Blood of a Fae - Briar Boleyn

“He moved his lips to my ears. "I would burn for you, Morgan. You've set me aflame..."

"Then let the flames consume us," I whispered back.”

― Briar Boleyn, Queen of Roses

For my first review, I wanted to choose a completed series that I haven't seen get the recommendations and hype I think it deserves. I seriously enjoyed these books, and though they aren't perfect, it was a fun and emotional ride. 

I'll list trigger and content warnings along with featured tropes before we get into the nitty gritty. I know personally that there are some triggers and tropes that will decide whether I read something or not; regardless of how amazing everything else is. Please let me know in the comments if this approach works best for you! 

Trigger and Content Warnings

This is a somewhat sexually explicit Romantasy series, with decently written spice. 

TWs:

• Physical and sexual abuse

• Death

• Animal abuse (mentioned, not seen) 

• Animal death 

• Hunting 

• Homophobia

• Domestic abuse

• Child death (recounted) 

• Domestic abuse 

• Violence 

• Gore

• Violent, undead children

The books themselves list a comprehensive and  more thorough TW list than the above. 

Tropes

• Forbidden romance 

• Enemies to lovers

• “Who did this to you?” 

• Found family 

• Forced proximity 

• Bonded familiars 

• Multiple POV

• Separated mates (book three) 

And there was kinda a love triangle in book one? Ish. 

Series Summary

The Blood of a Fae series is based (somewhat loosely), on the world of King Arthur's Camelot. We follow our heroine Morgan Pendragon as she tries to survive under her evil brother Arthur's rule, but her path to survival leads her into deeper danger as she tries to set a very wrong world right. 

As a young child, Morgan watched her beloved mother die, after which she was usurped and side-lined, becoming little more than a pawn in a dangerous court. Promised to the High Priestess, Morgan spends her time trying to avoid abuse whilst forcibly repressing her true nature. 

Until she meets the new head guard Draven, who must accompany her on a quest to collect an important object for the unhinged king. 

Draven is not who he seems, however. And Morgan is not who she thinks she is either. 

After discovering much of her true nature, it is Morgan's duty to help her dearest friends save the people of Camelot. And the world. 

Books in series:

1. Queen of Roses

2. Court of Claws

3. Empress of Fae

4. Knight of the Goddess

My Reading Journey

I'm going to start off by saying that I devoured this story. I absolutely loved Morgan, and Draven… What a delicious shadow daddy he is. 

Was this series perfect? Not at all. But something about it absolutely had me hooked. The plot was solid (and I really don't want to spoil too much of it for you) and the world building was great. I was completely lost in Pendrath and having the absolute best time. 

The pacing was fine, until it wasn't. The last book in particular suffered with some rushing and there was definitely a lot lost in that. There is a huge twist at the end, and it was a total avalanche of unexpected information. As a massive Sanderson fan this kind of thing usually makes me giddy with excitement, but I think the execution was slightly off. 

I also need to mention the creatures of this world. The exmoors! Holy guacamole, I want one. I imagined them as mythical flying tigers, and they bond with their riders much like dragons. I love them. 

We also met an Urisdaur. One of the supporting characters is a non-binary warrior/chef bear. I love Hawl, and have nothing else to say on this matter. 

The fae in this series were pretty standard Romantasy fae, but some had animal features which was cool. The fae be fae-ing. 

I do have one weird thing that is purely a ‘me’ problem: Canadian English being used in a British setting. For some reason, this really jarred me. Arthurian legends are pretty integral to many parts of Britain (in Cornwall, Somerset and Wales especially), so it felt so strange to me that the language didn't match up. I think the main reason I felt slightly uneasy about this was that a lot of the places and creatures had very familiar and almost local names to me (Tintagel, exmoor, Rheged - all actual places in England). Maybe I’m just sad because British Fantasy/Romantasy is not having its moment yet.

Peaks

• Overall, I loved the individual characters. 

• The relationship between Morgan and Draven was really well written and believable. Definitely swoon worthy. 

• The world building. 

• The magical creatures. 

• The dream cottage scenes were a great addition, allowing the main characters to communicate whilst apart. 

• The discussions about sexuality and acceptance. I especially loved that this aspect wasn't forced and was totally organic.

• Multiple strong female characters, and not just of the stabby variety 

Pits

• The pacing of the last book almost ruined the entire series for me. 

• There are Renesmee aging shenanigans that I never wanted to read again. 

• Due to the pacing issues, there was little to no impact after important character deaths. 

• The Merlin gender bend was jarring. 

• There was no pay off to the fact that the Grail had some strange calling to it (like the one ring). 

• The magic that we mostly see is fire and shadow, not exactly groundbreaking. 

The BookCat’s 9 Lives

I would read this in seven out of nine lives.

The breakdown:

Writing style 😻

Pacing 😿

Plot and storyline 😻

World building 😻

Magic system 😿

Originality 😻

Emotional impact and engagement 😻

Lasting impact 😻

Character development 😻

All in all, I really do recommend this series and even though I had my issues with the ending, I still cried like a baby. I'll definitely be reading Briar Boleyn's next series (it's connected) as I think her characters are really engaging and relatable. I was emotionally invested in this series and that's entirely down to the journey the author took me on. 

“She’s purring,” I exclaimed in delight.

“Stop taming the battlecat,” Draven said, looking slightly annoyed. “She’s a killing machine. Not a house pet.”

“Says the man who snuggled beside her all night,” I retorted.”

― Briar Boleyn, Queen of Roses

Thank you for reading my very first review, please let me know below how you found it and any way that would improve my future reviews.

Life before death, fellow Radiants <3