The Unseelie Exile - Book Review by Sullivan and Voodoo Bride

The Unseelie Exile: Arachnophobia Edition

(Web of Shadows/Floof of Shadows #1)

by Kathryn Ann Kingsley

What is it about:

This is the ARACHNOPHOBIA edition of this book! This means this has had all instances of the word “spider” mass find-and-replaced with “fluffy bunny,” “spiderweb” with “bunny nest,” the Web with “the Floof,” and so on. As you can already tell, this will cause hysterical side effects as well as nightmares of the grammatical and regular varieties. You might not have to deal with spiders, but you will have to deal with a seven-legged fluffy bunny.

_____________

One desperate night. Three forbidden seals. And the ruthless fae exile who will claim her soul...

Ava Cole thought rock bottom was losing her mother and being cast out by her father. That was until she followed enchanted lights into the midnight woods—and walked straight into the claws of the Unseelie.

Now she's trapped in a prison between realms. Her captor? Serrik—a devastatingly powerful fae outcast with vengeance burning in his veins and eternity to make her suffer. 

Cold. Merciless. Intoxicating.

His touch sears her blood. His golden eyes haunt her dreams. And with each forbidden lesson, each impossible task, Ava finds herself craving the very being who plans to use her as a weapon of magical destruction.

In this twisted realm of exiled fae who hunger for her blood and power, Ava's greatest battle isn't the magic she must unleash—it's the treacherous desire threatening to consume her soul.

Because in Serrik's deadly bunny-nest of shadows, the line between enemy and lover vanishes like mist. And falling for her worst enemy may be the most dangerous magic of all.

She can trust no one but herself.

What did we think of it:

This series is set in the same world as the Maze of Shadows series.

Voodoo Bride has to confess she was hesitant to read more in this world. She had a total love/hate relationship with Maze of Shadows.

But then we discovered there was an Arachnophobia Edition of this book!

And I will now confess I'm indeed that easy, so Voodoo Bride and I decided to buy this book and read it together.

And we had such a good time with this book!

Ava was a heroine we could really relate to, while Serrik was both alluring and dangerous. Voodoo Bride was totally invested in the relationship between the two, while I was eager to find out what would happen next in the weird prison world Ava suddenly finds herself in.

There were some really interesting fae Ava runs into, surprising events, and a compelling overall storyline.

This book was less 'awful' than a lot of the Maze of Shadows was. Where in Maze of Shadows there were some really nasty, disturbing scenes, here there were suspenseful and dangerous events as well, but it didn't squick Voodoo Bride out. There were also some very funny moments in our opinion.

As for the arachnophobia part: I very much enjoyed reading about scary fluffy bunnies, the floof, and bunny nests. The one thing that we had to get used to is that the word 'strand' was replaced with 'twig', which was weird in instances such as 'Serrik stroked back a twig of hair'.

We should have seen the ending of this book coming, but we did not!

Talk about upping the stakes of this twisted romance/attraction thing between Ava and Serrik.

All in all this is a really awesome read, and we immediately bought the second book (Arachnophobia Edition).

Why should you read it:

Evil Fluffy Bunny! 

Also: Really cool Dark Fantasy Romance

The Unseelie King - Book Review by Voodoo Bride

 

The Unseelie King (Maze of Shadows #4)

by Kathryn Ann Kingsley

What is it about:

One king is dead, and the other is in chains.

Tir n’Aill perches on the edge of a knife in the wake of a series of betrayals that has shaken the fae to the core.

Abigail finds herself questioning who is friend and who is foe. When she is forced to make her decision between mercy and love, she finds her choice is one that might tear the very world apart.

Forces gather to wage war and decide the fate of Tir n’Aill. And in the center of it all, Abigail is nearly torn in two, caught between her desire to protect her new people and her love for Valroy.

For he is now the Unseelie King. The world is his to burn.

And only she can stop him.

What did Voodoo Bride think of it:

*more spoilers ahead*

So I gave this book a 5 star rating on Goodreads, and I stand by it, but this book destroyed me.

I know I talked mainly about Abigail and Valroy in my other reviews, but there were other really cool characters as well. Especially Anfar, the best (and probably only) friend of Valroy.

In this book things get dark, gruesome, but it seemed there could be a solution that would lead to a satisfying ending. And to be fair: there is a kind of bittersweet Happily Ever After if you don't overthink it. But the costs to Valroy and Anfar: too high in my opinion. I cried so hard over the ending. That'll teach me to fall in love with a dark creature from the Unseelie Court and his 'creature from the depth of the ocean' best friend.

All in all this is a great series, but I might be too soft for it, and too invested in friendship over the main romance.

Why should you read it:

It's a really good if you can handle the dark stuff in it.

The Unseelie Throne - Book Review by Voodoo Bride

 

The Unseelie Throne (Maze of Shadows #3)

by Kathryn Ann Kingsley

What is it about:

When the prize is death, some games are better lost than won.

If she loses, she becomes his queen, and he unleashes war across Earth and Tir n’Aill alike. If she wins, he dies. The answer seems clear. But then why can’t she bring herself to want victory?

The longer Abigail wanders through his Maze of Shadows, the less sure she becomes of anything—allies, enemies, wrong, right, evil, good, hate…and love. With every twist and turn, her heart is more fully trapped in his snare.

Facing the choice of whether to win—and kill the Bloody Prince—or lose and become his queen, Abigail can’t decide which is worse. In fact, she is starting to think that she might no longer want to win at all.

No matter the cost.

What did Voodoo Bride think of it:

*spoiler ahead*

The second book felt a bit like filler, even though I enjoyed it very much. This book is back on track, and there's lots of good scenes between Abigail and Valroy.

I was so invested in this story and the likely doomed romance between them. They might be attracted to each other, but are on opposite sides. Can you be both lovers and enemies?

Then there's finally the first 'all the way' scene and I was... disappointed. It was more about how looooong Valroy is (Peter Steele would have liked a word, were he still alive) than it being satisfying after all the tension and waiting.

Luckily later scenes had the steam and enjoyment I really needed after all the bad things that happened to Abigail since the start of this series.

And then the ending!

I immediately needed the last book to see if this series could end happily or if I would get my heart broken.

Why should you read it:

It's a really addictive if sometimes brutal Dark Fantasy (Romance?)

The Unseelie Crown - Book Review by Voodoo Bride

 

The Unseelie Crown (Maze of Shadows #2)

by Kathryn Ann Kingsley

What is it about:

The gods brought her back. But was it to stop Valroy, or to become his queen?

Valroy will let nothing block his path to the Unseelie Crown. He was born for the crown, born in blood and death, and he is willing to stop at nothing to see both Tir n’Aill and Earth as his dominion, and crushing the self-righteous Seelie beneath his bootheels.

He’d wished for Abigail to stand beside him as his queen, but that went terribly wrong when she chose death over becoming his bride. It was a setback, certainly, but not one he could not overcome.

Yet despite being wrenched from the song of life, Abigail returned to Tir n’Aill, only to be hunted by both Seelie and Unseelie alike. She did not know why she was returned or for what purpose, but it was clear that two paths lay before her: to become Valroy’s enemy, or to allow him to make her his queen in chains.

What did Voodoo Bride think of it:

I had a total love/hate relationship with book 1. Loving the scenes and tension between Abigail and Valroy, hating some of the other ugly violence scenes. Still love won out and I got the whole series after finishing it.

This book was less vicious, but it also mostly lacked the tension between Abigail and Valroy as they are apart for the biggest part of the book. I still loved it, but it felt a bit like a filler book at times, giving you more information about the characters and the world. There were some interesting character developments though, and things got tense again at the end. The next book promises to have even more tension again, so I'll be reading it soon.

Why should you read it:

Great worldbuilding (if a bit violent at times) and intriguing characters