The Two Hungers of Prince Fierre
Darcy Ash
Prince Fierre has three big problems. He’s suffering from a mystery illness. He’s surrounded by lords who expect personal favours. And worst of all, he’s in love with his best friend, Aiven, a former farm boy and studious enforcer of rules, now right-hand to the prince. Can Fierre heal himself, deal with the noblemen snapping about his ankles, and confront his desire for a man who has no noble blood… but a very noble heart? Set in a Scottish-inspired world, The Two Hungers of Prince Fierre combines a happily-ever-after romance with a story of disordered eating and healing. Blending queer joy with glittering aesthetics, this fantasy explores what it means to learn to love yourself amidst the harshest strictures of diet culture. Perfect for fans of Freya Marske’s A Marvellous Light and Foz Meadows’ A Strange and Stubborn Endurance, this book will have queer romance fans feverishly page-turning all the way to its triumphant and heated finale.
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**I received an electronic ARC from the publisher through NetGalley.** Darcy Ash debuts with The Two Hungers of Prince Fierre, a novel marketed as a queer romantasy. Readers follow Fierre as he comes into his role as Prince Regent in a Scottish-inspired land where rulers are expected to be slim and also to bestow their bodies upon the nobility as a sign of favor. The secondary perspective is Aiven, a farmer's son elevated from his station by his friendship with the prince. Aiven recognizes the problems with the demands on Fierre's health and with the demands of the nobility on the working class. The author includes a content warning at the beginning of the book. It is meant. Please take care of yourself when reading. The publishers, I think, have done this book a disservice by marketing it as romantasy. Romantasy is the current buzzword, but that's horribly unfair as this is absolutely a dark fantasy romance. The driving factors of this book are a societally driven battle with an eating disorder that threatens the life of our main character. The scenes surrounding this illness are graphic and the little nagging negative thoughts pervade throughout the body of the text. Combined with multiple instances of extreme dubious consent sexual content to include non-negotiated object penetration and societal pressures to use one's body as a bargaining tool to secure alliances... well. This does not a cozy, hopeful romantasy make. I would not even argue that the romance is the core of the story. The story is Fierre learning to value himself. I was buying into the story for a majority of this time. The content, while difficult, was well written. I was bordering 4 stars. But then the last third to quarter of the book happened. Fierre's transition to believing his eating habits are problematic is nearly instantaneous. His healing is completely tied up in his budding relationship. The depiction of the problems was reasonable. The depiction of the resolution was rushed to end the story and, as a result, did not have the proper care or time given for such a topic. I would hesitate to recommend this one broadly since I feel pretty negatively about how Fierre's healing was handled combined with the graphic quality of his suffering. If there was someone who was aware of the content going in, I will say that Darcy Ash has great potential as a writer. I hope to tune in for the next one where, I hope, pacing has been a bit more sorted.
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