I would never lie to my readers, so I will not be giving this book a good review. I wish that I could.
The Book:
Title: A Veil of Truth and Trickery
Author: Analeigh Ford
Published July 31st 2021
Genre: Fantasy
Pages: 308
“Delphine has been fae-marked from birth, treated as a curse despite the fact the once treacherous fae haven’t been sighted in decades—in fact, no one in Delph’s village has so much as laid eyes on one of the folk in nearly a century.
Right up until a fae turns up on her doorstep, demanding Delph as down payment.
No sooner has she set foot in the fae realm, however, then she learns she’s no mere collateral in a deal made with the lord that owns her family lands. She was selected for a reason, hunted down for a single purpose.
The fae courts are fading. The folk disappearing.
Only four courts remain. Four princes determined to save their crumbling kingdoms.
And Delph … Delph may just hold the key to save them all.
But even as Delph learns to see past the feared glamour of the fae realm, she quickly learns the impossible position she’s found herself in. The fae may not be the monsters she was led to believe, but in order to save them … she may have to become a monster herself.” -Goodreads
My Review:
*I just read the synopsis and that is even written poorly.
Negative reviews are literally my least favorite to write. But I have to for this book.
First, I feel like I was promised a lot from the author on TikTok. I was excited and so I purchased the book.
There was supposed to be spicy romance that beat out the ACOTAR series.
Let’s just say that it was not true.
This book started and instantly I knew it was not going to be great. In my creative writing classes for college, there is a saying thrown around A LOT and I hate to repeat it here, but I must. A writer should show not tell.
This writer did a lot of telling. Many places where there could have been descriptions and details.
This book regarded the Fae. I love Fae books, but I think Ford just tried to use the basic outline of Fae from a Sarah J. Maas world. I read the book like that because there seemed to be no focus on who they were.
The world building in this story in general was a bit lacking. I felt like the village the main character starts off in was okay. It was bland and I did not get the relationship with the family.
The fae realm was even more lack luster than the village. When the main character enters the realm, her body is unable to adjust and she describes feeling sick. But the way the realm is described feels like an acid trip…that never stops.
We get little snippets of the world, but I feel like it was not enough for me to stop imagining that first drop into the world.
I might just be being picky though.
Each chapter ended with like a resolution to the issue presented in the beginning. I dislike that kind of narration. I believe the author was trying to make each chapter end in a cliff hanger. It just wasn’t for me.
There were so many plot holes or things that didn’t add up. I kept expecting to find answers, but I was left with more questions.
The characters were static and one dimensional. No one learned anything or changed. I got more intriguing characters in the Ice Planet Barbarians series than this.
The premise of the story was good. I don’t think it was super unique as it clearly copied a lot of ACOTAR, but it had some interesting aspects that *almost* make me want to read the second book when it comes out.
Except I probably won’t.
As always, thanks for reading,
A Bookie
Star Rating: 2