To Kill a Fae

Great read! It kept me interested from the very start. The only small issue I had. Is there many misplaced words & periods where exclamation marks should be. Or vice versa. In some places, while reading. I would have to reread a sentence or paragraph a couple of times. Putting different words or punctuations in place in my head. Slightly confusing. Still, as I said. Really a great read. Can’t wait to start the next one.

While there is some cute banter here and there and the plot line, while tropey, does hold some interest, the overall execution wasn’t there, and this book would benefit greatly from a good editor. Honestly, I mostly kept reading to see if anyone would catch a bloodborne pathogen from all the blood magic they’ve been doing, but was disappointed.

The author appears compelled to explain and restate every other action or information and frequently stops the story at inappropriate times to go on lengthy world building explanations, resulting in repetitive and wordy writing that flows poorly and a book that should’ve been shorter. Though there’s only a few typos, there are quite a few awkward word choices. I.e. “non-weapons hand” is used instead of offhand. “Little one” is an endearment used by Bane, but he’s her part-time lover, so it’s like if Thanos was sleeping with Gamora. These are just a couple. There’s also a continuity issue where the author forgot the giant hole in the wall and damaged support from when Sabine shoved Dax.

The romance aspects are pretty standard fan fiction and there are some issues surrounding consent. Dax drugs Sabine, taking away her ability to consent, which makes all of his physical sexual advances afterward assault. But it’s treated like he just shut her cat in the closet for an hour or something. It’s not given the gravity that it’s due.

The chalice is a lame MacGuffin that isn’t used very well. Sabine stops Dax, sensing it can hurt him, but after retrieving it two seconds later turns and offers it to him, and then is surprised when it immediately starts killing him, ruining their heist? Similarly, while evacuating the tavern, she picks up the chalice and decides now for some reason would be a good time to play with magic she still knows next to nothing about and bind with it, conveniently triggering the next part of Usagi’s vision.

The ending was especially weird. All throughout the book Sabine has made a point to remind everyone that she doesn’t answer to them. But when pretty much all her friends betray her and collectively try to strip her of her agency and she goes through all the dramatic feels, a minute later she’s totally okay with them because apparently she knew about their plan the entire time but opted not to do anything about it? Also, though there isn’t a cliffhanger, the entire book just ends with zero plot lines resolved.

While I’m not familiar enough with the polyamorous community to address Sabine, Dax, Bane, and Malek’s relationship, this doesn’t feel like positive representation.

It’s been a long time since I’ve read a new series that I can really get into! I’m looking forward to reading the rest!