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Faetality: Book One of The Bayton Fae
Jessie is a streetwise faery, trapped in the urban sprawl of Bayton. Forced into a life of gig and sex work after being a ward of the state, her only saving grace is an expensive education paid for by the guilt of her paternal grandmother. When people start going missing after taking a new street drug, her dealer Stevie asks her for help. In exchange she gets her own room for the first time in her life and some of Stevie's best offerings.
Now she must liaise between three local gang lords who are highly belligerent toward each other, suspicious fellow addicts and the other ladies of the streets. When she meets the stunning sister of one of the victims, Jessie finds herself driven to distraction. Meanwhile Damien, the gang leader of Central Bayton has taken to giving her gifts and showing up in her path regularly. Can Jessie manage her own addiction, burgeoning love and the steadily rising body count before she becomes a target?
Ysadora Sonderling is a disabled, Indigenous and queer author currently based in Perth, Western Australia. They reside there with two cats and a man who seems content to hang around in this chaos. They are also studying and working on top of writing, as well as running Sonderling Publishing House and Three Morrigna.
Now she must liaise between three local gang lords who are highly belligerent toward each other, suspicious fellow addicts and the other ladies of the streets. When she meets the stunning sister of one of the victims, Jessie finds herself driven to distraction. Meanwhile Damien, the gang leader of Central Bayton has taken to giving her gifts and showing up in her path regularly. Can Jessie manage her own addiction, burgeoning love and the steadily rising body count before she becomes a target?
Ysadora Sonderling is a disabled, Indigenous and queer author currently based in Perth, Western Australia. They reside there with two cats and a man who seems content to hang around in this chaos. They are also studying and working on top of writing, as well as running Sonderling Publishing House and Three Morrigna.
172 pages, Kindle Edition
Published February 14, 2026
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Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews
Review of advance copy received from Author
3⭐️ 2🌶
This was an interesting urban fantasy. Jessie is fae and is also an addict. There is a new drug taking over this city. It causes people to walk away and disappear. I don't want to give too much away. The story starts slowly but then picks up rather quickly. I found this book enjoyable it was a rather fast read. There are a few holes or skips but it didn't detract from the overall story. I will be looking for the next offering in this world.
tropes and triggers: Found Family, polyamory, drug addiction, prostitution
This was an interesting urban fantasy. Jessie is fae and is also an addict. There is a new drug taking over this city. It causes people to walk away and disappear. I don't want to give too much away. The story starts slowly but then picks up rather quickly. I found this book enjoyable it was a rather fast read. There are a few holes or skips but it didn't detract from the overall story. I will be looking for the next offering in this world.
tropes and triggers: Found Family, polyamory, drug addiction, prostitution
Review of advance copy received from Author
"Well, there's something magickal going on, and I guess it isn't good."
— Jessie.
💚 A half-fae FMC who’s a sex "worker"
💚 First person single POV
💚 FFM relationship with two opposite lovers
💚 Diverse characters
💚 She’s high af 23/6
💚 Everybody’s a little angsty
💚 Amazon women!
For a book that made me hesitate to apply for the ARC, Faetality turned out to be a delightful surprise! 🥰
You know how some authors describe their FMCs as "sunshine", "grumpy", or "wallflower but will find her strength" etc? Well in this book, Jessie is none of that. She’s much worse. She’s more. She’s a mess, but obviously the hot one 🔥😏 If you think all fae look like majestic critters aka tall, speaking in riddles, living in forests with magic mirrors, then you haven’t met the faeries of Bayton City!
It’s such a refreshing take to see fae described as small and short, because in most romantasy books now fae seem to come with like, a standard template?? 🤔 Jessie is far from perfect: she’s an addict, she’s numb, she won’t comfort you when you cry because she doesn’t know how, and she doesn’t instantly want to change just because of the ✨ power of love ✨ Diving into the plot through a drug addict’s head is such a rollercoaster. It’s worrying. It’s interesting. It makes you want to shake her shoulders and yell at her to stop taking pills and maybe eat some cookies instead! 😩
Maybe it’s because I read an omegaverse book right before this, but I found it really cute that the fae characteristics in Faetality kind of reminded me of omegas. They’re small, they like sweets, and Jessie definitely has something like nesting behavior, but she had some clever magic too! 😏 I don’t usually like sex worker plots because they often put the girls in danger, but here, Jessie’s magic is actually really useful for her!
The magic system is so unique, blending urban elements with fae illusions. There are phones, the internet, and "radiation", but also a hidden library that only opens with a trick that made me want to try it at my local library ... If only I weren’t afraid of scaring the librarians 🙂
I love that poly is something normal among the fae, and it made Jessie isn’t some special exception. Though I still feel like I need a bit more explanation, I appreciate that the author made the love interests not only different in personality, but also in race. As a fellow Asian, hi there Damien 👋😍 I wish his culture would be explored more in the next books!
Thank goodness Damien isn’t some shadow daddy type who acts like he knows better than Jessie. He actually lets her lead, trusts her, and respects her job! That’s boyfriend material right there 😉And most importantly: he doesn’t stay grumpy because ughh I hate grumpy men 🙂 The way he softens toward Jessie is enough for me to ignore his ... Mmm dialect (?). I think I’ve read too many American English books because I struggled with the Bayton accent here. it sounds kind of like cowboy speech? Idk bruh it’s funny and confusing at the same time 😭
Martina, on the other hand, is such a sweetheart! She and Jessie didn't need to announce "I’m a lesbian!" out loud, but you can feel them slowly falling for each other, and it’s so lovely 🥺 I can’t wait for them to realize their feelings, like, yeah, just kiss already! 😡 Martina + Jessie romance is the biggest factor that makes this story interesting! While Damien is great, he wouldn’t be enough to hook me alone. Hooray for sapphic awakening 🥰
That said, a side character, Martine, completely stole my attention! It’s kind of ironic how people assume he’s gay, only for his sister to be the one who fell for a woman??? Every time I think about it, I chuckle 😂 He and Sadie's story would make a cute companion novella, especially with Sadie’s disability. I mean, can you imagine two junkies trying to communicate through sign language? 🥺 That would be a sad, tender, and healing journey. Dear author, if you ever want to expand their story, please don’t hesitate! Oh, not to mentioned Stevie's story too 😳 and ofc Deanna!
Honestly, just give me all of those Amazon women. The ending, where the sex workers kicked some "goddesses'" asses, was so fun! I would gladly devour everything about their backgrounds, especially the redheaded pixie! ❣️
But don’t forget what you said about there being cute dates between the girls. You promised me that on fb and yes, I REMEMBER. Give me more of those date scenes, or else .... 💀
— Jessie.
💚 A half-fae FMC who’s a sex "worker"
💚 First person single POV
💚 FFM relationship with two opposite lovers
💚 Diverse characters
💚 She’s high af 23/6
💚 Everybody’s a little angsty
💚 Amazon women!
For a book that made me hesitate to apply for the ARC, Faetality turned out to be a delightful surprise! 🥰
You know how some authors describe their FMCs as "sunshine", "grumpy", or "wallflower but will find her strength" etc? Well in this book, Jessie is none of that. She’s much worse. She’s more. She’s a mess, but obviously the hot one 🔥😏 If you think all fae look like majestic critters aka tall, speaking in riddles, living in forests with magic mirrors, then you haven’t met the faeries of Bayton City!
It’s such a refreshing take to see fae described as small and short, because in most romantasy books now fae seem to come with like, a standard template?? 🤔 Jessie is far from perfect: she’s an addict, she’s numb, she won’t comfort you when you cry because she doesn’t know how, and she doesn’t instantly want to change just because of the ✨ power of love ✨ Diving into the plot through a drug addict’s head is such a rollercoaster. It’s worrying. It’s interesting. It makes you want to shake her shoulders and yell at her to stop taking pills and maybe eat some cookies instead! 😩
Maybe it’s because I read an omegaverse book right before this, but I found it really cute that the fae characteristics in Faetality kind of reminded me of omegas. They’re small, they like sweets, and Jessie definitely has something like nesting behavior, but she had some clever magic too! 😏 I don’t usually like sex worker plots because they often put the girls in danger, but here, Jessie’s magic is actually really useful for her!
The magic system is so unique, blending urban elements with fae illusions. There are phones, the internet, and "radiation", but also a hidden library that only opens with a trick that made me want to try it at my local library ... If only I weren’t afraid of scaring the librarians 🙂
I love that poly is something normal among the fae, and it made Jessie isn’t some special exception. Though I still feel like I need a bit more explanation, I appreciate that the author made the love interests not only different in personality, but also in race. As a fellow Asian, hi there Damien 👋😍 I wish his culture would be explored more in the next books!
Thank goodness Damien isn’t some shadow daddy type who acts like he knows better than Jessie. He actually lets her lead, trusts her, and respects her job! That’s boyfriend material right there 😉And most importantly: he doesn’t stay grumpy because ughh I hate grumpy men 🙂 The way he softens toward Jessie is enough for me to ignore his ... Mmm dialect (?). I think I’ve read too many American English books because I struggled with the Bayton accent here. it sounds kind of like cowboy speech? Idk bruh it’s funny and confusing at the same time 😭
Martina, on the other hand, is such a sweetheart! She and Jessie didn't need to announce "I’m a lesbian!" out loud, but you can feel them slowly falling for each other, and it’s so lovely 🥺 I can’t wait for them to realize their feelings, like, yeah, just kiss already! 😡 Martina + Jessie romance is the biggest factor that makes this story interesting! While Damien is great, he wouldn’t be enough to hook me alone. Hooray for sapphic awakening 🥰
That said, a side character, Martine, completely stole my attention! It’s kind of ironic how people assume he’s gay, only for his sister to be the one who fell for a woman??? Every time I think about it, I chuckle 😂 He and Sadie's story would make a cute companion novella, especially with Sadie’s disability. I mean, can you imagine two junkies trying to communicate through sign language? 🥺 That would be a sad, tender, and healing journey. Dear author, if you ever want to expand their story, please don’t hesitate! Oh, not to mentioned Stevie's story too 😳 and ofc Deanna!
Honestly, just give me all of those Amazon women. The ending, where the sex workers kicked some "goddesses'" asses, was so fun! I would gladly devour everything about their backgrounds, especially the redheaded pixie! ❣️
But don’t forget what you said about there being cute dates between the girls. You promised me that on fb and yes, I REMEMBER. Give me more of those date scenes, or else .... 💀
January 17, 2026
This was surprisingly a really good little read. It’s fast paced but no spice. There’s definitely hints at little crush’s and off scene suggestive happenings lol 😂. It’s heavily focused on drug addiction and sex workers and strange happenings with men going missing and the FMC is a drug addicted sex worker who her dealer hired to find out what’s going on. It’s an odd book for sure. The FMC is basically the only literate character in the book who talks normal enough to make sense. It is mentioned right away that most people don’t have an education where she is living but she did get one. So the way everyone talks is lowkey annoying because it drives you crazy with the nonsense and unfinished sentences or half words or accented babbling. Otherwise it’s actually a decent little book quick to read and definitely keeps you interested because come on who doesn’t a little true crime story lol. It has a cute little ending and it’s not too dark sure there’s enslavement and torture and beatings and death mentioned but it’s all off scene or just spoke of. Nothing too crazy to worry about as far as TW go. It’s not too crazy on world building either it’s pretty quick to the point. I will say the description tho for her drug addiction and how she feels and sees and emotions and physical reactions are very detailed and in depth so it’s a new thing for me to read about. I’ve never read a book where the MC is a drug addict and you get their full detailed POV of the effects of everything she takes or the withdrawals or whatever she goes thru.
February 21, 2026
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
This ARC isn’t not like the books I usually read (romance) and I absolutely loved it!
This is my first book from @ysadora.writes and now I need to go and read the series prior to it because apparently there’s a character from this book in there.
This book covers so many themes- drug addition, sex work, fae, missing people… just to name a few.
There was a moment I was reading when Jessie finally had a little bit of money and goes shopping. I actually had to stop reading because it reminded me of moments from my childhood. I am painfully aware of my white passing privilege and I remember going to shops with my cousins and them giving me their money and orders and me going into the shops and buying their stuff for them because the “white” child wouldn’t steal - I remember the looks my cousins would get, the things whispered at them and the accusations of where they got money from no matter that I had the same amount and was never questioned. My cousins called me Casper growing up because of my white skin and my nanna called me Vanilla cookie - I never felt like I fit in with my family and I hated that I could pass in society without the judgement they received. The fact I was afforded opportunities my cousins weren’t, that my white mother took me away and paid for my education while my cousins didn’t go to school most days…
Anyways I digress back to the story - I was drawn in by Jessie. I felt the struggles she was facing almost personally - I remember the highs wearing off and how being numb was better than feeling. I loved seeing her character starting to grow and flourish not getting weak as she perceived.
I have such a soft spot for her a few of the side characters like Liselle and Sadie, I’m curious about Jojo snd his sister.
Nathaniel is a jerk but I want to know more about him! Also I hope like crazy Damien shows up more - I like him!!
Anyways if you are after a mysterious story about men going missing after taking a drug called Fairy Fizzer and some tough girls that stand up to men and society in general - this is a fun short novel for you.
Looking forward to book 2 in the series
This ARC isn’t not like the books I usually read (romance) and I absolutely loved it!
This is my first book from @ysadora.writes and now I need to go and read the series prior to it because apparently there’s a character from this book in there.
This book covers so many themes- drug addition, sex work, fae, missing people… just to name a few.
There was a moment I was reading when Jessie finally had a little bit of money and goes shopping. I actually had to stop reading because it reminded me of moments from my childhood. I am painfully aware of my white passing privilege and I remember going to shops with my cousins and them giving me their money and orders and me going into the shops and buying their stuff for them because the “white” child wouldn’t steal - I remember the looks my cousins would get, the things whispered at them and the accusations of where they got money from no matter that I had the same amount and was never questioned. My cousins called me Casper growing up because of my white skin and my nanna called me Vanilla cookie - I never felt like I fit in with my family and I hated that I could pass in society without the judgement they received. The fact I was afforded opportunities my cousins weren’t, that my white mother took me away and paid for my education while my cousins didn’t go to school most days…
Anyways I digress back to the story - I was drawn in by Jessie. I felt the struggles she was facing almost personally - I remember the highs wearing off and how being numb was better than feeling. I loved seeing her character starting to grow and flourish not getting weak as she perceived.
I have such a soft spot for her a few of the side characters like Liselle and Sadie, I’m curious about Jojo snd his sister.
Nathaniel is a jerk but I want to know more about him! Also I hope like crazy Damien shows up more - I like him!!
Anyways if you are after a mysterious story about men going missing after taking a drug called Fairy Fizzer and some tough girls that stand up to men and society in general - this is a fun short novel for you.
Looking forward to book 2 in the series
February 18, 2026
Faetality by Ysadora Sonderling is an urban fantasy that brings us back to Bayton, this time diving into the darker areas of the city and surrounds.
While The Bayton Angency series is a paranormal murder mystery vibe, full of romance and spice, Faetality is darker, grittier and brings us to the streets.
There are familiar faces and completely new ones. There is still a mystery to be solved, high stakes and compelling characters.
Jessie is a complex character, a faery living on the streets, a drug addict and sex worker, she isnt your typical main character. I'm very interested in seeing where Jessie ends up as the series progresses. I feel like there is a lot of potential for her. There is also so much history of the world and magic that can still be explored.
I liked the mystery aspect of the story, people going missing after trying a new drug and the way it affected people. I especially liked what happened when all the men tried to run in to save the day. I cackled, dumbasses.
Faetality is a quick read, but it packs a punch.
While The Bayton Angency series is a paranormal murder mystery vibe, full of romance and spice, Faetality is darker, grittier and brings us to the streets.
There are familiar faces and completely new ones. There is still a mystery to be solved, high stakes and compelling characters.
Jessie is a complex character, a faery living on the streets, a drug addict and sex worker, she isnt your typical main character. I'm very interested in seeing where Jessie ends up as the series progresses. I feel like there is a lot of potential for her. There is also so much history of the world and magic that can still be explored.
I liked the mystery aspect of the story, people going missing after trying a new drug and the way it affected people. I especially liked what happened when all the men tried to run in to save the day. I cackled, dumbasses.
Faetality is a quick read, but it packs a punch.
Review of advance copy received from Author
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ 🚫🌶️ on page
This was a surprisingly good time. I do think I’m just not an urban fantasy girly. I thought the story was really refreshing and different from anything else involving fae that I’ve read. I liked that the story really revolved around the case and was not romance/spice heavy to just have it in there. I will be interested to see how the love triangle evolves in the next books in the series. This book was fast paced without feeling like the story was moving too fast to lose elements of the world or details that made the story what it is.
Thank you to Ysadora Sonderling for an ARC copy in exchange for a fair and honest review.
This was a surprisingly good time. I do think I’m just not an urban fantasy girly. I thought the story was really refreshing and different from anything else involving fae that I’ve read. I liked that the story really revolved around the case and was not romance/spice heavy to just have it in there. I will be interested to see how the love triangle evolves in the next books in the series. This book was fast paced without feeling like the story was moving too fast to lose elements of the world or details that made the story what it is.
Thank you to Ysadora Sonderling for an ARC copy in exchange for a fair and honest review.
February 15, 2026
Arc reader review:: overall I enjoyed the story. It was a little hard for me to get into (slow start) but once I got a few chapters in it decently progressed and I was engaged with the plot and finding out how Jessie was going to figure out the drug problem.
Review of advance copy received from Author
Fatality is an interesting little fantasy detective story. It kind of shows how people can surprise you and that even in the seedy underground of the world there are people who care.
Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews