Disclaimer: I listened to the audio version of this, so if I spell any of the character/place names incorrectly in my review, it's because I haven't seen them written down.

We all know how this story goes. A spunky young human woman with a tragic backstory and a family to support because she's the only one who can finds herself in some kind of trouble, only for a talk, dark, handsome mysterious male warrior to arrive at an opportune moment and whisk her away to the land of the Fae. Somehow, this random human holds the key to saving all of Fae-kind, and the grumpy shadow daddy that is a bit of an ass to her at the outset slowly starts to reveal his soft centre and his hard anatomy 😉, before they overcome their differences and fight the good fight side by side. But while the story and the tropes might be easily recognisable, when the writing and the particulars of the author's tale are this good, it doesn't matter one little bit. Basically, I now have a new favourite book of the year. 

One of the biggest things that caught my attention about the writing was the consistency with which the author addresses the differences between the human and Fae worlds. Our main character, Saeris, lives on a world with twin suns that never set. Water is scarce, food is hard to come by and the royal Guardians are a constant threat. So when she winds up in Yvelia, where the ground is covered with snow, the world goes dark at night and the first thing she is greeted with is a whole pitcher of water just for her, followed by a bath, you can feel her wariness, awe and disbelief through the pages. But, where most authors would probably forget about these things as inconsequential details or seemingly have the character assimilate quickly, Callie Hart manages to keep weaving in these little mentions throughout the story that serve to keep Saeris, and by extension the reader, feeling out this strange new world and longing for home. It's really well done, and gives the worldbuilding an edge which really works. 

That being said, this book lays the groundwork for an epic spanning several territories and worlds, but there isn't always as much clarity or detail as I would like to allow me to picture everything or plot out the worlds in my mind. I suspect having the physical book (hopefully with maps!) in front of me might help with this, but for the time being I will admit to there being a couple of moments where I found myself a bit lost in the ether when it came to where the characters were. 

I have seen comments that the indy version of this book isn't brilliantly edited, it's littered with spelling mistakes etc. Obviously I can't comment on that as I was listening rather than reading, but I can say that you can feel the heart and soul that has been poured into this story by the author, so if there are problems with the indy book, do try and push past them if you can because it is absolutely worth it. And I'll definitely be buying the reissued version when it's traditionally published in paperback (only because that's all that will fit on my shelves now!). 

For the most part, the characters are all brilliantly drawn. I'd argue that the more you're meant to care about the character, the better written they are, meaning that the villains of the piece don't feel quite as fully formed, but when your cast of 'found family' each has their own way of pulling at your emotions, their reactions to the villains basically makes up for it. Kingfisher has disrupted the business end of my book boyfriend list; his bad attitude, shadow-wielding power and sexy smirk make for a pretty much perfect romantasy leading man, and he has his own cadre of warrior brothers whose contrasting personalities sing. Saeris might fulfil a lot of stereotypes for the FMC of a romantasy book; annoying human who thinks she knows best, suspiciously good with a blade despite limited training and stubbornly independent to the point of stupidity, but the author has managed to give her more depth and agency than that; she gives as good as she gets. But the star of the show is Carion Swift. He might be a secondary character, but his personality is writ large across every single page he appears on. He's the comic relief and the butt of jokes, yes, but he's also a genuine supporting character with his own development, history and motives. I adored him. 

At this point, I have to give credit to the narrators. IMO, if you're going to do a 'straight' audiobook (as opposed to a graphic audio), this is how it should be done; a male and a female narrator, each voicing the characters of the appropriate gender. It just immerses the listener so much more into the story, and brings the charactera to life so much more! I was already a huge fan of Anthony Palmini because of ACOTAR, but oh. My. Goodness! This is a whole other level. There is one slightly dodgy accent (I can't quite tell if Renthis is meant to be Scottish or a Viking), but for the most part his range of voices is incredible. And yes, his Kingfisher low, growly rumble is everything you hope for and more besides 🥵🥵🥵. I haven't listened to anything by Stella Bloom before, but I will certainly listen to her work in future! She had the lion's share of the work here, with the book being told from Saeris' POV, but she made it sound easy.  The way she conveyed emotions ranging from exasperation to desire to hurt to fear through her voice was amazing, and there wasn't a single moment where I was bored or disengaged from listening to her. As much as I'm sure I would enjoy reading the book in the traditional sense, I am immensely glad that I didn't miss out on this audio version and would thoroughly recommend it to everyone! 

Is this book perfect? No. But does it tick all my boxes and a few more besides? Absolutely yes. I'm half tempted to just start listening from the beginning again! I just wish I didn't have to wait for the next one!!!