Synopsis:
Effy Sayre has always believed in fairy tales. Haunted by visions of the Fairy King since childhood, she’s had no choice. Her tattered copy of Angharad—Emrys Myrddin’s epic about a mortal girl who falls in love with the Fairy King, then destroys him—is the only thing keeping her afloat. So when Myrddin’s family announces a contest to redesign the late author’s estate, Effy feels certain it’s her destiny.

But musty, decrepit Hiraeth Manor is an impossible task, and its residents are far from welcoming. Including Preston Héloury, a stodgy young literature scholar determined to expose Myrddin as a fraud. As the two rivals piece together clues about Myrddin’s legacy, dark forces, both mortal and magical, conspire against them—and the truth may bring them both to ruin.

Part historical fantasy, part rivals-to-lovers romance, part Gothic mystery, and all haunting, dreamlike atmosphere, Ava Reid’s powerful YA debut will lure in readers who loved The Atlas Six, House of Salt and Sorrows, or Girl, Serpent, Thorn.

Review:
I usually don’t offer scathing reviews, and this won’t be the exception of that, however, I will start by saying that this book is in no way, shape, or form a Young Adult book. This book is what would be considered “New Adult”, which is to say that the characters are older/adult, and there is adult content/situations/depictions that many would not consider expected or perhaps even acceptable on the shelves for younger YA readers.

That being said, this book is not at all what I expected it to be. It didn’t draw me in, and from the start it’s explained that the narrator is unreliable. That being said, the book floats from 2/3 reality to the last 1/3 fantasy that becomes very hard to navigate given the unreliability of Effy herself.

I am not quite sure what everyone sees in this book; the dark academia is tainted by her bad experiences at college, the way her family treats her, and the way in which a serious medical condition is tied to fantasies becoming real.

Star rating: ✯✯✯