One of the best books I've read so far.
Refusing to finish reading the arc so that I can instead get a actual copy once it is published because hell yeah.

I am not familiar with the “Ballad of Tamlin” folklore, so probably why I couldn’t really get into it. It’s a very well-written story so some might find it entertaining and interesting.

⭐️⭐️⭐️.5 – NetGalley ARC Review

The Changeling Queen is a rich and atmospheric retelling of the Scottish “Ballad of Tam Lin,” blending folklore, romance, and sacrifice. The writing style suits the story well—lyrical and haunting—but at times feels weighed down by repetitive descriptions that slow the pace. The story is strong enough to stand on its own without so much embellishment.

Still, the blend of magic, memory, and emotion makes for an engaging read, especially for fans of authors like Genevieve Gornichec, Holly Black, or Outlander. A beautifully told tale with a few heavy-handed moments.

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

This is a really unique spin on the Tam Lin legend, and I was super intrigued by the premise right away. Bess, a half-fae, half-mortal queen, is caught in a mess of past betrayals and present desperation—and the twist? She’s trying to convince her ex’s current lover to let her kill him. That alone was enough to make me pick this up.

There’s definitely a lot of emotional depth and tension baked into that triangle, and the book had a ton of potential in that regard. But for me, it got a bit bogged down in the writing. The prose leans pretty heavy into being poetic and descriptive, which fits the fae vibes, but sometimes it felt like too much. I found myself wishing it would just let the atmosphere and emotions speak for themselves a bit more.

That said, the world and folklore are genuinely cool, and there are some beautifully written moments. I just think a tighter focus would’ve made Bess’s story land with more impact. If you’re into fae lore and don’t mind a more lyrical, slower-paced read, it might still be worth checking out.

I enjoyed the way that this book was written, although it took a while for me to be immersed in the narrative and how it was structured which I did occasionally find a bit difficult to follow. However, I really liked the depth of the emotions that were shown in the writing and the lyrical way it was written. I also enjoyed how it worked with the original material but from a different perspective and I enjoyed the bittersweet resolution of the plot.

3,5 ✨ So I went into The Changeling Queen really hoping I would love it. It’s a fae fantasy based on folklore history. Based on the description, it seemed like it would be right up my alley. However, this ended up being a dull read for me.

The beginning dragged quite a bit. I started it twice, and I had to give myself grace as I almost DNF’d in the first few chapters because it felt like nothing was making sense. It was so densely written that I had to reread certain parts to understand them. You just read without moving on, if that makes sense.

Bess, I didn't understand frankly because she was in a constant state of indecision plus I couldn't understand her judgment! First of all, this was supposedly a feminist character, but for half of the book, she was following around a man, and then for the other half, she was chasing around 2 more men.

And then there was Thomas, the shepherd king. The illegitimate son that was brushed aside by his father and yet, the moment his dad called him back, he left his life (that we establish he worked super hard to build with no one's help) like nothing else ever mattered. Again these all might be a part of the original folklore story, but I just found too many inconsistencies that honestly frustrated me.

To give the book its flowers I enjoyed 2 things: Firstly, the world and the fairies that were described in a way that’s so lush and vivid that it makes you feel like you are a part of the world initially. Secondly, I appreciated that the author didn’t shy away from the darker side of fairy tales like the discrimination against Bess the changeling and a lot of pain and loss. It’s not a perfect world in any part of the book and I did appreciate that we were shown that.

Still, I wish the story had felt more cohesive. The timeline jumps, the "story-within-a-story" narration with Tam Lin and Janet, and the uneven pacing made things harder to follow, more than they needed to be imo. And honestly, if you’re like me, not familiar with the original Ballad of Tam Lin, a lot of it just felt confusing.

So in the end, I just tried to finish it for the sake of it. There’s a beautiful folklore story in here, but it’s lost under slow pacing, and a confusing structure to me. If you’re really into faerie lore and don’t mind a slower, more introspective kind of fantasy, you might enjoy it. Just don’t go in expecting a fast-paced, fairytale romance because that’s not really what this is.

Thank you to the publisher and Netgalley for the ARC!

The Changeling Queen offers a unique take on the Tam Lin folklore, centering on Bess, a half-mortal, half-fae queen torn between past betrayals and present desperation. The twist is that Bess attempting to convince her lover’s lover to let her kill Tam Lin. The book definitely has undeniable intrigue, and there’s real potential in the emotional complexity layered into that triangle.

However, the novel leans too heavily in its verbosity, often over-explaining what the atmosphere and subtext could have carried more elegantly. The structure of jumping between Bess’s memories and the present, becomes more frustrating than enriching. Instead of deepening the narrative, the back-and-forth in my opinion stalls the momentum and makes it difficult to emotionally invest in either timeline.

While the writing is lyrical (which given the lore of the retelling is fitting) and the folklore foundation is compelling, the overall impact is muddied by the back and forth timeline choices and excessive (yet at times beautiful) descriptions. A more streamlined approach might have made Bess’s journey hit harder.

Warning for folks going into this thinking it is a romantasy, IT IS NOT. Very much NOT. No romance here.

I am not giving this book a rating as I essentially DNF'ed it (read the beginning, got suspicious, read the end) and can't rate the actual quality of the book. I started reading and the vibes were *immediately* off for a romantasy. Poked around some reviews and made the decision to just jump to the end to confirm. Along with being full fantasy, no romance, I think the method of storytelling is one I wouldn't have jived with.

I have a feeling the writing is actually good, the book just is very much not for me. I think this is a story that would appeal to more traditional fantasy readers, especially if you like a darker/more tragic story that plays with folklore.

I loved this. This overall was a good fae story. In a world of fae overload, this is one I would suggest. It is a retelling but done so beautifully.

I love a good retelling of old tales. This was a really well executed new version of the Ballad of Tom Lin. I am obsessed with the fae lore in this.

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

I love a good fae story, and The Changeling Queen offers a classic setup with a few modern twists. The visuals are beautiful, and the deluxe edition formatting is a treat. However, the story itself felt more familiar than fresh.

There’s charm here, but I found myself wanting deeper characterization and more narrative tension. The stakes never felt urgent, and the protagonist’s journey hit expected beats. It’s a solid read, especially for fans of lighter fae fantasy, but it didn’t quite stand out in a crowded genre.

I would have to give this one 3 stars. I was very excited about this book but what held it back from being a higher star rating for me was definitely the verbiage of this book. It just felt so thick and hard to get through at times. I know that the setting is medieval so when the characters are speaking to one another it’s more understandable but for the rest of the book it just felt so thick and hard to get through. I will say that I am not well versed in the ballad of Tam Lin so maybe that would’ve helped some but parts of this book just felt very hard to get through. Once I finally started to get more used to the authors writing style about 70% of the way through I did find reading it much more enjoyable and found myself really wanting to know where the story would go.


Over all I did like the story.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the chance to read it.

I really enjoyed this book. The cover caught my attention and then seeing it was a Tam Lin retelling I wanted to read it as I hadn’t read the folklore before.
I really enjoyed the journey you go on with Bess and The Shepherd for the first half of the book and the small introduction to the fae. When we start the second half I was ready for the story to move on but did feel it progressed too quickly. I really liked her interaction with the Dark fool this gave a much needed dark side to those trickster fae we love!
Overall I enjoyed it and felt it was written well

Beautiful, breathtaking enticing and wonderful in glad to have read this and miss the way reading this for the first time made me feel, thankyou for this chance and this world

Bess is a Changeling who is thrust into a world she is woefully unprepared for because of an ailing human mom and absentee father who treat her terribly. The mom gave her some skills but I won’t give away spoilers. This story is one of self discovery, tragedy, love and loss! Go into it knowing that! The story has good world building and good characters, it bounces around the story line a bit, so pay attention. If you’re into Fae and Changeling vibes then you will like this one!
The FMC struggles to maintain the her relationships due to deep trauma she has suffered and the main MMC protagonist is a wee bit a pot stirring alpha hole. Good magic system and fae court drama prejudice is present.

Overall
4.3 🌟 1.25 🌶️

Beautiful story and well written. Really good describing of the characters and the scenes.
I didn’t know the Scottish legend that the book was based on but I googled it and I am glad that this book helped me to find this story.
Strong female characters yes but I don’t think I could see the feminist that it is described for the story.
However I really enjoyed it. :)

I was really intrigued by the description. Love Quicksilver, Love Outlander... wasn't familiar with Ballad of Tam Lin, but see Acotar was slightly inspired by it.

The very beginning is fun and exciting.... but then starts flash backs, someone going on and on about their history and why they are doing what they are doing... and it just kind of dragged on. Didn't really care for anyone within the story.

You go back to the present, and it's just as annoying. There's some Scottish terms, but that's about as Outlander as you get.... and Quicksilver... is it cause they exist in a human/fae world? I saw no other links. In the end, you just don't care about anyone.

I was hopeful with this one, but after the first few chapters I just don’t feel like it’s my cup of tea

Actual rating 3.5 stars.
Thank you to NetGalley, the publishing company, and the author for allowing me to read this book for free in exchange for my truthful opinion.

Things I didn't like:
I read a few reviews of this before I started reading, and a couple mentioned that they couldn't find the 'feminism' that the marketing promised, and unfortunately, I'd have to agree. I don't think you can slap an abortion (one that didn't even end up happening) into a fantasy book and claim it's feminist. Strong female characters? Sure, but plenty of fantasy novels have those. Feminism needed to be in every facet of this story, the plot built around that value for that claim to be made, in my opinion.
A smaller complaint was that the beginning really failed to hook me, a few times I thought to myself 'why are we still pottering around doing nothing?'. The book should have started with the death of her mother, in my opinion. What was the point of everything before that? And something that's just occurred to me- after she saved the person who was fae-shot, why wasn't Bess distraught at the fact that she could have saved her mother? Just a small character inconsistency, I suppose. Or was she not fae-shot? Idk, that part was honestly a little confusing to me.
Another thing to me that was a bit of a plot hole: why did her shepherd king suddenly care so much about his duty? Sure.. the whole wanting to win his father's respect.. but he left that life once. Why not do so again? He apparently suspected what Bess was the entire time.. why not go to Faery with her? The previous Fae queen's consort was a human too, apparently that's acceptable in this world, so why not go and have political power there instead? Perhaps the ending for him would have been the same anyhow, but I don't know. Doesn't make complete sense to me. They loved each other till the very end. Why not be together until the end? Perhaps their relationship was just a victim of the retelling.

Why it still got 3.5 stars:
Yeah, can't lie, it made me really sad. And so much of me wants to put that as a negative, but that isn't fair, because if it makes you feel that emotion for the characters then it was good writing. Something I'm not in agreement with from other readers is that the love between Bess and her shepherd king was not real or worth her avoiding her fate. I felt their love so deeply. My heart broke when he broke hers, even though we all saw it coming from a mile away. And then shattered when she had to.. iykyk.
The writing itself was beautiful, the world was vivid and the second half of the book kept me thoroughly entertained.

Prior to reading this, I am sad to say I knew nothing about the original folklore of the “Ballad of Tam Lin” so I got a great introduction to the story. My best friend growing up was obsessed with faeries and the Fae, but this was far more enjoyable than I could have imagined. This was all parts romantic, tragic (dare I say?), and immersive.

The story from the perspective of the Changeling Queen herself was so interesting as we usually do not get the side from those who are not the narrator (usually mortals).