This was such an intriguing book and highly recommend! It is a well written fantasy with rich world building, complex characters and gripping plot.
Set in the lands of Deyadrum, where every Fae possesses power, the story follows Princess Emma as she discovers the truth about her kingdom and herself. Emma has always been confined within the walls of her palace by her father, the King. But as she grows older, she becomes more desperate for a taste of freedom. Little does she know, her desire for independence will lead her down a dangerous path.

When Emma learns that her kingdom is plagued by an evil force, she realizes that everything she thought she knew was a lie. As she sets out on a journey to save her people, she must also come to terms with her own dark secrets and the game she has been forced to play.

One of the most intriguing aspects of this book is the world-building. The author has created a vivid and complex world filled with different types of Fae, each with their own unique powers. The descriptions are so detailed that it's easy to imagine yourself in this fantastical world.

The characters in this book are also well-developed and multi-dimensional. Emma, in particular, is a strong and determined protagonist. Despite being sheltered and underestimated by her father, she proves herself to be a fierce and capable leader. The relationships between the characters are also well-written, adding depth to the story. In overall, it is a must-read for fans of the fantasy genre.

Emma is the princess of Asov, a fae kingdom in a land called Deyadrum. There’s something very wrong with the land, as many “corrupted” are tormenting civilians. Emma leaves the palace/prison and finds a corrupted, is nearly killed and then saved by a shadowy figure called Shade. She’s also been betrothed to her childhood friend Aidan and they go say hi to the other fae royals at a masquerade ball. There she meets prince Draven, the dark prince. Emma comes home from the ball and finds out her dad is planning something and she seeks out shade to help her stop her evil dad.

I feel like half this book was nonsensical. The reveals were really poorly done, and Emma’s character was so annoying. She was “not like the other girls” and her flip flopping emotions were super confusing. This was really a combination of every popular booktok book I’ve ever read and it really could’ve used some help. The spicy scenes were well written, but they were rather abrupt. Also this girl has been abused her whole life and suddenly she’s fine with choking and blood play? It feels like there was a crucial step missing in all of this: a bucketload of therapy. The plot line was still fun even if the finer details left something to be desired.

You immediately get immersed into
this high fantacy+ dark romance adventure.
There's so many different things to
love about this book. That was pretty
amazing storytelling, great character
development, and undeniable chemistry.
There's plenty of layers, lies, and deceit.
Emma and Draven are so obviously star-crossed,
but so stubborn. I love these two together.
I was surprised so many times throughout
the book. There were so many secrets, twists
and turns. You can't help loving everything
about it. I was left with my jaw hanging with
that cliffy, it was soooo epic!!! Can't wait for the
next book.

4.5 stars!!

Oh my goodness this book is exactly what I want from a fantasy/romantasy book. This book has all the hits: mates, dragons, a bloodthirsty evil king, a strong FMC understanding her power, best friends that soften our tough guy leads, a kingdom of mini kingdoms, caring mothers, and so much more!

This book primarily follows Emma, a young fae woman with her powers trapped behind an iron necklace put on her by her abusive father. Once her father tries to marry her off to his right hand man's son and finally lets her leave his court for the first time to show her off as a prized possession, she starts to understand what life could be like for her if she were to make her escape. Enter a shadow wielding Dark Prince, Draven, who is both way of Emma and also very, very intrigued by this woman he can't seem to get out of his head. The journey brings them, along with their best friends Cora (a sassy empowered healer), Kye (a powerful warrior with a manbun), and Flynn (a sarcastic portal traveler), to new lands and discoveries that could change their entire worlds.

I absolutely tore through this book, desperate for it to keep going! I am very very excited for book two, supposedly coming out in spring 2024!

Thank you to Ali Stuebbe and NetGalley for a chance to read this in exchange for an honest review! Hoping I can get a copy of book two as well :)

tropes: dark fantasy romance, who did this to you, knife to throat, spice!!, swoon worthy MMC, hate to love, enemies to lovers, possessive guy, court intrigue. Trigger warnings: violence/gore/death, profanity, mental health themes, torture, mention of suicidal intent. Thank you to NetGalley for giving this ARC, and this doesn’t influence my review. This was a wonderful read, and I enjoyed it!

I honestly had a lot of difficulty getting over the "woe is me, the darkness inside me." And constant references to the dark. The characters were a bit one sided to me as well.

Love a good shadow daddy fated mates book. This was good but I wished there was a little more questions answered. The ending was a little confusing and left me with to many unanswered questions. Not sure if I'll read the next one.

From the first chapter this book immediately pulled me in and kept me intrigued needing to know what was next. The way the author introduced us to the world with time jumps and key moments really gave that mystery feel for me.

The outline of the plot of this story is unique and creative. The book fits perfectly in the dark fantasy romance category. There are definitely steamy moments, told wonderfully. All steamy scenes conveyed the lust and physical attraction the main characters felt.

There is use of modern slang that the characters utilize occasionally which I found distracting to the ambiance of dark fantasy royal aesthetic. It seems the author intended for the reader to get to know characters through unique individual dialogue.

The writing style of the author is very descriptive and detail orientated, I felt the author was telling the reader what to feel and what tone was being set. Instead of naturally conveying it and showing us. Thus there were moments that felt over exaggerated and unrealistic.

There were also constant information dumps in character internal monologues, which I felt were short cuts to the world building. The information dumps make it easy to predict certain things to come as you start to realize they are huge clues to what happens next. However, I do understand that this may have been done in the hopes of speeding up the story and not elongating the book.

Overall, the book was an easy to follow fast read book, perfect for new fantasy readers who love dark romance books. The need to know what happens next is what will keep you reading until the very end. Likewise, the cliffhanger ending, created great anticipation for the next book.

I really enjoyed this book! A great start for a debut novel. Emma was such a well written character with struggles of her own, it was hard not to relate to her at times. Her and Draven work SO well together, and UGH the smut was incredible. I can definitely see that he pulls the best characteristics of a book boyfriend that everyone will love. The plot was interesting with some lore that made it even more entertaining, along with side characters that stole the show at times. I cannot wait for the next installment!

A few issues that I had with this book were the plot holes. I hope some of these get fleshed out in the upcoming book(s). There were also some modern slang that was used a lot that took me out of the book. Seeing the word "bro" a lot was not something I expected in a fantasy novel.

Thank you to NetGalley, the author, and the publisher for an advanced reader's copy in exchange for my honest review.

Princess Emma, the sole Fae without access to her powers, yearns for freedom and excitement amidst the dangers of her oppressive home life. With an abusive father, the King, who restricts her magic using a collar, she discovers a dark secret when she defies the rules and explores the town. Unveiling an evil lurking in the realm, Emma's journey takes a perilous turn when she becomes betrothed and attends a party in another kingdom with her father. This event catapults her into an adventure so hazardous that survival is uncertain. Together with her friends and the Dark Prince, Emma finds herself on a quest to save the entire world.

“Blood of Desiderium” by Abi Stuebbe was so fantastic. I loved every minute of it and cannot wait until the next book comes out. It has a “Who did this to you” and “Shadow Daddy” trope which made my heart race. I love how the MC is both strong and insecure at the same time, making her relatable. The world building was done really well, and I loved all the characters. 5 out of 5 stars.

I liked this book however wasn't for me nothing to do with the writing or author may try again later on

I really enjoyed the concept and story of this book. It had a few of my favorite tropes: grumpy/sunshine (?) - maybe innocent is a better word for this one; touch her and die, and fated mates.

Personal preference - the lengthy descriptions were a bit too long-winded for me, and there was quite a few times where I would forget what was being talked about due to descriptions between dialogue, and the details do take up a lot of the book.
That being said: I *do* think that the audience that would appreciate all of that exists. I know beyond a doubt that there are many, many readers out there that have trouble picturing scenes, or grasping onto implied meanings, and would benefit from and appreciate the more details written.

I do love how the love interest is so savage and sexy and consumed by Emma. There were a lot of lines that were so perfect, and absolutely delicious scenes. I appreciate the repeated hesitation written for Emma in regards to being physical, with the trauma she had gone through. It is much more realistic when scenes are written with past trauma in mind, and I think it's important to capture and have representation for that.

This was a fun book, and I caught myself being excited to pick it up again to continue the story. I will be reading the next one and I want to know what comes of the cliffhanger!

Thank you NetGalley and the author for the e-arc!

This is a hard one to rate but it's just shy of 4 stars. I liked the plot and characters overall but had some issues with the pacing and dialogue.

Emma and Draven were great MCs, but I was very intrigued by the Cora/Kye/Fynn dynamic and I couldn't figure out exactly what was happening there.

Modern language in dialogue of fantasy books usually doesn't bother me but there were instances in this book that really took me out of it. I think the pacing of the romance was off because they didn't interact until 30% + into the book so it was a slow burn but also wasn't.

I'm impressed this book is the author's debut. I think there are really great elements and the writing will continue to get better as she releases more books. This is dark fantasy so check trigger warnings.

I received a free digital copy of this book for my honest review.

About the book:
POV: First person between multiple characters
Spice level: 3/5
Medium burn romance

I loved this book! The romance was laced throughout the plot but the plot would still make since without it. I think the characters had good growth and there was good flow to the story line. I can't wait for the second book to come out and am excited to see where this story goes!

The narrative unfolds at a perfect rhythm, with each scene strategically placed. This meticulously crafted book offers a delightful reading experience, seamlessly blending elements of love, despair, sensuality, and character development. It caters to all the essential components for an engaging read.
I recommend this book to enthusiasts of this genre. It promises not to let you down. Prepare for a great emotional rollercoaster. I eagerly await the release of the next book.

This book that is just shy of 600 pages long was to long and to messy to really be good. It tossed a bunch of things at you and really just didn't grasp me at all. And then it ends and is a series. I think that this story could have been either cut down or just summed up in those almost 600 pages. The characters were really weird and things just didn't feel like they had rules. And yes I know this is fantasy but your world still have to have a set of rules it goes by. You can't be like this person can break out of anything but the Gods can't. It makes no sense. So for me this was something that I did finish but I should have DNFed.

Honestly I will not be finishing this book. I tried, but I kept getting distracted and bored. I felt the first 250 pages went nowhere. We made absolutely no progress on the political aspects of the book. The romance was lacking emotionally. There was barely any chemistry between the characters, but I’m supposed to believe there was sexual tension? I’m disappointed because the synopsis sounded so good. It had the potential for greatness, but I feel the delivery was lacking. I made it to page 288 before DNFing

3.5 stars rounded up.

This book has been on my TBR for quite some time, so when I saw it pop up on NetGalley I immediately requested it.

I found the pacing of the book to be a consistent pace, though a bit on the slower side. There is a considerable amount of internal dialogue. While there were times I did find it to slow down the pacing of conversations and battles, it did help to fully understand the character motivations.

One of my biggest complaints in many of the books in the fantasy romance subgenre is that the world-building is completely thrown out to make room for the romance. I found that the world-building in this is well done, I have a good understanding of the courts, the human vs fae world, and the politics. I would have liked a bit more development of the courts not specifically lived in/visited, to get a more well-rounded view of the world as a whole. Though the lack of world expansion beyond the immediate does lend itself to the POV of the FMC who has lived secluded and sheltered her whole life.

There were a few moments where specific word choices pulled me out of the story (guy, paperback, red carpet, thang) and broke my immersion. But beyond that, the tone of the writing was very consistent.

I would recommend this book to readers who enjoy the fantasy romance genre but are looking for something a bit more gritty and dark and less dramatic than the constant swooning found in many other books of this subgenre.

There were times that I did struggle to stay invested in the story, due to the slower pace and the large amount of internal dialogue. I started listening to it via text-to-speech while I did other tasks, and I found that to be greatly beneficial. The writing lends itself well to spoken word.

Thank you to NetGalley and Ali Steubbe. I have received a free digital copy of this book and am leaving this review voluntarily.