Happy release week, and many thanks to the author for a copy to review, as well as an awesome PR box full of themed merch. This magical, queer dystopian adventure is on shelves today!

First, the worldbuilding. I really enjoyed this unique mashup of settings, a post-apocalyptic world that the Fair Folk have taken over. This particular combo means neither contemporary language, Noel's motorbike, or Grey's hoodies felt weird to be used in the world, and it was super easy to picture everything. The fae as a force of environmental vengeance, an ecological reckoning, was super appealing to me personally, and I almost wanted to root for them? That gray area, the unclear good and evil, always shows great writing. Plus, I really enjoyed that the fae magic used in this didn't squick me the way it tends to in most mainstream Fair Folk portrayals; the Wild Hunt is evoked, as well as the power of names and other traditional fae lore, but otherwise not a lot of the stuff that melds into non-con compulsion, etc. I admire the craft in Nox's even-handed approach to lore usage. 

Then, our cinnamon roll of a protagonist, Grey. I think most readers, and Noel too, want to just wrap him up in a blanket with some soup this entire story. One of my favorite tropes in fantasy is the concept of magic users who have some sort of forbidden slash ominous power that ostracizes them. Immediately the blood magic in this pleasantly reminded me of Aeduan from the Witchlands series, a very good thing. Grey was a soft, nervous character, his vulnerability and self-loathing endearing from the start; and his powers were so cool, able to drain people's life force to heal himself, or heal others by draining any vitality around them. 

The third main concept I gravitated towards - the simplistic romance was a great recipe for chemistry. I often find lust and spicy scenes take away from the actual romance and emotional investment in a pairing, so Grey and Noel's slow-burn romance, building up as they're on the run and in danger often, chastely clinging to each other for comfort in between, was impeccably done. The little things, There Was Only One Bed - and of course There Was Only One Motorbike - were perfect tools to build casual intimacy. The ending, a whammy of an emotional cliffhanger - expertly written to leave me invested and hanging on for the next book in the series. 

This was a well-rounded and unique romantasy, a perfect example, for me at least, of how to do fantasy in a time where many of them are blurring together in my mind. Checking in at three hundred pages, it manages to build a comprehensible world that is still full of potential, it's fast-paced and keeps you reading, and the characters are incredibly endearing. One of my favorite reads of the year so far. achillean fantasy9 s Menoa495 15

Happy release day
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