If She Was Enchanted, She Wanted To Stay Enchanted Forever.

I recently finished reading The Courting of Bristol Keats by Mary E. Pearson. This is book #1 in the Courting of Bristol Keats duology. This is OwlCrate's November '24 book.

This exclusive edition features an exclusive redesigned dust jacket by @littlepatterns, with stenciled edges by @littlepatterns, a reversible dust jacket by @golden.rose.art, foiled hardcover case design by @heyatlascreative, and end pages by @sunni_rae_art. The book is also signed by author Mary E. Pearson on an author page with an author's letter bound into the book and bonus content.

POSSIBLE SPOILER ALERT

  Rating: 3.75/5 stars

"After losing both their parents, Bristol Keats and her sisters struggle to stay afloat in their small, quiet town of Bowskeep. When Bristol begins to receive letters from an “aunt” she’s never heard of who promises she can help, she reluctantly agrees to meet—and discovers that everything she thought she knew about her family is a lie. Even her father might still be alive, not killed but kidnapped by terrifying creatures to a whole other realm—the one he is from.

Desperate to save her father and find the truth, Bristol journeys to a land of gods and fae and monsters. Pulled into a dangerous world of magic and intrigue, she makes a deadly bargain with the fae king, Tyghan. But what she doesn't know is that he's the one who drove her parents to live a life on the run. And he is just as determined as she is to find her father—dead or alive."

This has similar vibes to The Cruel Prince. The story follows Bristol Keats, a mortal girl whose family has moved around constantly throughout her life due to a threat her parents won't tell her and her two sisters about. After the death of her mother and then her father, Bristol feels aimless and her only goal is to support her sisters.

After receiving mysterious letters, she meets with a supposed aunt and subsequently agrees to go to the world of Elfhame. She makes a bargain with the fae king Tyghan - she will attempt to seal a portal in exchange for his help finding her father, who may not be dead. She ends up finding out that her parents are not who she thought, and that they are tied to the realm in inextricable ways she couldn't have imagined. Her father and Tyghan had once been best friends. She also works to discover the depths of her own magic.

The sheer depth of the secrets Tyghan was keeping from Bristol was hard to ignore. I kept waiting for the other shoe to drop - it was slightly painful knowing that the eventual reveal would blow up their relationship, so I found it hard to get fully invested in them together. But even still, I truly felt for both characters - the amount of pain that they have experienced, especially Tyghan, was visceral and devastating. I just wish that Tyghan and Bristol would have ~the~ conversation earlier, it could've saved them from so much trauma and I KNOW they would've worked it out. But alas, the way things unfolded produced so much tension and I was on the edge of my seat. My heart really went through the wringer.

The plot was very well done. Bristol navigates Elfhame: undergoing intense training, searching for her father, bonding with other recruits, dealing with her growing feelings for Tyghan, and unraveling so many truths about her life. The ending was so emotionally charged and I can't wait for the sequel - I need it now!!.

Check out The Courting of Bristol Keats, and uncover the truth behind the world of Elfhame.

Happy Reading :)