The Mortal Queen weaves political intrigue, magic, lies, monsters, and personal growth to provide a captivating tale. The story centers on Aisling, a mortal princess thrust into an arranged marriage with Lir, the enigmatic fae king, to secure peace between their warring species.
Aisling's character development is a highlight. Her journey of self-discovery is both authentic and compelling, capturing her internal struggles as she confronts long-held prejudices about the fae and navigates the complexities of her new reality.
The romance between Aisling and Lir is the slowest of burns, their relationship evolves naturally as the story progresses with tension and chemistry simmering beneath the surface.
The novel’s strength is its world-building. We experience the fae world through Aisling’s naive POV and so every inch is meticulously described and immersive, drawing inspiration from Celtic folklore to create a vivid landscape filled with mythical creatures and complex societies. There’s magic, curses, & enchanted beasts!

Aisling is set to marry Lir, the king of the fae. She was told her whole life not to trust the fae. She’s marrying the king to serve as an alliance with the fae. However as Aisling spends more time with the fae, she realizes that maybe not everything she’s being told is true…

The description of this book sucked me in!! A girl in an arranged marriage with the fae kinggg and I wanted to love this but to me it just fell a little short. I still enjoyed it but this book just feels so longgg but its full of tropes romantasy readers love so I would give it a go if you’re looking for a romantasy read!

We follow Aisling, who finds out she has been promised to marry the King of the fae. She knows this will bring peace to her people, but fears it will mean death for her. But then she meets her new husband and realizes he is not what she expected.

This has a very interesting plot. And the world building was amazing. But I did find myself not enjoying it after a bit. The descriptions became to much and the narration was repetitive at times. I found myself not being able to be focused on the story. And because of that I couldn't connect with the characters. And this is a slow burn, but for me, I found it hard to believe there was a romance beginning to happen. I am hoping the next book will be better and pull me in so I can see where the story goes.

Tropes:
Arranged marriage
Fae/humans
Prophecies and curses
Fae King MMC
Human FMC

This book ultimately became a DNF for me. While I often struggle with third-person narratives that make it harder to connect with the characters, I truly appreciated the immersive world-building, the unique magic system, and the slow burn of the story. The character development was good, and I found the plot setup intriguing. However, I felt that the story became repetitive at times and sometimes hard to follow, which made it difficult to stay engaged. I think many readers who enjoy detailed world-building and don’t mind third-person perspectives might really enjoy this one. I may revisit it in the future, but for now, it just wasn’t the right fit for me.

"The Mortal Queen" by Ashley Metzler is a fantasticlly written fantasy novel that transports readers to a world filled with intrigue, magic, and complex characters. The story follows the journey of a young queen who must navigate the treacherous political landscape of her kingdom while discovering herself and the responsibilities of leadership.


The plot is well-paced, with a balance of action, romance, and suspense that keeps readers on the edge of their seats.
One of the standout elements of the book is its world-building. Metzler has created a vivid setting that feels both familiar and fantastical. The magic system is intriguing, adding an extra dimension to the challenges faced by the characters.

Overall, "The Mortal Queen" is a compelling read that will appeal to fans of fantasy and adventure. With its strong character development, intricate plot, and beautifully written story. Absolutely loved it

my first time ever trying this author out and i had a great time!

the characters were really well fleshed out and i loved the fmc in particular. she could be a bit too much when it came to monologue, but it didn’t really affect my enjoyment of the book itself.

the writing style, however, was at times a bit too descriptive and so that made the story a bit too slow paced. i don’t mind slow paced stories usually, but the writing has to capture me to enjoy that.

i also wanted to know a bit more about the world itself. it was interesting, but i wanted to see more of it and the atmosphere.
while the romance was okay, it still wasn’t my favourite and could’ve been done a bit more natural, they felt a bit forced. there wasn’t enough chemistry for me to like them together.

i still liked the book and recommend reading it, but know that it is a bit slow paced so if you like fast paced ones—this might not be for you.

Originally published as Aisling: Breath of the New Creature, The Mortal Queen has a decent amount of worldbuilding that happens. As the story progresses, the reader learns more about the seelie, unseelie, and humankind - including the prejudices between them. Don't go into the book expecting the lore to be the same as other titles, though.

Aisling, a human, is nervous and scared as she is ceremoniously married off to the King of the Seelie, Lir, as part of a treaty between the humans and seelie.

As she travels to his kingdom and then begins to spend time there, Aisling soon begins to question all that her family has told her about the Fae. The hint of romance comes in as both she and Lir begin to feel a connection to the other.

Others have described it as a slow burn for a book. I agree. If you want fast-paced prose, this is not the title for you.

Rating it was a challenge. I'd give it a 3.5, but there isn't that option here.

While I appreciate the details given to create the world Aisling lives in, it still felt a bit too slow at times. However, the overall plot was good and the world created by Metzler is enchanting.

By the end of the novel, I was all in and am curious to see what happens next with Aisling and Lir.

Thank you to NetGalley, Second Sky, and Ashley Metzler for an electronic advance reader copy of the novel. All opinions are my own.

This book ended up being a DNF for me. Personally, I often struggle with third-person narratives, as they make it harder for me to connect with the characters. That said, I really appreciated the immersive world-building and the intriguing plot setup. The unique magic system caught my interest, but I felt the story became a bit repetitive, which made it hard to stay engaged.

I think many readers who enjoy detailed world-building and don’t mind third-person perspectives might really enjoy this one. I may revisit it in the future, but for now, it just wasn’t the right fit for me.

Firstly thank you Net Galley for the advance reader copy of this book in return for my honest opinion.

I was really excited to read this book, having seen it received and reviewed on TikTok. The cover for this and the rest of the series are pretty and I was excited to read the trilogy, especially since the first two were both released together.

The story starts with a mortal girl- youngest child of five; and only daughter of the human king - being made to be dutiful and marry the king of the savage race of Seelie Fae so that peace can exist between races.

The premise was very promising, but then I found after this had happened there was a LOT to understand which meant it took a long time to read and digest.

The setting, and the descriptions of the lands and beings, especially when describing the unseelie fae was detailed and lush, the story felt vibrant and was very descriptive. This was really useful because there was a lot of world building for this truly epic and spectacular world. The MMC was brooding and had dark elements, and the FMC was stubborn and in many ways heroic.

However, the story was far too descriptive which meant it felt very slow. Pages and pages could be read at points where very little actually happened. This means the story lacked pace. I felt like the story only really started to progress and increase pace at about 70% and I was hopeful for a strong finish but again it tailed off.

The use of the language constantly being translated felt very over the top. The author seemed to be aiming for an epic land and adventure but in so much detail it lost my attention and I found myself on a few occasions skipping paragraphs in order to see what actually happened next.

I enjoyed the relationship between the FMC and MMC, there was an incredibly slow burn and seemed like very little progress from beginning to end. The FMC seemed fairly clever but then had a constant struggle to believe the faes truth compared to the human truth.

There was an odd part where things had started to slowly progress between characters and then it was all of a sudden "a few weeks later" and nothing had changed... for what seemed like no reason.

The ending seemed rushed and just ended pretty much out of nowhere (which understandably was likely meant to entice you to go straight onto book two).

It was very repetitive at times, I had issues with the speaking animal creatures, the slow burn was almost non existent and the enemies never became lovers - only slightly less enemies.

I do however feel invested in what is to come. The idea and bare bones of the story are good, I just wish it had been heavily edited. I think a lot of people will be put off by the language translations in addition to the new world and new creatures - it's not easy on the brain. I will read book two almost begrudgingly to find out what happens but I feel like if it is too descriptive and flowery I may have to give up.

Fingers crossed for book two improvements. I rate this 2.75 stars - I don't want to upset the author as I'm sure she will be reading all the reviews and taking it to heart. She should know her ideas are fantastic, but depth of description could have easily put me off had I not been trying my best to not DNF my ARC reads. I wanted more of the characters and less overly dense description.

Enjoyed this- won't leave a lasting memory for me but a good romantasy with found family. The story needed some more world building, plot and character development in my opinion though.

It definitely leans more into the fantasy than the romance aspect - the fantasy element driving the plot compared to some others I have read. That being said, the (very) slow burn romance between the FMC and MMC definitely added to it and I really enjoyed watching their relationship slowly develop. One thing I did particularly like about the slow burn aspect of the enemies to lovers trope is that it seems more realistic given their starting points.

The Mortal Queen by Ashley Metzler has a very interesting lore, giving us a different perspective between seelie, unseelie and humankind making it the perfect plot twist. However, i founded this book a bit too complex being a little too wordy, like Lord of the Rings or When the Moon Hatched, it didn't need to be that complex and it through me back a little. I did find the characters to be unique and i think the book is enough to stand on its own. A lot of important things happened off-page and i found myself laking important information, like Aisling's relationship with her mother. Also, i felt like Aisling didn't had many friends which is a bit odd since this is a fantasy book and friends are always a big thing. The ending was a bit confuse but this had me invested until the end and i find it a bit addictive.

I loved this book so much! The world is beautifully painted with immersive prose. I got sucked into this fantasy setting filled with rich nature. The fae felt gritty and fascinating in a way other books have been falling short for me lately. More like a fable and reminds me of the same type of atmosphere that Hannah Whitten created in For the Wolf.
Aisling is growing and learning after having a sheltered life. Married off to the fae king for peace between their kinds, she is thrust into the home of the fae where she meets talking creatures and learns the lore and politics of their world.
The plot sometimes felt a bit slow, but I also really enjoyed living in this world and taking my time with the story.

The standout from this book for me was the worldbuilding and the magic system, they were both so unique and so interesting to learn about. I found the start a little slow, but once the story fully kicked in I was gripped and couldn’t put this down. I also loved the slow burn between Aisling and Lir, I found the tension so intense which is exactly how a slow burn romance should be!

Thank you so much to Netgalley, the publisher and the author for the arc. 🫶🏻

The start of what has the potential to be a phenomenal series. A unique magic system, a beautifully developed world and a fantastic growing dynamic between the two leads.

Was a fantastic book that i thoroughly recommend and will be buying as I need a trophy version lol. I enjoying the different dynamics at play between the main characters especially towards the end.

Loved the world building, the unique magic system and the slow burn.
Good character development.
I found it sometimes hard to follow and there was a lot of repetition.

The world building was a little slow to start at the beginning but the story ramps 40% in. I enjoyed learning about the worlds though at the same time that Aisling did and the romance is proper slow burn. But that ending had me screaming onto book 2.

Book: 🌟🌟🌟🌟
Plot: 💫💫💫💫💫
World-Building: 🍁🍁🍁🍁
Description: 💐💐💐

I enjoyed this book as it had great depth in the character especially with how the FMC developed throughout the book. They really had detailed personalities. The world had great detail.

The storyline did has a lot of detail and at times felt a bit like the author was telling rather than showing the story and it got very detailed especially with geographic locations such as hills which felt very long and drawn out in some places in my opinion.

Overall I found the book enjoyable as a whole with an engaging storyline and I recommend to anyone looking for a descriptive fantasy romance with characters with a lot of depth.

Great audiobook narrator—each character has a distinct voice, and they blend together seamlessly!

The book itself is rich with fantasy and worldbuilding, with characters interesting enough to keep you hooked from start to finish. A solid listen/read all around.

Thank you NetGalley and Ashley Metzler!❤️