Roark Lyne is his worst enemy and his only hope.
The only human student at Mather’s School of Magick, Phineas Smith has a target on his back. Born with the rare ability to tap into unlimited magick, he finds both Faerie Courts want his allegiance—and will do anything to get it.
They don’t realize he can’t levitate a feather, much less defend the Faerie Realm as it slips into civil war.
Unseelie Prince Roark Lyne, Phineas’s roommate—and self-proclaimed arch nemesis—is beautiful and brave and a pain in the ass. Phineas can’t begin to sort through their six years of sexual tension masquerading as mutual dislike. But Roark is also the only one able to help Finn tame his magick.
Trusting Roark’s mysterious motives may be foolish; not accepting his temporary protection would be deadly.
Caught in the middle of the impending war, Phineas and Roark forge a dangerous alliance. And as the walls between them crumble, Phineas realizes that Roark isn’t the monster he’d imagined. But their growing intimacy threatens to expose a secret that could either turn the tide of the war…or destroy them both.
Kind of a mixed bag.
I didn't hate it but there were a few things that left me feeling confused, things about the plot and/or world building that I could never reconcile.
For instance, Finn has been attending Mather’s School of Magick for the past SIX YEARS and cannot control said magic? At all.
That seems like a no brainer from a school with School of Magick in the title, doesn't it? I guess I kind of had Hogwarts in mind with objective being to train its students how to both control and utilize their powers. But this school seems to be like a any other university only with various paranormal people attending and primarily focused on forging alliances between pantheons. OK. But I still don't get why Finn was admitted since he's human.
At first I thought it was so he would be protected from random underworld beings that are trying get to him for his power which would also kill him, but...
All sorts of nasties are all over him like white on rice which "forces" his nemesis and roommate, Roark, to come to his rescue. Repeatedly.
The flip side of this uneven world building is the creatures that pop up are vivid and... pretty disgusting, TBH. The skirmishes Finn and Roark find themselves in are entertaining and they do make a good team.
I've no idea why it took them SIX YEARS to discover that they made a good team, but let me not beat the dead horse.
Roark being the Prince of Air and Darkness and the second son of the Unseelie queen is not only powerful but extremely cunning. At first he seems to be harboring a grudge against Finn for some reason but as the story unfolds we begin to learn that beneath his urbane and fractious exterior beats the heart of a man deeply and completely in love, a man who has made the ultimate sacrifice for his beloved.
Yeah, pretty swoony.
The romance and chemistry between them is solid. Had the enemies portion of the narrative lasted longer I would've been in hog heaven.
I guess I had it in my head that the next book would focus on Finn and Roark too since there were things that developed that left me wanting, but it appears the next book is focused on a different couple in which case I'm a bit disappointed by the ending. It felt rushed and though I liked the resolution I like my couples to couple a bit before The End.
Parts of the world building are good, parts of the plot are good and the overall romance is pretty satisfying but the whole could've been stronger. Perhaps it gets stronger as the series evolves. I could be interested in continuing the series; however, my opinions are my own and YMMV.
An ARC was provided by the publisher in exchange for an honest review.
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