ARC Review: These Hollow Vows by Lexi Ryan

“It’s described as 𝘾𝙧𝙪𝙚𝙡 𝙋𝙧𝙞𝙣𝙘𝙚 meets 𝘼𝘾𝙊𝙏𝘼𝙍. While I’ve never read 𝘾𝙧𝙪𝙚𝙡 𝙋𝙧𝙞𝙣𝙘𝙚, I definitely got 𝘼𝘾𝙊𝙏𝘼𝙍 vibes.”
~ Under the Covers

Recommended Read!

“May you always have a star to wish on, Abriella, and a reason to believe.”
— 𝙏𝙝𝙚𝙨𝙚 𝙃𝙤𝙡𝙡𝙤𝙬 𝙑𝙤𝙬𝙨, Lexi Ryan

Abriella Kincaid has one goal in life: protect and provide for her younger sister, Jasalyn. When her cruel aunt sells her sister to a faerie to clear their debts to her, Brie has no choice but to go after her, even though she despises the faeries and their realm with every fiber of her being.

So she travels to Faerie through a portal on the night of a ball held in honor of the Golden Prince, where she also meets the Shadow Prince. In order to save her sister, Brie finds herself caught between two courts, between two princes. The more she learns about the two of them, the more her feelings change, and the more confusing things get. She finds herself torn between doing what is right for the good of all people, faeries and humans alike, and what is right for her and her heart.

This book was such a surprise. It’s described as 𝘾𝙧𝙪𝙚𝙡 𝙋𝙧𝙞𝙣𝙘𝙚 meets 𝘼𝘾𝙊𝙏𝘼𝙍. While I’ve never read 𝘾𝙧𝙪𝙚𝙡 𝙋𝙧𝙞𝙣𝙘𝙚, I definitely got 𝘼𝘾𝙊𝙏𝘼𝙍 vibes in the sense that a human finds herself in faerie lands, falling for a faerie male who is also royalty. But Brie isn’t Feyre, and Prince Ronan and Prince Finnian are not Tamlin and Rhysand.

Brie is dedicated solely to her younger sister. But she’s also torn between the feelings she has for the boy she thought she knew and who he really is. She also feels something for the grumpy prince that she isn’t quite ready to let herself put into words. Navigating the faerie realm proves difficult for her the more she learns about it, especially when nothing and no one proves to be what she thought they were.

Prince Ronan is going to be ascending to the throne soon, and his mother is imploring him to find a human bride who can carry on the line. His only problem is that the one human he actually wants is the one who despises his kind and only wants to get her sister and return home.

Prince Finn is in exile, hiding out from his uncle, an impostor who sits on his throne, doing everything he can from the shadows to save his people and return his kingdom to its former glory. He finds help in an unlikely human source when their goals aligns.

I really, really enjoyed this. It’s going to be an amazing addition to the fantasy genre. If I had to ask for one thing, it would be that we got multiple POVs instead of just Brie’s, but ultimately it was more fun (and honestly still hella confusing) when it all came together. 𝗔𝗡𝗗 𝗧𝗛𝗔𝗧 𝗘𝗡𝗗𝗜𝗡𝗚 🤯 when does the second one come out?!