*3.5 stars*

I was really looking forward to Prince of Air and Darkness by M.A. Grant thanks to a ton of glowing reviews, and I'm happy to say I wasn't disappointed. However, it killed me a little inside to know the potential of the story and that it was this close to being amazing.

I found the pacing and the plotting to be really compelling and I stayed up WAY past my bedtime to read. I finished the story in day, which is always a good sign for me. However, my niggles just kept on coming while I was reading. I kept finding things that bothered me.

I love a magick school storyline (duh) and an enemies-to-lovers story, and this book had both. The setting was fun, even though I was a little confused as to how all of these pantheons co-existed and how the class/collegey stuff worked. The story was actually really fuzzy on many details that I thought were quite pertinent, and I wish the author had taken the time to explain those things more. In fact, if I wasn't so up on my Dresden Files series (natch, the best series), I would have been really confused about what all of these seelie/unseelie and winter/summer fae even were. Dresden Files, FTW.

It was also weird that Phin was supposed to be protected on campus but in reality never was. I was also never even sure why he was attacked so frequently, even at the end of the story (was that tied into the bad guys??). I even ended the story confused!

Still, Phin's love/hate relationship with Roark was everything, but I wish we got even more of a sense of how they got paired up and how that played out for the past 6 (!) years. I got the basics, but how did they live and defend each other side by side for so many years and not discover their dynamic sooner? Strange. I loved Roark as a character, but he was such a martyr! Geez, that guy could not catch a break.

One detail that I hated was that these two used condoms when CLEARLY an unseelie fae prince who heals from mortal-ish wounds nearly immediately would NEVER be felled by an STD! This guy isn't catching (or spreading) herpes, dude. I'm a huge proponent of safer sex in romance, but my eyes practically rolled into my head.

I also really hated one aspect of the ending, which I will spoiler tag. (view spoiler)

Despite the fact that I seem like I'm harping on the negatives, Prince of Air and Darkness was a very solid story, and I was impressed by M.A. Grant a great deal. Almost awesome.

*Copy provided in exchange for an honest review*

I received an advanced reading copy of Prince of Air and Darkness from Carina Press via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Prince of Air and Darkness is a M/M romantic fantasy novel and for the most part a one I really enjoyed. Once I got past the authors spelling choices for some words the story was actually really good. The characters are well developed though I feel like the world building needed some more refining. Its definitely worth reading.

This book caught my eye first because I thought I recognized the author, and then because the blurb sounded interesting. I was wrong about the author, but cannot regret the case of mistaken identity. Rather than the fantasy novel I expected from the blurb, this turned out to be a fantasy gay romance with both strong emotional tension and fun wordplay.

I haven’t read a fantasy romance that I can think of so I can’t say whether the balance of romance to fantasy is standard. What I want to mention is how the romance is intimately woven into the fantasy plot of a brewing war between winter and summer sidhe. The romance is also interesting because we see both points of view, and each believes their feelings unrequited. Before you think this is a “why didn’t they just talk to each other” story, though, the reasons keeping them apart are much more complex. A simple discussion could not clear it up while acting on their feelings makes things worse instead of better.

The two main characters, Finn and Roark, share an apartment with several other students in a college for magic. There’s more behind that simple statement, which we learn as the story unfolds, but there is no question of the tug of war between hate and attraction on Finn’s side. Roark is a little more complicated despite knowing where his interest lies from the start.

As to the fantasy side, this is high fantasy, full of politics and intrigue, but without the focus on court procedure and dress, something that suits me well. The action happens on campus or in local student hangouts for the most part, and encompasses fighting off ancient monsters and negotiating delicate diplomatic situations.

The sidhe are on the edge of war, but Roark rejects his role to serve his own interests and protect Finn instead of bowing to his mother’s wishes. Queen Mab is none too pleased, as you might imagine, especially since Finn has the potential to turn the balance in their favor. Without him, sacrificing her son, Roark, is the only other possibility.

Both the sidhe situation and Finn’s concerns about his parents help build Roark and Finn into well-rounded characters with flaws, struggles, and desires. The relationship between Finn and Roark is complicated, full of misunderstandings, and rife with misguided attempts to protect Finn. You get to know the two leads, and their other roommates and friends, so that they become real.

There’s a lovely scene in the college bar where Roark chooses drinks for Finn’s friends (including some of their shared roommates). He’s challenged to do this by the others, revealing to Roark as much as the reader how much he’s failed to stay separate. Events like the drink choosing make their characters, and the rocky relationship powerful enough to bring tears to my eyes at one point. As I mentioned above, they do give in to their physical feelings (in an on-screen scene) but that is far from a solution to the story.

The magic, its costs, and how it works also form a strong element of the story. A mix of traditional myths of magic and magical creatures along with elements I didn’t recognize expand the world to make it feel much bigger than what we see. Nor is there an easy resolution or a clear path for the characters to follow, making this a strong, powerful read.

P.S. I received this title from the publisher through NetGalley in return for an honest review.

Unlike many books set in a fantasy world, Prince of Air and Darkness throws you right into the action. The prologue sets up a series of questions about Phineas and Roark's relationship that form the basis of the rest of the book. Although there were times when I was frustrated by not knowing exactly what was happening or why Roark did certain things he did, the worldbuilding and tension between Phineas and Roark continued to pull me in. By the end, all my questions were answered.

Although Phineas and Roark begin the book at odds, their relationship is built slowly and smoothly through a series of events that push them together in a way that doesn't seem forced. Rather, the political intrigue that underlies the romance serves to both highlight their relationship and deepen in. Though Roark can be kind of an ass at times, the dual narrative gives us glimpses into his POV that makes it clear why he's behaving the way he is. By the end, I was definitely rooting for Roark to win Phineas over!

Phineas Smith has a rare ability to tap into ley lines, but no ability to control that power. As the only human student at the Mathers School of Magick, he just wants to survive his final year of studies and learn enough control to use his magic to save the family farm. Unfortunately, being able to plug in to the best supernatural power sockets means that everyone and their brother is out to either kidnap or eat him.

Phineas’s roommate and archnemesis, the Unseelie Prince Roark Lyne, has problems of his own: a family betrayal has upset the delicate balance of power between the Seelie and Unseelie, bringing the Summer and Winter Courts to the brink of a devastating civil war.

Despite years of bad blood (and a fair amount of simmering, unresolved sexual tension), their survival and that of the entire Unseelie Court depends on Phineas and Roark’s ability to work together.

This was an engaging, well-written novel that had me hooked by the end of the first chapter. Grant takes your expectations and upends them by making you ask: who’s really the bad guy here, and what’s really going on? Her characterizations of her main characters are excellent, even if most of the secondary ones aren’t quite so memorable. I knew that I was probably going to fall in love with both characters the moment Phineas introduces Roark for the first time. Roark has just saved him from getting eaten by a hungry wraith, and Phineas describes him like this:
[Excerpt]
Grass shatters as a shining pair of Oxfords tromp across the lawn and come to a halt about a foot away from me.
My gaze travels up from the shoes to the straight, pressed lines of the wool slacks. The thin leather belt I could never afford. The buttons of the dress shirt. And there, like a freaking cherry on an evil sundae, the sharp twist of the lips that’s the closest he ever gets to smiling. Apparently, superpowered magickal villains don’t need to smile.
“Wool in this weather, Lyne? Isn’t that a bit douchey, even for you?” I snark. [pp. 18-19]

Phineas might be a bit hapless, and something of an unreliable narrator, but he’s the brave and determined Watson to Roark’s cool, analytical Holmes. Phineas and Roark each have distinctive voices, motivations, and responsibilities, which I appreciate. Many romance novels seem to lose all threads of plot when Feelings Happen, but both Phineas and Roark keep their wits about them. They complement each other rather than complete each other.

Another thing I loved was the total absence of what I personally call the Sex Predator Trope. You know the one. It’s when the “Alpha Male” character immediately objectifies the love interest, and the readers get treated to an unwelcome number of borderline-rapey references about Alpha Male’s overly interested dick and his waning control over it. I hate that trope. It’s lazy writing, and as someone who’s been on the receiving end of such gross attention, deeply uncomfortable.

Grant avoids that trope entirely, and I adore her for it. Both her characters might not think they like each (even while marinating in plenty of unresolved sexual tension), but there is a mutual, if grudging respect between them. For example, that Roark thinks this about Phineas:
[Excerpt]
In the bright glow of the electric lights, he looks worse than I expected. He’ll be a walking bruise by tomorrow morning.
“You look half-dead,” I say, striding past him.
He flips me off and trudges toward the bathroom, dragging off his shirt on the way. The movement makes the defined muscles of his abdomen flex and curl, drawing attention to the nearly invisible trail of hair leading down to the sharp V of his hips. It’s enough to stop me in my tracks and I draw up my glamour so fast it makes me dizzy. Or maybe that’s what happens when I steal the moment to gawk at him as he walks past me.
Faeries rarely scar. Our skin never tells a story of a life well-lived and hard-won. I’m torn between regret for his pain and jealousy at the proof of his strength, because Smith is a fucking masterpiece.
His body is functional, a marriage of brutal muscle earned from athletics and wiry strength gained from a lifetime of farm work. His skin is crisscrossed with scars, markers of the battles he’s survived, like the jagged zigzags of claw marks across his back from fighting hellhounds. As distracting as his back is, his hands and arms form the most diverse canvases of his body. [pp. 49]

Look! No creepiness! Just a healthy amount of snark and some honest appreciation from one half-besotted Unseelie Prince about his best frenemy. He might be superficially admiring the muscles and the scars, but he also deeply admires Phineas’s strength, courage, and honest work ethic. To the icy prince of the fae, Phineas is a “masterpiece.” He’s art. There’s something unexpectedly endearing about that.

That’s some good writing, right there.

All in all, I thoroughly enjoyed this novel, and tore through it in two days. I think that fans of Rainbow Rowell’s novel Carry On, the SyFy show The Magicians, and grown up Potterheads would snap this up in a heartbeat.

Disclaimer: Received as an ARC from Netgalley

Publishing Info
Title: Prince of Air and Darkness
Series: The Darkest Court (#1)
Author: M.A. Grant
Publisher: Carina Press, imprint of Harlequin
Date: 2/25/2019
Pages: 310
ISBN: 1488051224
List Price: $3.99 (Kindle Ed.)
Genre/Keywords: LGBT Fantasy, Gay Romance, Mythology & Folklore

It is rare for me to find a book by a new to me author that I love this much. It might be because it hits all of my favorite categories. It has dark fantasy, angst, enemies to lovers and tons of other themes that I love. Normally I wouldn't read YA because it's very difficult for authors to get the tone right but this is firmly in the category of NA and doesn't suffer from any tone inconsistencies. It has enough satisfying heat which also sets it apart from YA. It also ends with what I would consider to be a complete HEA rather than an HFN, which I favor less. The setting is also very dramatic which would make for a great show, much like the Magician's or another fantasy set in college.

This story starts of with a bang, full of torture and mystery. That mystery is maintained through the majority of the book. The main character Phineas know that there is a a countdown clock ticking down on his life. He tries to not let it get him down but his constant bickering, inspired by UST, with the titular Prince of Air and Darkness is a source of further pain. Eventually everyone comes to realize that the only way for everyone to get what they want is for Finn and Roark to work together. I think the high octane action is what causes half of the UST and was fun to read.

This book is very dark. There are multiple torture scenes so I wouldn't recommend to those that don't like gory details. The torture occurs on page and in PTSD flashbacks so take that as a content warning. I would highly recommend this book to fantasy lovers, it does verge in Urban Fantasy but is closer to a normal fantasy I believe. It also looks to be the start to a new series that I'm looking forward to gobbling up.

3.5 stars
Phineas Smith is the only human at Mather’s School for Magick. He has the ability to tap into the most powerful raw magick, the ley line, but Finn cannot control the power. No one who has had his ability has survived as the power burns them out, and being in his last year of college, Finn is the oldest survivor of this power. Still, magickal beings of all kinds try to possess Finn for his ability and Finn has survived vicious attacks, as well as a kidnapping and torture. Finn just wants to live long enough to make sure his parents are secure. He doesn’t feel like he fits in anywhere, especially with his roommate Roark. Roark, who is the Prince of Air and Darkness. Roark, who is the son of the Queen of Air and Darkness, the same queen that kidnapped Finn and tortured him for his power.

Unseelie Prince Roark is centuries old. He is allowed to live at the college since he is the liaison to the unseelies on campus and he is in charge of their well-being. There is severe unrest in the fairie realm and there is a desperation to stop a seemingly inevitable war. Roark can’t let Finn see the truth as Roark has gone to great lengths to keep it from him. But Roark is the one person that can help Finn control his magick. Roark is the last person Finn wants to turn to, but the spark between them is way more than uncontrolled magick. As the men form a shaky alliance, true feelings surface. But it’s that one secret that could destroy any future for them both.

M.A. Grant puts us right into this world of fantasy from the first page. In the prologue, we quickly learn that Finn was tortured by the Queen, who is also Roark’s mother. Finn managed to escape, with scars to remind him, but all of the finer details of his escape remain lost to him. There isn’t a lot of world building here. Finn knows about the college for magickal beings because he has raw power, and a variety of different species are casually mentioned throughout the story, and it does take some time to get settled into this world.

Finn and Roark have been masquerading with dislike for each other for the past six years. They’re not exactly enemies, but Roark’s gruff exterior has Finn constantly on the alert. And, neither one of them will admit to any sexual tension, although that’s a big factor, a big flashing neon sign of a big factor. The relationship between the men was a great aspect to this book as there is almost a fated mates feel to their story and you can feel how they are meant to be together. But I would have liked more about Roark. He is centuries old, yet is still under the direct command of his mother, the queen, and he fell in love with a college student. I also needed more as to why Roark was still attending college classes after all these centuries. If it was just to keep an on-campus presence, that was never made clear. Roark also has several fairie tricks and there were things that had to be accepted at face value as a book set in a fantasy world.

There is a lot of story here. There is the relationship between the men, but also the fairie realm on the verge of war, Finn’s uncontrolled power, a controlling queen mother, and a devastating secret. And, when Finn starts a relationship with Roark, the queen who tortured Finn would casually appear in his living room, and there was so much going on that some of the necessary and finer details got lost for me. But given that it’s a fantasy setting that may be easier for some readers to roll with.

The end of the book moves fast and you have to constantly be processing what is going on from one scene to the next. This story is not finished as the ending is a new beginning of sorts and there is a war to fight and a lot more story to come for Finn and Roark. For readers looking for a fantasy setting with a destined relationship, as well as fairie politics and unrest, The Prince of Air and Darkness may turn your head.

I am always happy to come across new MM fantasy to read and this was a great one. As a series starter it already has me hooked with it's engaging characters and storyline, it has great world building also. I'm really looking forward to the next book in the series.

Prince of Air and Darkness is an incredible m/m fantasy filled with magic and mayhem. Unseelie Prince Roark Lyne is caught between politics and love and it takes our human hero Phineas Smith a long time to figure it out. But to be fair he is dealing with learning to control his incredible gift of magick. These two are ice and fire and totally combustible. I really enjoyed this book and its fantastic world. I look forward to the next installment.

"Bury me under the oak tree on the hill. Next to the dogs and roses and the six tiny crosses memorializing the brothers and sisters I never knew. I’ll be able to watch the fields turn gold. Watch the snow drift against the fence posts..."

I don't know why I waited so long to pick this up because it has the elements of my usual taste in modern fantasy (diverse cast, Fae-centered plot or characters, enemies growing to respect and support each other), but I'm glad I did. NetGalley approved this title for me about a month back, or longer but I'd been putting off reading it because, frankly, the cover isn't great and suggests a subgenre that I don't feel this book actually is?

While I had some immediate pet peeves with the book -- the quality of the writing fluctuated, it's generally a reading turn-off for me for a book to opened with a torture scene, and I wished it was just in Phineas's point of view rather than shifting between two characters -- I really enjoyed the tone between the characters themselves and the overall plot. Also, the quote above is one of my favorite passages in Phineas's POV from the entire book.

3.5 out of 5 stars.

This book was great! I loved the dynamic between Finn and Roark.

We jump right into this story knowing that our two main characters have history, and not a very pleasant one from the little snippets we get. I was a bit confused at the start, but 20 pages in I really settled into the story. A really cool part of this story is the fae, and the twist Grant added to fae magic.

I am a sucker for enemies-to-lovers romance, and this book did such a good job, the angst between Finn and Roark was excellent.

Overall, a great first book in a new series, I will be definitely picking up the sequel.

Phineas is a mere human, the only one in a school of magick. He has enormous power at his fingertips, he just can’t control it. Roark is the Prince Of Air And Darkness. Very powerful in his own right but when he and Finn work together magick happens. Not as expected, totally out of control, but still Magick.

This was an interesting book to read. Because I like fantasy books and have become acquainted with the OTHER wizard (not the Potter variety) I am a little familiar with the different courts and their denizens. This story, while at times confusing, was a good one. The underlying feelings between Finn and Roark even when they claimed to hate each other, wove it’s way through the story.

The book was slow to start but once it kicked in I finished it in one sitting. While the ending wasn’t exactly what I wanted for them (a HFN), with the promise of a second book I’m hoping for more.

Finns mother told him a child isn’t indebted to their parents because they were born. I liked this sentiment and felt it was very important for the solution of their story.

Absolutely brilliant interpretation of the (mainly) Scottish/Irish folklore of the Seelie Court which focuses on the Winter Court in particular and the Prince of Air and Darkness - otherwise known as Roark Lyne - who might just be in love with the most powerful human in the world, Phineas Smith (or Finn as he calls him when he can't help himself).

This book has a superbly plotted narrative, fully multi-layered characters, a complex and compelling story arc, great secondary characters and an immersive world and, while the protagonists may be of Young Adult age, the story itself never feels like that.

Fantasy is my favourite genre of all and I love being able to add authors writing within the MM world onto my list of favourites and this one just did that.

The Fae Folk are often overlooked when it comes to sources for urban fantasy or paranormal romance, they're difficult to understand and the nuances of how their different Seelie and Unseelie Courts work isn't always easy to get right but M.A. Grant nailed it in this book.

I really enjoyed Prince Of Air And Darkness. It had a great, interesting story, and kept me wondering about the characters' history together. I absolutely love Fae stories and this was no exception. The angst was handled well, the chemistry between the characters was perfect.

I'll be honest, I pretty much only read this because I saw the summary and thought 'that sounds like a pretty good Draco/Harry AU'. Not that this book is in any way a rip-off of Harry Potter. I mean there's a magic school but it's a college so the characters are older and it has a bunch of different creatures in attendance from all kinds of world mythologies. But I do love the enemies to friends to lovers trope.

It was a decent book, but I found that the world building was a little lacking. I think I get the general idea of Phineas' powers now but for a lot of the book it seemed to just be 'whatever is most convenient to move the plot forward'. And I mean ...that's fair I guess, but it also made things confusing at times. I also didn't like that there was so much POV switching because I read with Word Runner and the two characters voices were not distinct enough for me to always notice the shift until I was [I assume] several paragraphs into the new section. Also none of the secondary characters felt very fleshed out and whenever one of Phineas' random friends or other roommate would show up I would have no idea which one they actually were or what they were supposed to be contributing to the plot.

Overall I liked Roark and Phineas' relationship and it definitely got very interesting towards the end, but this might be one of those rare books where I wish there was a bit less 'plot' and a few more sex scenes. It's not a mind-blowing book by any means but it is a decent enough read while we're all sitting here waiting for Wayward Son to come out ;)

*~~*ARC kindly provided to me for an honest review *~~*

- Review to come

Review originally posted on my blog with added content on Mikku-chan / A world full of words

This book is everything I wanted from Mark and Kieran in The Dark Artifices by Cassandra Clare. Since we never got to see that side of them, I'll have to imagine Prince of Air and Darkness as the bts we'll never get. Though, Finn and Roark's story is still a great story itself. 

I originally requested Prince of Air and Darkness because I was still in a Queen of Air and Darkness book hangover haze. Yes, I chose it for it's name. (Also.... my cat's name may or may not be Phineas. 🙀) But then I read the synopsis. Roomates, gay, magic. Hello. 💁🏼‍♀️


(Quote) Funny how such innocuous details— the red blip of a voicemail, the single-page letter from a bank requesting a meeting to discuss the foreclosure, the subtle appearance of moving boxes in the garage— can upend your world. Unlike monsters or faeries or kidnappers, you never see these details coming. They don’t draw blood or leave visible scars or bruises. You can’t fight against them or use magick to fix them. You can only wait to see if you survive them. (Quote)


Phineas (Finn) is a human with rare magic he can't control. Roark is the Unseelie Prince who is annoyed because he has to deal with said human. They have a somewhat complicated history that gets more complicated in the present piled on top of more complicated. It's a whole beautiful mess. If you love Fae and Fantasy then you need to read this book which releases this month. 💙💚 

***Thank you to Netgalley and Harlequin - Carina Press for the opportunity to read Prince of Air and Darkness.***

This faerie fantasy novel left much to the imagination. If you are an active reader in faerie lore, you might have a better time following and pronouncing many of the terms. The setting was very vague and was quite distracting.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for providing me with an eARC in exchange for my open and honest review.

The Prince of Air and Darkness is a book with a lot of promise. It felt like in much of the story the author was getting a feel for their characters and the story up unto the end where it all fused into a coherent story.
The story centers around two men at a college for otherworldy non-humans. Both the fairy courts young people attend this college in hopes of making friends and fostering diplomacy. The first man is named Phineas; he is a rare person indeed. He is one of the few humans in history who can channel a ley line though himself and wield power, or die trying. Previous humans that could use a ley line snuffed themselves out like a roman candle. His roommate and frenemy is Prince Roark, son of Queen Mab and all around pain in Phineas's ass. Phineas has lived longer than all of his predecessors but is starting to wear down from the barrage of attacks from supernatural beings and the strain of the simmering energy always coursing through his veins. After six years of sharing a space, the men have come to a bit of a detent, although Roark feels compelled to save Finn repeatedly from monsters frequently putting himself at significant personal risk. Finn feels compelled to be around Roark as much as he can. Their back and forth and sexual tension culminates in a great love story between the two of them.

On a very positive note, I love that the writer wrote the two lead gentlemen as people rather than stereotypes or tropes. The Author's attention to detail about their personality shaped the two leads and built them as well-rounded people which helped solidify their relationship for me. Also, The authors use of dialog was well done. It helped with the plodding pacing and kept the story moving forward. Additionally, I enjoyed the supporting characters and would like to see more of them; the leads' roommates included a sensitive bridge troll and a satyr. That is fun! I hope that in the future the author gives them more story time. I think it would enrich the often confusing setting and pacing.

I found myself getting lost often in the beginning to the middle of the story. The jumping back and forth through personal past moments betwixt both main characters was difficult to understand in parts. As the story progressed, though, it smoothed itself out as the reader obtained more background information. The pacing was also languid and plodding in the beginning and middle of the story, and it felt too drawn out — too much dancing around each other. Many times I felt like shaking the damn characters and shouting at them. The dancing around each other did add a certain degree of tension between the two leads that eventually led to a beautifully done romance, but till that point it was frustrating. Because of this, I lost my connection to the characters at a few points.

M/M romance is not often written, should be written more, and should be done this well. Pacing and point of view issues notwithstanding this is a well-done love story. It is an excellent first book that is shaping up to be an even better series.

3.5☆

ARC received from NetGalley in exchange for a review. All of my opinions are my own, and are in no way affected by the exchange.

I had a rocky start with this book. The premise sounded super interesting which is why I requested it. I'm always down for an LGBTQIA+ fantasy novel. The Fae arent always my cup of tea but I liked that it wasnt super technical and over the top. I liked that the story tales place mostly at a graduate level college. I thought that the age range was a pleasant change of scenery from other novels. I really enjoyed Phineas as a main character. I thought that he had good potential and I loved his devotion and love for his family and friends. I liked Roark as well and tended to find him to be the sullen type which I always enjoy. The friend group the Finn has was sweet but we dont really get a chance to know them, like at all.

My biggest issue with this book was the writing, I think. The two main characters didnt have much difference in their voice so i frequently found myself turning back several pages to figure out whose perspective I was in, which was annoying. The transitions were very choppy as well. I tended to not know what was happening or how characters got from one place to another.

This book does have some explicit sex scenes in it, so if that isnt your jam I'd probably steer clear. In addition to that, there are a few torture scenes/flashbacks and extensive talk of death and violence. There is a ton of blood as well. Just as a general TW heads up.