the reader) in the mind of the main character Ksenia – she doesn’t fully understand what’s going on, so we (the reader) don’t either. Though, for me, it just made me frustrated that I had no idea what was going on with these characters.

My frustration is also due to the fact that I thought this book was going to be akin to The Cruel Prince with the court drama and intrigue and maybe some hate-to-love romance or infatuation, with a daring fantastical escape back to the human realm. I’m frustrated to say, it’s not.

As for the characters, I felt zero connection with any of them. I was also a little disturbed by John and Ksenia’s relationship that (I want to say “could be” deemed incestuous – depending on how you personally might define it, as they aren’t actually related) but it was awkward and controlling nonetheless. I would define it as borderline incestuous, but to be honest, I don’t spend a lot of time defining that word in my head, because it’s not something I would even entertain.

Ksenia is arguably the main character, she’s had a rough life, it hasn’t been easy, but she’s found companionship in her younger foster brother, John. Ksenia is quiet and can come across cold and unfeeling, but really, she’s terrified. So much of her life is out of her control, and John doesn’t help matters.

John is a dominant personality, with his own baggage, and (whether or not) he means well, he is constantly making choices for Ksenia. He pressures her into a lot of situations that she’s not comfortable with, but because they are so co-dependent on each other, she lets a lot of the instances slide. It actually bothers me how John talks, very dismissive and peppy. He’s in your face and in your business.

Then there’s Lexie. As I DNF’d this book, I only got to a small section of her story, so maybe her part is much more significant later on, but she’s a friend to both Ksenia and John. From what I read, she’s the “normal” (meaning she doesn’t have the same kind of histories as her friends – i.e. foster kids) one. I don’t feel comfortable talking about her more than that, as I didn’t read the book in full.

If you’re looking for a book about changing one’s mindset from dark to hopeful, coming to terms with one’s relationship and whether or not it’s healthy, then maybe you should check this one out. But don’t read this book expecting fairies. They’re there, but they only act as a catalyst to make bad situations worse.

I wish I had been more interested in this book and had been able to finish it. Maybe one day I will, but as for right now, I don’t want to spend time reading a book that isn’t holding my interest. It read as a heavy contemporary novel with some fairies thrown in, and I like my contemporary novels to be a little more on the light and fluffy side, as I use them as escapes. This just wasn’t the book for me, but I know some people will read it and enjoy it (well, that might not be the right phrase, but they’ll like it more than I do).

My advice to you, is that you read some other reviews – there are quite a few on Goodreads, from people who finished the whole book – who have more to say about the book and its contents.

<blockquote><b><i>"But what would we be, my darling Ksenia, if we could not spin love into webs far stronger than spider silk?"</i></b></blockquote>

<i>Never-Contented Things</i> is a dark tale about different kinds of love, infatuation, and the lengths a person would go to realize their obsession. And it's told from three different perspectives, all queer:

➽ <b><u> Ksenia Adderley,</u></b> who is just days away from turning 18 and being turned out of her foster home that's she been living in for the last 6 years.
➽ <b><u>Josh,</u></b> age 16. He had lost so much that he was "a little compulsive about pulling people in."
➽ <b><u> Lexi</u></b> is Josh's best friend and blames herself when things start to go wrong.

The synopsis of this story honestly makes it sound like it's similar to <i>The Cruel Prince</i>, and I really think that does the book a disservice and leaves people disappointed when they come expecting one thing but get another. However, for those who do like darker tales, I think they would really enjoy this one. It makes you wonder what price you'd sell your soul for. What lengths would you go to so that you could be with the one you loved? Combine that with the author's lyrical writing, and you really do have a good story.

<blockquote><b><i>"So we kept wandering, and the night colored blue all over us like it wanted to steal our shapes and paint us into being part of it forever."</i></b></blockquote>

But I will say that it is a story that involves a relationship between two foster siblings. It's not shown as something healthy, but the infatuation is still there: "You are not anything that ever existed before you, because when you were born it created a totally new phenomenon. The past snapped off and fell away in crumbs. I knew it the first time I saw you, like you were a fundamental shift in what was even possible, and with you I'd be able to walk straight up the walls, and my footprints would scorch the paint."

A lot of messed up things happen throughout the book, but it is also healing in its own way.

<blockquote><b><i>"If you let yourself feel how empty the sky is, you know you're always falling into an enormous hole. An oubliette, I think is the right word: a place for things meant to be forgotten. Even starlight forgets the brutal fusion it came from by the time it reaches the Earth, because the sky is just that fathomless."</i></b></blockquote>

Overall, if you're looking for a book about unhealthy relationships and learning how to forgive someone who wronged you, then pick up this book when it comes out in March!

<i>All quotes have been taken from an advanced copy of this book and are subject to change upon publication. Thank you to the publisher for providing me a copy of this to review via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.</i>

https://lynns-books.com/2019/02/25/never-contented-things-by-sarah-porter/
3.5 of 5 stars
Never Contented Things is an unusual book to review in that it is something of a deceptive read. I think from the beautiful eye catching cover and synopsis I was expecting this to be a book of fae courtly intrigue. Something deliciously dark and packed with forbidden fruit. Don’t get me wrong, this is dark, on many levels, but in fact this is more like a coming of age story, a tale of redemption even. It’s a combination of emotional complexity and disturbing reality wrapped up in fae deception and cruelty and the whole thing is itself a metaphor for a young girl coming to terms with who she really is.

This book was nothing at all like I expected. The mesmerising fae play more of a supporting role, they ooze deceit and create horror but their role here is not to provide characters to fall in love with and they remain for the most part on the periphery. The main characters are difficult to read about. They share a somewhat toxic and unhealthy relationship and it genuinely makes reading parts of the story uncomfortable and I definitely experienced a moment or two of thinking I would have to put the book down. I’m glad that I didn’t. This isn’t a fun book or one that makes it easy to wax lyrical about but I think it is a story that will definitely resonate with some readers and it’s also a story with a hopeful message at its core.

So, let’s firstly address what makes this book uncomfortable in parts. Ksenia and Josh are a pair of foster children who have become so emotionally dependent on each other that their relationship has developed in a way that is difficult to read about. Josh, the younger of the two, believes himself in love with Ksenia and Ksenia, although she tries to keep him at arms length, is willing to forgive Josh for anything and to take the blame for any of his faults. To be clear, the two are not blood relatives but there’s still an uncomfortable incestuous feel to their love, more from Josh who also has a manipulative and pushy feel to the way he boxes Ksenia in, pushing his feelings on her when they’re not exactly welcome and she doesn’t know how to rebuff him without losing his love.

Both of them have done the rounds of care before finding themselves together in a family situation. Josh has a more affable nature, he naturally wins hearts and friends. Ksenia is more a closed book. She keeps people out and given her past experiences it’s easy to see why. Josh is the only one who has slipped through her armour and she finds herself in the unfamiliar territory of wanting to protect him. Unfortunately, the foster parents haven’t really taken to Ksenia, they think she’s a bad influence and although they’re going through the adoption of Josh, Ksenia is about to be sent to college – as far away from Josh as possible and this is in fact the catalyst for the whole story. The two are desperate about their future and afraid to be separated and this desperation allows something dark into their lives.

I would say that for the first 20%, maybe even more, of this book I was tempted to stop reading. I found the strangeness that circulates these two characters off putting and I wasn’t really enjoying myself tbh, the writing was very good though and it persuaded me that I needed to find out more. Josh and eventually Ksenia disappear from the ‘real’ world and inhabit a strangely parallel version where it feels like Josh is really losing himself and Ksenia has become numb to the situation, she’s like a puppet just going through the motions. Everything they do in fact is a spectacle for the fae, their life has become a showbox, Trueman-style, to entertain the Prince and his courtiers and of course the fae are never content, they want to draw others into their macabre world.

Now we flip back to the ‘real’ town and the people left behind in the wake of Josh and Ksenia’s tragic disappearance. We make the acquaintance of Lexi and she’s something of a blast of fresh air. She was Josh’s best friend and was always trying to crack Ksenia’s tough-nut exterior to be allowed in to her heart. She never quite succeeded but she also never gave up. Her tenacity eventually leads her to uncover some difficult truths, she finds herself, her family and friends in danger and she responds with strength and intelligence.

On the one side this is a story of changelings and abductions. Of enchantment and strange worlds. Scratch a little deeper and this is more a story of two young people coming to terms with who they are, forgiving themselves and each other for past mistakes and realising that they need to move forward, maybe in ways that they don’t want to accept but ultimately must do so in order to grow up and find a way to stop hurting others.

What I liked about this is the emotional impact, strength of writing and character arc of the main character Ksenia. I think that her story will really resonate with some readers but I think it’s important that people have a real understanding of the nature of this book before picking it up. This is not a fae romance. It doesn’t have fae that you will fall in love with in fact they’re all wickedly cruel and really quite hateful and they’re the perfect embodiment of powerful creatures playing with the lives of humans for entertainment purposes. The fae lend the story it’s horror value showing the true nature of changelings and completely taking any romantic notions that we might hold of them as readers and completely blowing them out of the water.

In terms of criticisms. There is plenty of weirdness going on here. Oddness that I won’t really elaborate on because of spoilers but the sort of thing that could drive readers away. Personally I think this is incredibly creative, mixing elements of fae magic and splintered emotions into something fantastical. I can’t say that I liked Josh, although I think that’s deliberate on the part of the author, but this dislike made me frustrated, I wanted to slap Ksenia for not being more assertive and I wanted to punch him to wake him up! I’m not aggressive, truly I’m not – this book just brought those emotions out in me. I would also say that the description for this book is a bit misleading. In fairness I think I would struggle to come up with a fitting synopsis but I do think the one provided will lead readers down the wrong path a little. I think you could read this on one level, as a strange tale of the fae, doing what they do best, but on another it’s a story of a young girl with a tough past allowing herself to feel love, for herself and for others.

Ultimately this is not the sort of book that you’re probably going to say you loved. It’s not a gushy-romantic-feel good type of read but, mixed in with all the darkness is a story of redemption. I thought it was a good read and in spite of my initial misgivings I have to say I”m glad I read it. I would certainly read more books by this author on the strength of her writing here.

I would also mention TWs in terms of abuse, mentioned rape, abduction.

I received a copy through Netgalley, courtesy of the publishers, for which my thanks. The above is my own opinion.

I thoroughly enjoyed reading this book. I would definitely recommend for anyone that's into darker faerie realm stories.