This book was honestly so much better than it had any right to be. I love me a good cozy fantasy romance, but let's be honest, a lot of them take "cozy" to mean they don't really have to do any of the legwork on characters, world-building, or plot, and so they tend to err on the side of boring. This one laughs in the faces of those types of cozies, as evidenced by my finishing it in one sitting. I absolutely loved this.

The characters are so fun and endearing. Tandy is relatable but plucky and so refreshing coming from the typical "girl boss stabby FMC" trends out there right now in fantasy. Bash has my entire heart. For some reason, I got such intense younger-happier-Rhett Butler vibes from him, and let me tell you, as the card-carrying, lifelong chairwoman of the I Would Die for Rhett Butler Association, I am here for it. The plot and world-building are a little light, yes, but it's a cozy. I'm super happy with what's here. Just enough to be engaged in the story and arc, but not enough to have a ton of emotional weight to it. This is the perfect happy, comfy palate cleanser.

DNF@33%, and I’m honestly shocked I made it that far.

I genuinely feel lied to about this book. How are the ratings so good?! I gave this book every fair shot that I could, but it's literally the exact same characters and the exact same storylines from a million other romantasies that did it sooner and better. I'm so fricking tired of the poor girl from a poor town gets plucked into a trial/competition and is suddenly infinitely better than everyone else at fighting because she's secretly a goddess or whatever combination of that trope that's been done ad nauseum. I was still willing to give this one a go if it brought something new to the table, or characters that I could truly fall in love with, but there was none of that. Everyone is a cardboard cut out and they speak only in cringe. I feel absolutely no chemistry between the mains, who were flirting and simpering at each other in the span of one super weird conversation but who've had no actual bonding time to support their sudden overwhelming interest in each other. It's just plain boring when you've got nothing to back it up. Kindly just fuck off with this derivative noise, it's bringing the entire genre down.

This was my first exposure to this author, and I was a little nervous in the beginning, I’m not gonna lie. Mikey is a (admittedly, intentionally) hard character to like. Add in his incessant dorky movie references and flippant sarcasm even when the situation called for seriousness, and I was scared I’d hate this.

So imagine my shock when I found myself three hours later finishing this absolute gem of a novel in a one sitting. I couldn’t have stopped even I’d wanted to. So much camp is in this, yes, but also so much genuine humor, heart, and lovable characters. Character arcs that hit way deeper than they needed to in a silly murder mystery? And kids that feel like actual kids?! AND an actually decent murder mystery that kept me intrigued until the very end?!

Honestly, this book had no right to be as good as it was. The absolute perfect fluffy, mystery for spring/summer reads. I will most certainly be buying a copy for myself now, and I can’t wait to try this out in audio!

Thanks to NetGalley and Poisoned Pen Press for my eARC copy in exchange for my honest review!

This one was a major surprise for me. I only picked it up because it was a Fairyloot pick, I'll be entirely honest, and I went into it half-expecting it to be mid or worse because if the YA tropes it advertised.

And to some degree, that held true. The parts of it that lean YA lean very YA. Éadha was in some ways just mind-numbingly frustrating in how she just allowed the entire book to happen to her, she wasn't an agent in her own story until close to the end--but then, this is a common trope in YA books because it's a common problem most teens and young adults have to grow up to do themselves. She put up with a lot of shit that I would never now, but I recognize that in my teens, I absolutely would have been making the same decisions. It's why I don't typically vibe with YA these days.

So that's why this book was so surprising to me. While parts were so predictable and the characters immature, and the world-building felt very threadbare, there was just enough done differently here that I was held captive by it. While the magic itself doesn't always make sense, nor do the dragons or their place in this world, just enough is explained that it's acceptable to realize we don't know a lot because the main character doesn't know a lot. Certain scenes played out very differently to how I'd expected. I was impressed enough to keep going, finishing the whole thing in two sittings, and I was never bored or so frustrated that I put it down.

The only real complaints I have are that I wish there was a bit more character work here, particularly in Gry. There's no real build up to him falling in love with Éadha, and hardly any time at all shown for her to return his feelings. Again, a common falling in YA books, but one I really felt the loss of here. There was just enough shown of him that I was begging for more. Here's hoping the sequel delivers on that front.

Honestly, just a very surprisingly entertaining read all the way around. One that definitely deserves a chance, and I'm so glad Fairyloot did their SE of this because I probably never would have picked it up otherwise.

This was such a good time. Moments of stupid slapstick comedy, almost immediately followed by a gutpunch of emotion and yet it never felt like a whiplash. It flowed seamlessly and kept the narrative super engaging. Each character felt distinct and not cartoonish or cardboard-cutouty, which can be hard with an ensemble cast like this. While the humor didn't always land for me, there were moments when I genuinely laughed out loud or snorted enough to scare my dog, which is rare for me and so is worth mentioning. It won't be for everyone in its entirety, but I do think there's a little of something in here for everyone. Just a great ride.

How was this book moving both way too fast, and way too slow all at once?

I have never in my life marveled at a problem book quite like this. Everything that mattered was dealt with in warp speed. The relationship between the MCs? From the first moment, they're blindingly attracted to one another. They're lusting after each other after one conversation. There's no buildup of any kind. It's straight 0 to 100 impatience narrative. But everything that didn't matter? Dragged out endlessly. I couldn't tell you what half those 506 pages meant to do, but I damn sure know they didn't all need to be there. We coulda cut like 200-300 of em and still told the same story. The humor also wasn't there either, because the length of time this book attempted to hijack my attention with nothingness just numbed me to anything but mild annoyance.

I was prepared to fully love and adore this book based off the reviews and vibes, but this just wasn't it for me.