I've had this on my tbr for quite awhile now but I didnt feel a pull toward it until I recieved an earc from netgalley. Now im wondering why I waited so long. This is what you call a "God tier" book. The slowburn, the tension, the Gothic vibes, the magic, the setting. I was here for all of it. So beautifully done and written. Literally spellbinding.

The plot of the story was very dense, but to be fair, there was a disclaimer at the beginning (which I really appreciated). The opening immediately grabbed my interest, as a reader I felt like I was being thrown straight into a murder mystery. Within that mystery there were elements of magic and supernatural. This made it confusing at times and hard to figure out where each character fit and how important they were.

Around the 30% mark, the story became a bit of cluster f***, jumping between past and present. I’ll got a bit confused during that, but once things started to clarify, I found myself drawn back in. I had a feeling that the MMC would turn out to be Caleb, but I definitely wasn’t expecting how that reveal would happen.

I really enjoyed learning about the FMC—how she came to be and the role she plays throughout the book. Her storyline was a major part of the story in a satisfying way but fell a bit flat towards the end. While it wasn’t an overly spicy book, there were definitely some steamy scenes—especially toward the end. Let’s just say all the orifices got their moment (IYKYK).

I also appreciated the emphasis on familial ties. Those relationships played a key role in helping both the FMC and MMC and added emotional weight to the story as it unfolded.

The ending felt a bit rushed and convenient. After over 600 pages of turmoil, the resolution came together almost too quickly and too neatly. I did enjoy the read overall, but I occasionally got caught up (or lost) in the back-and-forth timelines and tangled plotlines. Still, the supernatural elements were a highlight and kept me intrigued.

""We fit so well together, Sela, don't we? Your cunt's stuffed with my cock and your ass with my tail"

Unfortunately, I wasn’t able to finish Fairydale. I stopped around the 30% mark. I picked this one up because it had come highly recommended by readers whose taste usually aligns with mine, so I really thought it would be a hit.

I did appreciate the author’s immersive world-building and the rich, gothic atmosphere she created, but the story just didn’t work for me personally.

I found the writing to be a bit repetitive at times, and although I think it was more about my own impatience than a flaw in the book itself, I struggled with the pacing. The main character felt slightly irritating to me, but again, that may have been a reflection of my frustration rather than a true issue with the characterization.

What ultimately led me to put the book down was the feeling that I wasn’t getting any real answers. The mystery deepened as I read, but instead of becoming more intriguing, it started to feel more confusing. Given the length of the book, I wasn’t sure I had the stamina to keep pushing through without more clarity or progression.

That said, I can see why others might love it. If you enjoy slow-burn psychological stories with heavy atmosphere and complex relationships, this might be worth exploring for yourself. It just wasn’t the right fit for me.

Thanks so much to the author and publisher Atria Books for the eARC through NetGalley! All opinions are my own!

Unfortunately, Fairydale was not for me. I went in to this recognizing the trigger warnings and knowing that I could skip things that made me uncomfortable. I do that occasionally without it impacting my thoughts of the book or the story. The things included in those trigger warnings weren't the source of my dislike. I found the female main character to be naive and immature. But not necessarily in a redeemable way, more of an annoying way. There were times during conversations between the main characters that I physically cringed. I had the hardest time staying engaged with the story. There was a lot going on. The cast of large cast of characters made the story hard to follow at times. I just don't think I am the target demographic for this.
Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for this ARC in exchange for my honest opinion.

3.75
This book was just very hard to keep up in the beginning the story was all over the place until about 75% in I finally started to understand it the pay off was good but I feel like it could have been polished a little bit more and made more clear and concise

What an incredible story! My mind is honestly blown how we started out with Darcy learning about an inheritance to…well, no spoilers, but ALL THAT WENT DOWN. There were so many moments that I had no idea where this story was going but I really enjoyed the ride.

This was incredible storytelling! When you think you have it figured out, Veronica Lancet rips the rug out.

Wow. Wow. Wow. Wow....

I received this ARC and even though I knew about it when it was Indie published, I didn't really know about it. And so I decided to go in completely bling....and boy, oh boy, am I glad I decided that.
I believe everyone should go in blind, and just with the premise that:
This story is about an orphan woman in the 60's that receives a letter to go to her biological father's will reading (because he died) and when she gets to the infamous town of Fairydale everything isn't as it seems.

In all honesty, everything goes to hell. LOL.
I've never been quite as amused while being gaslight by a story, and the reason why it isn't 5 stars for me is because at times I found myself lagging and dragging throughout the story. Other than that, I'm glad I finally read it.

Alright if my coworker sees this they are gonna kill me because this was recommended to me by them They read it originally before it got trad published. I DNF’d it. It was so confusing, like someone just pops out the casket and then just dies and withers away? Like what? I will admit I love the idea and concept of the book and will try again once it comes out but I just couldn’t A whole month of me just trying to get back to it but I’d get bored or confused. Genuinely cool idea but overall confusing storyline By the end of it I only got about half way through before I finally decided it was mute that I could not do it anymore and I wanna read other things

If this plot was put in the hands of a better gothic fantasy romance writer (Rachel Gillig, Keri Lake, anyone else) this would be a 5 star book for me. I really thought this was going to be a new favorite of mine…are the social media book girlies okay?

Wow, this story started off strong. The infamously “confusing” first 60% of the book was not enough to turn me off of reading it. It’s a fun, creepy, and mysterious type of confusing, like the confusion you feel when watching movies like Shutter Island or Memento or Looper. Up until around the halfway point in the story, I couldn’t put it down! I loved the creepy, mysterious, haunting, and seductive vibes of the story combined with what seemed to be an unreliable narrator and/or everyone around her gaslighting her. I was obsessed! Every time I felt like I was in a good spot to put the book down and you know, live my life, another bizarre and inexplicable event happened that sucked me back in to keep reading. Also, Amon is unhinged, but I mostly loved him. What can I say? He’s hot, and the spicy scenes are HOT. All of these reasons combined are why this book barely squeaked its way out of a 1 star rating from me.

All that being said, around the 50% mark, all of the little issues I saw early into reading completely took over and just about ruined the story for me. I NEVER DNF books, and this must be the closest I’ve ever gotten to doing so. I think this is the most poorly written book I’ve ever read. I don’t know how to sugarcoat this so I’m going to just say it; the writing style is just AWFUL. It’s clunky, bizarre, and something about it is very juvenile. We get the story from Darcy’s POV which as a creative choice is fine, except we are told instead of shown almost the entire story. It truly felt like the author didn’t want to take the time to explain what was happening, so she sped up scenes by telling the reader things like “she then explained to me that this xyz thing is part of my history.” I’m sorry, what?? I read an ARC of this book, and even so, I could’t believe how many grammatical errors I was forced to wade through to read this. I swear that some sentences were missing words, and there was a lot of disconnect between punctuation that sentences ended with and how the characters were described to deliver certain bits of dialogue. For example, a sentence would end in a period but then be “exclaimed” by a character, so shouldn’t the line end in an exclamation point? There was also more than one question that ended in a period. Are we serious? These errors aren’t just sprinkled in. I swear that every single page had a sentence that I could point out that was clunky or grammatically incorrect. There are old-timey words and phrases shoved into weird places that disrupted the reading flow. There are magical concepts and world building info dumps crammed in randomly, and then barely explained. It’s like reading the literary equivalent of “Somehow, Palpatine returned.” Not kidding, any time new lore enters the chat, it’s often precedented with a “somehow.” No really, tell me how!!!

On top of the truly awful writing, for a book that has been lauded as incredibly complex and difficult to figure out, I ended up guessing most of the plot twists. They aren’t as hidden as the author thinks they are. Not every plot twist in a story needs to be genius, but if you’re going to claim that’s the case with your story, you need to back it up. Also, there is SO much cringey dialogue from the two MMCs. Sure, they were hot, but what’s with Caleb’s obsession with calling Darcy a “bad girl” multiple times in one scene? And why does Amon randomly throw in “lass” multiple times? DO NOT get me started on how much Darcy let me down as a main character. She ends up feeling unintelligent, juvenile, complicit in her abuse, and a victim at every turn. GIRL being in her head for almost 800 pages got really old, really fast.

This has been the most disappointing read of the year for me so far. I truly cannot wrap my head around how much of letdown this was. This story has SO much potential, but needed to be edited 2-3 more times and then probably split into 2 books.

I cannot put into words how much I enjoyed reading this book. A love story for the ages (literally)(I’m talking 3 lifetimes). Two people who are irrevocably in love with each other, a love that withstands the test of time. So many obstacles in their way and they always manage to find each other. How could I not love them? Fair warning, this book is very dense and long but in my opinion, oh so worth it.

Thank you to Atria Books and Netgalley for this eARC in exchange for an honest review.

I have this book 4.75 stars. I loved the storyline, the characters and the twists within Darcy’s story! Though the book was long, the reader continued to be guessing what’s next and I didn’t expect what occurred for Caleb and then Darcy’s story.

I do feel like Amon’s back story with his partner could have been a novella. It took away from the power and fight with the coven and Amon’s traitorous friends.

All around I LOVED this book! And I’m so grateful for the arc!

I struggled with this book! I was confused and mad at the mfc for her cluelessness and how everyone seemed so off with no explanation of why, and then about 65%, everything clicked and made sense, and I was HOOKED! I couldn't stop reading it before because I needed to know what the fuck was going on but once I found out that Caleb, Mr meow and amon were all the same people and amon and Stella were wronged and trying to get back to each other it made me fall in love with the story way more! their love story was crazy and heartbreaking and spicy as fuck! I loved the dark fantasy aspect of it a lot! I am so glad that Stella finally got pregnant as well! it makes my heart happy that they finally got to start their family after 1000+ years! as of right now I think I'm going to leave it at a 4★ but might bump it up!

🌫️ Fairydale by Veronica Lancet — A Cursed Meddling Mess 🌙🖤

2 stars. Because unfortunately, DNFing at 90% felt illegal after dragging my soul through this gothic quicksand for nearly two months. So here we are.

Started: June 10th. Finished: July 31st. I deserve a national holiday for surviving 700+ pages of ghostly nonsense, sensual tail placements (don’t ask), and monologues that made my brain fold in on itself.

This book wants to be a haunted Jane Austen fanfic dipped in dark academia and paranormal filth — and it almost is. It’s moody, it’s atmospheric, it’s absolutely bloated with gothic aesthetics. But behind all the cursed mist and tragic quotes is… absolutely no sense.

We’ve got:
🌕 Orphaned teacher who discovers daddy secrets.
🌑 Creepy coastal town that hates her for breathing.
🌕 Two brooding men: one alive, one very dead.
🌑 Gaslighting. So much gaslighting.
🌕 Plot twists so foreshadowed they may as well be neon signs.
🌑 “Mate.” They breathed the word “mate.” I wish they hadn’t.
🌕 Ancient evil. Apparently. Somewhere in there.
🌑 Sensual ghost play. Yes. You read that right.

The vibes? Incredible. The execution? A fever dream.
The heroine? So tragically gullible she makes Bella Swan look emotionally stable.
The men? Walking red flags dipped in centuries-old trauma and weird moral compasses. One is probably her cousin, the other is apparently dead but still manages to seduce her in ghost form.
Who needs boundaries, am I right?

By page 300: I was still waiting for the plot to actually happen. Instead, I got more flowery speeches about memory and souls than actual story progression. If you told me Veronica just free-wrote her intrusive thoughts and didn’t edit them, I’d believe you.

The monologues read like someone’s Wattpad poetry folder from 2014. Cute. Exhausting.

The tail. I will never recover. That’s all.

Did I hate every second? Honestly, no. There were lines and moments that slapped. The gothic atmosphere is chef’s kiss and when Veronica leans into her lyrical weirdness, it almost works. But every time I thought I was vibing, Darcy would open her mouth and say something so painfully dumb I’d need to lie down.

Do I regret finishing? Maybe. But it’s done. I’m free. Caleb Hale, you owe me financial compensation for my time and therapy bills.

Verdict: If you want to read 700 pages of moody nonsense, ghost boyfriends, half-assed horror, and heroine brain worms — go off. Just know you can’t sue me for emotional damage.

2 stars. Good riddance, Fairydale. 🕯️🫧

Massive thanks to Atria Books & NetGalley for the eARC. I promise my gothic meltdown is my own.

This incredible story has so many elements to interest readers- romance, history, witchcraft, shape—shifting, politics, longing, mystery, magic, and so so much spice. Read the trigger warnings, but if the spice doesn’t put you off a book, this story is one that will run through your veins for centuries to come.

I was very excited to get an ARC of this book as gothic + fantasy + romance is a recipe for my perfect book. Unfortunately I found this book to feel very overwrought. The characters were overly sentimental and the dialogue felt contrived. I struggled to get through a book that I should have sped through. Thank you to NetGalley for this book in exchange for my honest review.

⭐️⭐️⭐️: This book was something that has caught my eye for a while but I never got around to reading it. Being lucky enough to receive an ARC from NetGalley, however, provided me with the opportunity to finally read this book. First things first, it’s a long book. It took me quite a while to get through it. There’s a lot that happens all at once throughout the story and I was confused for a good majority of my time reading. It felt slow at times and then overwhelming. I took a break in the middle of reading it so that I was able to actually finish it. I think the writing is well done. And that the story line is very unique. My favorite part was Part 3 because it began to pick up and explanations were finally happening. I was finally able to put things together and understanding what I been reading. Overall, it’s a good book. Personally, I just kept getting lost in the storyline and the details.

Thank you to NetGalley for the arc!

Absolutely captivating and so addictive! Towards the end I could not put this book down I was glued to the pages and had to know what would happen next! I irrevocably fell in love with the main characters Sela and Amon. Their love is a love that transcended worlds, thousands of years and various generations in which somehow they always find their way back to each other. The loyalty and love they have for each other gets tested over and over again by the greed and lies of people that surround them. This book was so well written, it was very enjoyable to read and I enjoyed the setting of the different worlds as well as the flashbacks to the past which I feel brought more context and depth to the main characters. During each flashback we get a bit more context on the set of events that occurred and why the main characters are found in their current predicament. Overall a five star read and the spiciness was just an extra bonus. Thanks to Atria Books eGalley for this ARC copy it was one of my most enjoyable reads and would absolutely recommend this read!!

I was unable to finish this book. Nothing against the book per se but it was just too slow for my mindset. The premise is intriguing which will have me test a couple of copies in the store.

This book was soooo long. It took my awhile to figure out how I felt about it but overall I did really enjoy it. It had nearly ALL the book tropes. I do think it should have been 2 books though, parts of it felt rushed and not very fleshed out near the last 30%.

This book just wasn't for me, but I can see why there is a large group of people who truly enjoyed it.

While the premise was interesting and kept me intrigued (once I had an idea of where things were going), the execution fell flat for me. The writing felt clunky, disconnected, and at times (imo) didn't align with our characters and the time period they were in.

I also struggled with SA being used for shock value rather than any true impact in the story. Similarly, quite a few things that happened in this book seemed to just be thrown in and didn't feel like it did anything to propel the story forward.

Overall, the chaotic nature and constant addition of new things to this story just had me finishing for the sake of finishing, and while I will definitely remember this story, my reading preferences just don't align.