The False Pawn is an intriguing adult portal fantasy, weaving together political intrigue, rich worldbuilding, and a heroine who refuses to play by anyone’s rules.

The story follows Anthea Clark, a 30-year-old PR strategist who’s unexpectedly transported to a realm ruled by elves, where humans are second class citizens and magic is a currency of power and control. Her sudden appearance, in addition to her unusual immunity to magic, makes her a pawn in the eyes of many, but Anthea has no intention of staying one.

A.E. Asavi delivers a refreshingly mature protagonist who brings real world savvy and emotional intelligence into a fantasy setting. Anthea’s voice is smart, grounded, and relatable, making her an anchor in a world full of shifting alliances and shadowy agendas.

The slow burn tension between Anthea and Eldrian; an Elven prince with secrets of his own, is nuanced and satisfyingly complex. Their relationship is built on sharp dialogue, mistrust, and undeniable chemistry, all unfolding at a pace that feels earned.

The worldbuilding is immersive without being overwhelming, filled with political drama, ancient history, and just enough magic to keep the stakes high.

Overall, The False Pawn is a thoughtful and engaging fantasy debut, perfect for readers who enjoy intelligent heroines, court politics, and slow-burn romance with emotional weight.

The writing style and pacing were my favourite aspects of this book! We had a FM who was feisty and two male leads who give off TOG relationships (broody prince and a commander).

This book contains enemies to lovers, prophecies, politics, dragons and travel through realms.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for allowing me to read a free copy of this novel in exchange for my honest opinion.

I really, really, REALLY wanted to love this book, but I just couldn't. The story sounds so intriguing from the synopsis and I love that the FMC is 30, but I found the characters and story to fall very flat and have no impact. Some reviewers are totally enamored by this book, unfortunately I'm just not one of them!

I thought this was very good and I will have to add this to the shop shelves. Thank you for the chance for us to review.

This book pulled me in multiple directions and serves as a strong world-building foundation for the series. It’s packed with lore, character introductions, and unexpected twists.

Anthea lives with her two sisters, acting as a surrogate mother after their parents’ death. She works a job that pays the bills but brings little fulfillment. I wasn’t sure what to expect, but I definitely didn’t anticipate her night out at a club ending with her falling through a portal into an elf-controlled world. Once there, she’s imprisoned, forced into servitude (or pretending to be—it’s a bit murky and skirts the edge of Stockholm syndrome), kidnapped, tortured, betrayed, and then, somehow, revered? This book takes you on an emotional rollercoaster.

At its core, the story revolves around a prophecy and intricate court politics. Humans exist in this world but as a subjugated race, serving the magic-wielding elves. Anthea is quickly discovered to be immune to magic, making her a valuable asset—so they waste no time putting her to work. As for romance? Well… sort of. She’s essentially everyone’s captive, which raises questions about how much of her agency is truly her own. But if you can look past that, the book offers plenty of alluring elves who could be potential love interests.

Since this is just the first book, much of the plot is dedicated to laying the groundwork for what’s to come. For those that are seasoned fantasy readers, this is a typical world-building first book. I anticipate the plot will continue to twist and turn and the world expand as the series continues. The author succeeded in making me root for Anthea, our unlikely heroine. I’m curious to see what chaos awaits her in the next installment.

The False Pawn by A.E. Asavi is a captivating fantasy with a rich, immersive world and a plot full of twists. The characters are well-developed, especially the protagonist, whose journey is filled with intrigue and complex choices. The pacing is steady, though there are moments where the story could have been tightened up. The writing is engaging, making it an enjoyable and thought-provoking read. A solid 4 stars—gripping, with enough depth to leave you wanting more.

This story follows a man from our contemporary world who is unexpectedly pulled into a realm where magic reigns supreme. However, the enigmatic fae he encounters are both fascinated and unsettled by him, as he possesses a rare and inexplicable resistance to their spells. All he desires is to find a way back to his own world and the life he left behind, but the fae are far more interested in studying—and exploiting—his unique immunity for their own mysterious purposes.

This book won’t be for everyone—it’s dark, unflinching, and often uncomfortable. The characters are deeply flawed, morally ambiguous, and at times downright unlikable. The story doesn’t shy away from heavy themes, including violence, manipulation, and the psychological toll of being trapped in a world where you’re seen as little more than a tool. That said, I found myself completely engrossed by the intricate world-building and the tension-filled plot.

Story was missing too many details to be enjoyed.
While the MFC was okay, all the men were insufferable. I was going to rage quit pretty early on due to that.
Plus, the plot was too repetitive, making it hard to continue.
There was just too much that didn’t make sense and that made it too difficult to enjoy this book.

This was a great romantasy debut!! Although it was a little light on the romance, despite their being multiple potential MMCs (but not in reverse harem way which was sad). I think the romance will pick up more in the following book and this one more so focused on world building and our MFC figuring out what the heck is happening, This was definitely more adult and darker than a lot of the romantasies I've been reading, there's torture and big mistreatment of our heroine. The similarities to ACOTAR are also huge and you can see she was heavily inspired by SJM, but that's not a bad thing, I think Asavi'a world and story was still unique and I'm really curious where it's going to go next!

Always love a book where the main character is whisked away to another land far away from the rea world......speaks to me in away.....
loved the concept and plot of the story. awesome job

The False Pawn by A.E. Asavi blends fantasy, mystery, and romance into a captivating tale of political intrigue. Anthea Clark, a woman feeling overwhelmed by life, is suddenly thrust into a dangerous new world of Elven princes, court politics, and a brewing war. With humans considered second-class, Anthea must rely on her wits to navigate the perilous landscape and protect herself—and her heart—amidst the slow-burn romance and shifting alliances. For fans of plot-driven romantasy, this novel offers an engaging mix of suspense, deception, and fantasy with a hint of spice.

Thank you to NetGalley & A.E Asavi for giving me a complimentary copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

In theory, The False Pawn ticked all of my boxes: romance, fantasy, political intrigue, foreign land etc, however, I believe it was missing some key elements to make it un-put-downable.

The overall premise of The False Pawn had promise. I felt as though the characters could've been better developed- specifically Anthea, the FMC. I admire that she is a strong-willed and stubborn character, but this made her naivety VERY annoying.

⭐️⭐️⭐️
A very slow burn book that took me a while to get into. Honestly the first time I picked it up was months ago and could not make it past the first few chapters but glad I tried again a d finished it. Not sure I would continue with the series however.

Honestly, the book got me when it said it had dragons and "a bit of spice." I mean, any spice is fine but DRAGONS??? I was sold and I love a good fantasy/mystery book. This got me good and I really enjoyed the book a lot. I originally picked it because of the title and was reeled in after reading the description and after reading it I was satiated.

4.5 stars. Really enjoyed the journey and looking forward to the next book. I think I would have liked a little more world building, but overall enjoyed it.

I absolutely LOVED this book and I would highly recommend it to anyone who loves romance and fantasy. This book absolutely had me in awe. First she was in real life hating her job and then was put into a fantasy world. HIGHLY RECOMMEND!

2.5 stars

Thank you to NetGalley and publisher for the ARC in exchange for my honest review!

Anthea is the responsible workaholic older sister - I enjoyed the beginning banter with her sisters and the parts about the cats on the counters.. I really would have enjoyed more from the sisters or even flashbacks with the sisters later on in the books. Anthea goes out and gets intoxicated one night and ends up in a magical world with elves.. she had no idea magic existed and had never heard of such a place. There’s intricate world building with a unique magic system, heavy politics, and different courts. Humans are taken as slaves in this world and Anthea finds herself as a slave to a Prince of the crimson court….. but eventually she sneaks away to another court and there we have the start of a love triangle. Things aren’t what they seem - how come Anthea is immune to the spells thrown her way, how come she can understand this ancient tongue? Anthea reads up at the library to learn more and ends up training in the nephrite court .

I’ll be honest it was hard for me to get through this book - I felt like I was drowning in the politics and it felt really repetitive. I didn’t love Anthea & I really didn’t care for the love interests. I found myself bored throughout most of the book waiting for something interesting to happen. There were some funny moments sprinkled throughout and the ending brought this book from a 2 to a 2.5 for me.

I think there is an audience of fantasy lovers who will enjoy this book, but sadly it wasn’t for me. I would be interested in reading more from the author in the future.

I almost ~ALMOST~ DNF'd this one because the beginning felt slow and wasn't holding my attention. BUT. I'm glad I stuck with it. After trudging through about twenty percent of the book it started to get interesting and then I couldn't stop reading. I enjoyed Anthea reading/ trying to manipulate those around her and was pleasantly surprised by the twist. There are two love interests introduced, but really after a certain turn of events (without spoiling things) there is only one she should even be interested in. There were a lot of names and characters introduced, and they all started to sound the same. I felt like I was constantly having to think about and try to remember who each person was. Which was annoying. The ending had me hooked though - I will be continuing the series! Thanks Netgalley for the e-ARC!

This debut novel offers a unique blend of fantasy and suspense, but it didn't fully deliver for me. The main character, who finds herself in a strange and dangerous new world, spends much of the story in the dark, with key details only revealed much later. This created a lot of buildup without many answers until the end, which made the pacing feel slow at times.

While the FMC is thrust into intense situations, the romance felt forced and didn't add much depth to the plot. The manipulation and deceit she faces are central to the story, but her reactions felt a bit too forgiving given what she goes through. That said, the novel does a solid job of setting the stage for future books, and I'm curious to see where the story goes next.

I love this book so much! I’m so glad that the next one is coming out in February, and that I didn’t read it any earlier because that cliffhanger was a killer.
I appreciate the overall story as it followed the popular romantasy plot line of human meets magic folk and discoveries hidden abilities - as a simple human who wishes that this was possible IRL, I’m a sucker for it. I also thought it was interesting that the FMC didn’t spot all of the breadcrumbs or immediately see the bad behavior of the elves that surrounded her in real time. That she didn’t suddenly become able to intuit their every move because she’d been there for a little while made it more realistic to me. As a captive Anthea tried to be smart and plot against her captors, but like many of us, she simultaneously remained naive and hopeful, until she actions of those around her taught her to expect and respond differently. Some reviewers were annoyed by this but I think it made her relatable - because I’d probably be hoping against hope that those around me weren’t betraying me left and right too. It’s only because I read these types of book 24/7 that I tend to pick up on the plot twists AGES before they come up - so I’m not sure it’s fair to expect the character living it to see each situation for what it is in real time. Stayed up until 12am to read the 70 pages last night and I have no regrets!
Love this is a debut novel and can’t wait to see what this author sends our way next!