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Realm of the Fae
He keeps pushing me away. But why do his striking blue eyes say otherwise?
Clara Valenwood thought her new life in the city would finally begin, but everything changes when she receives a mysterious heirloom from her father and a strange map from a dying patient. Soon after, nightmares of a dark and distant world slip into her waking hours.
When an attack pulls her through a portal into the fae realm, Clara meets Ashael, a stoic yet dangerously irresistible warrior fighting against a corrupted queen. Desperate to find a way home, Clara is drawn into the rebellion and discovers that her heirloom holds the key to locating a long-lost artifact capable of saving both realms.
With danger closing in, Clara must face deadly trials alongside Ashael. But just as his walls begin to crack, she confronts a truth she never expected. Home may no longer be where she thought it was.
Clara Valenwood thought her new life in the city would finally begin, but everything changes when she receives a mysterious heirloom from her father and a strange map from a dying patient. Soon after, nightmares of a dark and distant world slip into her waking hours.
When an attack pulls her through a portal into the fae realm, Clara meets Ashael, a stoic yet dangerously irresistible warrior fighting against a corrupted queen. Desperate to find a way home, Clara is drawn into the rebellion and discovers that her heirloom holds the key to locating a long-lost artifact capable of saving both realms.
With danger closing in, Clara must face deadly trials alongside Ashael. But just as his walls begin to crack, she confronts a truth she never expected. Home may no longer be where she thought it was.
429 pages, Kindle Edition
Published December 28, 2025
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 79 reviews
March 8, 2026
You had me at pasalubong. 😱❤️ Opens with nursing life, Pinoy culture, and the promise of ube, I was already invested. Then by the time the author casually introduces a bookstore called Times and Tales (precious!) you’ll want to visit.
This story feels like stepping through a hidden door you didn’t know existed.
The early dream sequences, strange, fleeting previews that foreshadows an adventure to come. It sets the stage for an epic journey.
If you love magical archives, the library scene is a delight. It carries the cozy wonder of stepping into Narnia, mixed with the scholarly curiosity of Emily Wilde’s Encyclopedia of Faeries, and even a touch of mystical grandeur reminiscent of the Tower of Geburah.
The worldbuilding is rich and atmospheric. Around chapter six there’s a bit of history exposition that feels almost Tolkien-esque. It deepens the sense that this world existed long before we arrived in it.
The cultural touches are especially lovely. The hometown enkanto superstitions woven into the story give the magic a lived-in authenticity that makes the fae world feel connected to the real one.
The adventure itself unfolds like an epic D&D campaign, quests, mysterious discoveries, danger, and yes… a love triangle to keep the emotional stakes high. Along the way we get enchanting details like sentient trees that expand on a whim to create cozy shelters with moss-covered beds. Honestly, I would happily move into one.
One of my favourite moments? When the characters have to “burn their burdens.” That scene gave me chills, emotionally powerful and beautifully symbolic. The group adventuring together has that Fellowship of the Rings feel of banding together to save their world.
What makes Realm of the Fae shine most is its descriptive, immersive storytelling. The writing invites you to see, smell, and feel the world around the characters, making every forest path, magical space, and quiet moment vivid.
Overall, this was a five-star literary gem—a beautifully descriptive fantasy adventure that blends folklore, magic, culture, and heart into a story that feels both epic and intimate.
And if every fae realm book comes with ube… I’m absolutely ready for the sequel. ✨📚
Really enjoyed this ARC. Thanks to NetGalley and the Publisher Teal Ink Press for making this book possible! #RealmOfTheFae
This story feels like stepping through a hidden door you didn’t know existed.
The early dream sequences, strange, fleeting previews that foreshadows an adventure to come. It sets the stage for an epic journey.
If you love magical archives, the library scene is a delight. It carries the cozy wonder of stepping into Narnia, mixed with the scholarly curiosity of Emily Wilde’s Encyclopedia of Faeries, and even a touch of mystical grandeur reminiscent of the Tower of Geburah.
The worldbuilding is rich and atmospheric. Around chapter six there’s a bit of history exposition that feels almost Tolkien-esque. It deepens the sense that this world existed long before we arrived in it.
The cultural touches are especially lovely. The hometown enkanto superstitions woven into the story give the magic a lived-in authenticity that makes the fae world feel connected to the real one.
The adventure itself unfolds like an epic D&D campaign, quests, mysterious discoveries, danger, and yes… a love triangle to keep the emotional stakes high. Along the way we get enchanting details like sentient trees that expand on a whim to create cozy shelters with moss-covered beds. Honestly, I would happily move into one.
One of my favourite moments? When the characters have to “burn their burdens.” That scene gave me chills, emotionally powerful and beautifully symbolic. The group adventuring together has that Fellowship of the Rings feel of banding together to save their world.
What makes Realm of the Fae shine most is its descriptive, immersive storytelling. The writing invites you to see, smell, and feel the world around the characters, making every forest path, magical space, and quiet moment vivid.
Overall, this was a five-star literary gem—a beautifully descriptive fantasy adventure that blends folklore, magic, culture, and heart into a story that feels both epic and intimate.
And if every fae realm book comes with ube… I’m absolutely ready for the sequel. ✨📚
Really enjoyed this ARC. Thanks to NetGalley and the Publisher Teal Ink Press for making this book possible! #RealmOfTheFae
January 3, 2026
✨𝑹𝒆𝒂𝒍𝒎 𝒐𝒇 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝑭𝒂𝒆 𝒃𝒚 𝑺. 𝑱 𝑲𝒂𝒅𝒊𝒍𝒆 ✨
𝐴 𝑏𝑒𝑎𝑢𝑡𝑖𝑓𝑢𝑙𝑙𝑦 𝑤𝑟𝑖𝑡𝑡𝑒𝑛, 𝑓𝑎𝑠𝑡 𝑚𝑜𝑣𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑓𝑎𝑒 𝑓𝑎𝑛𝑡𝑎𝑠𝑦 𝑓𝑖𝑙𝑙𝑒𝑑 𝑤𝑖𝑡ℎ 𝑤𝑜𝑛𝑑𝑒𝑟, 𝑑𝑎𝑛𝑔𝑒𝑟, 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑎 𝑤𝑜𝑟𝑙𝑑 𝑡ℎ𝑎𝑡 𝑓𝑒𝑒𝑙𝑠 𝑎𝑙𝑖𝑣𝑒 𝑜𝑛 𝑒𝑣𝑒𝑟𝑦 𝑝𝑎𝑔𝑒
⭐ 4/5 stars | fantasy | fae | magic | adventure | 🅔🅜🅞🅣🅘🅞🅝🅐🅛 |
| Book Series: Realm of the Fae (1/3) |
[ E-BOOK ]
| advance review copy (ARC) |
🧚♀️ General facts about the book
Realm of the Fae is the first book in the Realm of the Fae trilogy and marks an impressive debut by newcomer author S. J. Kadile. I had the chance to read this book before its release, and overall, I truly enjoyed my time with it.
What stood out to me immediately was how different this story felt compared to many other fantasy books. It gave me the feeling of stepping into something new, a fresh world with its own rules, atmosphere, and magic. For me personally, it was incredibly refreshing to experience a fantasy story that didn’t feel recycled.
I did struggle a bit when it came to my final rating. I went back and forth between three and four stars, but in the end, three stars didn’t feel right. The beauty of the world, the creativity behind it, and the clear potential of the series convinced me to give it four stars. I’m genuinely curious to see how the story develops in the next books and hope the wait for book two won’t be too long.
🧚♀️ Story
Clara is a young woman at a crossroads in her life. She works as a nurse and cares deeply for her elderly patients, even though she isn’t entirely sure if this is the path she wants to follow. Still, her patience, compassion, and quiet strength make it clear that she belongs in this role.
Everything changes when she receives a mysterious package from her parents, something that seems harmless at first but quickly raises more questions than answers. As strange events begin to unfold and another unexpected object comes into her possession, Clara is pulled into a journey far beyond anything she could have imagined.Together with Malrik, she is chased, hunted, and eventually pulled into a completely foreign world, a realm where humans do not exist. I absolutely loved this concept. Instead of slowly drifting into another world, the transition feels urgent and dangerous, like being thrown into the unknown without time to process what’s happening.
The fae realm itself is breathtaking. Nature is not just a background element but a living, breathing force. Trees provide shelter and sustenance, magic is woven into the land, and every place feels purposeful. Quotes like “The stories your kind tell are only shadows of the truth” or “Everything in Avenora lives with purpose” perfectly capture the depth and philosophy of this world. The setting often reminded me of something almost Avatar like, vibrant, spiritual, and deeply connected to the environment.
That said, the pacing was one of my main struggles. The story moves very fast. While I usually enjoy fast paced fantasy, here it sometimes felt almost overwhelming. Important moments, training sequences, and emotional beats passed by too quickly. At times, I struggled to fully understand certain terms or magical concepts, which took away some tension, especially during action heavy scenes.
Another issue for me was the sheer number of names and characters introduced early on. Because there weren’t enough meaningful interactions with some of them, I often forgot who was who, even though they were clearly meant to be important. More dialogue and shared scenes would have made it much easier to connect emotionally.
Still, despite these issues, I was deeply immersed. The world, the constant danger, and the wild cliffhanger at the end kept me turning pages and left me genuinely curious about what comes next.
🧚♀️ Characters
Clara is compassionate uncertain brave:
Clara is an emotionally grounded and relatable protagonist. Her doubts, fears, and quiet resilience felt very human. I liked that she didn’t immediately feel powerful or confident, but instead had to adapt quickly to overwhelming circumstances.
Malrik is conflicted loyal emotionally burdened:
Malrik carries a heavy emotional weight throughout the story. He often feels useless or like a burden, even though he keeps pushing forward without complaint. His internal struggle added depth and vulnerability, and I found myself feeling deeply for him, even wishing we had more insight into his perspective.
Asahel is intense guarded emotionally scarred:
Asahel is intriguing and complex. Beneath his harsh exterior lies vulnerability and trauma, which made him fascinating to read about. However, while Clara and Asahel do grow closer, I personally wished for more interaction between them. The foundation for a deeper connection is there, but I wanted more shared moments, conversations, and emotional development to truly feel their bond. With more space to explore their relationship, their dynamic could become something truly powerful in the next books.
🧚♀️ Writing style
S. J. Kadile’s writing is poetic, atmospheric, and often strikingly beautiful. The way the fae world is described makes it feel alive, ancient, and meaningful. Nature, magic, and emotion are deeply intertwined, and the imagery often feels almost cinematic.
Quotes like “Only fools run before they walk” and “The forest does not grow overnight, yet it endures” stayed with me long after reading. They add a philosophical depth that elevates the story beyond a simple fantasy adventure.
At times, however, the pacing of the writing worked against its own beauty. Some scenes, especially emotional revelations or moments of magic, would have benefited from being explored more slowly. Slowing down in those moments could make the impact even stronger.
🧚♀️ Cover & atmosphere
The cover fits the book’s atmosphere perfectly. It reflects the mystical, magical, and slightly otherworldly tone of the story. While reading, I constantly imagined the world in cool tones with blue accents, and the cover captures that exact feeling beautifully.
📌 Realm of the Fae is a visually stunning and imaginative start to a new fantasy trilogy. While fast pacing and limited character interaction held it back from being a five star read for me, the worldbuilding, poetic writing, and cliffhanger ending made me eager to continue the journey.
💬 Do you prefer fantasy stories that move fast, or do you need more time to connect with the characters and relationships
𝐴 𝑏𝑒𝑎𝑢𝑡𝑖𝑓𝑢𝑙𝑙𝑦 𝑤𝑟𝑖𝑡𝑡𝑒𝑛, 𝑓𝑎𝑠𝑡 𝑚𝑜𝑣𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑓𝑎𝑒 𝑓𝑎𝑛𝑡𝑎𝑠𝑦 𝑓𝑖𝑙𝑙𝑒𝑑 𝑤𝑖𝑡ℎ 𝑤𝑜𝑛𝑑𝑒𝑟, 𝑑𝑎𝑛𝑔𝑒𝑟, 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑎 𝑤𝑜𝑟𝑙𝑑 𝑡ℎ𝑎𝑡 𝑓𝑒𝑒𝑙𝑠 𝑎𝑙𝑖𝑣𝑒 𝑜𝑛 𝑒𝑣𝑒𝑟𝑦 𝑝𝑎𝑔𝑒
⭐ 4/5 stars | fantasy | fae | magic | adventure | 🅔🅜🅞🅣🅘🅞🅝🅐🅛 |
| Book Series: Realm of the Fae (1/3) |
[ E-BOOK ]
| advance review copy (ARC) |
🧚♀️ General facts about the book
Realm of the Fae is the first book in the Realm of the Fae trilogy and marks an impressive debut by newcomer author S. J. Kadile. I had the chance to read this book before its release, and overall, I truly enjoyed my time with it.
What stood out to me immediately was how different this story felt compared to many other fantasy books. It gave me the feeling of stepping into something new, a fresh world with its own rules, atmosphere, and magic. For me personally, it was incredibly refreshing to experience a fantasy story that didn’t feel recycled.
I did struggle a bit when it came to my final rating. I went back and forth between three and four stars, but in the end, three stars didn’t feel right. The beauty of the world, the creativity behind it, and the clear potential of the series convinced me to give it four stars. I’m genuinely curious to see how the story develops in the next books and hope the wait for book two won’t be too long.
🧚♀️ Story
Clara is a young woman at a crossroads in her life. She works as a nurse and cares deeply for her elderly patients, even though she isn’t entirely sure if this is the path she wants to follow. Still, her patience, compassion, and quiet strength make it clear that she belongs in this role.
Everything changes when she receives a mysterious package from her parents, something that seems harmless at first but quickly raises more questions than answers. As strange events begin to unfold and another unexpected object comes into her possession, Clara is pulled into a journey far beyond anything she could have imagined.Together with Malrik, she is chased, hunted, and eventually pulled into a completely foreign world, a realm where humans do not exist. I absolutely loved this concept. Instead of slowly drifting into another world, the transition feels urgent and dangerous, like being thrown into the unknown without time to process what’s happening.
The fae realm itself is breathtaking. Nature is not just a background element but a living, breathing force. Trees provide shelter and sustenance, magic is woven into the land, and every place feels purposeful. Quotes like “The stories your kind tell are only shadows of the truth” or “Everything in Avenora lives with purpose” perfectly capture the depth and philosophy of this world. The setting often reminded me of something almost Avatar like, vibrant, spiritual, and deeply connected to the environment.
That said, the pacing was one of my main struggles. The story moves very fast. While I usually enjoy fast paced fantasy, here it sometimes felt almost overwhelming. Important moments, training sequences, and emotional beats passed by too quickly. At times, I struggled to fully understand certain terms or magical concepts, which took away some tension, especially during action heavy scenes.
Another issue for me was the sheer number of names and characters introduced early on. Because there weren’t enough meaningful interactions with some of them, I often forgot who was who, even though they were clearly meant to be important. More dialogue and shared scenes would have made it much easier to connect emotionally.
Still, despite these issues, I was deeply immersed. The world, the constant danger, and the wild cliffhanger at the end kept me turning pages and left me genuinely curious about what comes next.
🧚♀️ Characters
Clara is compassionate uncertain brave:
Clara is an emotionally grounded and relatable protagonist. Her doubts, fears, and quiet resilience felt very human. I liked that she didn’t immediately feel powerful or confident, but instead had to adapt quickly to overwhelming circumstances.
Malrik is conflicted loyal emotionally burdened:
Malrik carries a heavy emotional weight throughout the story. He often feels useless or like a burden, even though he keeps pushing forward without complaint. His internal struggle added depth and vulnerability, and I found myself feeling deeply for him, even wishing we had more insight into his perspective.
Asahel is intense guarded emotionally scarred:
Asahel is intriguing and complex. Beneath his harsh exterior lies vulnerability and trauma, which made him fascinating to read about. However, while Clara and Asahel do grow closer, I personally wished for more interaction between them. The foundation for a deeper connection is there, but I wanted more shared moments, conversations, and emotional development to truly feel their bond. With more space to explore their relationship, their dynamic could become something truly powerful in the next books.
🧚♀️ Writing style
S. J. Kadile’s writing is poetic, atmospheric, and often strikingly beautiful. The way the fae world is described makes it feel alive, ancient, and meaningful. Nature, magic, and emotion are deeply intertwined, and the imagery often feels almost cinematic.
Quotes like “Only fools run before they walk” and “The forest does not grow overnight, yet it endures” stayed with me long after reading. They add a philosophical depth that elevates the story beyond a simple fantasy adventure.
At times, however, the pacing of the writing worked against its own beauty. Some scenes, especially emotional revelations or moments of magic, would have benefited from being explored more slowly. Slowing down in those moments could make the impact even stronger.
🧚♀️ Cover & atmosphere
The cover fits the book’s atmosphere perfectly. It reflects the mystical, magical, and slightly otherworldly tone of the story. While reading, I constantly imagined the world in cool tones with blue accents, and the cover captures that exact feeling beautifully.
📌 Realm of the Fae is a visually stunning and imaginative start to a new fantasy trilogy. While fast pacing and limited character interaction held it back from being a five star read for me, the worldbuilding, poetic writing, and cliffhanger ending made me eager to continue the journey.
💬 Do you prefer fantasy stories that move fast, or do you need more time to connect with the characters and relationships
February 23, 2026
I love fantasy stories, especially ones involving fae. So the synopsis had me wanting to read this story. I just couldn’t get into this one. It’s hard for me to leave things unfinished, especially books. Unfortunately, this was one of the rare times that I did not finish a book. I made it to about halfway through Chapter 6, at around 16% before I gave up. The following are my thoughts on what I did read.
The first chapter starts out strong, with vivid descriptions of Clara’s life in New York City, her job as a nurse at a care home. Mysterious happenings that occur after she returns home and opens a gift that her father sent to her apartment.
The narrative becomes a bit repetitive expressing the same ideas multiple times, slightly different ways. Clara heard a voice telling her to protect and repair something. She receives a box from a patient who seems to know all about her and her family, and who dies shortly after. We are then introduced to Clara’s best friend, Malrik, who seems to take over the story, with convenience after convenience. He is totally cool with all the weirdness, runs a bookstore he inherited that has a book that has bits of information they need, but also not enough, and he knows someone who can get them into a restricted area of the public library, with ZERO notice, that has a book that he knows probably has the rest of the information they need.
It is by introducing this character that the synopsis now becomes misleading. It implies that Clara goes on this journey alone, but she isn’t Malrik travels to the Fae Realm right along with her. So whose story is this? His or Clara’s? Clara seems to just be along for the ride with Malrik taking the lead on things.
By Chapter 5, I was skimming instead of reading properly, hoping the story would start moving, start improving, hoping that we would see Clara taking the lead, but I didn’t see it. I wondered if I was just too tired to do more than skim, so I put it down until I found a time when I was better rested. But it didn’t improve. I found myself skimming again. I just wasn’t feeling it.
The author has inserted real-world images into the story as well, initially to aid in what I assume is the description of the objects Clara received. Which, honestly, to me seems lazy, and a massive disservice to the readers. Are you not able to describe something in depth, and from doing so, trust that your readers will picture what it looks like? After their initial insertion, they appear as scene breakers, which is ridiculous. Most authors use some sort of symbol to mark this, such as ‘~’ or some iteration of that, sometimes something completely custom design relating to a symbol prominent in the story. A lot of novels I’ve read just use double-line spacing.
A lot of the dialogue also felt unrealistic and odd, forced instead of organic.
I feel like the author has a lot of potential; there were some really strong parts but then it lost the charm it had in the beginning. I feel like the story needed a lot more refinement before it went to publication.
The first chapter starts out strong, with vivid descriptions of Clara’s life in New York City, her job as a nurse at a care home. Mysterious happenings that occur after she returns home and opens a gift that her father sent to her apartment.
The narrative becomes a bit repetitive expressing the same ideas multiple times, slightly different ways. Clara heard a voice telling her to protect and repair something. She receives a box from a patient who seems to know all about her and her family, and who dies shortly after. We are then introduced to Clara’s best friend, Malrik, who seems to take over the story, with convenience after convenience. He is totally cool with all the weirdness, runs a bookstore he inherited that has a book that has bits of information they need, but also not enough, and he knows someone who can get them into a restricted area of the public library, with ZERO notice, that has a book that he knows probably has the rest of the information they need.
It is by introducing this character that the synopsis now becomes misleading. It implies that Clara goes on this journey alone, but she isn’t Malrik travels to the Fae Realm right along with her. So whose story is this? His or Clara’s? Clara seems to just be along for the ride with Malrik taking the lead on things.
By Chapter 5, I was skimming instead of reading properly, hoping the story would start moving, start improving, hoping that we would see Clara taking the lead, but I didn’t see it. I wondered if I was just too tired to do more than skim, so I put it down until I found a time when I was better rested. But it didn’t improve. I found myself skimming again. I just wasn’t feeling it.
The author has inserted real-world images into the story as well, initially to aid in what I assume is the description of the objects Clara received. Which, honestly, to me seems lazy, and a massive disservice to the readers. Are you not able to describe something in depth, and from doing so, trust that your readers will picture what it looks like? After their initial insertion, they appear as scene breakers, which is ridiculous. Most authors use some sort of symbol to mark this, such as ‘~’ or some iteration of that, sometimes something completely custom design relating to a symbol prominent in the story. A lot of novels I’ve read just use double-line spacing.
A lot of the dialogue also felt unrealistic and odd, forced instead of organic.
I feel like the author has a lot of potential; there were some really strong parts but then it lost the charm it had in the beginning. I feel like the story needed a lot more refinement before it went to publication.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
February 27, 2026
ARC Review (NetGalley)
A Realm of Fae by S.J. Kadie is an engaging portal fantasy filled with adventure, fae intrigue, and a slow-burn clean romance. Clara’s journey between worlds is immersive, the found-family themes add heart, and the pacing builds to a strong, cliffhanger ending that left me eager for more.
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
A Realm of Fae by S.J. Kadie is an engaging portal fantasy filled with adventure, fae intrigue, and a slow-burn clean romance. Clara’s journey between worlds is immersive, the found-family themes add heart, and the pacing builds to a strong, cliffhanger ending that left me eager for more.
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
December 10, 2025
I really enjoyed this book. Clara is such a relatable and compelling protagonist, and I loved watching her grow as the story unfolded. The relationships—especially the slow, meaningful shifts between the main characters—developed in a way that felt genuine and emotionally satisfying.
The world-building was my favorite part: organic, calm, and full of ancient wisdom. The Aelvor’s slow growth, patient training, and deep connection to their living world created a sense of gentle wonder I found myself wanting to step into. It felt like a place I would truly love to live in (danger aside!).
A lovely escape with heart, magic, and a cliffhanger that has me excited to continue the series.
The world-building was my favorite part: organic, calm, and full of ancient wisdom. The Aelvor’s slow growth, patient training, and deep connection to their living world created a sense of gentle wonder I found myself wanting to step into. It felt like a place I would truly love to live in (danger aside!).
A lovely escape with heart, magic, and a cliffhanger that has me excited to continue the series.
December 8, 2025
This is an upcoming release, and I received an ARC (Advanced Reader Copy). I was completely hooked with the setting, characters, descriptions, and story development right away. I was anxious to follow this story. What I discovered was a land full of adventure and magic, fairies and love, perseverance and mystery. My only reason for 4 stars is the length. It is a very long epic adventure. It did also tend to remind me of Lord of the Rings just a bit with the quest and peril. I won't give spoilers or hints to the ending because I'm sure you'll want to read the next one.
January 1, 2026
Thank you to Netgalley for the ARC!
This book pulled me in right away knowig our FMC is half-Filipino. Whoop!
Over to the journey, the main character’s felt sincere and emotionally grounded with beliefs. The bonds between characters developed respectfully slowly and naturally, which made their interactions feel earned and meaningful.
As a Filipino reader, I felt genuinely represented. The way the protagonist carries a deep sense of care and responsibility for others reflects a core Filipino value that’s often passed down through family and community. That aspect of her character felt real and rooted in lived experience, which made the story resonate on a deeper level.
The world is relatable and easy to get your head around becoming meaningful and emobodies a sense of escape for the reader. Making this story flow naturally. Still, I did find myself wanting a bit more more unexpected turns, or moments of real danger to push the story further and add unpredictability. The cliffhanger saved this series for me.
Overall, this is a impressive debut. It has heart, warmth, and just enough mystery to leave me waiting for book 2.
This book pulled me in right away knowig our FMC is half-Filipino. Whoop!
Over to the journey, the main character’s felt sincere and emotionally grounded with beliefs. The bonds between characters developed respectfully slowly and naturally, which made their interactions feel earned and meaningful.
As a Filipino reader, I felt genuinely represented. The way the protagonist carries a deep sense of care and responsibility for others reflects a core Filipino value that’s often passed down through family and community. That aspect of her character felt real and rooted in lived experience, which made the story resonate on a deeper level.
The world is relatable and easy to get your head around becoming meaningful and emobodies a sense of escape for the reader. Making this story flow naturally. Still, I did find myself wanting a bit more more unexpected turns, or moments of real danger to push the story further and add unpredictability. The cliffhanger saved this series for me.
Overall, this is a impressive debut. It has heart, warmth, and just enough mystery to leave me waiting for book 2.
February 20, 2026
Action, adventure, fast paced with world building. Similar to Avatar but with fairies, centaurs and pixies- while the main character being Filipino - love to see it!
There was a lot going on which grabbed you from the start but also made it a little confusing at times. Pace slowed mid way. Appreciated the world building, the magic system and the multiple POV’s.
Received an advance reader copy of this book- but the review is voluntary. Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley.
There was a lot going on which grabbed you from the start but also made it a little confusing at times. Pace slowed mid way. Appreciated the world building, the magic system and the multiple POV’s.
Received an advance reader copy of this book- but the review is voluntary. Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley.
January 13, 2026
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
This adventure completely swept me away. From the very first chapter, I was hooked by the rich world-building, the magic, and the sense of danger woven through every page. The fae realm feels vivid and alive, and the characters are so easy to become invested in—I found myself thinking about them even when I wasn’t reading.
The story strikes a perfect balance between intrigue, emotion, and fantasy, with twists that kept me turning pages late into the night. I loved the atmosphere, the slow reveals, and the way the plot builds toward an ending that leaves you desperate for more. I can’t wait to see what New York brings now 😉
I absolutely loved this book and cannot wait for the next installment. If you enjoy immersive fantasy with fae, magic, and heart, this one is a must-read.
Thank you to BookSirens for the opportunity to read this arc. All opinions are my own.
This adventure completely swept me away. From the very first chapter, I was hooked by the rich world-building, the magic, and the sense of danger woven through every page. The fae realm feels vivid and alive, and the characters are so easy to become invested in—I found myself thinking about them even when I wasn’t reading.
The story strikes a perfect balance between intrigue, emotion, and fantasy, with twists that kept me turning pages late into the night. I loved the atmosphere, the slow reveals, and the way the plot builds toward an ending that leaves you desperate for more. I can’t wait to see what New York brings now 😉
I absolutely loved this book and cannot wait for the next installment. If you enjoy immersive fantasy with fae, magic, and heart, this one is a must-read.
Thank you to BookSirens for the opportunity to read this arc. All opinions are my own.
March 31, 2026
Thank you to NetGallery and Teal Ink Press for this ARC
And of course S.J. Kadile
This review contains NO spoilers! And all that is said is my honest and non-biased opinion.
I am not going to give spoilers or massive details of what happens in this book. That would be silly and counterproductive!
Release date for this book was 28th December 2025
Rating ⭐️⭐️
This book was okay. It wasn't amazing. The start and cliffhanger were the only things that saved this. I just feel the writer needs help with direction...
A clear structure of what each character is trying to portray, what type of perspective you wish to give the reader, and so on.
After chapter 12, you lost me, the multiple POVs were far too sporadic, I feel they were not needed at all, and they were a last-minute choice to throw in.
The world building and description in the first few chapters were amazing and you really felt the characters personality and traits were coming alive, then it seem to all get lost, characters changed their personalities for no reason, world building was non-existent. I feel that's where better planning would really help.
I did, however, find it extremely easy to start this book. The first few chapters were fine, easy flow, and easy to get into. It was just extremely hard to keep going!
The plot was a little here there and everywhere, and I really didn't feel the story at all. The characters had no true personality, and the 2 MMC frayed my nerves.
I just do not think it was executed very well. However, I would not abandon this author completely, I really think that with time and experience, they can be an amazing go too author for me.
Thank you again to NetGallery, Teal Ink Press, and S.J Kadile
This review contains NO spoilers! And all that is said is my honest and non-biased opinion.
I am not going to give spoilers or massive details of what happens in this book. That would be silly and counterproductive!
Release date for this book was 28th December 2025
Rating ⭐️⭐️
This book was okay. It wasn't amazing. The start and cliffhanger were the only things that saved this. I just feel the writer needs help with direction...
A clear structure of what each character is trying to portray, what type of perspective you wish to give the reader, and so on.
After chapter 12, you lost me, the multiple POVs were far too sporadic, I feel they were not needed at all, and they were a last-minute choice to throw in.
The world building and description in the first few chapters were amazing and you really felt the characters personality and traits were coming alive, then it seem to all get lost, characters changed their personalities for no reason, world building was non-existent. I feel that's where better planning would really help.
I did, however, find it extremely easy to start this book. The first few chapters were fine, easy flow, and easy to get into. It was just extremely hard to keep going!
The plot was a little here there and everywhere, and I really didn't feel the story at all. The characters had no true personality, and the 2 MMC frayed my nerves.
I just do not think it was executed very well. However, I would not abandon this author completely, I really think that with time and experience, they can be an amazing go too author for me.
Thank you again to NetGallery, Teal Ink Press, and S.J Kadile
March 2, 2026
This was a fun, closed-door fantasy with a slow-burn romance with a fae warrior. I felt so immersed in the fae world the author built without the story being heavy on the world building. I loved that it is set in modern times, and the fmc goes through a portal into the fae world. All you know is that the fmc (a human) plays a significant role in keeping the integrity of the veil between the human and fae realms in tact, while an evil queen is set on destroying it. There's action, trials, and multiple pov's, which gives you a look into the mini love triangle going on (*wink wink). I'm looking forward to book 2.
February 28, 2026
The book is a lovely story in which an unexpected group is forged, going on a mission , completing challenges, all to find one of the necessary artefa ts. The characters all have their own strengths and they merge beautifully together. I want to thank Netgalley and the author for the arc I received.
March 3, 2026
I loved everything about this book. It's so descriptive I could see the world laid out before me as Clara went on her adventure, and it is enchantingly beautiful & magical. I can't wait to read the next one. Highly recommended.
January 2, 2026
Realm of fae by S.J. kadile
Released date 28 of December of 2025
I received this book as an arc in exchange for an honest opinion.
Clara Valenwood is a nurse in New York helping elders in their final days but her monotonous live changes when she receives a strange gift from her father and a dying patient the same day. Everything starts to feel like she’s being watch and that there’s more that nobody is telling her. All of the sudden she travels to the realm of faes with no way back and having to participated in the rebellion to defend the forest and the creatures in it.
Opinion:
I flew reading this book it was funny, cozy and remind me of many books and movies.
For me the main characters reminded me of the ones in City and bones by Cassandra Clare with a independiente FM, a nerdy childhood friend that has a crush on her and a irresistible warrior that is difficult to understand at first.
The connection with the forest of Avenora is so well written an easy to read which I pictured as the forest of the movie avatar (pandora).
I was rooting for Malrick for being a sunshine but every interaction that Clara and Ashael had was always interrupted by him and it was frustrating. So now I prefer Ashael for the love interest.
Released date 28 of December of 2025
I received this book as an arc in exchange for an honest opinion.
Clara Valenwood is a nurse in New York helping elders in their final days but her monotonous live changes when she receives a strange gift from her father and a dying patient the same day. Everything starts to feel like she’s being watch and that there’s more that nobody is telling her. All of the sudden she travels to the realm of faes with no way back and having to participated in the rebellion to defend the forest and the creatures in it.
Opinion:
I flew reading this book it was funny, cozy and remind me of many books and movies.
For me the main characters reminded me of the ones in City and bones by Cassandra Clare with a independiente FM, a nerdy childhood friend that has a crush on her and a irresistible warrior that is difficult to understand at first.
The connection with the forest of Avenora is so well written an easy to read which I pictured as the forest of the movie avatar (pandora).
I was rooting for Malrick for being a sunshine but every interaction that Clara and Ashael had was always interrupted by him and it was frustrating. So now I prefer Ashael for the love interest.
January 4, 2026
I got a Earc copy of this book. This book started out good but then if felt like there was so much going on that it was hard to keep track of everything. The multiple POV was not great either. Very sporadic and felt more like an afterthought for people who prefer multiple POV. I will try the next book in hopes that it gets better but I will give it 100 pages before quitting if it is similar.
December 26, 2025
A quest to save the world. In the debut novel by S. J. Kadile, “The Veil: Realm of the Fae”, Clare Valenwood receives an heirloom jewelry present from her father. Then Clare and her childhood friend, Malrik Hawthorne, are transported to Avenora, what legend has remembered as Fae. The two worlds had been connected eons ago until corruption happened and the Veil Gate was closed to protect both worlds. Clare and Malrik join with the Fae of Avenora to find the hidden pieces of the Veil Gate’s key, the Vaelithar, to save both worlds.
I really enjoyed this book and couldn’t put it down. Ms. Kadile has taken many legends, myths, and superstitions and tweaked them so that they have their origins in this fantasy tale. This is a believable story that J. R. Tolkien would be proud of. With this book ending in a cliffhanger, I can’t wait for the next installment of this three part series. Fantasy and mystery lovers should read this book.
I wish to thank Teal Ink Press for the complementary eARC of this book and for selecting me to review it on NetGalley. All opinions are my own.
#TheVeilRealmOfTheFae
#TealInkPress
#NetGalley
#Fantasy
#Mystery
#Romance
I really enjoyed this book and couldn’t put it down. Ms. Kadile has taken many legends, myths, and superstitions and tweaked them so that they have their origins in this fantasy tale. This is a believable story that J. R. Tolkien would be proud of. With this book ending in a cliffhanger, I can’t wait for the next installment of this three part series. Fantasy and mystery lovers should read this book.
I wish to thank Teal Ink Press for the complementary eARC of this book and for selecting me to review it on NetGalley. All opinions are my own.
#TheVeilRealmOfTheFae
#TealInkPress
#NetGalley
#Fantasy
#Mystery
#Romance
December 29, 2025
From review I can see some people really loved this book. For me, personally, not my favourite.
The premise is good. The start is fine. Though why the two items gifted come into Clara’s possession at that moment isn’t clear. The story jumps from NYC to the land of the fae.
At that point there is my bug bear of this type of story. The training phase, which put me off.
Interestingly the ending is good. Leaving me wanting to know what happens as Clara’s search continues.
Thank you to Teal Ink Press and NetGalley for the ARC. The views expressed are all mine freely given.
The premise is good. The start is fine. Though why the two items gifted come into Clara’s possession at that moment isn’t clear. The story jumps from NYC to the land of the fae.
At that point there is my bug bear of this type of story. The training phase, which put me off.
Interestingly the ending is good. Leaving me wanting to know what happens as Clara’s search continues.
Thank you to Teal Ink Press and NetGalley for the ARC. The views expressed are all mine freely given.
Review of advance copy
I got this book as an Arc reader and it's a good story. at first I found it a little rough to follow what was happening but when I really sat down and read it, it turned in to a good story.
Review of advance copy
This is the first fae type book i have read in a while (currently been reading dark gothic romances)
This did not disappoint.
I loved that it was a fae human interaction and that the mystical creatures were realatable to folklores the many of us as children grew up listening to…
ie, Fairies, Pixies, Centars and Even Phoenixes.
And a nod to the classic tale Peter Pan.
The plot of this story had me gripped from the get go.
And the cliffhanger. I usually hate as it leaves me with lots of questions.
But this one, even though i know there is more to be told in book 2, this book actually felt like it had ended without needing to ask questions…. if that makes sense.
I look forward to book 2
I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.
This did not disappoint.
I loved that it was a fae human interaction and that the mystical creatures were realatable to folklores the many of us as children grew up listening to…
ie, Fairies, Pixies, Centars and Even Phoenixes.
And a nod to the classic tale Peter Pan.
The plot of this story had me gripped from the get go.
And the cliffhanger. I usually hate as it leaves me with lots of questions.
But this one, even though i know there is more to be told in book 2, this book actually felt like it had ended without needing to ask questions…. if that makes sense.
I look forward to book 2
I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.
Review of advance copy received from Netgalley
It’s hard for me to give a debut novel, especially one that is being independently published, such a low rating. It’s not something I do often, but this book has some major problems that need to be addressed.
Realm of the Fae follows Clara, a nurse in her twenties trying to make a living in New York City. Clara is given a family heirloom by her father and a mysterious map by a patient. In the process of discovering their meaning, she and her best friend Malrik are transported to an enchanted forest filled with mysteries, faeries, and a battle between good and evil. Clara and Malrik find meaning and purpose, make friends, and go on a quest to save the realm.
There’s a lot I can say negatively about this book, but I want to start with the positives. The few chapters in the beginning that are set in New York had incredible descriptions and felt very tangible. I was impressed by her ability to conjure the sensations of New York City in ways that immediately transported me into that moment.
Clara is a sympathetic protagonist. The scenes in which Clara is mulling her identity and purpose feel authentic to the millennial and Gen Z experience in our modern world. Main characters in Romantasy novels often come across as whiney or annoying, and Clara felt like a modern twenty-something. I found myself wanting her to succeed.
The book starts out by showing that Clara is part Filipino on her mother’s side, and the author uses a Filipino legend as one of the myths they encounter or recall within the faerie realm. I would have liked more representation throughout the story, as the story generally felt like it drew on western mythologies of faeries.
Now, onto the not so good. This book had a number of both minor and major problems.
The dialogue in this book was often stilted. The characters often spoke in ways that felt inauthentic, which was a shame given how well done many of the descriptions were. The characters don’t sound like real people when they talk, they sound like a corny movie script. Everyone speaks as if they are a trope in a way that was really challenging to parse though.
The Point of View of this book was very poorly done. For the first half of the book, twelve chapters, we are exclusively in Clara’s point of view. Then, suddenly, in chapter thirteen, we are given the point of view of Malrik, Clara’s best friend who is in love with her, and Ashael, Clara’s love interest. After chapter thirteen, there are seven more chapters that are from one of the perspective of either of the two men. I can say with confidence that almost none of these chapters were necessary for their character arcs or the story as a whole. They didn’t give us any new insight into the character, they didn’t move the plot in any meaningful way, and they hindered the experience of reading. Either the book should have been multiple points of view from the very beginning, or the chapters should have been rewritten to give those insights to Clara. The only chapters that give any insight to what’s happening outside of Clara’s perspective are Ashael’s section of chapter thirteen where he saves her in the water (though we could have just seen Clara be saved from her perspective, it would have been fine) and Ashael’s experiences for the Nyths in chapter twenty-nine, which hopefully has long term implications, but again, could have been recounted to us. Every other non-Clara point of view was fully unnecessary. Either Clara was watching and can give her insight from her perspective, or the characters are replaying something that we have already seen. I think the Malrik-Clara-Ashael love triangle is actually more interesting if Malrik and Ashael’s perspectives aren’t there and Clara’s own hints are all that we can gather.
Malrik, one of our main characters, was inconsistent at best. At the beginning of the book, especially early after they landed in the Faerie realm, it felt like Malrik had been two separate characters who were combined into one. He would act skeptical, then defensive, then believing. His dialogue was extremely cheesy and disjointed. He didn’t feel like a real person until well into their training montage. Also, Clara and Malrik should both have names that reflect the modern world in New York, so his name should be something more commonplace to provide a nice contrast to the very traditional fantasy-sounding names of all the faeries that our characters meet.
The betrayal at the end of the book was poorly done for the characters as they had been described. It would have been a much more interesting betrayal to have a different character choosing to make the choice. Instead, we have a betrayal by a quite obvious character for an obvious reason. It would have been so much more interesting to have it be any of the other characters in the group, but especially the ones who fought hardest against it.
A list of non-essential items that were poorly done:
- Immediately, the pictures of the pendant and the map made me think I was reading a middle grade book. I genuinely went back to look at the NetGalley listing to see if I had accidentally placed a hold for a children’s chapter book. My six year old’s chapter books have pictures of items so that I know what they look like, my fantasy novels don’t. If the item was so important that we needed a picture of it, then put it on the cover. Having it inside of the book is distracting, especially because the description of it within the page was plenty sufficient. I also really disliked the use of the pendant and the map as delineators within chapters, it felt unnecessary at best and distracting at worst
- In chapter 10, our characters are deciding what to do and we have a direct moment pulled out of Fellowship of the Ring. The whole clan is gathering, with multiple species in play, and characters one by one volunteer to come on the quest. This moment was deeply distracting. I kept expecting someone to yell out “and my axe!” That scene is so ingrained in both fantasy novels and popular culture that it feels like either you’re making an intentional homage or you’re falling into stereotypes, but the homage didn’t feel like it fit with the rest of the book.
- The chapters in this book were inconsistently sized. Chapters one through twelve made up 48% of the book, and chapters thirteen through thirty four make up the latter half. The first twelve chapters were quite long and should have been split into smaller sections. There are breaks within the text, and those should have been used to break the chapters up.
All in all, I hope that this author can make some major changes to the book prior to publication. I think the story as a whole has some promise, but the errors are simply too large to give it any kind of recommendation.
An advanced reader copy of this book was provided to me for free on NetGalley in exchange for my review. All thoughts and opinions are my own.
Realm of the Fae follows Clara, a nurse in her twenties trying to make a living in New York City. Clara is given a family heirloom by her father and a mysterious map by a patient. In the process of discovering their meaning, she and her best friend Malrik are transported to an enchanted forest filled with mysteries, faeries, and a battle between good and evil. Clara and Malrik find meaning and purpose, make friends, and go on a quest to save the realm.
There’s a lot I can say negatively about this book, but I want to start with the positives. The few chapters in the beginning that are set in New York had incredible descriptions and felt very tangible. I was impressed by her ability to conjure the sensations of New York City in ways that immediately transported me into that moment.
Clara is a sympathetic protagonist. The scenes in which Clara is mulling her identity and purpose feel authentic to the millennial and Gen Z experience in our modern world. Main characters in Romantasy novels often come across as whiney or annoying, and Clara felt like a modern twenty-something. I found myself wanting her to succeed.
The book starts out by showing that Clara is part Filipino on her mother’s side, and the author uses a Filipino legend as one of the myths they encounter or recall within the faerie realm. I would have liked more representation throughout the story, as the story generally felt like it drew on western mythologies of faeries.
Now, onto the not so good. This book had a number of both minor and major problems.
The dialogue in this book was often stilted. The characters often spoke in ways that felt inauthentic, which was a shame given how well done many of the descriptions were. The characters don’t sound like real people when they talk, they sound like a corny movie script. Everyone speaks as if they are a trope in a way that was really challenging to parse though.
The Point of View of this book was very poorly done. For the first half of the book, twelve chapters, we are exclusively in Clara’s point of view. Then, suddenly, in chapter thirteen, we are given the point of view of Malrik, Clara’s best friend who is in love with her, and Ashael, Clara’s love interest. After chapter thirteen, there are seven more chapters that are from one of the perspective of either of the two men. I can say with confidence that almost none of these chapters were necessary for their character arcs or the story as a whole. They didn’t give us any new insight into the character, they didn’t move the plot in any meaningful way, and they hindered the experience of reading. Either the book should have been multiple points of view from the very beginning, or the chapters should have been rewritten to give those insights to Clara. The only chapters that give any insight to what’s happening outside of Clara’s perspective are Ashael’s section of chapter thirteen where he saves her in the water (though we could have just seen Clara be saved from her perspective, it would have been fine) and Ashael’s experiences for the Nyths in chapter twenty-nine, which hopefully has long term implications, but again, could have been recounted to us. Every other non-Clara point of view was fully unnecessary. Either Clara was watching and can give her insight from her perspective, or the characters are replaying something that we have already seen. I think the Malrik-Clara-Ashael love triangle is actually more interesting if Malrik and Ashael’s perspectives aren’t there and Clara’s own hints are all that we can gather.
Malrik, one of our main characters, was inconsistent at best. At the beginning of the book, especially early after they landed in the Faerie realm, it felt like Malrik had been two separate characters who were combined into one. He would act skeptical, then defensive, then believing. His dialogue was extremely cheesy and disjointed. He didn’t feel like a real person until well into their training montage. Also, Clara and Malrik should both have names that reflect the modern world in New York, so his name should be something more commonplace to provide a nice contrast to the very traditional fantasy-sounding names of all the faeries that our characters meet.
The betrayal at the end of the book was poorly done for the characters as they had been described. It would have been a much more interesting betrayal to have a different character choosing to make the choice. Instead, we have a betrayal by a quite obvious character for an obvious reason. It would have been so much more interesting to have it be any of the other characters in the group, but especially the ones who fought hardest against it.
A list of non-essential items that were poorly done:
- Immediately, the pictures of the pendant and the map made me think I was reading a middle grade book. I genuinely went back to look at the NetGalley listing to see if I had accidentally placed a hold for a children’s chapter book. My six year old’s chapter books have pictures of items so that I know what they look like, my fantasy novels don’t. If the item was so important that we needed a picture of it, then put it on the cover. Having it inside of the book is distracting, especially because the description of it within the page was plenty sufficient. I also really disliked the use of the pendant and the map as delineators within chapters, it felt unnecessary at best and distracting at worst
- In chapter 10, our characters are deciding what to do and we have a direct moment pulled out of Fellowship of the Ring. The whole clan is gathering, with multiple species in play, and characters one by one volunteer to come on the quest. This moment was deeply distracting. I kept expecting someone to yell out “and my axe!” That scene is so ingrained in both fantasy novels and popular culture that it feels like either you’re making an intentional homage or you’re falling into stereotypes, but the homage didn’t feel like it fit with the rest of the book.
- The chapters in this book were inconsistently sized. Chapters one through twelve made up 48% of the book, and chapters thirteen through thirty four make up the latter half. The first twelve chapters were quite long and should have been split into smaller sections. There are breaks within the text, and those should have been used to break the chapters up.
All in all, I hope that this author can make some major changes to the book prior to publication. I think the story as a whole has some promise, but the errors are simply too large to give it any kind of recommendation.
An advanced reader copy of this book was provided to me for free on NetGalley in exchange for my review. All thoughts and opinions are my own.
February 25, 2026
Realm of the Fae is a YA romantasy, one of my favourite genres, but unfortunately this book just wasn’t for me. I started debating whether to finish it around the 20% mark, and although the story progressed, the things that didn’t jive with me continued until I finally decided to leave it at 36%. Please trust that I did not take that decision lightly; I can count on one hand the number of books I haven’t finished in the last five years.
I really liked the premise: care home nurse Clara receives a mysterious pendant, creatures lurk in the shadows, and she gets transported to another realm. The book description goes on to mention Ashael, a stoic but irresistible warrior embroiled in a rebellion, and that Clara’s pendant is the key to locating an artefact that will save both realms. I didn’t get far enough into the plot to learn of the artefact. I did meet Ashael. Stoic, yes. Irresistible? Not to me. The only thing I learnt about him was that he stares at Clara a lot and that he’s a decent warrior teacher. The fae in this realm are aloof and ethereal, providing Yoda-esque advice regularly. For me, this created quite a divide between the fae and the humans (Clara and her random friend (?) who got transported with her for reasons I never found out – I assume there will be some twist that he is a double agent but I will forever be none the wiser). Clara’s thoughts are fairly basic and unquestioning, she pretty much just accepts without challenge that she can’t go home and thus will join the rebellion. Lots of obvious initial questions are never raised, i.e. the FMC spends over a month in the new realm and appears satisfied with the brief conversation at the beginning – there is no further investigation into the situation. This made it hard to get behind the FMC as an adult with a professional career. It set up a real teacher/student dynamic, and not in the juicy forbidden romance trope way – rather, in the ‘young teen crushing on a teacher much to their embarrassment’ kind of way. That’s a no from me.
Ashael is not the only male fae we meet; in fact, we meet many fae of both genders, each with novel names and unremarkable interactions - so much so that I got lost pretty quickly between who was who. I would have preferred if there had been fewer people to meet all at once and more singular interactions with each character to flesh them out in my memory a little more clearly. If it wasn’t for the book description, I’m not sure I would have realised Ashael was the main love interest. The rare interactions they did have together were limited and did nothing much to form a bond or emotional connection, which added to the teen crush situation.
On the whole, I think the plot would have been better suited to a younger audience (approx. 8 - 12 years). The plot was fairly one dimensional and the pacing (at least up to 36%) was very slow initially then rather rapid. I felt as though I was watching through a window, never fully immersed. This may have been partially due to the very descriptive writing style, particularly once in the fairy realm. This actually took me out of the story, rather than being drawn into a richer experience, as I found myself having to keep track of the bigger picture. Although I feel the plot is suitable for a younger audience, the prose may prove challenging for that age group. That being said, I didn’t experience the same issue at the beginning of the book in Clara’s realm, and I would be open to reading a fully urban fantasy by the same author in the future.
I would suggest that the ideal reader for this book is a young teen with a good level of reading comprehension who loves richly described fairy-tales and prefers not to follow breadcrumbs about what will happen next.
Thanks to S. J. Kadile, Teal Ink Press and NetGalley for providing me with an Advance Reader Copy of the book in return for an honest review. All opinions are my own.
I really liked the premise: care home nurse Clara receives a mysterious pendant, creatures lurk in the shadows, and she gets transported to another realm. The book description goes on to mention Ashael, a stoic but irresistible warrior embroiled in a rebellion, and that Clara’s pendant is the key to locating an artefact that will save both realms. I didn’t get far enough into the plot to learn of the artefact. I did meet Ashael. Stoic, yes. Irresistible? Not to me. The only thing I learnt about him was that he stares at Clara a lot and that he’s a decent warrior teacher. The fae in this realm are aloof and ethereal, providing Yoda-esque advice regularly. For me, this created quite a divide between the fae and the humans (Clara and her random friend (?) who got transported with her for reasons I never found out – I assume there will be some twist that he is a double agent but I will forever be none the wiser). Clara’s thoughts are fairly basic and unquestioning, she pretty much just accepts without challenge that she can’t go home and thus will join the rebellion. Lots of obvious initial questions are never raised, i.e. the FMC spends over a month in the new realm and appears satisfied with the brief conversation at the beginning – there is no further investigation into the situation. This made it hard to get behind the FMC as an adult with a professional career. It set up a real teacher/student dynamic, and not in the juicy forbidden romance trope way – rather, in the ‘young teen crushing on a teacher much to their embarrassment’ kind of way. That’s a no from me.
Ashael is not the only male fae we meet; in fact, we meet many fae of both genders, each with novel names and unremarkable interactions - so much so that I got lost pretty quickly between who was who. I would have preferred if there had been fewer people to meet all at once and more singular interactions with each character to flesh them out in my memory a little more clearly. If it wasn’t for the book description, I’m not sure I would have realised Ashael was the main love interest. The rare interactions they did have together were limited and did nothing much to form a bond or emotional connection, which added to the teen crush situation.
On the whole, I think the plot would have been better suited to a younger audience (approx. 8 - 12 years). The plot was fairly one dimensional and the pacing (at least up to 36%) was very slow initially then rather rapid. I felt as though I was watching through a window, never fully immersed. This may have been partially due to the very descriptive writing style, particularly once in the fairy realm. This actually took me out of the story, rather than being drawn into a richer experience, as I found myself having to keep track of the bigger picture. Although I feel the plot is suitable for a younger audience, the prose may prove challenging for that age group. That being said, I didn’t experience the same issue at the beginning of the book in Clara’s realm, and I would be open to reading a fully urban fantasy by the same author in the future.
I would suggest that the ideal reader for this book is a young teen with a good level of reading comprehension who loves richly described fairy-tales and prefers not to follow breadcrumbs about what will happen next.
Thanks to S. J. Kadile, Teal Ink Press and NetGalley for providing me with an Advance Reader Copy of the book in return for an honest review. All opinions are my own.
Review of advance copy received from Netgalley
⭐️⭐️ ꒰2 stars꒱
꒰young adult | slow-burn romance | no spice | epic fantasy | adventure꒱
unfortunately, this was a dnf for me (at page 52 of 320, up to chapter 6, 17%)
let me start by saying: I wanted to like this one. I love a no spice, slow-burn romantasy. but I fear I may have also been wearing rose-colored glasses when I read the description...
okay, things to remember: this is a debut novel that seems to be self-published (I see through you, "Teal Ink Press"). from my experience reading it, I'm also inclined to speculate that it was self-edited, which is its ultimate downfall. so a fair warning that it reads exactly like what you'd expect a self-published, self-edited romantasy book would.
just a few specific gripes to illustrate my points:
✧ the naming conventions scream 'fantasy name generator dot com' (eg. Clara Valenwood, Malrik Hawthorne, Veylora, Avenora, Ashael)
✧ there were multiple instances where I stopped reading and thought, "what a strange coincidence" (e.g. Clara is from Ohio and moves to New York City, two weeks later her best friend's grandpa, who in a strange coincidence runs a shop in NYC, gets sick and so her best friend has to move to the big city now, too)
✧ the dialogue feels stilted and unnatural. within 10 pages, a character asked the main character "you okay?" twice (it quickly became apparent that the main character being 'not okay' is a theme).
✧ in the first five chapters, there's a fade-to-black "then, there was silence/dark/nothingness/etc." moment where the main character has some sort of strange blink from existence.
✧ this last one is just a nitpick but goodness gracious, I got so mad when the otherworldly super tall forest beings were like, "your names are brief"... because Clara and Malrik are two syllables??? but the fae are called Selandor, Lythara, and Vaelin.
✧ when a different character speaks, please for the love of all that is literary, make it a new line. (eg. "Make yourself at home," Clara murmured. Malrik dropped onto the couch, stretching out his legs. "Already ahead of you.")
✧ why the pictures embedded randomly between paragraphs? I hope that doesn't ship with the debut edition, but considering the debut is SOON, I don't know...
the protagonist is sympathetic. she feels like a real person, even if her name sounds fake. she feels like some of the gen z nurses I've known. her experiences and feelings resonate to me as someone who has worked in healthcare.
the world is set beautifully in the first few chapters, even what little of the fae realm I saw was set up well, but editorial issues made it difficult to stay in the moment and experience the setting naturally.
beyond all my nitpicks and opinions, I guess the real reason I'm so irritated by the lack of decent editing and guidance for this debut novel is that it has POTENTIAL. so much potential. I think it'll do okay as an e-book only release, but if it had just a tad more polish, it could be so much bigger and better (perhaps a re-release of a shiny new edition one day?).
thank you to NetGalley and the author for supplying the ARC of this book.
꒰young adult | slow-burn romance | no spice | epic fantasy | adventure꒱
unfortunately, this was a dnf for me (at page 52 of 320, up to chapter 6, 17%)
let me start by saying: I wanted to like this one. I love a no spice, slow-burn romantasy. but I fear I may have also been wearing rose-colored glasses when I read the description...
okay, things to remember: this is a debut novel that seems to be self-published (I see through you, "Teal Ink Press"). from my experience reading it, I'm also inclined to speculate that it was self-edited, which is its ultimate downfall. so a fair warning that it reads exactly like what you'd expect a self-published, self-edited romantasy book would.
just a few specific gripes to illustrate my points:
✧ the naming conventions scream 'fantasy name generator dot com' (eg. Clara Valenwood, Malrik Hawthorne, Veylora, Avenora, Ashael)
✧ there were multiple instances where I stopped reading and thought, "what a strange coincidence" (e.g. Clara is from Ohio and moves to New York City, two weeks later her best friend's grandpa, who in a strange coincidence runs a shop in NYC, gets sick and so her best friend has to move to the big city now, too)
✧ the dialogue feels stilted and unnatural. within 10 pages, a character asked the main character "you okay?" twice (it quickly became apparent that the main character being 'not okay' is a theme).
✧ in the first five chapters, there's a fade-to-black "then, there was silence/dark/nothingness/etc." moment where the main character has some sort of strange blink from existence.
✧ this last one is just a nitpick but goodness gracious, I got so mad when the otherworldly super tall forest beings were like, "your names are brief"... because Clara and Malrik are two syllables??? but the fae are called Selandor, Lythara, and Vaelin.
✧ when a different character speaks, please for the love of all that is literary, make it a new line. (eg. "Make yourself at home," Clara murmured. Malrik dropped onto the couch, stretching out his legs. "Already ahead of you.")
✧ why the pictures embedded randomly between paragraphs? I hope that doesn't ship with the debut edition, but considering the debut is SOON, I don't know...
the protagonist is sympathetic. she feels like a real person, even if her name sounds fake. she feels like some of the gen z nurses I've known. her experiences and feelings resonate to me as someone who has worked in healthcare.
the world is set beautifully in the first few chapters, even what little of the fae realm I saw was set up well, but editorial issues made it difficult to stay in the moment and experience the setting naturally.
beyond all my nitpicks and opinions, I guess the real reason I'm so irritated by the lack of decent editing and guidance for this debut novel is that it has POTENTIAL. so much potential. I think it'll do okay as an e-book only release, but if it had just a tad more polish, it could be so much bigger and better (perhaps a re-release of a shiny new edition one day?).
thank you to NetGalley and the author for supplying the ARC of this book.
February 3, 2026
Many thanks to NetGalley for providing me with eARC access for review.
Strong worldbuilding, slow-burn, and a refreshing protagonist.
This was a solid debut with wonderful worldbuilding with an intriguing mystery. Clara was a refreshing protagonist, coming across as a warm healer instead of a war-ready, battle-hungry warrior. One of this story’s strongest points is its worldbuilding, which stood out from the beginning and made both the world and magic system feel unique. I especially enjoyed the many different types of fae, along with the puzzles and problem-solving that Clara and the crew encountered.
I struggled with the first half of this book. The pacing at the start felt rushed, followed by an overly long training sequence. The story leans into the chosen-one narrative and hints at a potential love triangle for book two, which has the potential to work out very well. At around 50% through, once Clara was on her quest, I became invested with the world and fae. I wasn't a big fan of the multi-pov in this book. I’d have preferred to remain solely with Clara, as the jumps between Malrik and Ashael’s povs lessened the tension between them. Experiencing the males' povs removed the mystery of their characters which I had been enjoying up until that point.
I was torn rating this book between 3 or 4 stars. Ideally I’d rate it a 3.5-3.75 star book. However, my love for its worldbuilding, the games, and the variety of fae ultimately pushed this to a 4-star review. I do hope future books include a reference guide for the various creatures and fae, as it was sometimes difficult to keep track of them all. The mermaid tail on the cover had me alert for a fish-tailed friend so I’m curious as to if that leads anywhere… I’m excited to see where it continues in book two, especially with the ending.
Strong worldbuilding, slow-burn, and a refreshing protagonist.
This was a solid debut with wonderful worldbuilding with an intriguing mystery. Clara was a refreshing protagonist, coming across as a warm healer instead of a war-ready, battle-hungry warrior. One of this story’s strongest points is its worldbuilding, which stood out from the beginning and made both the world and magic system feel unique. I especially enjoyed the many different types of fae, along with the puzzles and problem-solving that Clara and the crew encountered.
I struggled with the first half of this book. The pacing at the start felt rushed, followed by an overly long training sequence. The story leans into the chosen-one narrative and hints at a potential love triangle for book two, which has the potential to work out very well. At around 50% through, once Clara was on her quest, I became invested with the world and fae. I wasn't a big fan of the multi-pov in this book. I’d have preferred to remain solely with Clara, as the jumps between Malrik and Ashael’s povs lessened the tension between them. Experiencing the males' povs removed the mystery of their characters which I had been enjoying up until that point.
I was torn rating this book between 3 or 4 stars. Ideally I’d rate it a 3.5-3.75 star book. However, my love for its worldbuilding, the games, and the variety of fae ultimately pushed this to a 4-star review. I do hope future books include a reference guide for the various creatures and fae, as it was sometimes difficult to keep track of them all. The mermaid tail on the cover had me alert for a fish-tailed friend so I’m curious as to if that leads anywhere… I’m excited to see where it continues in book two, especially with the ending.
April 4, 2026
First of all: thank you, NetGalley and Teal Ink Press, for a digital copy in exchange for my honest review.
The first few chapters had me intrigued since it was so fast-paced and full of action. Clara gets her hands on her family heirloom and the map and they seem to be connected. For me, it also raised a lot of questions about Clara's family and her patient, but unfortunately, I didn't get any answers... Of course, Clara also wants answers, but she and her best friend Malrik mostly focus on the objects itself. Malrik, a bookstore-owner, seems to accept the weirdness of everything without any hesitation... Even when he and Clara suddenly wind up in a totally different realm.
Clara and Malrik end up in Avenora, a fae realm. And from that point on, I noticed losing interest in the story. There were so many characters introduced, stories told... but without much depth or a lot of conversation. Which made it hard to connect and remember all the names, even of rather important characters.
Despite it still being rather fast-paced, this made the first 40% of the book feel slow to me... I feel like more dialogue and focusing on emotional depth could have prevented that.
Luckily, I got more immersed into the story once Clara, Malrik, Ashael, and the others progressed on their quest. I really liked how other creatures were a part of different parts of the quest because it also showed how big the realm is.
I really liked the whole "love"-triangle situation between Clara, Malrik, and Ashael. It was overly obvious at certain points, even if it wasn't obvious for them. It was excruciatingly slow, though, compared to the pace of everything else that was happening.
The cliffhanger and my questions about Clara's family and her patient have made me curious about the second instalment.
The first few chapters had me intrigued since it was so fast-paced and full of action. Clara gets her hands on her family heirloom and the map and they seem to be connected. For me, it also raised a lot of questions about Clara's family and her patient, but unfortunately, I didn't get any answers... Of course, Clara also wants answers, but she and her best friend Malrik mostly focus on the objects itself. Malrik, a bookstore-owner, seems to accept the weirdness of everything without any hesitation... Even when he and Clara suddenly wind up in a totally different realm.
Clara and Malrik end up in Avenora, a fae realm. And from that point on, I noticed losing interest in the story. There were so many characters introduced, stories told... but without much depth or a lot of conversation. Which made it hard to connect and remember all the names, even of rather important characters.
Despite it still being rather fast-paced, this made the first 40% of the book feel slow to me... I feel like more dialogue and focusing on emotional depth could have prevented that.
Luckily, I got more immersed into the story once Clara, Malrik, Ashael, and the others progressed on their quest. I really liked how other creatures were a part of different parts of the quest because it also showed how big the realm is.
I really liked the whole "love"-triangle situation between Clara, Malrik, and Ashael. It was overly obvious at certain points, even if it wasn't obvious for them. It was excruciatingly slow, though, compared to the pace of everything else that was happening.
The cliffhanger and my questions about Clara's family and her patient have made me curious about the second instalment.
Review of advance copy received from Netgalley
Realm of the Fae by S.J. Kadile was a really solid and enjoyable debut that pulled me in pretty quickly. We follow Clara, a nurse living in New York whose very normal, real-world life gets completely flipped after a dying patient gives her a mysterious map and she inherits a strange heirloom from her father. What starts as unsettling dreams turns into her being literally dragged into the fae realm — and from there, things spiral fast.
I really loved the contrast between Clara’s grounded, human perspective and the dangerous, magical chaos of the fae world. The fae atmosphere is immersive and dreamy, but there’s always this underlying sense of danger. The lore surrounding the corrupted queen, the rebellion, and the long-lost artifact kept me invested, and I liked how Clara’s background as a nurse influenced how she handled situations — compassion, problem-solving, and trying to keep people alive even when everything is going wrong.
That said, there were a few moments where the pacing felt a little uneven, and I found myself wanting a bit more depth in certain areas, especially when it came to character development. Nothing that ruined the experience for me, but enough to keep this at a strong four stars instead of five.
Overall, this was a fun, promising start from a debut author, and I’m definitely curious to see where the series goes next. If you love fae fantasy with a modern human twist, rebellion vibes, and that dreamy-but-dangerous energy, this one is worth checking out. ✨🧚♀️
Thank you to the author and NetGalley for the ARC. 🥰
cw: (Moderate) Death, Dementia, Injury, Violence; (Mild) Cancer, Medical content, Sexism
I really loved the contrast between Clara’s grounded, human perspective and the dangerous, magical chaos of the fae world. The fae atmosphere is immersive and dreamy, but there’s always this underlying sense of danger. The lore surrounding the corrupted queen, the rebellion, and the long-lost artifact kept me invested, and I liked how Clara’s background as a nurse influenced how she handled situations — compassion, problem-solving, and trying to keep people alive even when everything is going wrong.
That said, there were a few moments where the pacing felt a little uneven, and I found myself wanting a bit more depth in certain areas, especially when it came to character development. Nothing that ruined the experience for me, but enough to keep this at a strong four stars instead of five.
Overall, this was a fun, promising start from a debut author, and I’m definitely curious to see where the series goes next. If you love fae fantasy with a modern human twist, rebellion vibes, and that dreamy-but-dangerous energy, this one is worth checking out. ✨🧚♀️
Thank you to the author and NetGalley for the ARC. 🥰
cw: (Moderate) Death, Dementia, Injury, Violence; (Mild) Cancer, Medical content, Sexism
January 11, 2026
📝 Overall Thoughts: I’m glad I stuck with this one, because my overall enjoyment changed about halfway in and I wound up getting invested in the second half of the book.
👍 What I enjoyed: Amazingly vivid and thorough descriptions! A high-stakes quest filled with potentially deadly trials as the group tries to fight an evil taking over a realm. Found family vibes. The extremely slow burn between the FMC and Ashael, while Malrik (FMC’s bestie) is beginning to realize he may have more feelings for her than just friendship. Is this going to be a why choose theme?? The ending was fraught with peril and tension and left you in suspense of what would happen next… a good lead up to wanting book 2!
👎 What I didn’t like: Clara & Malrik needed more depth/more character development, especially in the first half of the story. For quite some time during the story the conversations between Clara and Malrick felt very odd/unnatural. It didn’t flow the way it should between two best friends considering the situation they found themselves in. - The verbal descriptions were done quite well, so I felt it wasn’t necessary to have pictures in the ebook towards the beginning, for me it was a bit distracting, but I suppose others may appreciate the images.
My Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ 4/5
Spice Level: 🌶️ 1/5
Action & Adventure Level: 🎬🎬🎬🎬🎬 5/5
- Third person POV/Multiple POV
- Potential why choose?
- Found family
- Nurse FMC
- Best friend MMC
- Fae secondary MMC
- Protective MMC’s
- Bipoc rep
- Quests/trials
- Good vs evil
- Variety of creatures
- Crossing realms
- 1st in a series
Thank you to NetGally and Teal Ink Press for this ARC in return for my honest review.
👍 What I enjoyed: Amazingly vivid and thorough descriptions! A high-stakes quest filled with potentially deadly trials as the group tries to fight an evil taking over a realm. Found family vibes. The extremely slow burn between the FMC and Ashael, while Malrik (FMC’s bestie) is beginning to realize he may have more feelings for her than just friendship. Is this going to be a why choose theme?? The ending was fraught with peril and tension and left you in suspense of what would happen next… a good lead up to wanting book 2!
👎 What I didn’t like: Clara & Malrik needed more depth/more character development, especially in the first half of the story. For quite some time during the story the conversations between Clara and Malrick felt very odd/unnatural. It didn’t flow the way it should between two best friends considering the situation they found themselves in. - The verbal descriptions were done quite well, so I felt it wasn’t necessary to have pictures in the ebook towards the beginning, for me it was a bit distracting, but I suppose others may appreciate the images.
My Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ 4/5
Spice Level: 🌶️ 1/5
Action & Adventure Level: 🎬🎬🎬🎬🎬 5/5
- Third person POV/Multiple POV
- Potential why choose?
- Found family
- Nurse FMC
- Best friend MMC
- Fae secondary MMC
- Protective MMC’s
- Bipoc rep
- Quests/trials
- Good vs evil
- Variety of creatures
- Crossing realms
- 1st in a series
Thank you to NetGally and Teal Ink Press for this ARC in return for my honest review.
January 23, 2026
My thanks to the publisher Teal Ink Press and NetGalley for the eARC!
I enjoyed reading this book.
Clara Valenwood is a nurse in NYC. Her dad's always gone on about she has a special name, but you know, it's just a dad thing that he says and she pretty much ignores it. Then on her birthday, he gifts her a necklace that's been passed down through the family, and that's when things start to get weird!
Clara and her best friend Malrik end up in the realm of the fae and are pulled in to a fight for the fae to defend their home and way of life from evil forces.
This was a fun read and I enjoyed the world-building aspects of it! I really want to know more.
Some parts of the story were a little predictable, but that was okay, I enjoyed it regardless!
The relationship-aspect is slow and not rushed. Yes, there's somewhat of a love-triangle, but I really enjoyed that there's no bitterness or jealousy there. Everyone is really respectful of each other.
I enjoyed the multiple POVs too. It's mostly told from Clara's POV, but getting chapter's from Malrik and Ashael at times really helped with the pace of the story, and getting glimpses of the character's mind!
I do wish we'd gotten more information about the importance of Clara's name in this book, but I've a feeling we'll be hearing more about it in book 2.
I was really really looking forward to the characters getting to their destination at the end of the book, but now I gotta wait for book 2 to see how that plays out! Gutted.
Overall a nice, easy, fun read with a cliffhanger ending. Looking forward to book two!
I enjoyed reading this book.
Clara Valenwood is a nurse in NYC. Her dad's always gone on about she has a special name, but you know, it's just a dad thing that he says and she pretty much ignores it. Then on her birthday, he gifts her a necklace that's been passed down through the family, and that's when things start to get weird!
Clara and her best friend Malrik end up in the realm of the fae and are pulled in to a fight for the fae to defend their home and way of life from evil forces.
This was a fun read and I enjoyed the world-building aspects of it! I really want to know more.
Some parts of the story were a little predictable, but that was okay, I enjoyed it regardless!
The relationship-aspect is slow and not rushed. Yes, there's somewhat of a love-triangle, but I really enjoyed that there's no bitterness or jealousy there. Everyone is really respectful of each other.
I enjoyed the multiple POVs too. It's mostly told from Clara's POV, but getting chapter's from Malrik and Ashael at times really helped with the pace of the story, and getting glimpses of the character's mind!
I do wish we'd gotten more information about the importance of Clara's name in this book, but I've a feeling we'll be hearing more about it in book 2.
I was really really looking forward to the characters getting to their destination at the end of the book, but now I gotta wait for book 2 to see how that plays out! Gutted.
Overall a nice, easy, fun read with a cliffhanger ending. Looking forward to book two!
December 7, 2025
I recieved an ARC of this book in exchange for honest review.
Absolutely Captivating. A Fresh, Thrilling Romantasy Adventure
Realm of the Fae pulled me in from the very first chapter. S.J. Kadile builds a world that feels enchanting, dangerous, and full of surprises, and the story stays centered on emotion, discovery, and a beautifully paced slow-burn romance.
Clara Valenwood is a heroine who is easy to root for. She is quietly brave, genuinely curious, and written with a depth that makes her feel real. Following her into Avenora feels like stepping into another world with her. Each chapter reveals new lore, new scenery, and new layers to the mystery that surrounds her family and the Vaelithar shard.
The chemistry between Clara, Ashael, and Malrik is wonderfully done. The tension grows naturally and never overshadows the adventure. Their relationships feel meaningful and add an emotional pull that makes the story even stronger. The moment when Clara and Ashael almost kiss is timed perfectly and left me eager for more.
The quest elements are exciting and blend well with the story’s magical atmosphere. The trials, the dangers, and the presence of Veylora give the book a steady sense of rising stakes. By the time the first shard is found, the story becomes impossible to put down.
The ending delivers a powerful mix of triumph and mystery, and it left me counting the days until the next book. If you enjoy romantasy with rich worldbuilding, heartfelt character journeys, and an engaging sense of adventure, Realm of the Fae is a must read
Absolutely Captivating. A Fresh, Thrilling Romantasy Adventure
Realm of the Fae pulled me in from the very first chapter. S.J. Kadile builds a world that feels enchanting, dangerous, and full of surprises, and the story stays centered on emotion, discovery, and a beautifully paced slow-burn romance.
Clara Valenwood is a heroine who is easy to root for. She is quietly brave, genuinely curious, and written with a depth that makes her feel real. Following her into Avenora feels like stepping into another world with her. Each chapter reveals new lore, new scenery, and new layers to the mystery that surrounds her family and the Vaelithar shard.
The chemistry between Clara, Ashael, and Malrik is wonderfully done. The tension grows naturally and never overshadows the adventure. Their relationships feel meaningful and add an emotional pull that makes the story even stronger. The moment when Clara and Ashael almost kiss is timed perfectly and left me eager for more.
The quest elements are exciting and blend well with the story’s magical atmosphere. The trials, the dangers, and the presence of Veylora give the book a steady sense of rising stakes. By the time the first shard is found, the story becomes impossible to put down.
The ending delivers a powerful mix of triumph and mystery, and it left me counting the days until the next book. If you enjoy romantasy with rich worldbuilding, heartfelt character journeys, and an engaging sense of adventure, Realm of the Fae is a must read
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
Review of advance copy received from Netgalley
This was an ARC that I found while being assigned a different ARC and the cover captured me (fae anything? yay!) it was really intriguing and thoughtfully written story. One of the elements I appreciated most was how Clara begins firmly rooted in the modern world before being pulled into the fae realm. That contrast made her displacement feel believable and grounded, and it added an extra layer of tension as she tried to navigate a world that operated on entirely different rules (it also was really cool - can that happen to me!? Haha)
Clara herself is a strong and engaging main character, and her reactions felt realistic rather than rushed or overly convenient. I enjoyed watching her adapt, learn, and slowly come into her own as the story unfolded. The connections she forms (especially with Ashael) develop gradually, which gave their interactions more weight and made the emotional moments feel earned.
The fae realm stood out for its quieter, more deliberate pacing. Instead of overwhelming the reader, the world revealed itself slowly through training, history, and lived experience, which made it feel rich and intentional. I found myself genuinely curious about the deeper lore and where the rebellion, the artifacts, and the larger conflicts are headed.
While this book left me with questions, that’s also why I’m interested in continuing the series. It feels like a strong foundation rather than a complete picture, and I’m invested enough to want to see how the story expands from here. A solid, imaginative read with a unique blend of modern fantasy and fae mythology.
Clara herself is a strong and engaging main character, and her reactions felt realistic rather than rushed or overly convenient. I enjoyed watching her adapt, learn, and slowly come into her own as the story unfolded. The connections she forms (especially with Ashael) develop gradually, which gave their interactions more weight and made the emotional moments feel earned.
The fae realm stood out for its quieter, more deliberate pacing. Instead of overwhelming the reader, the world revealed itself slowly through training, history, and lived experience, which made it feel rich and intentional. I found myself genuinely curious about the deeper lore and where the rebellion, the artifacts, and the larger conflicts are headed.
While this book left me with questions, that’s also why I’m interested in continuing the series. It feels like a strong foundation rather than a complete picture, and I’m invested enough to want to see how the story expands from here. A solid, imaginative read with a unique blend of modern fantasy and fae mythology.
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