by Lexi Ryan
I saw people GUSHING about this book everywhere. A YA fantasy masterpiece. With an ending that leaves you wanting more but you’ll be okay until the next book comes out, no panic needed. I was very intrigued. It’s all the things I like: fantasy, fairies, a strong leading lady, a ball! Sounds delightful. Worth the hype? Let's find out.
Read if you like: Fairies, fae, magic folk, etc. Sweet, YA, angst-ridden romance. Budding love triangles between the boy next door and a mysterious new arrival. Spunky leading ladies who are more than they seem.
I enjoyed These Hollow Vows. Was it amazing? No. Will I read the next book? Definitely. With the hype I was expecting something a little, I dunno... more? different? unique? What I got was a basic fairy fantasy romance that felt a lot like A Court of Thrones and Roses. The characters: basic. The setting: basic. The plot had a lot of promise but then got overshadowed by other things (ahem, boys). I was left with the feeling that many important pieces were left lying on the floor. Only to pick up a shiny, new revelation at the end. Now that ending... I need more, please.
Now, I'm *relatively* new on the current book scene. So, maybe if I would have done any research and realized that the author usually writes contemporary romance, I would have had my expectations in line with what I received. Because what you get is a contemporary romance format except with ~*~*fantasy*~*~ oooh, ahh. And this may be why some of the things felt very basic and some of the more complex storyline got lost along the way. Also, just being picky, but every so often the stylized dialoged was broken with a very contemporary word and would take me out of the story. Overall, I enjoyed These Hollow Vows. I might have liked it more if I hadn't heard so many 'good reviews.' I give it 3 stars for an entertaining read. Maybe another half for a particularly intriguing ending and... ooof, that new guy. <3 We need more of him.
Keep reading for a spoiler-ish review!
YOU WERE WARNED:
Brie is a very (overly? magically?) skilled human living with her sister in a Cinderella type situation. They are eternally trying to work off their housing debt and earn their freedom. This is often aided by Brie’s excellence in sneaking. Enter the entirely too handsome and too good for this world boy next door, Sebastion. He is so obviously more than human it’s painful. And he’s leaving… the day before the fairies open the gate for a big fancy ball so their prince can find a human bride. That’s not weird.
Oh no! Brie’s sister has been sold to the evil fairies to cover their debt! Brie has her freedom, but her sister is gone and the only way to help is to go the fairy ball and try to seduce the prince! There’s no way she will get picked in her disheveled state. But she keeps being helped by mysterious people so that she is perfectly poised to sneak her way into the palace to both seduce the prince AND find out more information about the bad guys.
At the ball she somehow manages to meet another swoon worthy boy, gather information, and garner favor with the prince. But the bad guys will only release her sister if she returns 3 magical items that were ‘stolen’ from them. What’s a girl to do… besides flirt?
This is where everything falls flat. The caper storyline is somewhat abandoned abruptly in favor of the love triangle. Brie is trucking along with her quest to work with the bad guys and save her sister and then… kissing. It’s not poorly written romance, but the plot has poor timing and isn’t balanced between all the different arcs. I can see where it will go, but it skipped over some tougher details to get there in this book. And then the ending smacks you in the face and you’re immediately back in the story. So at least there’s that. And I am truly excited for the next installment of this book.
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