Before I get into my review, here were my reasons for reading this book:
- That gorgeous cover. I am obsessed with it. The fierce profile with the flames just work.
- I am nicknamed the Faerie Queen. This is for a reason. Because I love everything fae. Obvs.
- Forbidden love between a royal and a non-royal.
- What is a Hunter? Is this a human hunter? Is it a special sort of fae?

So I had expectations, and I had questions.

But here's the thing... it didn't work for me, and I could sense that pretty quickly. In fact, I DNF'd at 12%. Here's why...

First of all, this book should come with a handful of trigger warnings. It's got murder, threats of rape, emotional abuse, and physical abuse all within the prologue and first chapter.

There were also just so many inconsistencies and things that confused me. Why would a society that takes pride in brutality look down on Hunters for being brutal? (Just admit to being racist, you silly fae.) Why would Emilia make a big deal about how she's "not like the other fae" because she doesn't like the savagery of her kind, then almost immediately tell her boyfriend he shouldn't underestimate her darkness? Why does she even want to be with someone who literally has a demon half when she doesn't like violence...or so she says??? Why does her dad use physical violence when he is a freaking king and has powers? Why are they so concerned with nudity? Why do they talk like modern Americans? I have so many questions – all in the first chapter – and not in a good way. Instead of being curious about what's to come, I was just staring at the page bewildered by the world-building.

Also, those relationships. Was I supposed to feel something for Emilia's Hunter boyfriend? Because that relationship was just thrown in there with no build-up or chemistry. Basically, the book seems rushed and underdeveloped in general and could have used more rounds of developmental editing. The world could have been firmed up and illustrated rather than dumped on us. More time could have been spent showing the relationship between Emilia and her family, as well as between Emilia and the Hunter, letting us feel their connection and develop our own fuzzy feelings for them. That way, when the shit hit the fan (still all in chapter 1), we might have actually cared. Sink into the story; don't just rush along, throwing details around willy nilly, trying to follow the train of the plot without care for the reader's full experience. This story might have had potential, but it was not given a chance to shine.

I debated whether to keep going despite all the reasons I couldn't get into the book, but once I closed my Kindle after the first chapter (conveniently just before I had to get off my train), I just couldn't muster the enthusiasm to open it again. I'm sure others will be able to look past the questions and confusions I had, and I'm sure there are answers to some of those questions, but I'm not the one to talk to about them. I'm just...moving on.