From NEW YORK TIMES bestselling author Mary E. Pearson comes a thrilling romantic fantasy full of dangerous fae, dark secrets, and addictive romance-- the first book in a duology.
After losing both their parents, Bristol Keats and her sisters struggle to stay afloat in their small, quiet town of Bowskeep. When Bristol begins to receive letters from an “aunt” she’s never heard of who promises she can help, she reluctantly agrees to meet—and discovers that everything she thought she knew about her family is a lie. Even her father might still be alive, not killed but kidnapped by terrifying creatures to a whole other realm—the one he is from.
Desperate to save her father and find the truth, Bristol journeys to a land of gods and fae and monsters. Pulled into a dangerous world of magic and intrigue, she makes a deadly bargain with the fae king, Tyghan. But what she doesn't know is that he's the one who drove her parents to live a life on the run. And he is just as determined as she is to find her father—dead or alive.
The Courting of Bristol Keats is Mary E. Pearson's adult debut and was an exciting new fantasy story with a modern twist. It wasn't quite the story I had anticipated but I found myself enchanted with Bristol's story.
Bristol and her two sisters have been on their own for almost a year after their father mysteriously died, but Bristol always thought that he might still be alive and when money becomes tight, she decides to answer the mysterious letter they received from someone claiming to be their father's sister. She soon learns however that they are fae living alongside of their world and they need Bristol's help.
Before she knows it, Bristol is striking a deal with the leader named Tyghan who needs her to find a magical door and close it. But naturally, things are not as simple as that.
I remember I started this book during times of high stress, so I feel like some of my beginning comprehension might have been slightly off, as it turns out Bristol is now training with other humans to help the fae with their task. There's definitely a lot more going on in this story than we know just yet. Everything in Bristol's life is changing and she won't be able to come out of this unscathed.
Bristol isn't sure how far she can trust Tyghan or any of the other fae in this world. She suspects that Tyghan is keeping things from her about her father and it turns out Tyghan knows quite a bit about her father after all.
This was a story told from multiple points of view and I feel like this is where things started to get messy for me. Again, I also blame being highly stressed at the start of this book, so the changing points of view didn't help my case. I truly blame my circumstances from when I started this book that made it slightly challenging to get into. At times I was overwhelmed with so many different characters popping up onto the page that I wasn't really sure where they came from and how Bristol seemed to know them already.
There was a bit too much describing of things or events that I felt like didn't really need that much explaining either. I don't know, sometimes things did need some explanation but then I felt like we sometimes drifted off course from the story and had a few pages that felt like filler. Then there were some choices Bristol made that had me shaking my head, but since it's a first book I guess I can't get too mad at her just yet. Lol.
The tension in this book though was amazing! There's romantic tension and suspenseful tension; I couldn't get enough of it! The tension brewing between Tyghan and Bristol was on par! That when the romance between them finally started, it was explosive!
Despite a few hiccups that were entirely on me, I did enjoy this book! There are lingering questions at the end of this one. Lots of shocking reveals were had at the end and it was just jaw-dropping! I did finally learn that this will be a duology so of course now I am bemoaning my luck at starting this one now! What will happen in the next one will be anyone's guess and I hope to see some more resolution with some of the other characters who we had not seen for a few chapters.
If you're looking for an intense new fantasy read with a heated romance, then I would highly recommend starting Mary E. Pearson's adult duology! Maybe closer to November when the final book comes out but that's just me! While the ending does leave things in the air, it rates pretty low on the agonizing cliffhanger scale, for which I am most grateful!
Overall Rating 3.75/5 stars--yes, that awkward rating again! It was higher than a 3.5 for me, but not quite a solid 4, mainly due to my own issues when starting the book, but it was still an amazing read!
