After losing their parents, Bristol Keats and her sisters struggle in their quiet town of Bowskeep. When Bristol receives letters from an unknown “aunt” who promises help, she discovers shocking truths about her family—her father may still be alive, kidnapped by terrifying creatures. Desperate to save him, Bristol journeys to a realm of gods and fae, making a deadly bargain with the fae king, Tyghan, who has ties to her family’s troubled past.

This was one of my most anticipated books of the year. I've been a massive fan of Mary E. Pearson for years, her Remnant Chronicles and Dance of Thieves duology are some of my all-time favorites. It literally pains me to say that I didn’t love this book. The story had so much potential, but the execution just missed the mark.

The book feels both way too long and not enough at the same time. We didn’t get sufficient descriptions, making it hard to grasp the atmosphere or visualize the characters and setting. There was a lot of telling instead of showing, which hurt the overall plot progression and character development.

The pacing was incredibly slow, which I somewhat expected given the book’s length. However, it was made worse by how repetitive the first half was.

Now, let’s talk about the romance. I hated it. So much. There wasn’t much, if any, chemistry between the characters, and it felt like it came out of nowhere. They went from total strangers who didn’t like or trust each other to being in love way too quickly. It would’ve made more sense for them to develop a friendship first, but no, it jumped straight to romance. It felt completely forced. I also found it really odd that Tyghan was best friends—close as brothers—with Bristol’s father. That dynamic felt really icky, especially considering that time moves differently in Elphame. To Tyghan, Bristol didn’t even exist six months ago, and when he first learns about her, he expects her to be an infant. I just couldn’t get behind it.

There were aspects of the book that I wish had been explored more, like Bristol’s relationship with her sisters and family. We see glimpses of her sisters, but I wanted to see more of them. Bristol's main motivation was to help her sisters, yet they felt sidelined very quickly.

The ending was so abrupt, feeling more like the conclusion of a chapter than the end of a book. There was no real resolution or closure, it just ends. Overall, it was really disappointing, and I'm quite sad about it. Still, I am curious enough about where this is going that I’ll likely pick up the second book when it comes out. This was a 2.5 stars for me.

The narrator was great and I hope to read more books narrated by her in the future. She did a great job creating different voices for each character and it was easy to follow.

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for an early copy in exchange for an honest review.

My only question is, when can I get book 2!??? I need answers! I loved the story and the characters! I can’t wait to learn what Bre really is when the tick is removed and what exactly her mother is.

I was having a good time with this book and definitely wanted to keep coming back to it. A romantasy over 500 pages is hard to stay interesting, but it managed to keep my attention and not become dull. I loved the plot idea. Of course it uses tropes that we see a lot, but it still felt like an interesting approach with a unique take. It's a much more well written romantasy than a lot of the ones that are coming out in droves lately. It wasn't my favorite type of romance, and honestly I wish it would have gone a bit differently, but that's just my personal preference. The writing itself was well thought out and didn't have any flaws.

I was thinking that maybe it was going to be a 4.5 or 5 star read, but then it just ended? I honestly thought it was a mistake. It felt so strange because you're building up to this big event/confrontation but instead we end before it even gets to that, and in the middle of a random scene no less. It didn't even feel like a cliff hanger, more like she wrote the book too long and decided to just split it into two books without paying attention to where the first one ended. That really threw me for a loop and I didn't like it at all. Regardless, I'll still read the next book.

3.5 out of 5 stars. Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing an arc in exchange for an honest review.

Thank you for this early audio review copy. I adore Mary’s writing and she definitely apices things up with her first Romantasy. I loved the characters, world and story. There was one thing I didn’t love so I am taking away one point but it is just a personal preference. If you love Fey stories that are enemies to lovers you will love this one!

For me, this was a fun read. I’ve enjoyed the author’s young adult works in the past, and this foray into adult lit was not disappointing! It did seem like the conflict wasn’t dealt with fully enough at the end, but I’m assuming it will come back in book 2.

DNF @ 37% - This started out strong but I feel like it was trying to just throw every single romantasy trope together and there was just too much going on - I just kept being like "errrrkay *side eye*"
Thank you NetGalley for the ARC

Thank you NetGalley and Macmillan Audio for the eAudiobook ARC! Bristol Keats has been doing her best to support her sisters and herself since the loss of their parents, but when letters start to arrive from a mysterious (and unheard of) aunt, everything Bristol knew of her life is brought into question. With the possibility that her father is still alive, she suddenly finds herself in the world of fae and working with their leader (who she also finds herself deeply attracted to), Tyghan, through a fairy bargain. Packed with action and romance, The Courting of Bristol Keats is a fantastic new fantasy from Mary E. Pearson. Brittany Pressley delivers a powerful performance for the audiobook and truly brings the various (and there are many) characters to life.

Thank you to NetGalley and MacMillan Audio for the opportunity to listen to this audiobook.

The Courting of Bristol Keats follows Bristol and her sisters, who are struggling to survive after the loss of their parents in the quiet town of Bowskeep. When Bristol receives mysterious letters from an "aunt" she’s never heard of, promising help, she discovers that her family history is far from what she believed. Her father, presumed dead, may actually be alive, kidnapped by creatures from another realm. Determined to uncover the truth, Bristol is drawn into a world of gods, fae, and monsters, where she makes a dangerous bargain with Tyghan, the fae leader who might know her father’s fate.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book from start to finish. Brittany Pressley's narration was outstanding, and I would gladly listen to more of her performances in the future. The story had a well-paced plot, with an intriguing blend of both real-world and fae realms that created an immersive, almost "parallel dimension" feel.

The slow-build romance between the main characters was engaging, though there were moments when the passage of time in the fae world felt unclear, which occasionally caused some confusion. Despite this, I found the plot compelling and am excited to see how the relationships and storyline will develop in the next installment. Overall, it's a captivating fantasy with strong narration that I would highly recommend.

The audiobook for The Courting of Bristol Keats was such a pleasure to listen to. Overall, I enjoyed the story and I thought Brittany Pressley did a fantastic job of bringing the story to live. I was entertained and I couldn't stop listening to this book. I think this is a great romantasy book and it will be a big hit with a lot of people. I'm excited to recommend this book and the audiobook to people looking for a good mix of fantasy and romance.

ALC Review: Bristol and her two sisters are struggling to keep themselves afloat after her parents have both died. A mysterious aunt she has never heard of has offered to give her an original Van Gogh sketch just in exchange for meeting her. Scheming ensues and Bristol winds up in the land of faerie working for her dad’s former best friend (she doesn’t know that though!).

Unfortunately this was a massive miss for me. I would have DNFed around the 40% mark if this wasn’t an advance listener’s copy.

First, this book is both way too long yet somehow contains few descriptions, barely any plot progression, and the romance was not built towards at all. I am not sure what all those pages were spent on.

The descriptions were so lacking that I listened to the entire 17+ hour audiobook and I couldn’t tell you anything about the atmosphere of the castle (I think?) that the majority of this story takes place in. No scene felt set, leaving me to imagine characters in blank space or pulling from other books with similar settings (there’s a maze so I guess these characters are in Goblet of Fire 🤷🏼‍♀️).

The pacing felt clunky and the plot nonsensical. After Bristol sees fae for the first time, her conversation with her sister goes like this:

"Omg sister I just saw a bunch of monsters!!!"
"Are you okay? Are you sure you aren’t crazy?"
"A monster said this specific monster took Dad!"
"That specific monster? That's a faerie, I heard Dad talking about one once. Here's a book all about faeries. Don't accept a gift from one. Let me help you pack so you can travel to their world."

The development of the romance also made no sense. Bristol and Tyghan go from being strangers who really don’t like each other to suddenly dancing together every night then being in love. There was no build, no slow burn, and no chemistry. Also kinda weird that Bristol’s dad is Tyghan’s best friend turned mortal enemy. There’s even an “I’m fucking your daughter” scene.

I think there are some good aspects to this book. Having two worlds separated by portals whose time passes independent of the other is an interesting world to tell a story in. Bristol having a magical parasite sucking all her magic up her entire life so she believes she’s human is a new concept to me that I found intriguing. Unfortunately the good aspects didn’t outweigh that I mostly felt bored while reading.

Thank you NetGalley and the publisher for the ALC.

I really liked the audiobook narrated by Brittany Pressley. Pressley really brings the character of Bristol to life with her tenacity and vulnerability. Though the world was a bit hard to formulate in my head, I was able to follow the story. If it was not for Pressley's great narration, I would have stopped reading this story a long time ago.

The narrator saved this book for me. I kept getting bored or distracted, but she did a really great job and I 100% credit her for pulling me back in. I think ultimately this falls in the not for me category with pacing, world building and that the characters didn’t resonate to me.

I'm still buzzing from this incredible audiobook! 🤯 I haven't felt this way about a book in ages, not since I first fell in love with the ACOTAR series.

This duology's beginning immediately sucked me into a multidimensional world filled with complex characters, love, friendship, and family dynamics. I was constantly on the edge of my seat, never knowing what would happen next. The romance was perfectly paced, although it's definitely on the lower spice side. 🌶️ The writing style was beautiful, and the world-building was so easy to visualize.

The narrator, Brittany Pressley, was a dream. She brought the characters to life with her amazing voice and accents.

And the ending?! 🤯 I need the next book NOW!

If you're a fan of Sarah J. Maas, Holly Black, or Jeneane O'Riley, or if you love romantasy or high fantasy, you NEED to add this to your TBR.

This is my first read from Mary E. Pearson, and I can't wait to see what she has in store next! Thank you so much to Macmillan Audio and Netgalley for a copy of this audiobook in exchange for an honest review.

I definitely enjoyed this. I loved the writing and world building and the plot was easy to follow. I look forward to the next book.

Absolutely loved!! Romantasy the stepped out of the box! Bristol is witty and relatable. Searching for her father, whom she believed to be dead, in a magical realm that seems too good to true.

𝑨𝑹𝑪 𝑹𝑬𝑽𝑰𝑬𝑾: The Courting of Bristol Keats


𝑴𝒚 𝒓𝒂𝒕𝒊𝒏𝒈: 4.5 ⭐️
𝑺𝒑𝒊𝒄𝒆 𝒄𝒉𝒂𝒑𝒕𝒆𝒓𝒔: 68, 79, 87, and 110
𝑮𝒆𝒏𝒓𝒆: fantasy, fiction, Romantasy
𝑨𝒖𝒕𝒉𝒐𝒓: @maryepearson
𝑷𝒖𝒃 𝒅𝒂𝒕𝒆: Nov 12, 2024


My thoughts:
𝑰 𝒍𝒐𝒗𝒆𝒅 𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝒃𝒐𝒐𝒌, 𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝒉𝒂𝒔 𝒃𝒆𝒆𝒏 𝒐𝒏𝒆 𝒐𝒇 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒇𝒆𝒘 𝒃𝒐𝒐𝒌𝒔 𝑰 𝒉𝒂𝒗𝒆 𝒓𝒆𝒂𝒅 𝒊𝒏 𝒂 𝒘𝒉𝒊𝒍𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒅𝒊𝒅𝒏’𝒕 𝒇𝒆𝒆𝒍 𝒓𝒆𝒑𝒆𝒕𝒊𝒕𝒊𝒗𝒆 𝒕𝒐 𝒎𝒆. 𝑻𝒉𝒆𝒓𝒆 𝒘𝒆𝒓𝒆 𝒕𝒊𝒏𝒚 𝒅𝒆𝒕𝒂𝒊𝒍𝒔 𝒂𝒅𝒅𝒆𝒅 𝒊𝒏𝒕𝒐 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒎𝒂𝒈𝒊𝒄 🪄 𝒔𝒚𝒔𝒕𝒆𝒎 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝑰 𝒍𝒐𝒗𝒆𝒅 𝒔𝒐 𝒎𝒖𝒄𝒉! 𝑻𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝒊𝒔 𝒚𝒐𝒖𝒓 𝒆𝒙𝒄𝒊𝒕𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒇𝒂𝒏𝒕𝒂𝒔𝒚 𝒔𝒕𝒐𝒓𝒚 𝒘𝒊𝒕𝒉 𝒍𝒐𝒕𝒔 𝒐𝒇 𝒖𝒏𝒊𝒒𝒖𝒆𝒏𝒆𝒔𝒔 𝒔𝒑𝒓𝒊𝒏𝒌𝒍𝒆𝒅 𝒕𝒉𝒓𝒐𝒖𝒈𝒉𝒐𝒖𝒕 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒎𝒂𝒅𝒆 𝒎𝒆 𝒍𝒐𝒗𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝒃𝒐𝒐𝒌. 𝑯𝒐𝒘 𝒂𝒎 𝑰 𝒔𝒖𝒑𝒑𝒐𝒔𝒆𝒅 𝒕𝒐 𝒏𝒐𝒘 𝒘𝒂𝒊𝒕 𝒖𝒏𝒕𝒊𝒍 𝒃𝒐𝒐𝒌 2?

I want to say a huge thank you to @netgalley & @maryepearson for this audio ARC! I had the best time with this one!


🌙 what is the most unique fantasy book you have read?

💫 what would be the one book you would bring if you got stuck in an island!?


_____________________________


🏷️:
#books #bookrecommendations #bookreview #maryepearson #thecourtingofbristolkeats #netgalley #fantasybooks #romantasy

Based on the cover and title, I expected this to be more like Rough Trade by Katrina Carrasco or Tempest of Tea, but it was a normal girl finds herself in fairy and is on her way to becoming the Mary Sue. The pacing was a bit irregular and parts of the story were a bit repetitive.

Since there were many questions left unanswered, there are sure to be a few more titles in this series. I think this would appeal to the Sarah J. Maas and Scarlett St Clair fans.

Audio narration was excellent.

The Courting of Bristol Keats by Mary E. Pearson
Narrator: Brittany Pressley
Rating: 4 stars
Steam: 1 chili
Pub date: 11/12

Thank you so much to Netgalley and Macmillan Audio for my complimentary audiobook! #macaudio2024

Bristol Keats is just trying to pay her bills when she suddenly finds herself thrust into the world of the fae. She makes a deal to help them find a door in exchange for learning the truth about her family.

This was a fun, addictive read. The world-building is vivid, with monsters, magical realms, and court politics that keep things interesting. There’s a good mix of action and romance, too.

Bristol is a strong and determined character and doesn’t let the fact that she’s in an unfamiliar land get in her way. Her need for closure surrounding the death of her father and her love for her sisters make her relatable, and I was rooting for her the whole time.

The first half of the book had my full attention while we learned about the characters and the land of the fae. I especially loved getting to know Prince Tyghan and watching his relationship with Bristol progress.

I always enjoy reading books with multiple perspectives, but the shifts in POV here were sometimes confusing and made it hard to follow along. This might be a listener issue and not an issue with the print version.

The second half of the story is a little repetitive, and the ending is too abrupt. After such a long and detailed story, I didn’t expect it to stop right in the middle of a scene. No closure, cliffhanger, or anything. I had to go back and relisten to make sure I didn’t zone out and miss a whole chapter.

Brittany Pressley is my favorite narrator, and I will listen to any of her books! She did another fantastic job bringing this story to life by giving each character a unique voice, and really drew me in.

Overall, I enjoyed this one. It’s a fun, fast-paced read (or listen) for anyone who loves romantic fantasy with a touch of danger. I’m looking forward to the next book in the series!

Thank you to NetGalley, MacMillan Audio, and Flatiron Books for supplying me with an audio galley of this book to read and give my honest review. The opinions expressed here are my own.
It's been a long while since a read a fae book that truly captured my attention and kept it there. This is that book. I was not sure what I was expecting but it was not what Pearson gave me which is a book filled with magic, tension, romance, and mystery. While the story had many elements of fae fantasy I've read in the past, it still felt unique. It was complex and and compelling. At first I was expecting more of a teen fae romance book but that's not what I got. The characters are older, more mature, and there is definitely steam in this book which is open door but not spicy.
I really enjoyed the narrator of this book: Brittany Pressley. This is the first time I can remember listening to anything by her and she is now on my list of favorites. She easily voiced all the different characters making them unique and easy to separate from each other. Often times with books that have a large cast of characters and only one narrator, I will get confused but with this book I did not. And her style reminded me of the narrator from Leigh Bardugo's books, who I absolutely love. Pressley pacing was perfect
Bristol and Tyghan are a great enemies to lovers/forbidden love story. There is so much tension and chemistry between them. Though at first I did feel it was a bit rushed on Tyghan's part since they barely know each other. You can feel that he definitely falls first. But then the slow burn and the lead up made up for it. Their interactions and banter are great in showing how the bond forms between them. Once you begin to see their budding romance, it doesn't feel rushed or even forced. They explore their connection outside of the bedroom, which I really enjoyed.
The plot of the book is similar to other books I've read: there's fighting in the fae world and the fae will use whatever means they can, including humans, to make sure they win that fight. But the mystery behind who Bristol is and who her parents are is what really makes the story for me. I will say I was confused at first by the time discrepancies. It's been so long since I read a fae book that I forgot time moves differently in that world than in the human world. So the ages of the characters didn't truly make sense to me until I was a little further along in the book. Pearson withholds things from the read and releases them in slow bits to keep the story moving forward, and this definitely kept me interested as I needed to know everything behind the mystery of Bristol and her parents. And the world building was done very well. Again, elements of fae stories are always pretty consistent, but Pearson wove in some interesting differences in the animals she introduces and relationships between the characters. Plus, she really showed a strong female presence in the book.
The ending was a bit abrupt and definitely a cliffhanger leaving me wanting more. There wasn't much closure but I'm wondering if that is just to goad the reader into truly wanting the second book now, because I do! This and the fact that her sisters so easily accepted fae were my only complaints of the book. Though it did not effect my rating.
If you enjoy enemies to lovers, forbidden love, fae fantasy, time shifts/portals, slow burn romance, he falls first, and hidden magic, pick this one up! Don't expect from this what you got from Pearson's other books as Pearson steps away from the young adult/teen crowd in this story,. Lovers of The Cruel Prince series by Holly Black and even The Iron Fey by Julie Kagawa will enjoy Pearson's adult fantasy debut.

I really enjoyed this book at first! I got really pulled into the idea of the fae and the deals and mysterious that were occurring! The story was interesting and the narrator was great BUT I did get really pulled out of the story due to the fact that the setting for the story was called Elfhame, which is the same setting as The Cruel Prince by Holly Black...from there I just kept seeing similarities in the stories.... While there are definitely some differences (The Courting of Bristol Keats is an adult book while The Cruel Prince is YA and there are some plot differences) but I think it definitely sent me into a tizzy because every time I heard it, it made me confused and think about a different story. I think if there had been a different setting name, I would've really enjoyed this story!
Thank you so much to Macmillan Audio for a copy of this audiobook in exchange for an unbiased review!💞