It would be criminal to rate this book anything less than 5 stars!
Content warnings:
Language: N/A (if you count referencing someone “cursing under their breath” and whatnot, then there is that too)
Sexual content: Most of the kiss scenes are fairly detailed. It’s not bad, but there is some description. There are also concerns of sleeping together, but it never happens, fade-to-black or otherwise. There are mentions of the fae king using a servant girl as his “play-thing” and needing another.
Violence and Gore: Mentions and scenes of death, near death, mentions and minor descriptions of “remains”, attempted murder, wounds sustained accidentally, mentions of someone getting their hands cut off, and the fae king is very violent, therefore a lot of what he says is… uncomfortable.
This books was AMAZING! Cinderella retellings are not a favorite of mine, and fae DEFINITELY aren’t… but this book is both and I LOVED it!!!!
Starting with Kat, I would die if I were her. Imagine being three different people to the one man you love. First and foremost, she is Lady Kathrine Vandermore, a woman whose late father left her a very large inheritance she can claim upon being 21 years old, so long as she is not married. Second, the Ivy Mask, a rebel of sorts, freeing human slaves from their fae masters. Third, and most recent, she is Nat, a 12 year old servant boy working for the notorious fae Prince… the man hunting the Ivy Mask.
I don’t know how she was able to handle that without having a serious mental breakdown! What’s worse? She is falling for the man sent to kill her!
Do you want to talk about the serious drama in this, bc I do. Obviously I can’t spoil anything, but the stepmother and stepsisters were not like in the stories you’re used to. It’s hard to turn 21 without marrying when your stepmother is forcing you into a marriage with a gross man, even harder when she changes course and promises you to the man you’re supposedly a male servant for!
Kat was a fun character, but I didn’t feel a connection to her until towards the end. While I was mentally screaming for her to tell Rahk everything, I also understand why she couldn’t. It broke me though… when everything came to light. It hurt.
On to Rahk. He is your brooding fae Prince through and through… but he is also not.
I love a man who will risk life and limb for his sister, even if he is trying to kill the person he really has no qualms with to save said sister from a blood-oath with his parents.
Rahk is surprised to find a servant “boy” upon entering the human lands. Rahk is not fooled for a moment however. He doesn’t know Nats other identities, but he knows she is most definitely not a boy.
Being an emissary by day and a hunter by night, things become increasingly more complicated when the Ivy Mask somehow evades his every attempt to catch him.
Want more drama? Kats stepfamily recognizes her, not fooled by her servants attire, forcing Rahks hand in his desire to protect her… and the easiest way is to marry her.
Rahk was torn as much as Kat was in where loyalties lie. I felt awful for him. He doesn’t want to hurt or kill, he doesn’t want to be ruthless, but his parents are forcing him, and he is afraid that is soon who he will be. Life was hard enough without a wife.
I don’t want to explain the whole book and be one of THOSE people (we all know who I’m talking about). I will say, however, that my review has not even scratched the intricacies of this books plot. It is VERY stressful and VERY slow burn, but it is all worth it in the end… mostly.
I don’t want to talk about what happened to a character I loved… so I won’t. I don’t cry over anything though (except the Odd Thomas movie), and it had me in tears. Thank you for breaking my heart 😭
Some quotes really stood out to me. There were plenty of romantic quotes, worry not… but there were also a lot of deep ones.
“It starts as a whisper and ends in a flood”
“Sometimes I wonder if callousness is madness in itself”
These are a couple that are so much more hard hitting in context.
One quote that sums up my feelings for this series is:
“I do hate fae,” she whispers. “But I don’t hate you.”
Can this book be read without reading Bride of the Fae Prince? Yes, it definitely can. Would I recommend it? Not really. A lot of worldbuilding comes in through BotFP, plus characters from that series are mentioned or seen in this book.
I would say this book gets a 14+ age rating. It wasn’t as mature as Bride of the Fae Prince, but I still don’t think a 12 year old should read it unless they’re more mature.
Overall, this is an AMAZING book, and if you want something funny and sweet but also dark and tense, this is your book (just like it was mine). I will be buying the physical copy, 100%!
I received an ARC copy of this book from the author, but all opinions and thoughts are my own!