These Hollow Vows Book Review

These Hollow Vows

Author: Lexi Ryan

Pages: 464 pages

Genre: YA Fantasy

Published: 20th July 2021

Rating: 5 STARS!

Synopsis:

From New York Times best-selling author Lexi Ryan, Cruel Prince meets A Court of Thorns and Roses in this sexy, action-packed fantasy about a girl who is caught between two treacherous faerie courts and their dangerously seductive princes.

Brie hates the Fae and refuses to have anything to do with them, even if that means starving on the street. But when her sister is sold to the sadistic king of the Unseelie court to pay a debt, she’ll do whatever it takes to get her back—including making a deal with the king himself to steal three magical relics from the Seelie court.

Gaining unfettered access to the Seelie court is easier said than done. Brie’s only choice is to pose as a potential bride for Prince Ronan, and she soon finds herself falling for him. Unwilling to let her heart distract her, she accepts help from a band of Unseelie misfits with their own secret agenda. As Brie spends time with their mysterious leader, Finn, she struggles to resist his seductive charm.

Caught between two dangerous courts, Brie must decide who to trust with her loyalty. And with her heart.

My Review:

I could not fault this book even if I wanted to. I enjoyed These Hollow Vows so much and I really wish i hadn’t read it so quickly, so I could still be absorbed in the story right now.

‘Abriella, every star in that sky shines for you.’

These Hollow Vows follows Abriella, or Brie, a girl who hates the fae and who lives with her sister, Jas. Brie and Jas live with their step-aunt and her two horrible daughters. At the very beginning I thought it was going to be a Cinderella retelling as there were quite a few similarities, but this didn’t happen! Brie is in debt to her aunt and when she fails to pay her aunt the right amount of money, her sister gets sold to the Unseelie Court. At the same time, in the Seelie Court, Prince Ronan is looking for a human bride, and the gates to faerie are open. The only way for Brie to get her sister back is to pose as a potential bride to reach the fae lands and then make her way to the Unseelie Court. In order to have her sister freed, Brie enters into a bargain with the Unseelie King, if she steals three magical relics from the Seelie Court and successfully brings them back to him, then Jas is free to go.

‘I am not a pretty thing to be manipulated. I am darkness.’

When Brie first meets Prince Ronan, whom she is posing as a potential bride for, he is not at all what she expected. As she has to keep him close in order to find these three items, she naturally starts to develop feelings for him, despite not knowing whether to trust him. At the same time, she meets Finn, the leader of a group of Unseelie, who pose as a threat to the Unseelie King. Brie ends up learning a lot about herself that she didn’t expect along the way and she begins training with Finn and his friends. I loved Finn and couldn’t help but prefer him over Ronan, and the more Brie got to know Finn, the more she was intrigued and found herself drawn to him. I loved the romance in this book, but I wish there had been more of it with Finn! Reading this book felt like a constant back and forth over whether or not you could trust Ronan or Finn more, and who you thought Brie might end up with.

‘May you always have a star to wish on, Abriella, and a reason to believe.’

The plot of this book was very gripping and I loved the world building. I always find myself drawn to books with fae, and this was no exception. It had everything that I wanted and more. I am desperate for the sequel, and gutted that I have to wait a year for it! If you love books with fae, or love The Cruel Prince or Sarah J. Maas books, then I think you will like this one! I highly recommend it for fans of high fantasy!

Keep reading,

Georgia x