What a wild adventure! This story pulled me in from the very first page. I loved diving into the richly imagined world the author created—a unique and compelling blend of fae magic and Hunger Games-style trials.

Kenna, a human girl thrust into a dangerous fae realm of Mistei, must help one of the fae succeed in a series of deadly trials. Along the way she faces monsters and magic, but she’s not entirely alone. A mysterious, magical dagger offers her a glimmer of hope in the chaos.

I especially enjoyed learning about the different elemental houses and their powers, and the twist at the end left me shocked and eager for more. I can’t wait for book two! Thank you NetGalley for the ARC!

This book definitely took me on a ride! I enjoyed the premise and thought it was executed well. I do wish there were a little more world building, as I wanted to know more about the world this was set in. This felt like a fresh take on the fae, and I enjoyed the new perspective and the new lore. The book was fast paced and held my interest as well as kept me engaged. We have fantasy, drama, scheming, and some romance thrown in there. The book definitely had a darker tone, and I didn't expect it to get as dark as it got. That didn't detract from the book, though.

I really liked Kenna and how strong she was. I liked how she wanted to fight for what was right. The characters were well developed and each felt distinct.

I can't wait to read the next book, and I would definitely recommend this book!

4.5 stars rounded up. I really enjoyed this fun fantasy world. The magic and trials set are very interesting to read and I like the MC is an outsider and we see a different point of view from her as a servant than someone competing yet still a part of everything.
I highly recommend this read for fans of the cruel prince.

I generally don't like Fae stories but I'm hooked on this one.

Kenna Heron is just an average human girl in a dirt poor village on the border of the bog which leads to the fae underworld. Maybe a little more below-average as the people in the village consider her half-feral. Her mother was a firm believer in the fae and always prayed, even with her dying breath, that the fae would choose her and bring her to live a life a luxury in the fae lands. Every six years, young women are chosen to go live with the fae, marry a fae prince and live happily ever after. Kenna wants none of this B.S.  Kenna dreams of becoming a trader and leaving this sad little village behind. So she spends most mornings skimming through the mud of the bog looking for coins and other valuables that others toss to the fae for good luck. When she finds a perfectly preserved, intricately carved dagger in the mud, Kenna knows she can sell it for enough money for her and her best friend, Anya, to finally leave this village and see the world.

Everything is finally going Kenna's way until Anya's name is called to go join the fae and she is excited to go. Anya won't listen to Kenna's warnings about the fae.   No one knows the bog like Kenna, so she is determined to follow the girls and actually lead them across the bog safely to the fae land. The odd blade that Kenna finds helps guide her towards the fae, but as they get closer, it also shows her that the fairy lights are hiding terrible monsters and Kenna is the only one to arrive in Mistei.

Kenna didn't think she could hate the fae more until she finds out that they never intend for the girls to make it across the bog and simply bet on which girl will make it furthest before the monsters get her.    Since Kenna is the first human to make it to the fae land in...no one actually remembers the last time, they don't know what to do with her at first but end up giving her as a servant to the Earth House to help the Princess's daughter prepare for her upcoming trials.  This is a huge insult to Earth House, by the way.   It takes Lara a few days of pitching a fit to give in and accept Kenna and even more time to see her as anything more than a disgusting human.

The Princess of Earth House fears her slightly spoiled and very timid daughter will fail the upcoming trials where Lara will be blessed with her immortality so she tells Kenna that she must help Lara succeed and if she fails, Kenna will die.  No pressure.  Kenna will help, she has no other choice, but her main goal is finding a way out and back to the human world.

The thing is that the more she learns about the different Houses (Earth, Fire, Light, Void, Illusion, and Blood) and the fae, the more she understands that she isn't the only prisoner in Mistei.  The cruel king fears another attempt on his life so he controls the fae with a iron fist and living underground allows him to block the exits so no one can escape.   Kenna finally realizes that she isn't the only one trying to escape  and she needs to decide if she wants to continue looking for her own way out or does she join the rebellion and risk her life to free everyone in Mistei, including the underfae and all the humans held as slaves.

THOUGHTS:
Life in the village was boring and it took until Kenna got to Mistei to catch my attention. I still say the fae are horrible, and this book doesn't make me change my opinion. Even I know that you aren't supposed to eat or drink anything they offer and Kenna keeps glugging down the wine at every event and being effected by it. Duh!

When I first saw this on the book jacket, I thought Kenna and Lara needed to work together as part of the trial but apparently, this is cheating.  Kenna is forced to help but if she gets caught, she will be killed for cheating.  The trials also take about a year to complete which gives us plenty of time for Kenna to get to know Lara, her younger brother, the Prince of Fire and the Lord of Void, as well as a few of the humans.

I was offered a copy of Book 2 and I was reading a few reviews on this story. It seems a lot of them indicated that the ending threw them. At this point (I don't know if I can call it a spoiler) but I read the title of Book 2 and immediately guessed where this first Book was going to take us at the end. I wasn't shocked, surprised or upset about what happened so I am unaware why everyone was disturbed by the ending, but again, I kind of had a head's up.

What I didn't like about this story is that Kenna hooks up (often) with the Prince of Fire, and while he is very helpful to her, as well as charming and flirty, I didn't like him. He kept coming off as superficial and someone who hates Fae as much as Kenna, I am surprised she didn't keep more of a distance since the hot fae prince isn't going to end up with a lowly human servant. I guess I am more drawn to the dark, broody types.  Lord Kallen reminded me a lot of Xaden (Fourth Wing) and his shadow powers. Maybe that's why I couldn't understand her  attraction to the shallow Fire Prince.

Kenna apparently is amazing at spy work and lying to everyone as Kellan forces her to spy for him.  The Earth House has her hiding secrets and the Fire Prince is drawing her into his rebellion. Yet she manages to balance the lies she tells to each of them when they harass her for information.  Keeping everyone's secrets and not really giving anything away when pressed for answers is a pretty impressive gift, yet she complains that the fae can't give a straight answer.

I was definitely drawn into the story and am looking forward to the next one. The poor me of reviewing is that book 2 isn't released until the Fall and if there is a book 3, that won't come out until Fall of 2026. If there is a cliffhanger, it's gonna suck to have to wait so long for a conclusion. I can't imagine this is going to be a series but you never know.

This book caught me off guard. This is a new author for me. When I started reading I wasn’t sure if I was going to like the plot, but I ended up loving it. There was such good conflict. Some great twists and turns. I wasn’t shocked by them, but I enjoyed them all the same.
There was good character growth. I read a lot of romantic fantasy. Most people want these books to be the same but different. This was definitely the case for this book. It was similar to other romantasy books but different in its own way. It makes these books magical. I ended up devouring this book from start to finish! I can’t wait for the next one! I received this book from Berkley Publishing Group and Netgalley. All opinions are my own.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Servant of Earth totally surprised me—in the best way. Sarah Hawley throws us into the dangerous, glittering world of the fae, where Kenna (a very human, very sarcastic protagonist) is forced into magical trials that are more “win or die” than “fun and games.” The worldbuilding is rich without being overwhelming, and I loved how each of the elemental trials had real stakes.

Kenna is clever, brave, and constantly questioning the power structures around her, which made her easy to root for. Add in a sentient dagger (yes, really), political intrigue, and a slow-burn, enemies-to-lovers romance with a fae warrior, and I was hooked.

It’s got familiar romantasy vibes—think ACOTAR meets Hunger Games—but with fresh twists and really solid writing. A few plot beats were predictable, but honestly, I was too busy flipping pages to care. Can’t wait for book two!

Servant of earth is well written. T he words bring the characters into a rich, colorful view. A story of sorrow, suffering, war and love. The story is complex and well put together. The characters and world are believable and vibrant. Ifelt like I was there too. I look forward to the next story.

This was the most basic romantasy. I can see people liking this, but I couldn’t get into it. It was hard to root for the main character because she was very generic. And it was hard to root for any other character because they were all mean. Just not my type of book.

DNF. Sorry was unable To finish this book. Thank you for the opportunity and I hope to be able to provide feedback in the future. I am sure this will appeal to other people but it was not something I found interesting.

This book was so good. A very dark romantasy that I love. I couldn't put it down. Sarah Hawley really knows what she is doing! The book was written so well and the story was amazing.

this was a really, really solid high fantasy book. the writing is well done which leads to amazing world building and a bad ass FMC. i thought the pacing was perfect and i found myself eating this book up. the blend of magic and adventure really hit the spot for me.

HOLY SMOKES! I cannot believe I put this book off for as long as I did.

I put the audio on as I was having some trouble sleeping with the thought that I’d get a good start, but then drift off to sleep. I could not have been more incorrect because the next thing I knew is that it was 5am and I was 75% done.

This book captures so many of my favorite things in romantasy books without it feeling like a parade of tropes. Kenna is a courageous outsider that dreams of a bigger world despite her life and does whatever it takes to take care of those she loves.

If there’s one thing I can’t seem to get enough of, it’s trials. In this book, the trials are unique and purposeful and the air of mystery that surround them is interesting. There’s plenty of court intrigue, alliances and betrayals to satisfy a gossip like me.

While I hand an inkling of what was going to happen at the end, it felt fulfilling and true to both character and plot. Kenna really speaking for herself shone through in this moment.

“If you give too much of yourself down here, you risk losing everything. Because no one will ever return that loyalty. You'll give and give and end up hollow... or dead. Remember that.”

Servant of Earth by Sarah Hawley is reminiscent of classic fairytales with more grit to them--the comparisons to ACOTAR and The Cruel Prince are worthy since there is a good bit of espionage, court politics, betrayals, and through it all, budding friendships and loyalties. I have read Hawley's previous romance books, so I knew I would very likely enjoy this one since fantasy (and especially fae) is very much in my wheelhouse, and I am happy to say that I enjoyed this book! Kenna is a good protagonist--I will say that I did struggle with some of her choices, like physically wincing at them, BUT I want to be fair to her because she did not have a lot growing up and is very naive for a young woman. This aspect of the book made it read more like YA to me, but it is very much adult in terms of themes, portrayals of violence, and sexual nature. Perhaps the book's best part was Kenna's developing friendship with Lara, the Earth House's mistress. They are essentially forced together as Kenna is made to be her lady in waiting, and then further ushered into helping her win trials for Lara to come into Earth House's powers and become heir, and if they fail, they die. Though they both are initially annoyed with each other, they come to understand and deeply care for each other through it all, and I thought that made the story stronger.

The romance aspect is also interesting since you just don't know which way it was going to go. I lowkey predicted what would happen, but that's kinda the fun in it!! I will be soooo invested in the direction the romance goes in the second book, which I am really looking forward to reading.

The aspects I struggled with were, as I mentioned above, having a hard time with Kenna's decisions, and then another thing was how it felt a little long to me, and it dragged a bit. Regardless, I was invested! I finished the last half of the book quite quickly, so I was definitely into it.

All together, this was a good entry in the romantasy genre! I will be tuning in to read Princess of Blood. 3.5 stars.

An amazing introduction to the Shards of Magic series ✨🗡️

Look at this gorgeous illustrated cover! And you know what’s even better? I wasn’t catfished by it. The inside absolutely delivers!

What you can expect:
• Single POV (my fave!)
• Deadly Magical Trials ⚔️
• Secrets and court intrigue 🤫
• Spice 🔥
• Genuine female friendship 👯‍♀️
• Sentient Dagger
• Two potential love interests 👀

Servant of Earth was such a refreshing take on fae-centered fantasy. While it has familiar trials tropes, it doesn’t rely on it to do all heavy lifting. I’ve been feeling a little burnt out on stories where trials are the only real plot driver, but Sarah Hawley weaves them into a bigger, layered story—with political tension and emotional stakes that kept me completely entertained. It’s definitely fantasy with a romantic subplot, not the other way around, so so keep that in mind if you're expecting a romance heavy book.

That said, my only real gripe with this book was the relationship between the FMC and one of the MMCs. I just didn’t get it AT ALL. Their chemistry felt forced and I had to fight myself not to skim through their scenes. Consequently the spice scenes, while well written, gave me the ick because…I kind of hated him 😬

I saw other reviewers say the ending was predictable but maybe I’m oblivious because I did not see some of those twists coming. I was surprised in the best way and I can't wait to get my hands on book two.

A huge thank you to NetGalley and Ace Books for the ARC! 🙏

3.5 ⭐
Kenna is an ordinary poor girl from a village who accidentally finds a magical dagger and ends up in the underground Fae realm. It turns out the fae are nothing like the legends—they’re cruel and hate humans. Kenna is made a servant to a fae of the Earth House and must help her undertake six trials. If she fails, death awaits them both.

I have mixed feelings about this book. I was captivated by the beginning and the end, but the middle felt a bit dragged out to me—the events were repetitive: Kenna eavesdropping, sharing gossip, and taking part in the trials.

If you're expecting romance, there isn’t much of it—it’s more of an instant attraction and passion. I think the real romantic development is yet to come in the next book.

On one hand, the story felt like a fairytale, but on the other, there were some pretty brutal scenes. Personally, I felt those scenes added tension—in a good way.

I really liked the world-building, Kenna’s growth throughout the book, and how her friendship with Lara developed. And that ending left me with my jaw on the floor! I’m definitely curious to read the sequel.

𝐓𝐫𝐨𝐩𝐞𝐬:
✓ romantasy
✓ faeries
✓ strong FMC
✓ deadly trials
✓ morally gray heroes

Thank you to NetGalley and Berkley Publishing Group (Ace) for this eARC in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.

Y'ALL. I don't read a ton of romantasy. I prefer a new couple in each book, over multiple books following the same characters. But, I couldn't resist the chance to read this author's first fantasy novel. Let me be clear. This first book, alone is NOT a romance. It doesn't meet the rules to call it a genre romance at all. I assume that over the course of the 3 books that will change, but my romance expectations were not met here. AND YET. Still an absolute BANGER of a story. It was harsh at times. Brutal. Heartbreaking. Horrifying. Vindicating. There were some steamy bits. Lots of action. There were friendships lost and found. It was truly EVERYTHING.

Kenna Heron grew up in a ramshackle town, full of people who worship the fae, including her own mother. She is rough around the edges, and she likes it that way. Her BFF Anya was always much more refined. But, now they're both orphans, and they're both up for selection for an ancient tradition that terrifies Kenna. 1,000 years ago her people made a deal with the fae for protection, and in exchange, every 6 years, 4 women are chosen to cross the bog to Mistei, the faerie's land. The faithful believe it is a great honor to be chosen, but Kenna knows better. She's found bones in the bog before and is sure that the women chosen never actually make it across.

When the worst happens, and Anya is chosen, Kenna insists on going too. After that, nothing goes right, and Kenna is stuck in a very dangerous fae court, in an extremely perilous position...

There is so much to love about this book, and I really, really did love it. But PLEASE check your CWs! They are clearly listed in the front of the book, as well as on the author's website, and proceed with care.

I CANNOT WAIT for book 2 to come out in the fall, and see where our heroine goes from here. It's an amazing adventure to be on with her, and I'm so glad I read this story.

In January, I threw out my planned TBR after reading a friend's review of this book, and it was 100% worth it.

This book feels like ACOTAR meets The Cruel Prince. It was the first book in a while that reminded me of the feelings I had when first reading ACOTAR. It's also a "human in the world of fae" story, but it's totally its own world and story. The fae world here is cruel and vicious, and our bada$$ FMC Kenna must help her mistress through a set of deadly trials required for fae to achieve immortality.

I've honestly become a bit bored with deadly trials, but these really captured my attention. It also has one of my favorite tropes, but I can't say what because **spoilers**.

While some parts were predictable, I really liked the direction the story takes as it goes on, and I'm anxiously awaiting the sequel, which comes out later this year. You can bet I will be reading it immediately!

On earth day @netgalley offered this to read so I snatched without even checking what this was about.

Another romantasy book with deadly trials but this has unique fae & magic system. This was fully entertaining and fast to read. I personally didn’t got strongly immersed to the story or the characters that’s why I’m giving it 3 stars. The horrific trial and twists didn’t get me emotional as I would have wanted for book to get 4-5 stars.

I definitely recommend this to any romantasy readers. It’s a book worth of checking and even I might pick up the sequel just to see where the story goes from here.

Thank you ace books pub for providing this book for review consideration via @netgalley. All opinions are my own.

Thanks NetGalley and publisher for eARC!

Was expecting the same old same old fae story that we typically get, but this takes all the engaging themes of other fae reads and adds its own unique traits. Really loved the different magical elements and trials. Strong FMC, side characters that add to the story, and a magical setting. Can’t wait for the next book!

Fans of ACOTAR should appreciate Servant of the Earth. Not only are there hyper-masculine fae with magic, but it also has a similar test/trial storyline and an initial love interest who doesn’t seem to be end game.

Some of it was a bit generic, but I like the competition aspect as well as the sign language representation. While it largely has similar themes and a similar plot as others in the genre, it was still entertaining.

Head’s up that there are multiple spicy scenes.