Six years ago, Shea Fury’s sister was whisked away by the High King of the Otherworld, the ruler of the treacherous land of fae. Although Shea has spent the years since dreaming of rescuing her sister from captivity, the Iron Veil that separates the human world from that of the fae has made it only a wish. That is, until an invitation to participate in a once-in-a-lifetime chess tournament in the Otherworld arrives on Shea’s doorstep. The winner of the tournament may ask the High King to grant one wish, and Shea is finally within reach of hers.
But entering the tournament and winning it are two different matters. Dark magic lurks around every corner in the Otherworld, and Shea’s cutthroat opponents are willing to bend the rules to make their own wishes come true. To make it to the end—and to find her sister—she is forced to strike an alliance with her longtime rival, the sharply beautiful fae princess, Ciara of Bri Leith. One wrong move, though, and Shea could lose more than just the competition: She’d lose her sister, her dignity, and maybe even her life.
Review:
Thank you to NetGalley for an ARC!
A quick and fun adventure through the world of fae!
The plot is straightforward and I predicted the plot twists pretty easily, but it was still entertaining to follow along and see how everything played out.
Our protagonist, Shea, is kind of a mess. While she's brilliant at chess, she often lets her emotions get the better of her and crumbles under pressure. I love her character arc of learning to overcome her fears and letting people in.
I also love her love interest, Ciara. I am a sucker for fae (or non-human) characters who love human stuff, and Ciara's overly formal way of speaking combined with her very laidback personality made her lots of fun every time she appeared.
I was a little worried going into this about how the chess playing parts would be depicted, as I have only the most fundamental understanding of how the game works, and I think the author did a good job of portraying it for non-chess players! The games are described with lots of metaphors that show Shea's progress during the games, rather than describing all of the moves she makes, which make them feel exciting and entertaining, and the characters also frequently discuss chess plays and strategies, which are more technical, but the author explains enough so that I feel like I know what's going on.
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Well-written enough so that even a hopelessly non-chess person like me could get into it. I don’t want to be over subversive and say it’s like queen's gambit… but it is in the sense that it makes the complex and artistic game accessible to a casual spectator.
(More under the cut to not clog anyone's feed)
Fey bullshit of the old-school folklore variety with enough new-school varnish to make it sparkly. Really big win for me as a classic Irish myth and folk tales fan, but also a fan of occasional modern silly fun. ( like 'romantasy'— important distinction being that this is not reaaaaallly "Romantasy', it just contains a flavor note of it.
If I had to break down the flavors it's really more like:
Competitive chess rivalry, queer (sapphic) romance (no perfunctory coming out scene needed), and then you're reminded there's magic going on.
The chess scenes are tense and detailed but written in an organic, lovely way that makes you understand how the game can be beautiful even without being a player. There's a touch of real artistry and adoration in being able to translate the craftsmanship of a complex chess game to a non-speaker.
The romance was all at once slow-burn and all-consuming and developed well enough to make some essential stakes absolutely devastating.
I absolutely need ciara's cloaks in my closet
Now.
The antagonist(s) of the story work well as mythological charactors allowed to continue growing beyond the limitatians of an old classic myth. They're three dimensional but hold old grudges, they know the world marched on outside of the fey realm but maintain steadfast tradition.
Same more refreshing points:
Never shies away from the power of
Money. Doesn’t try to be eloquently polite about how money in the human world literally makes anything possible. I really loved how the human world is aware of the fey but the whole
Topic is sort of addressed in a
"Yeah, yeah, it happened, theres ripple effects of this to deal with but moving on to the present!" rather than lingering on what a big “Wow" moment it was, we ain’t focusing on that, we’re here with shea and ciara right now.
I love ciara, love shea, love aideen, and to be honest with y’all, a part of me loves midr, too.
There’s a lot to be said and to feel about aideen and midr’s relationship and while I don’t know if it would warrant a whole sequel, it is layered enough that once you get deep enough in the book it doesn’t feel as cut and dry as grooming old supernatural creep, it feels more like octavia butler’s complex age gap but power-inverted relationships where there a lot to feel all at once.
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A In #1 New York Times bestseller Allison Saft’s enthralling new romantic fantasy, a chess grandmaster will go to any length to save the person she loves the most.
This deluxe hardcover edition features beautiful gilded edges. Order now while supplies last!
Six years ago, Shea Fury’s sister was whisked away by the High King of the Otherworld, the ruler of the treacherous land of fae. Although…
