I really loved this book! It’s gothic romance with dark fantasy that borders on being horror. The story unfolds over three different time lines with the present story set in the 1950s. The back story is told through dreams and flash backs. I think its best to go in with very little pretense of what the story is about because it is very twisty with lots of reveals throughout. It is quite long and the romance is slow burn but this story is beautiful and the details make it worth the time it takes to read it. I’m a big dark fantasy/gothic romance fan and Fairydale was perfect. Veronica Lancet created a dark and haunting atmosphere that just continues to unfold for the reader as the story goes on!

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for this arc! Man oh man I tried to love this. I was so excited for it. Predictable plot points and underwhelming ending but kept me intrigued enough to finish. 2.5 stars rounded up

Thank you NetGalley for an ARK of the traditionally published version.

I really liked the storyline and the character development along with the fact this felt like reading several interconnected romances. Although this is a long book, almost 800 pages, I felt like I was moving through this book at a quick pace due to how the author wrote how vivid each storyline was. It was very immersive. I did catch onto a few of the “bigger” jaw dropping moments before they actually happened but over all really enjoyed this book.

Adored the gothic spooky atmosphere and I loved how this had a strong mystery element as well as romance, thought the characters were a little underdeveloped at times but I was addicted to this, dare I say it's a masterpiece, more romance like this please!

DNF @ 25% in…. I seriously couldn’t continue with it, Darcy was SO naive and didn’t question literally anything and Caleb was horribleee, I hated having to read the things he said bc he was just so slimy and bad. After reading the spoilers, I have to say that was super predictable and idk why the story would ever need to be 700+ pages, but that’s just me personally.

glad i read the trigger warnings first because the beginning pulled me in right away. super intriguing start and the mystery had me hooked.

but honestly, i found the fmc kinda annoying. gave me major fallen by lauren kate vibes. there was a lot of filler and repetition throughout… felt like the book could’ve been way shorter without losing anything important.

still not sure who was behind some of the weird stuff that happened to her (like the fire??), and that mystery from the beginning just kinda… disappears? by the halfway point it started dragging and felt like we kept seeing the same scenes play out in different ways.

the story shifted a lot – almost like it was trying to be multiple books at once. maybe it should’ve been? because by the end it felt rushed and full of plot holes.

started strong but ended up feeling a little all over the place for me.

Thank you Netgalley for the eArc.

3.5/5

This is such a hard book to review so I’ll try my best!
The first 40% was 5 star material. Slow paced, gothic atmosphere in a creepy town, mysterious deaths and dreams, and all that good stuff. Unfortunately the gothic tone disappears by the halfway mark of this book, which left me quite sad.
I think the atmosphere kind of made up so much of the book that it was hard to kind of pin point the location and whatnot of it afterwards.
I was sad how little we truly saw of Fairydale and sad about how so many characters we had only like 3 interactions with. Darcy’s teacher friend - what happened to her??? Darcy never calls her back so does she think Darcy just vanished???
So many characters were introduced with interesting facets of them present only for them to just be killed off soon after or for them to stay super underdeveloped. What happened to literally all the Hales???????
The book built up to an ending that was done in literally not even 20 pages with very brief fight descriptions. It literally ends just as they kill the bad guys and we get no resolution for what happened to any of the side characters like Rhiannon!
I also hated the third timeline. It was insta love x200 and so so boring. All the reveals were just meh to me because it was all so logical that I guessed it quite early on.
I didn’t fully vibe with Darcy as a character and I didn’t like Sela either. She was best as Elizabeth in my opinion!
Amon was a great love interest but I wish he had more depth. We saw him do the same things 3 times in 3 timelines and never saw a whole lot of his other sides.
The plot was so so good to start but I felt that everything was wrapped up tightly for Darcy and Amon while anyone else was left to have open endings.
I just am so disappointed in how easy everything was to resolve at the end. This is an epic love story but it just didn’t fully hit for me.
Also Amon’s Reva form was so??????? Like what 😭
Their relationship (Darcy and Amon) was so codependent it kind of scared me. Like it was not healthy how much they needed each other….
Again I loved the first half basically but the second half left so much to be desired. I sort of wish the third timeline didn’t exist at all because it truly made no impact on me. And the bonus epilogue was just so bizzare. This evil emperor is killed within 5 pages and Amon is now emperor of this world we literally only saw in brief flashbacks ?????? I was just really not on board with the idea that they weren’t from earth. Like their OG planet was so 2-D and the politics are so vague I didn’t care for why they had to flee in the first place.
If this book had stayed fully gothic I would have been much more on board but unfortunately it doesn’t tonally stick to that :(

Omg that's all I can say this book was fantastic! I loved this book and I can't wait to read more from this author!

At first I was iffy about reading fairydale, just because of the mixed reviews. Although I gave in and gave it a shot. I absolutely loved it! It was very confusing at first. But I fell in love with Darcy, I wanted the absolute best for her. The twists and turns and secrets in fairytale had me hooked. It is a little slow at the beginning and I thought about DNFing it a few times. Pushed through and finished it and boy was I glad! The complexity of this story, the secrets and smuttyness made it a 4.5 in my eyes. You have to give fairydale a try!

I really enjoyed this! I think it was a bit hard to follow all of the information in the beginning but I thought the plot and romance were both very interesting and done really well.

Fairydale was one of the most unique reading experiences I’ve ever head. If you are a fan of gothic/dark romance with an element of fantasy and mystery this is for you!

Darcy is an orphan that gets the news that her biological father has passed and she must go to the town of Fairydale for the reading of his will. There she finds out she is left a hefty inheritance, but in order to access it she must live in the town for at least two months.

Easy until a lot of strange and mysterious things start happening. There are a lot of weird people showing up and people start dying around the town. She starts getting dreams of what seems to be another life and suddenly pieces start coming together.

This story follows the timeline of three different women, all connected that help you figure out the truth behind Fairydale.

This gripped me from the moment i started reading, This was easily one of the best books i’ve read! I definitely don’t think this will be for everyone. It’s not an easy read by any means, but i definitely recommend giving it a try!

5 stars for sure!

I don’t even have words for how much this hit me. It was straight-up intoxicating, like a drug. Just thinking about how much I love it makes me wanna cry because I’m so overwhelmed.

This book is like nothing I’ve ever read before. A mix of gothic, horror, fantasy, and paranormal—all wrapped up in a heart-wrenching romance that grabbed me from page one and never let go.

It jumps between three timelines and will have you screaming, “What in the world is going onnnnnn?!” the whole time. Mind = blown. I took my time with every word, hoping it’d never end.

Fairydale? Nothing is what it seems. Darcy’s stuck between a twisted guy from 1955 and a nobleman from 200 years ago. I can’t say more—go in totally blind.

And Amon. OMG Amon. This Victorian man hits DIFFERENT. Dark, obsessed, possessive, but also poetic as hell. The spice?! I’m blushing just thinking about it.

This love story is literally “I’ll find you in every lifetime.” I’m screaming.

Thanks again to Atria Books, Veronica Lancet, and Netgalley for the ARC!

I am not going to lie, the narration style for this book is...different. BUT!

In a good way!

So the author does put a warning for this particular style in the beginning of the novel. I was still pleasantly surprised. It blends between two different FMCs. The time period is different as well. It's hard to explain, but the author blends it into a dream. I thought I wouldn't be invested, but the way in which the author articulates everything, particularly the characters, is MIND blowing. You can't help but be involed.

Do NOT get me started on the MMC....don't want to spoil anything, but the FMC (one of them ) (*cough cough*) demanding if she made the "tea" for anyone else? Iconic.

The author definitely started my love for this new style of Gothic romance and I recommend ittttttttttttttttt for ANYONE. I can't wait for the new publication!

This story swept me into a world that feels both enchanting and raw with emotion. The heroine’s strength and vulnerability are beautifully intertwined as she navigates a realm full of ancient magic and fractured fairy tales. The friendships she builds are heartfelt and real, and the romance grows with a gentle heat that feels both hopeful and inevitable. The pacing captures that sense of discovery each page revealing a new layer of wonder or heartbreak. The prose is vivid, lyrical, and full of longing.

If you yearn for a fairy tale reimagined with emotional depth, strong characters, and that perfect touch of magic, this novel will stay with you long after you close it.

Fairydale by Veronica Lancet⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️/5 🌶️🌶️🌶️🌶️🌶️/5
Let me start by saying: this book is massive 736 pages of twisted, immersive storytelling. I actually started it twice and had to go back and reread sections because I missed so much and or thought I missed something. Fair warning: that author’s letter at the beginning, It’s not just a heads up, it’s a survival guide. This is a slow burn that will absolutely mislead you on purpose. The first half felt chaotic, like trying to solve a 10,000 piece puzzle blindfolded. I needed pen and paper just to keep up with the 3 timelines and characters. But when it all finally clicked, I was hooked. Everything tied together in the most satisfying way. The world building is exquisite, high fantasy layered with gothic, historical, paranormal, and romantic elements. At times it even felt like a thriller. I know I’ll be thinking about this one for a long time. Set in 1955, we follow Darcy, an orphaned English teacher from Boston who discovers she’s inherited something from her biological father. When she arrives in the eerie coastal town of Fairydale, the mystery begins. Two men draw her attention, but no one gives her straight answers. The truth of the town unravels slowly, across three timelines and through multiple complex characters. This book is not for the faint of heart. It’s very spicy and carries several content warnings, definitely one you should go into blind only if that’s your thing. But for me? I loved it. Fairydale may just end up being my favorite read of 2025. Thank you to @netgalley and @atriabooks for the ARC in exchange for my honest opinion.

Thank you so much to Atria Books, Net Galley and Veronica Lancet for an ARC copy of Fairydale in exchange for an honest review! Overall, I really enjoyed this dark twisty paranormal romance and rated it 4.25 stars!

A quick summary: Darcy O’Sullivan is a teacher for a boarding school who one day receives an invitation to the reading of the will of her father in Fairydale and a ticket to the town with a large amount of money for her travels. The only thing is she does not know her father or where Fairydale is. The whole thing is very suspicious. But after some convincing from her coworker and her former caregivers she decides to travel to Fairydale. Poor Darcy is immediately met with many troubles on her way to the town and even at the actual funeral. And just when she thinks the troubles will end, more strange things begin to occur like the death of some of the townspeople. The one thing that isn’t as troubling is Caleb Hale and as she falls deeper in love with him, she finds herself also falling for another man in her dreams, Amon. Who woos her from centuries ago.

The book is full of addictive mystery. The whole time I had theories about Caleb and why this Amon guy kept popping up. .And all the strange things happening in the town drove my interest to read more and more of Fairydale. Overall, I loved the end of the book and finally seeing Amon get some peace. Also, the lines Amon had when flirting or expressing his love for his girl, wooo! (*fans self*) Talk about a male who would literally burn down the world for her.

As for the structure and plot of the story, I felt like for the most part it flowed very well and was a page turner. Despite the size of the book I devoured the story. There were some parts that did drag in the story but they were still relevant to the plot and it makes sense in the end. I do wish that the ending had been a bit longer, I did feel like that was rushed and I would have loved to have seen more of the magic battle at the end.

The romance is absolutely amazing! In the beginning, I felt like Caleb came on to strong and I was a little worried about his character but he does improve as we learn more. And Amon, the yearning and desire he has for his mate was so strong! I loved every bit of it. His actions were just as strong as his words when he proved his love for her.

Fairydale was a great book! I would definitely recommend it to anyone who loves paranormal and gothic romance.

DNF'ed at the 25% mark. Unfortunately I just don't think that this one is for me HOWEVER I can see how people would love it- maybe I should try again and read it in the fall. I'm just not the biggest fan of super slow burn books over 700 pages.

This book is massive! That being said, I devoured the entire thing and still wanted more after. Loved the creepy vibes and I also really like the title.

I really liked the plot, the setting and the atmosphere of this book. I can definitely see why so many people love it and was honored to receive a copy! I did have a hard time connecting with the characters. The book was long and a little too drawn out for me so it struggled to keep my attention. Definitely could have been a mood thing so I might give it a re-read and do the audio next time! Even though it wasn’t for me personally, I know people who would love it and will be recommending it to them! Thank you again for the opportunity to read and review this story!

What a wild ride. Before reading this book, I highly suggest looking at the Author’s Note. She explains that this is an extreme slow burn with a complex narrative involving a slew of characters and historical references. With that said, the journey is worth it in the end. The love story is beautiful in its full picture. You get pieces and bits as you go that leave a lot of questions; but eventually it is revealed to you. Be prepared for the long haul. The beginning is slow, but it steadily builds momentum. Darcy is called home after her father’s death and starts to unravel her family history a little at a time. If you are looking for a gothic, paranormal romance, this book is for you.