Member Reviews

DNF ~30%

Honestly, I hate to do this but so far I'm not enjoying this book. It isn't necessarily poorly written. I'm just not invested in the story, mostly due to my lack of interest in the characters. I don't care about any of them. This book feels like it is trying to be The Cruel Prince meets ACOTAR, but it falls flat. Perhaps the story gets better as it goes on, but with limited time and many titles to read I saw have to bid this one adieu.

As always, since I did not make it past the 50% mark I will omit any star rating on public sites.

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This is a wonderful debut. It's exactly what a reader should expect from a young adult fantasy. The world building and character development is strong, as is the plot. I found the storyline to have enough clever differences that it didn't mimic others. It had its own sense of originality, which is difficult when this genre has so many entries.

Faye is half faerie and heiress to the throne of the Dark Court. I loved it best when she is described as a fae girl with a human heart. It's quite true and it might just be what makes her the best ruler to sit on their throne in ages. However, it's never an easy road to the throne and she'll have to battle her way there. Even after a throne is secured, there is also the saying..."heavy is the head that wears the crown." Faye's life will never be the same from this point on.

This book is a great start to what I hope will be a fun series with multiple entries. There are faeries, monsters, secrets and twists galore. It's deliciously fun.

Thank you to NetGalley for this ARC. I voluntarily chose to read and review it and the opinions contained within are my own.

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Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for allowing early access to this book.

2.5⭐️ rating.

This book was not bad by all means. It just wasn’t a right fit for me. Most of the story was a bit longer than necessary. There really wasn’t any action until the last few chapters. The world building could have been more elaborate and descriptive. I love fantasy and I love when the book is so well descriptive that I can see myself there. I just didn’t get that with this book. It was hard for me to finish but I did! I wish I could have formed a connection with the characters but I feel like I will forget there is another book coming out.

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If you love the faerie world, you will love this novel! Kicklighter brings a new and refreshing twist to the world of the fae. Overall the novel was a little slow, and at times I felt as if I had missed something, but towards the end everything starts coming together with one heck of a cliffhanger. Twists, turns, and unexpected surprises will keep you intrigued. As a YA librarian, it is so refreshing to find a YA novel with no sex and excessive swearing. This is a MUST HAVE for my school library!

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Alright, first things first, external beauty. What a gorgeous cover!!!

Now down to the internal beauty. This is a good debut novel. I will admit, at first i was confused on where things were going but then things were starting to get rolling and fall together. I will say that i loved every single character in this book. No matter how big or minor, they all had their own unique quirks and personality. And that is one of my absolutely favorite things in a book, so round of applause!!

I thought that the world building was executed and explained well. I absolutely love seelie and unseelie stories, and this one was fun for me to learn more about. I do wish there was just a little bit more of it! For instance, there were a lot of backgrounds from the variety of characters and would’ve liked a deeper dive. But that might come in the next book, hopefully.

I was confused at times who the love interest was in the story. I understand that Faye is bisexual but it isn’t clear if she is only pursuing Isla and/or also Gage. I am hoping that dives deeper and is more clear in the future.

I absolutely loved Gage from the beginning! The dynamic between him and Faye is so fun and the banter is great. He is so grumpy and it made me happy when he started smirking and teasing more throughout the book. I did also enjoy Kellian, he was a very interesting character.

Overall, i think that this was a good debut novel. I know that the next one is going to be filled with more darkness, power, and adventure and i cannot wait. Thank you for an advanced readers copy in exchange for an honest review.

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"I've grown up knowing what the Folk could do to a person. I'm terrified, but I want to see it. I want to know what happens when you cross that line."

Faye has heard stories of the Fae folk from her mother for all of her life. Was warned about them. But she could never stop herself from being curious.

So when an opportunity arises to finally get a glimpse at the truth behind her mother's stories, what else can she do but walk forward?

Only to find out more than she can believe. Is her whole life a lie?

I adored this book so much. I loved the banger between Faye, Isla, Kellan and Gage. They were very amusing characters and were well written, as were the characters of the Seelie Court.

I think the only thing I was annoyed with was meeting Faye's friend at the beginning and then her character not being around anymore but honestly, I understand why!

If you enjoyed reading A Curse So Dark and Lonely or books similar to it, I would definitely recommend this book to you!

Kicklighter has a wonderful way of creating worlds and situations that I am obsessed with, and after the ending of this book, I cannot wait to see what happens next!!! 🤯🤯

Thank you so much to Parliamentbooks for the eArc in exchange for my honest review! And Happy book release Kelsey!!!!

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I love to go into ARCs blind—that is, not refresh my memory on what they’re about before I open up the book. I do not regret employing this strategy before I started reading Of Beast and Burden.

Chloe is a teenager living in Georgia who’s fully aware that the veil to the fae realm is near. That said, this hasn’t stopped her from trying to enter it many times throughout her life. However, when her friend starts following some unknown boys into the woods, Chloe can’t stop her…and follows. Suddenly, Chloe is thrust into the fae realm and finds out that she isn’t technically a stranger there…she’s part-fae. And when a friend is taken, Chloe makes a bargain to get her back.

I grew to love Chloe throughout the story. She’s pretty angsty…and angry…in the beginning, but for good reason. But her selflessness in making the bargain illustrates her compassion. Gage was an auto-like for me—right from the start. He wasn’t broody per se, but very hard to read as his moods would flip flop. Isla is the badass of the bunch, not to mention loyal and strong. I might go as far as to say she is my favorite.

I literally couldn’t put this book down. It painted such amazing pictures in my mind’s eye as I read about the people and world.

This story is highly recommended for fans of Holly Black and Sarah J. Maas.

I can’t wait until the second book comes out, so I can connect with this world once again!
Special thanks to NetGalley and The Parliament House for a free ARC of this book. All thoughts and opinions expressed in this review are my own.

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I loved it, To me this book is sort of enemies to lovers x 2 because there’s a love triangle where the main heroine has two love interred that are both enemies to lovers. I kind of want a sequel but this is good as a stand alone too. But this is so good I loved it.

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Content Warning: Implied incest

Thank you Parliament Books for the eARC! This was such a great read! Omg that ending too 😱 I can't even. If you like books about the fae, I highly recommend you check this one out! It also has bisexual rep 🥳 I felt like Faye's relationship with Gage had a better buildup than her relationship with Isla, but I still shipped them all. The characters were all so loveable and well written. The worldbuilding was so beautiful! Also loved the Spinner! She reminded me of the Suriel from ACOTAR 😅 The "villain" of this story was great because you could see their motive for acting the way they did and it was so heartbreaking. Y'all need to read this book! I need the next book ASAP please!

4.5/5 Stars

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Of Beast and Burden had some really interesting elements that would have made it a unique story, but unfortunately some lack of information made it fall flat. There were moments where something wasn't explained or described until much later in the book (or not at all) that left me a little confused and with a lot of questions. Ive read similar fae stories before, so certain apsects of that world I picked up on from other books, but if it's your first time, I think some things may not have made complete sense. The characters and world had so much potential to be a really great book, but overall I just thought it was ok and a little disappointing.

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Firstly, I love this cover - so pretty!
Secondly, I really liked this story! Faye did annoy me a little, but I liked her more as the book went on. I did enjoy Gage, Isla, and Ellie's characters.
I get so frustrated with people who won't answer a question without a vague response (a pet peeve of mine), but I am intrigued by this world and its happenings and am interested in seeing the fallout in the next book after the ending here.

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––Thank you to NetGalley for providing me with an eBook ARC of this book to review––

I went into this book relatively blind but was drawn in by the beautiful cover and promises of a narrative similar to those of Sarah J. Maas. Although the world was quite imaginative like Ms. Maas', I feel that this world has a lot of room to grow before it achieves such grandeur.

"Of Beast and Burden" follows Faye, a high school student in Georgia who has always been enamored by the stories of the folk, the people of the magical world that co-exists alongside the human world. At a party one night, Faye and her friend Delia are finally taken by some of the folk and taken into the underground world of the Unseelie. There, Faye and Delia's captors––Kellan and Gage, the Goblin King––reveal to Faye that she is the descendant of the previous king.

Faye is unsettled by this revelation and hopes to ignore her lineage when she returns to the human world the next morning. However, shortly after her visit to the Underground, her best friend Ellie is taken by the Seelie and the only way she can be returned to Faye is if she makes a challenge for the Unseelie throne. As she embarks on her journey for royalty, Faye finds herself torn between her feelings for Isla, the king's guard, and Gage, the king himself. She must rely on both of them to help her ascend to her rightful throne but must try not to let her heart get in the way.

As I already said, I had no idea what I was getting into when I started this book, but I was hoping for an imaginative fantasy, which Kelsey Kicklighter has no doubt delivered. However, as I read the book, I felt pretty removed from the story and never felt like I could connect with the characters.

Before you can even blink, Faye and Delia are in the world of the Fae in just the first chapter or two. I immediately felt confused about who they were, and I still don't completely understand who Ellie is in relation to Faye, even after finishing the entire book.

At times, the fantasy elements and conflicts felt so similar to those in Sarah J. Maas' world that it felt more like fanfiction than an independent work. I never felt like I could connect with Fae and didn't particularly feel any tension between her and her two love interests.

The ending also threw me for a loop because there was no indication of the character's impending betrayal. Although it was the climax, it felt underwhelming because it happened so quickly and was brushed over once they returned to the Underground. Much of the book is character development, but I would have loved to see more of the ball and the trials because they felt more significant than the time they were given.

This was an interesting first installment in a new fantasy series, and I hope that Kicklighter can keep growing this world. I'm interested to see what happens next now that the groundwork for an epic conflict has been laid.

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“𝐘𝐨𝐮 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐠𝐞𝐭𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐰𝐫𝐨𝐧𝐠 𝐢𝐝𝐞𝐚, 𝐅𝐚𝐲𝐞. 𝐖𝐞 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐭𝐮𝐟𝐟 𝐨𝐟 𝐧𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭𝐦𝐚𝐫𝐞𝐬. 𝐁𝐮𝐭 𝐰𝐞’𝐫𝐞 𝐦𝐨𝐫𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭, 𝐭𝐨𝐨. 𝐖𝐞 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐜𝐥𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫. 𝐖𝐞 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐜𝐮𝐧𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠. 𝐖𝐞 𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐟𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐝 𝐧𝐞𝐰 𝐰𝐚𝐲𝐬 𝐭𝐨 𝐛𝐞 𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐦𝐨𝐧𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐨𝐮𝐬 𝐬𝐞𝐥𝐯𝐞𝐬. 𝐓𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐬𝐨𝐦𝐞 𝐟𝐨𝐥𝐤 𝐰𝐡𝐨 𝐰𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝 𝐝𝐨 𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐫𝐢𝐛𝐥𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐬 𝐢𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐲 𝐰𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐮𝐧𝐜𝐡𝐞𝐜𝐤𝐞𝐝. 𝐒𝐨, 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐛𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐦𝐨𝐧𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐫’𝐬 𝐦𝐨𝐧𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐫.” 𝐀 𝐩𝐢𝐭 𝐨𝐩𝐞𝐧𝐬 𝐮𝐩 𝐢𝐧 𝐦𝐲 𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐦𝐚𝐜𝐡 𝐚𝐭 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐝𝐬. 𝐇𝐞 𝐩𝐚𝐮𝐬𝐞𝐬 𝐥𝐨𝐧𝐠 𝐞𝐧𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡 𝐭𝐨 𝐥𝐨𝐜𝐤 𝐞𝐲𝐞𝐬 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐦𝐞. “𝐃𝐨 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐤 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐜𝐚𝐧 𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐝𝐥𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭?”

___________________________

Faye is 18 years old and living on the coast of Georgia with her Gran and her cousin Ellie. She should be focused on everything a normal 18 year old would be…bonfires, parties, friends, love interests, and yet she finds herself taken with the darkness and the Folk who lurk in the shadows waiting to steal humans away. She knows the tales, the stories, the nightmares, and yet she’s spent her whole life tempting fate until one night she and her best friend Delia are whisked away by two insanely attractive and dangerous Fae. What follows turns Faye’s world upside down as she finds out the truth about who and what she is, what her heritage is, who her parents were, and who the people closest to her truly are. Now challenged with accepting her true self and her rightful place as Queen of the Unseelie, Faye makes unlikely enemies and allies and embraces what she has to in order to protect those she loves and find what has been missing in herself all along. She just has to survive 3 trials and take the throne from the Goblin King in order to claim it!

**TW/CW at the bottom of the review**

This book was yet another take on the Fae, ancient Fae lore, the Folk, and the Seelie/Unseelie courts and I am here to tell you this is a stand out read for me!! I tend to sway more to the side of Fae retellings that draw heavily from actual Celtic lore and this story did just that. Beyond that the thing that sets this story apart from the others were truly the characters, so if you appreciate character driven books this just might be one for your TBR!

Faye was very young but not too trite. Her situation was very unique and I love how her lineage was explained. As the story develops so did her character and it shows clearly where the Fae in her truly lurked all along and I loved that. The fact that she was always so drawn to the darkness, and how “weird” and “different” that was to the human world but how perfectly it fit her people/place in the Unseelie Court was SO well done and I loved the aspect of found family and found home that it brought.

My only criticism here was her sexuality…it was just slightly confusing. She clearly identifies herself as bisexual, and then she proceeds to have strong feelings for both a female and a male in the book. On the page I would say she has a deeper connection and stronger budding love with the female in question, but she almost never seems serious about it. However as she finds herself in nearly parallel situations with the male character you see chemistry and sparks fly and she almost starts to lose herself willingly in the attraction despite her feelings for the other female character. Both are what I’d consider to be forbidden love, so that really doesn’t factor into her reaction to each interest. It just almost read to me like she was unsure of her sexuality and her wants/desires as opposed to just being attracted to an individual regardless of their gender identification. Granted I do not identify as bisexual so I’m not really qualified to weigh in on the accuracy of this, I just know as an outsider how it read to me vs other books I’ve read where the MC has identified as bisexual. With the growth we see in Faye by the end of the book I hope this indicates a bit more inner strength and confidence from her and that it in turn leads to her choosing what she truly wants for herself and her love life in the next book.

Ellie was adorable and I absolutely loved her. I loved that she played a bigger part in the story as well but it also broke my heart. I enjoyed the “between the lines” story examining “greater” and “lesser” Fae and how hateful class, racial, and social structures are, and how they fuel so much damage and negativity. It’s a good lesson to learn and remember regardless of the world you live in!!

Isla was one of my all time favorite characters. She stands out in this story as a Nymph but also a female knight and I absolutely adored everything about her and her closeness with Faye!! Kellan and Gage’s easy arrogance and grumpy/sunshine natures jumped off the page from the first moment we met them and I couldn’t help but love them. Their friendship and banter, crazy as it was, earned them a spot as one of my favorite duos and I loved how Faye just fit so perfectly in their world.

Kellan was so complex and his character arc was something I did NOT expect, but one that was also SO good!! And Gage, the fierce cinnamon roll of a Goblin King that he is, straight up stole my dang heart. Give me a man who rocks shadow tattoos, a motorcycle, can play the violin, and can teach a girl how to dance ANY DAY OF THE WEEK🔥

I will say there were things in this story that I saw coming from a mile away and some things that took me by surprise. The story itself was average and I almost wish it would have gone a bit deeper as things like the trials were somewhat glossed over, but given the questions left at the end of the book I have a feeling the story will be expanding ten fold in book 2. I look forward to learning more about this world and seeing where the characters and the story go as things progress. Overall this was a solid debut novel and I can’t wait to read more from this author!!

Thank you so much to NetGalley, The Parliament House, and the author for sending me a copy of this book free in exchange for my honest review!

⭐️⭐️⭐️ for story
+⭐️ for stand out characters
=
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️


TW/CW: Implied SA of side character, implied incest, some non-sexual dubious consent (primarily magic related, with MC), racism/prejudice, blood/violence, alcohol usage, underage drinking.

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Thank you to the publisher and Netgallery for sending me an eARC of this book.

3.5/5 Stars

This book follows Faye and her journey into the fey realm, and her discovery that she is not fully human like she believed. I fairly enjoyed reading this book, it was quick read and fast paced. While this book follows similar world of many fey books, the story is different and intriguing. The main character is part of the LGTBQ+ community, and has a few different love interests within the book.

The book gives enough information about each character to get a grasp of who they are. But I would like to have gone more in depth with some of the characters. To get a stronger connection and relationship with Faye and the other characters.

I enjoyed this book and look forward to reading more about Faye and her journey in the Unseliee court.

If you are a fan of The Iron King by Julie Kagawa or fey books in general; Of Beasts and Burden is right up your alley!

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*Thank you to Independent Publishers Group/The Parliament House and NetGalley for the eARC!

I had such high hopes for this book but it never got interesting enough to grab my attention. I DNF'd at 56%. For me, it had too much world building and not enough plot or character development. I got so excited for the Bi rep but even that fell flat since none of the relationships felt fleshed out. I’m sad that this book wasn’t for me.

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First of all, this is my kind of book. Definitely in the realm of Sarah J Maas. I also appreciate the author is a librarian!!

This is a story of Faye, a half-faerie who doesn’t know she has royal blood. Her best friend is taken to the other main court, so Faye must learn to use her powers and save her friend by claiming her crown.

This book was fast paced, and at some moments I would have liked more detail. It seemed like some details were missing. For example, in this world it was confusing was a changeling was. Goblins we know from other stories what they are, but in this one they are beautiful and only have horns as what makes them different.

Ultimately I did enjoy this book a lot and I really ended up liking Faye and Gage. I hope we get the sequel(s) so I can find out what happens next!

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I am having a hard time decided what to rate this book. First let me start by saying that the story, the setting, the characters are all interesting and easy to love. Faye is awesome and quirky and I understand her need to find all things magic. That's what keeps me reading books so I get it lol. Gage is sexy and mercurial. Kellan is beautiful and intriguing and broken and I really love him. Isla is a great character too although underdeveloped. We don't know her story, her past, or her wants. Maybe more is to come there. I thought the story was good and I will definitely want to read the sequel. This book was quite short and I felt I wanted more which is always good however I also needed more. The many potential love interests of Faye felt incomplete and thrown together. There seems to be some turmoil for her on who to choose but there actually isn't at the same time. She thinks they are all beautiful and she is intrigued by all but not smitten or completely infatuated with any of them. She speaks as though she is conflicted but there was no where near enough time to make me, the reader, feel any of her mixed feelings. I couldn't root for anyone to win her affections because no one was actually trying to. Her feelings felt shallow and one-sided. The story is fast paced and easy to read. I do love all of the characters I just need more. I need more of everyone because individually these characters have an extreme amount of potential. I will rate this book 4 stars in hopes of people reading it so that we can have a sequel. I feel this writer is just getting started.

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Ok so I wasn’t sure about this book in the beginning, however it was incredible. Every part of it was just amazing and unbelievably captivating, enough so that I finished it in a day. The characters where so relatable and there journey throughout the book and how they grew was just wonderful and the story itself was just so well written. I can’t wait for the next book!!!

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“Of Beast and Burden” is a debut fantasy novel from author Kelsey Kicklighter. It is the first book in a series surrounding what happens when Faye, the lost Unseelie heir, enters into the world of faerie to save her friend.

Tropes included: lost royalty

First, I did find parts of this story to be quite slow. However, it is the first book in the series, so the heavy world building is to be expected. Despite this, the writing came off as choppy at times and I struggled with understanding the timeline of events. Faye also begins the story with a close friend, but that friend disappears within the first few chapters and is never brought up again. Similarly, Faye lives with her Gran who, once Faye goes to Faerie, is never heard of again.

Another part of this story that doesn’t make much sense is Faye’s relationship to our two other characters: Gage and Isla. Faye has a lot of internal dialogue surrounding her attraction is to Isla, the female knight who serves the Goblin King, Gage. We’re told that Faye likes Gage, but very rarely do we have any interactions that show us why she likes Gage. This is a common theme throughout the story where the author tells us one thing but fails to show us. I also still can’t tell if Faye is bisexual or just curiously interested in Isla.

Overall this is a rather unique story about a mortal girl who finds out that she’s the missing Fae heir to the royal throne. I’m not sure if I would be prompted to continue reading the series, but this is a solid start to what could be a fantastic series.

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

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3.5 stars (I wish I could do half stars because sometimes books aren’t quite a 3 but nor is it a 4)
Thank you to NetGalley for providing the ARC for my honest review. This was the perfect cozy book to read in one sitting on a rainy Saturday. It definitely is great for any fan of These Hollow Vows, Fortuna Sworn, or the Cruel Prince. However, I will say that most of the book kept me thinking it was like a sweeter version of the cruel prince, but then we hit a few game of throne moments. And they’re not the sweet moments.
I did give it 3.5 stars because it felt like at times the story was sort of going “and then this happened.” Like we were missing the whys or even a connecting scene between events. Like it was missing something.
Overall, it was a quick, fun read that satisfied my desire to read something whimsical and involving faes. Plus I love when there are multiple viable love interests and I can’t decide who to root for. And the plot twists at the end were great. I would definitely recommend this book to a friend.

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