Court of Bitter Thorn (The Fae of Bitter Thorn, #1)
Book 1 of 4 in The Fae of Bitter Thorn series
Set in a lush, Faerie world, this stunning tale of royal intrigue, magic, and sisterly devotion is perfect for fans of The Cruel Prince.
Faerie wasn’t supposed to be real. Tricked by a fae prince, Elora is stuck in the Faerie realm far from her young sisters who depend on her for survival. Under the terms of her bargain, she can’t go home to the mortal world until Prince Brannick becomes the next High King. Or until he’s taken out of the running…
Sabotaging Brannick’s chance at the crown will be much faster than helping him win. The fae prince may be charming, powerful, and wickedly handsome, but that won’t stop Elora from selling his secrets to the highest bidder.
By day, she uses her master sword skills to train the prince. By night, she conspires with a rival king in a nearby court whose plans could destroy half of Faerie.
Soon, lives are at stake that she never expected. She’ll have to choose who to save: her beloved sisters or half the inhabitants of Faerie. The choice would be easy… if a certain prince weren’t digging his way into her heart.
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Court of Bitter Thorn is a fantastic start to Kay L. Moody’s new YA fantasy series. The story is paced well and grips you from the start with a young woman named Elora who longs for a life of adventure. Faced with a wedding to a man she barely knows, Elora sees the life she wants slipping away, especially after tragedy strikes her family. However, when Elora makes an agreement with a Faerie prince, she’s pulled away from her sisters and into an adventure she never expected. Elora will do whatever it takes to get back to her sisters, but whom can she trust? As she reluctantly teaches Brannick how to sword fight, she learns that things are not always what they seem in the Faerie world.
The author’s talent in creating a vivid and fascinating world is evident throughout the book, from the intricate world-building to the well-developed characters. I love the incredible amount of world-building that went into this book. First in the human realm and then in the Faerie realm, the author’s skillful use of imagery and sensory language creates a captivating and immersive setting. Filled with faeries, magical powers, dryads, courtship intrigue, and curses, this world is as original and defined as the characters.
Elora is a fantastic protagonist. She’s resigned to the fact that she must marry to ensure her and her sisters’ financial stability and feels a strong sense of responsibility to her younger sisters. This sense of responsibility compels many of her actions. That doesn’t stop her from connecting with the characters she meets in the Faerie world, especially Brannick.
I admit I am a sucker for romance, and I really enjoyed the slow-building romance between Elora and Brannick. It was a subtle addition to the story, and I loved the gradual development of their relationship. If you read Heir of Bitter Thorn, the prequel to this story, you’ve already witnessed the amazing chemistry between Elora and Brannick. (If not, no worries. Elora and Brannick can’t remember their first meeting either.) I love their chemistry-laden interactions and their resistance to the ever-growing feelings between them, and I can’t wait to see how their relationship develops in future books.
Okay, I found my words. This book is amazing. I love books like this where the girl is whisked away to Faerie by a prince/king fae and forced into a bargain, but this book breaks many of the stereotypes of the genre.
First of all, Elora is anything but helpless against the Fae. She is a master swordswoman and can hold her own.
Second, Brannick is not overly cruel (although he is self serving, he isn't frustratingly so).
Third, there are hints about Elora's past that are subtle enough that I still don't know what it is. It's so hard for authors not to be heavy handed with the hints but Moody did an amazing job.
Fourth, the side characters are rich and developed enough that they stand out and aren't just Plot Development Devices.
I assumed it would be like every other fairytale and was beyond pleased with it when I started reading. Was stoked that it’s clean romance and had several twists and turns that I wasn’t expecting. This was her first book that I read and I promptly bought the next one as well!
This is such a fun read! I loved Elora and her adventures in Faerie. I loved Brannick is such a great character. I loved the world that she finds in Bitter Thorn. There is so much emotion in this book and I found myself feeling all the emotions along with Elora and feeling fully invested in her part of the story. The end left we wanting to keep going to know what happens.
What an exciting start to the series! My heart broke for the despair Elora had to have felt. She knew what she needed to do for her family to survive, didn’t want to get married but knew she had to. She was going to give up nearly everything and her entire future, any dreams she may have had. She was just a teenager. When a sudden disaster befell her family she grew up even more. Still fiercely devoted to her family, she entered a bargain with a fae, not expecting Faerie or fae to really exist. Thus began a wild ride for this peasant. Is she as selfish as the fae at heart? Or is doing everything she can to get back to her sisters actually selfless, including putting herself in danger to try and help them survive? Very exciting introduction to Faerie and the main characters of the series!