Synopsis

Niamh Ó Conchobhair (POV Character) has never let herself long for more. The magic in her blood that lets her stitch emotions and memories into fabric is the same magic that will eventually kill her. Determined to spend the little time she has left guaranteeing a better life for her family, Niamh jumps at the chance to design the wardrobe for a royal wedding in the neighboring kingdom of Avaland.

But Avaland is far from the fairytale that she imagined. While young nobles attend candlelit balls and elegant garden parties, unrest brews amid the working class. The groom himself, Kit Carmine, is prickly, abrasive, and begrudgingly being dragged to the altar as a political pawn. But when Niamh and Kit grow closer, an unlikely friendship blossoms into something more—until an anonymous columnist starts buzzing about their chemistry, promising to leave them alone only if Niamh helps to uncover the royal family’s secrets. The rot at the heart of Avaland runs deep, but exposing it could risk a future she never let herself dream of, and a love she never thought possible.

*Blurb taken from Goodreads

Review

This isn’t bad, but it could go that way and here’s why. You have to read this as a surface-level regency romance despite the fact that it hints at a MUCH larger oppressive regime exploiting an entire peoples and slowly killing off their land via a blight that has left them destitute and desperate for basic means of survival. Our FMC is part of this oppressed population, and her love interest is the prince of the people oppressing her. If that seems absurd so far—how do we just … ignore all of that?—then this isn’t for you. I have no idea who told Saft: yeah, go for it, seems fine. Her other work, Down Comes the Night, was an absolute gem of gothic writing, so I went into her regency romance truly excited. Then was left baffled.

The reason I don’t take great offense to this parallel to Ireland and English imperialism is that the royal family seems to be attempting to overturn the current system of classism and prejudice ripping its way through the aristocracy. Though Kit starts off as antagonistic, he does end up speaking out in support of Niahm and equality between all. It’s a more lighthearted and hopeful take than history.

While this is not Saft’s best work, her elegant prose still shines here. It very much centers itself around a formal tone that keeps with the prudence and propriety expected of this time period. Though flowery in some moments, I liked the consistency. Especially coming off of a Bridgerton binge where I was already immersed in regency language.

In fact, this very much feels like a fangirling of the Bridgerton television series. (Yes, I know they are based off books—don’t come for me. The timing of this publication lines up with the popularity over the television series.) From the prose to the ball to the scandalous newsletter to the whirlwind romance, this was vibes all the way. And I was here for it! I listened to the audio during the weekend and gobbled it up in a single day.

The secondary characters were distinct and I enjoyed all of their personalities. In fact, I wish we’d gotten more of them as opposed to the poorly fleshed out politics of the world-build. This could have had a wonderful Found Family trope added in, but fell short of any depth.

If you want a YA Bridgerton-esque regency romance (and ignore the political side plot), this is a cute, fun read that ties up all loose ends in a far-fetched conclusion. Ultimately, though, this novel is forgettable.

Critiques

1. Magic System and World Building: It’s clear that Saft was going for an alternate universe parallel of British Imperialism in Ireland. Why? Your guess is as good as mine. All it did was create a plot conflict so easily resolved in the text that it bordered on offensive given the historical reality. It also left a sour undercurrent beneath the romance between Kit and Niahm. Their ability to overcome such harsh oppression in such a short span of time was implausible. It took focus away from the fact that this is a regency romance and left significant lags in the plot. The magic system also fails to be explained in any meaningful way aside from, again, creating conflict. Niahm’s abilities drain her life force away as she uses them, but she has no choice if she wishes to help her family survive the blight brought about by the royals of Avaland. Kit’s powers are the main source of his surly attitude, brought about by his inability to control them when he has emotional outbursts. Go figure.

2. Doing Too Much: The plot of this novel would have been tighter if the allusions to Ireland/England and most, if not all, of the political conflict were removed. They didn’t add anything of worth and were the main cause of distaste regarding the text. Classism would have been enough to create an enemies-to-lovers plot without the heavy lean on historical imperialism. Or, something much simpler. In a regency romance, conflict can come from scandal alone. Saft seemed to aim at a bigger message, but she chose the wrong genre to do so. The political aspect was not well executed and derailed this text.

3. Romance: While this was a cute and fun enemies-to-lovers relationship, it felt underdeveloped. I chose to read this as a light and quick story and didn’t think too hard about it. That being said, if you try to delve deeper emotionally into this, loads of questions will pop up: like, are these two even compatible?

   Do I think Kit and Niahm will make it long term? No. Does it matter? Meh, not really. Longevity wasn’t the point for me. A quick weekend read was.

4. Flat Secondary Characters: Gosh, I wish we had gotten more of Sinclair, Rosa, and Miriam! There was room for it, too, if the faulty political plotline had been nixed. This could have been a text focused on, not only romantic relationships, but friendships, and it would have been a stronger novel. As it is, the secondary characters had potential, but fell just flat of being fleshed out.

Content Note

There is a sex scene in this text. No intimate body parts are named, but we get the phrases like “…the steady rhythm of his fingers, her hips moving of their own accord against them.” I leaned toward a Graphic tag, as opposed to Moderate, since the focus here is on the body as opposed to emotions/feelings. But I teetered for a good long while between the two. To read this scene for yourself, see Ch. 23, pages 277 - 281.

You can find more content warnings at the Trigger Warning Database.

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