Title: A Dance With the Fae Prince
Series: Married to Magic #1
Author: Elise Kova
Genre: Fantasy, Romance
Publisher: Silver Wing Press
Format: eBook
ISBN: B08MQ1YPMZ
She knew her hand in marriage would be sold. She had no idea a fae prince was the buyer.
Katria swore she’d never fall in love. She’s seen what “love” means through the cruelty of her family. So when she’s married off to the mysterious Lord Fenwood for a handsome price, all Katria wants is a better life than the one she’s leaving. Feelings are off the table.
But her new husband makes not falling in love difficult.
As their attraction begins to grow, so too do the oddities within her new life: strange rules, screams in the night, and attacks by fae that Katria never thought were real. When she witnesses a ritual not meant for human eyes, Katria finds herself spirited away to the land of Midscape.
Surviving the fae wilds as a human is hard enough. Katria must survive as a human who accidently pilfered the magic of ancient kings – magic a bloodthirsty king is ready to kill her for in order to keep his stolen throne – and her new husband is the rightful heir in hiding.
The power to save the fae is in her hands. But who will save her from a love she vowed never to feel?
Content warnings :
physical and emotional abuse.
disclaimers
I received an ARC from Netgalley and Hodder & Stoughtonin exchange for a review. This kindness does not affect my opinions of this book, which are wholly my own. This post uses affiliate links, and I may receive a small commission for purchases made through them at no cost to you.
My Review of
A Dance With the Fae Prince
Narrative style: first person | Perspective(s): single POV (Katria) Age-category: upper YA to New Adult.
A Dance With the Fae Prince by Elise Kova is the second book in the Married to Magic world. It’s whimsical, entertaining, and balances on a tight rope of high stakes.
Kova’s style of writing is easy to devour, even more easy to get engage with, and she’s masterful at evoking empathy for her main characters, who are almost always down on their luck. Her manner of telling a story isn’t overly indulgent in detail or too sparse, but a balance of the two that manages to play with the imagination. It was fun to explore the Married to Magic world, which was both familiar and unfamiliar to me with its Greek tragedy undertones, hints of a Cinderella-esque retelling, and fae inspirations.
“Why is it that it is so much easier for me to process being treated like a thing than a person? How is it that the latter hurts more?”
In my opinion, Katria’s point of view and character arc is the best damn part about this book. I was instantly gripped with empathy for her family situation, from the loss of both her parents to the wicked abusiveness of her stepmother, Joyce.
Time and again, Katria is taught to believe that Love is a betrayal; it is pain, disappointment, and abandonment. I felt this like a knife to my chest because, as someone with a similar childhood, this is exactly what love and affection begins to feel like. Kova captured the psychological and emotional damage done by repeated abuse, and how it twists our view of the world around us as a dangerous place.
Even when swept away to live with Lord Fenwood (Davien), the effects of Katria’s abusive childhood don’t go away. They remain like a whisper in the back of her mind, and they inform many of her reactions in throughout the story. I thoroughly enjoyed her character arc as she discovered her identity outside her abuse, tasted love and friendship, stood up for herself, and learned to confront anyone who dares to manipulate her. Including Fenwood/Davien.
Her arc is beautiful, inspiring, and bold in a way that I hope other readers will appreciate.
The side characters—Hol, Sheya, and that guy whose name starts with G, but I am totally blanking on—were amazing supports to both Davien and Katria. Because of how often jealousy between girls is overplayed in this type of novel, I wholly expected some tension between Sheya and Katria. So I was pleasantly surprised when Sheya repeatedly defended Katria and stood up for her. It was nice to see two characters who originally didn’t like each other band together to save the day. And the other two guys were funny, always cracking jokes or throwing around witty comebacks, which gave the story much-needed relief from the tension.
Lastly (and briefly): the worlds and everything between them. We first meet Katria in the human realm, which is a sort of English countryside. Fae and their magic are nothing more than bedtime stories—myths and legends of a time no one quite believes had happened. And yet, as Katria quickly finds out, both fae and magic are real; they exist alongside (and outside) of the human realm. The concept of faeries retreating into their own world isn’t new, but Kova manages to spin new rules, new kinds of magic, and new locations in Midscape that remind us of those old fae stories without mimicking them.
What I Wasn't Crazy About
All this said, there were definitely aspects of A Dance With the Fae Prince that I didn’t care for. Sadly, the romance was the #1 frustration.
Everyone heralded this book as the ultimate slow burn that was bursting with sizzling attraction between Katria and Davien. It was also repeatedly compared to The Cruel Prince to an unholy degree, which only further intrigued me and heightened my expectations. But as I journeyed through A Dance With the Fae Prince, disappointment nipped at my heels. For one, I didn’t sense any chemistry between Davien and Katria. It’s obvious that Katria likes him, as evidenced by having a crush only two minutes after meeting him (but not seeing his face). But there’s nothing substantial to support this is a two-way budding romance.
If anything, Davien’s questionable attitude and actions towards Katria during their marriage and as they travel through Midscape, suggested the opposite. It’s kind of hard to feel that hot, sweet love when the guy is repeatedly stating how naive, stupid, and lacking Katria is. Davien places all of the blame of their situation on her, accusing her of deliberately stealing his magic. She’s a selfish human. When he becomes king, he can’t lower himself by having a relationship with her. She is so out of touch with reality, with his world, with how everything works….
Blah, blah, blah.
It’s somehow love.
Deep down.
Under all that abuse.
Throw in the entire journey through Midscape to Dreamscape—her feet were bleeding, her clothes were soaking wet, and she was a starving, exhausted mess, but he didn’t care—and it’s not hard to be confused at the sudden 180 that takes place around the halfway mark of the book. Am I supposed to believe that, after all the bullying, shaming, belittling, name-calling, and inhumane treatment, Davien loves Katria?
It honestly gets weirder than this, but I truly don’t want to dwell on it. I want to stress, though, that I do believe healthy and loving relationships can blossom from sour starts, but we need a glimmer of possibility early on, we need something to grasp on to, something to contradict Davien’s seemingly cold-hearted nature.
There are so many ways this story could have slowly built upon their impossible situation, could have beautifully revealed Davien’s true feelings. We could have had this amazing slow burn romance, but the story goes from “you’re lowly and stupid” to “you’re my world and I love you” in three seconds flat.
And I am not about that life.
“Davien says little; he leads the pack and broods quite dramatically.”
Then there’s the issue of Davien Aviness himself, who wasn’t all that impressive. He embodied the same brooding a**hole trope for half the book, often saying one thing and then acting out the opposite. He makes it a point to put Katria down, time and again, while also trying to convince her she’s worthy of his love. And tries to convince her that love isn’t pain, even though his own “love” actually reinforces her belief that it is pain. I’m not sure if this was the intention of the author or if the inconsistencies were an accident, but I didn’t buy his feelings for Katria.
And because we only have her POV, we don’t fully understand where Davien is coming from. He doesn’t seem fleshed out beyond the “brooding boy I can’t have” trope, which was disappointing. He seems entitled, despite his rough start to life, and his reasons for pushing her away, in hindsight, weren’t solid.
Don’t get me wrong! I love a brooding cinntrovert, but only when they have layers to their personalities. Only when their motives make sense. Having a male character sex up the protagonist and say “I love you” doesn’t actually conjure up chemistry or make up for a lack of genuine feelings on display. Nor does it reveal holes and cracks in his facade. It doesn’t make him a good person, either. And this logic was somehow lost with the HEA.
My last issue with this story was the big reveal at the end. The “twist”. I won’t specify here because I don’t want to spoil it for any of you. However, I will say this: it was predictable. I called that “twist” within a few chapters of the book, and then spent the rest of the story waiting for it to be confirmed. By the end, I wasn’t just disappointed, I was bored. I was frustrated. I was hoping to be wrong.
Some readers absolutely LOVE predictable plots, and it’s something even *I* can be in the mood for at times, but honestly, I think the plot here was a little too juvenile for me. There wasn’t a moment I was surprised, caught off guard, or excited for the action unraveling. Even when Katria warned Davien of a possible betrayal, it wasn’t news to me when it turned out to be true.
Concluding Thougts
Ultimately, A Dance With the Fae Prince is a decent beach read. I enjoyed it, even though I didn’t love it. And I definitely wouldn’t call it a slow-burn romance; it’s a far, far cry from that.
But it’s entertaining as hell with its comedic dialogue folded between mounting tensions. It’s comforting, fun, and easy to breeze through in a day. Hol, Sheya, and Giles are the best traveling buddies ever, making each turn of the page full of laughter and snark, not to mention true friendship.
And if guaranteed HEAs and stolen kisses are your thing (even when they make zero sense), then this book will definitely be up your alley.
For all its quirks and little flaws, sometimes it’s nice to fall into a romance novel that isn’t a million shades of complications and angst. Sadly, it’s not a book I’d revisit any time soon, but it’s certainly worth checking out if this is your jam.
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