Book Review
Title: These Hollow Vows (These Hollow Vows Book 1) by Lexi Ryan
Genre: Young Adult, Romance, Fantasy
Rating: 3.75 Stars
I am reading These Hollow Vows for the Double Booked book club as it is our November pick but it wasn’t really on my radar before then as I have a major love, hate relationship with books involved the Fae. We are introduced to Brie, a thief who steals in order to pay her debts to her aunt, Madame V for looking her and her sister, Jas. Brie’s living situation gave me major Cinderella retelling vibes which I was thrilled with but I decided to give it a go to see where the novel would go. After stealing a large amount of money from Creighton Gorst in order to keep her and her sister safe, Brie is devastated to learn that her aunt has sold her sister to the Unseelie King, the King of the Shadow Court and she is not going to let anything stop her from getting her sister back. As there is a ball happening in the Court of the Seelie, she decides to go and find her sister that way which the help of her aunt’s goblin, Bakken. This is more complicated than she thought as Gorst’s men are after her for stealing from him but she manages to make it to the Queen’s Court, however, she is in no state to attend a ball and is helped by Pretha.
Pretha helps Brie dress right for the Ball where she ends up meeting an Unseelie Fae who is persistent in getting close to her but she has the mission of finding the portal to the Unseelie Court to retrieve her sister. After sneaking through the castle she manages to find in Queen Arya’s childhood bedroom and is brought before King Mordeus. There Mordeus wants to strike a bargain with her, he asks Brie to retrieve three artefacts from the Seelie Court and bring them to him and in return he will release her sister and Brie has no choice but to agree. When she returns to the Seelie Court she realises her childhood friend and love Sebastian is also there but he turns out to be the Seelie Prince, Ronan and heartbroken by his betrayal she flees into the forest where she is kidnapped by Pretha and some others. Brie learns that the Unseelie Fae who tried to talk with her earlier is Prince Finn, Mordeus’ nephew and the rightful heir to the Unseelie throne but his uncle wants him dead so he is hiding in the Seelie Court for now. He wants Brie’s help in retrieving the artefacts but also in disposing of his uncle but she can’t risk her sister’s life like that. They explain that she has the ability to manipulate shadows and she uses this to escape them and return to the Seelie Court but she is attacked by a creature along the way but Sebastian comes to save her. When she wakes up they discuss his betrayal and that fact that Mordeus has Jas, he promises to look for Jas but he wants to send Brie home but she refuses. He explains that the only way she can stay in the castle is by coming one of women that will be his potential brides and Brie agrees already learning this information for Mordeus but she is torn over having to lie to the boy she loves in order to save her sister. So far, These Hollow Vows isn’t bad and the pacing is really quick, I read 30% of the novel in under 2 hours so I am confident I can smash the entire book in less than 2 days.
Brie goes along with Sebastian’s plan and pledges herself to be his potential bride in order to stay in the palace and that works but it doesn’t bring her closer to finding the mirror as she can’t move freely about the palace. The next time she encounters Pretha and Finn they ask her why she hasn’t been using her powers and it is because she doesn’t know how to summon them so Pretha is assigned to teach her. It is here she also realises that Finn’s familiars protected her when she was attacked so she is beginning to see that they don’t truly mean to harm her but she is still really guarded around them. She begins learning about her ability but she can’t control it even with guidance as it seems to run off her emotions and this is proven when Finn returns injured one evening. Brie learns of the Seelie court’s prison where Unseelie are held prisoner after fleeing from their own court, the adults are forcing to work in labour camps and are separated from their children. Learning this enrages Brie and her power flares around her as she works to help Finn any way she can. This is also where we meet Lark, Pretha’s daughter who seems to be gifted with foresight and warns Brie about a fire that will kill her and prevent her from becoming the Unseelie Queen. This is shocking news to everyone but it also means that Brie ends up marrying and binding herself to either Finn’s uncle or Finn himself which she is something she hadn’t considered despite her growing attraction towards Finn. During this section we also learn a lot about the culture of the courts, including the wedding/bonding ceremonies and what tributes are but something isn’t sitting right with me right now especially since Jas seems so comfortable in the Unseelie court and it might mean that appearance are deceiving and Brie is being pulled into an illusion by Sebastian even unknowingly as he seems quite naïve compared to Finn.
After finding the mirror and getting hold of it Brie has to wait a week for the King’s goblin to come and get her so she spends this time training with Pretha and the others and getting to know them. Brie is slowly coming to realise that the faeries aren’t that different from humans but her loyalties are divided. On the one hand, she has had feelings for Sebastian since before she knew who he really was but her attraction to Finn is growing the more time she spends with him. By the time she faces the Shadow King again she is coming to realise that nothing is what it seems and he allows her to keep the mirror for the time being and tells her of the next item she needs to steal which is a book that can change its appearance. As she learns more about the book she realises that Arya won’t keep it in the main palace at it scares her but it could be in any of her other palaces meaning it is going to be hard to get hold of. However, things become more complicated when she learns that the amulet Sebastian gave her was a tracking device and he now knows she has been meeting with Finn. In order to keep his trust she explains a little about her powers and how he has been training her since she knows that Sebastian isn’t Finn’s enemy but Sebastian doesn’t see it this way. Brie is being a little blind to his cruel nature which she has seen small portions of because of her feelings for him but I am excited to see where the book goes especially after Brie is drugged and Pretha takes her to Finn where she confesses to being attracted to him but Finn is a gentleman and does nothing to her because of that state she is in but we know it was someone within the Seelie court who might be trying to force her to bond with Sebastian now they are aware of her powers even if they don’t know the extent of them.
Seeing everything come together at the end of the novel, seeing all of the lies, deceptions and manipulation giving way to truth was amazing. Seeing Sebastian manipulate Brie into bonding with him and becoming Fae even when she didn’t want to in order to take the Unseelie throne as he is Oberon’s child was devastating as we know what this does to Brie emotionally. Also seeing her realise what Finn has had to do in order to survive and that he will kill to take back the Unseelie throne was also devastating but neither get the chance as Brie’s magic overwhelms her in the wake of these betrayal and she flees into the night. I will definitely be reading the sequel in the future to find out what happens between Brie, Sebastian and Finn and if she chooses one of them or rules the Unseelie court herself now that she is Fae. Overall, These Hollow Vows was incredibly fast paced and action packed, while I didn’t initially care for the romance elements they did make sense when Brie’s powers and their source was revealed but I am hoping for becomes more independent in the sequel and that she actually takes the Unseelie Court for herself rather than giving it to Sebastian or Finn as neither can be trusted with the fates of thousands upon them.
Buy it here:
Paperback/Hardcover: amazon.co.uk amazon.com
Kindle Edition: amazon.co.uk amazon.com
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